In August 2026, average hourly earnings for all employees on US private nonfarm payrolls increased by 10 cents, or 0.3% over the month, to $37.75. This followed an upwardly revised 0.2% gain in July and was in line with market expectations.
For private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, average hourly earnings rose by 11 cents, or 0.3%, to $32.53 in August. On a year-over-year basis, average hourly earnings were up 3.1% in August, the smallest annual increase since May 2021, after a 3.2% gain in July and slightly above analysts’ projections of 3%.
