Average hourly earnings is a national measure of pay per paid hour across jobs in the private, nonfarm economy. It can help show whether average cash wages are moving, but it does not tell a worker what their own raise was or what landed in their bank account. The distinction matters in the September 2026 report: the average was $37.81, up 3.0 percent over 12 months. That is a useful economic signal, with a specific scope and several limits.
A payroll average across jobs
The Bureau of Labor Statistics builds the establishment-survey measure from estimated payroll and paid hours. For the aggregate private, nonfarm figure, it combines industry payroll, hours and employment estimates; industries receive weight according to their current activity. The result is an arithmetic mean across jobs, rather than a survey of what a typical worker earns. Bureau of Labor Statistics
That distinction makes the series responsive to the workforce’s composition. Imagine a hypothetical economy with restaurant, construction and finance jobs. If the number of finance jobs rises relative to restaurant jobs, the average could move up even if no individual receives a raise, because higher-paid work has more weight. Conversely, a shift toward lower-paid jobs could pull the mean down while many workers’ own hourly rates rise. The measure reflects both wage rates and who is working where. Bureau of Labor Statistics
What September’s number says
In September 2026, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose five cents, or 0.1 percent, to $37.81. The reported 12-month increase was 3.0 percent. The same release said the average workweek held at 34.4 hours, a separate measure that helps explain why hourly earnings alone do not equal weekly earnings. Bureau of Labor Statistics
These are preliminary monthly estimates, and the employment report notes that establishment-survey figures are revised as more employer reports arrive and seasonal factors are recalculated. The appropriate reading is a snapshot of the aggregate series, not a final ledger of each person’s pay. For the same month, BLS’s real-earnings report said inflation-adjusted average hourly earnings fell 0.5 percent from August, as the nominal average rose 0.1 percent while CPI-U rose 0.6 percent. Nominal and real measures answer different questions. Bureau of Labor Statistics
It is not an individual raise
A raise compares an individual’s rate at two points in time. The national average compares the combined payroll and hours of jobs in a broad group. It is not a starting wage, a promised increase, a median, or a breakdown by occupation, age, schooling, household or location. The BLS technical note specifically cautions that the series does not adjust for those characteristics. Bureau of Labor Statistics
In a hypothetical workforce, a nurse’s hourly rate could be unchanged while the national average rises because employment composition changes. Another worker could get a substantial raise while the national figure barely moves, especially if many other jobs and hours contribute to the total. Neither result contradicts the series: the measure summarizes the whole covered job pool, not the experience of a named worker.
It is not take-home pay
Hourly earnings also leave out the number of hours a person actually works, whether they have more than one job, and deductions from pay. The establishment series includes full-time and part-time jobs and jobs held by people with multiple jobs; it does not represent a weekly paycheck for one typical worker. Weekly earnings are calculated separately using hourly earnings and average weekly hours. Bureau of Labor Statistics
For a practical reading, pair the average with its period, coverage and companion measures. Ask whether the figure is nominal or adjusted for prices, whether it is hourly or weekly, and whether the comparison is monthly or year over year. September’s $37.81 is a national private nonfarm hourly average; its movement can inform a discussion of broad wage trends, but an individual’s pay stub, hours and personal wage history answer what that worker earned. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Sources & further reading
- September 2026 employment report ↗Bureau of Labor Statistics
- September 2026 real earnings ↗Bureau of Labor Statistics
