when following real wages there may be several statistics to consider a real wage rate can be a basic calculation of an individual s hourly weekly or annual rate after adjusting for inflation 
having an expectation for a real wage rate can be just as important as a career expectation for a nominal wage rate the bls publishes a monthly real earnings report which can be helpful in keeping tabs on real wage rates the may 2022 real earnings report for example shows the real average hourly earnings rate across all surveyed workers on private nonfarm payrolls at 10 96 per hour a 2 5 decrease on may 2021 8the comprehensive bls report has been created using special methodologies individuals looking to calculate their own real wage rate may be better served by adapting the above real income formulas to their own individual situations for example a mid level manager with a nominal 60 000 per year salary might follow the cpi to calculate their real hourly weekly monthly and annual wage rate suppose the cpi reported an inflation rate of 2 4 using the simple formula wages 1 inflation rate real income this would result in an approximate real wage rate of 58 594 relative to the period in which the 60 000 was calculated calculating real wage rates on an hourly weekly and monthly basis can be more complex but still attempted the mid level manager could divide his nominal annual wage by the number of hours weeks and months per year with a subsequent adjustment for a monthly assessment a 60 000 per year salary would translate to 5 000 in nominal pay per month adjusting that by the cpi s monthly change let s say of 0 01 the 5 000 would have increased its purchasing power to 5 005 other takes on the real wage rate might look at the percentage of real to nominal wages or the real vs nominal wage growth rate cost of living indexes can also provide valuable information on real wage vs nominal wage rate expectations these indexes are used to make cost of living adjustments cola for workers insurance plans retirement plans and more purchasing poweroverall inflation s effect on wages will affect the purchasing power of an individual consumer when prices are rising in the marketplace but consumers are getting paid the same wage then a discrepancy is created which leads to an effect on purchasing power this is why real income decreases when inflation increases and vice versa 