Real average hourly earnings down 0.2 percent over the 12 months ending July 2018

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Real average hourly earnings down 0.2 percent over the 12 months ending July 2018 https://go.usa.gov/xUFM3 #BLSdata

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Real average hourly earnings down 0.2 percent over the 12 months ending July 2018

AUGUST 15, 2018

Real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.2 percent from July 2017 to July 2018. The decline in real average hourly earnings combined with the 0.3-percent increase in the average workweek resulted in a 0.1-percent increase in real average weekly earnings over this 12-month period.

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For production and nonsupervisory employees, real average hourly earnings decreased 0.4 percent, seasonally adjusted, over the 12 months ending July 2018. The decline in real average hourly earnings combined with a 0.3-percent increase in the average workweek resulted in a 0.1-percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over this 12-month period.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary. To learn more, see “Real Earnings — July 2018.” The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers from the Consumer Price Index program is used to calculate real earnings estimates by adjusting earnings estimates for inflation.

RELATED SUBJECTS
Earnings and Wages Prices

SUGGESTED CITATION
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Real average hourly earnings down 0.2 percent over the 12 months ending July 2018 on the Internet at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/real-average-hourly-earnings-down-0-point-2-percent-over-the-12-months-ending-july-2018.htm (visited August 16, 2018).

Real average hourly earnings unchanged over the month in July

Economic News Release USDL-18-1279

Real Earnings Summary

Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until 8:30 a.m. (EDT), Friday, August 10, 2018

Technical Information: [phone] * [e-mail] * www.bls.gov/ces
Media Contact: [phone] * [e-mail]

REAL EARNINGS – JULY 2018

All employees

Real average hourly earnings for all employees were unchanged from June to July, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This result stems from a 0.3-percent increase in average hourly earnings combined with a 0.2-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Real average weekly earnings decreased 0.2 percent over the month due to no change in real average hourly earnings combined with a 0.3-percent decrease in the average workweek.

Real average hourly earnings decreased 0.2 percent, seasonally adjusted, from July 2017 to July 2018. Combining the change in real average hourly earnings with the 0.3-percent increase in the average workweek resulted in a 0.1-percent increase in real average weekly earnings over this period.
....

______________
Real Earnings for August 2018 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

[yallerdawg]

1. This explains unexpected discount and dollar store sales increases...

while upper-end retailers are fading even as they close stores.

When Walmart, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and other purveyors of cheap Chinese goods get hit with higher prices - where do we go next? "Always Low Wages' is the only thing that has kept this system afloat.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Walmart Rides Strong Consumer Spending to Fastest Sales Growth in Over a Decade

Walmart Rides Strong Consumer Spending to Fastest Sales Growth in Over a Decade

Strong U.S. economy gives a boost to retailers as consumers spend more; Walmart shares jump 10%

By Suzanne Kapner and Sarah Nassauer

[e-mail]

[e-mail]
https://twitter.com/sarahnassauer

Updated Aug. 16, 2018 11:39 a.m. ET

So much for the retail apocalypse. ... Buoyed by rising wages and employment as well as tax cuts, Americans are spending more on everything from jeans and handbags to wall paint. That has translated to rising sales at chains ranging from Walmart Inc. WMT +10.21% to Home Depot Inc. HD +0.71% to Coach owner Tapestry Inc., TPR -1.99% which each reported stronger results this week.

On Thursday, Walmart said its quarterly sales rose at the fastest rate in over a decade as the world’s largest retailer continues to draw more people to stores and benefit from shoppers having more disposable income.

“Customers tell us that they feel better about the current health of the U.S. economy as well as their personal finances,” Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon told investors Thursday. “They’re more confident about their employment opportunities.”

Walmart, which gets more than half of its U.S. revenue from groceries and staples, often tracks its home economy. Gross domestic product—the value of all goods and services produced across the U.S.—rose 4.1% in the second quarter, the fastest pace in nearly four years.
....

Write to Suzanne Kapner at [e-mail] and Sarah Nassauer at [e-mail]

[yallerdawg]

3. Where else are we going to shop for necessities?

The malls? No.

Sears? No.

JC Penney? No.

Half of Walmart's sales are "groceries and staples?" How's Target and Kmart doing where you live? Gone? Grocery stores? Gone?

Amazon is ALSO kicking ass! In a lot of America, there's nowhere else to go!

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Target is doing great where I'm at (STLMO)...Walmart is too far away and a pain to shop at...nt

[yallerdawg]

6. I have closing grocery stores, long gone Kmarts and 3 Walmart locations...

closer than the one Target in the affluent section of East Montgomery (AL) - actually an area of retailers known as The Shoppes at East Chase (with a Whole Foods Market there, too).

We've had two Winn Dixie groceries close in my general neighborhood, and most groceries around the Walmarts are now Cost plus 10% outfits, no frills.

The "success" of Walmart has never reflected a boon to retail. Just the opposite, in fact.

[BigmanPigman]

4. And the tax cuts are really helping the little guy I see.