Average hourly earnings for all employees on US private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 5 cents, or 0.1%, over a month to $36.86 in November 2025, following a 0.4% rise in October and below market forecasts of 0.3%. This was the smallest increase in wages since August 2023. In November, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 11 cents, or 0.3%, to $31.76. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.5% in November, marking the slowest increase since May 2021, down from 3.7% in October.