nominal wages

plural noun

|Updated on: 13 Jul 2018

Definition of nominal wages

: wages measured in money as distinct from actual purchasing power

Recent Examples of nominal wages from the Web

In the new government jobs report, year-over-year nominal wage growth is 2.7 percent nationwide as of June, a solid but not stellar pace.

— laurent belsie, The Christian Science Monitor, "As economy hums, fewer workers make minimum wage," 6 July 2018
Recent data show, however, that the problem rich countries face is not that nominal wage growth has failed to respond to economic conditions.

— The Economist, "The rich world needs higher real wage growth," 30 June 2018
Total nominal wage and salary payments grew by $369 billion over the last year, which works out to about $2,900 per household.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Business Carries the Economy," 27 Apr. 2018
The Facts One thing that’s confusing in this conversation is that there are different metrics available: hourly wages, weekly wages, nominal wage growth, real wage growth and so forth.

— glenn kessler, Washington Post, "President Trump’s claim that ‘wages are now, for the first time in many years, rising’," 7 Feb. 2018
They are paid a nominal wage, generally up to $1 per hour.

— cynthia hubert, sacbee, "Job training in prison has gone way beyond stamping license plates," 16 Oct. 2017
Annual growth in private-sector nominal wages this year has been around the 2.5% mark.

— The Economist, "It’s not the American wayBritain’s labour-force participation has jumped," 7 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nominal wages.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.