That jump in real wages is the biggest monthly rise in nearly three years

  • overtime pay surged, +20.7% y/y, but comparison with 2020 shows a substantial base effect when wages dropped this time last year

Nominal total cash earnings rose 1.9% in May y/y, biggest growth since June 2018 but still below the same level of May 2019 which is a better (not pandemic impacted) comparison.

Base salary rose for the fifth straight month.