Statistics in Brief

Consumer Price Index (CPI-W)
October 2002:
177.3 (1982-84=100)
528.2 (1967=100)
Increase for 12 months ended October: 1.9 percent.

Workers' Earnings
October 2002 (seasonally adjusted)
Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers in the private sector were $14.91 including overtime pay.

National Employment & Unemployment
October 2002 (seasonally adjusted)
The national employment rate rose again to 5.7 from 5.6 in September. The number of unemployed workers rose to 8.2 million. Nonfarm payroll employment was down slightly, erasing some of the gains from August and September.