The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revised a wage growth estimate by a massive margin, showing real wages actually declined in the fourth quarter of 2022, the agency reported on Thursday.

In March, the BLS previously reported a fourth-quarter increase of 4.9% for hourly compensation in nonfarm businesses, but updated it to a decrease of 0.7% on Thursday, according to its revised Productivity and Costs report. At the same time hourly wages fell, inflation rose, leading to a 4.7% decline in “real hourly compensation, which takes into account consumer prices,” according to the BLS.

The BLS had previously estimated that real hourly compensation increased by 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the revised report.

[Yikes. That’s one hell of a revision. — Ed]