The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6378 USDL 01-102 Media contact: 691-5902 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Wednesday, April 18, 2001 USUAL WEEKLY EARNINGS OF WAGE AND SALARY WORKERS: FIRST QUARTER 2001 Median weekly earnings of the nation's 99.1 million full-time wage and salary workers were $592 in the first quarter of 2001, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This was 3.0 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 3.4 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the same period. Data on usual earnings are collected as part of the Current Population Survey, a nationwide sample survey of households in which respondents are asked, among other things, how much each wage and salary worker usually earns. (See the explanatory note.) Highlights from the first-quarter data are: --Women who usually worked full time had median earnings of $508 per week, or 76.0 percent of the $668 median for men. The female-to-male earnings ratios were higher among Hispanics (88.9 percent) and blacks (87.1 percent) than among whites (74.8 percent). (See table 1.) --Median earnings for black men working at full-time jobs were $505 per week, 72.7 percent of the median for white men ($695). The difference was much less among women, as black women's median earnings ($440) were 84.6 percent of those for their white counterparts ($520). Overall, median earnings of Hispanics who worked full time ($407) were lower than those of blacks ($477) and whites ($610). (See table 1.) --Among men, the $809 median weekly earnings level of 45- to 54-year-olds was the highest of any age group. Among women, earnings also were highest for those 45 to 54 years old ($570), while 55- to 64-year-olds had the second-highest earnings ($549). (See table 2.) --Among the major occupational groups, persons employed full time in managerial and professional specialty occupations had the highest median weekly earnings--$1,029 for men and $731 for women. Men and women in service and farm jobs earned the least. (See table 3.) --Full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $371, compared with $513 for high school graduates (no college) and $922 for college graduates. Among college graduates with advanced degrees (professional or master's degree and above), the highest -earning 10 percent of male workers made $2,434 or more per week, compared with $1,663 or more for their female counterparts. (See table 4.) Explanatory Note The estimates in this release were obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides the basic information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment. The survey is conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau from a scientifically selected national sample of about 50,000 households, with coverage in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The earnings data are collected from one-quarter of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wages and salaries. The data, therefore, exclude self-employment income. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339. Reliability Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true" population values they represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies depending on the particular sample selected, and this variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the "true" population value because of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence. The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data. For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and information on estimating standard errors, see the "Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error" section of the February 1994 and subsequent issues of Employment and Earnings. Definitions The principal definitions used in connection with the earnings series are described briefly below. Usual weekly earnings. Data represent earnings before taxes and other deductions and include any overtime pay, commissions, or tips usually received (at the main job in the case of multiple jobholders.) Prior to 1994, respondents were asked how much they usually earned per week. Since January 1994, respondents have been asked to identify the easiest way for them to report earnings (hourly, weekly, biweekly, twice monthly, monthly, annually, other) and how much they usually earn in the reported time period. Earnings reported on a basis other than weekly are converted to a weekly equivalent. The term "usual" is as perceived by the respondent. If the respondent asks for a definition of usual, interviewers are instructed to define the term as more than half the weeks worked during the past 4 or 5 months. Medians (and other quantiles) of weekly earnings. The median (or upper limit of the second quartile) is the amount which divides a given earnings distribution into two equal groups, one having earnings above the median and the other having earnings below the median. Ten percent of a given distribution have earnings below the upper limit of the first decile (90 percent have higher earnings); 25 percent have earnings below the upper limit of the first quartile (75 percent have higher earnings); 75 percent have earnings below the upper limit of the third quartile (25 percent have higher earnings); and 90 percent have earnings below the upper limit of the ninth decile (10 percent have higher earnings). - 2 The estimating procedure places each reported or calculated weekly earnings value into $50-wide intervals which are centered around multiples of $50. The actual value is estimated through the linear interpolation of the interval in which the quantile boundary lies. Over-the-year changes in the medians (and other quantile boundaries) for specific groups may not necessarily be consistent with the movements estimated for the overall quantile boundary. The most common reasons for this possible anomaly are: (1) There could be a change in the relative weights of the subgroups. For example, the medians of both 16-to-24 year olds and those 25 years and over may rise; but if the lower-earning 16-to24 group accounts for a greatly increased share of the total, the overall median could actually fall. (2) There could be a large change in the shape of the distribution of reported earnings, particularly near a quantile boundary. This could be caused by survey observations that are clustered at rounded values, e.g., $250, $300, $400. An estimate lying in a $50-wide centered interval containing such a cluster or "spike" tends to change more slowly than one in other intervals. Wage and salary workers. Workers who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payment in kind, or piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and public sectors but, for the purposes of the earnings series, excludes all self-employed persons, regardless of whether or not their businesses are incorporated. Full-time workers. Workers who usually work 35 hours or more per week at their sole or principal job. Part-time workers. Workers who usually work fewer than 35 hours per week at their sole or principal job. Constant dollars. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) is used to convert current dollars to constant (1982) dollars. Hispanic origin. Refers to persons who are of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Hispanic origin or descent. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race; hence, they are included in the numbers for the white and black populations. Table 1. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by selected characteristics, quarterly averages, not seasonally adjusted Number of workers (in thousands) Characteristic Median weekly earnings In current dollars I 2000 In constant (1982) dollars I 2001 I 2000 I 2001 I 2000 I 2001 SEX AND AGE Total, 16 years and over.................................. 98,223 99,054 $575 $592 $327 $325 Men, 16 years and over................................. 16 to 24 years....................................... 25 years and over.................................... 55,088 6,109 48,979 55,382 6,195 49,187 649 369 697 668 384 718 369 210 396 367 211 394 Women, 16 years and over............................... 16 to 24 years....................................... 25 years and over.................................... 43,135 4,659 38,476 43,673 4,831 38,842 488 341 511 508 358 535 277 194 290 279 197 294 White.................................................. Men.................................................. Women................................................ 81,205 46,579 34,625 81,758 46,862 34,896 590 672 497 610 695 520 335 382 282 335 381 286 Black.................................................. Men.................................................. Women................................................ 12,331 5,900 6,430 12,527 5,899 6,628 459 496 422 477 505 440 261 282 240 262 277 241 Hispanic origin........................................ Men.................................................. Women................................................ 11,423 7,096 4,328 11,627 7,083 4,543 395 419 355 407 424 377 224 238 202 223 233 207 RACE, HISPANIC ORIGIN, AND SEX NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Table 2. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by age, race, Hispanic origin, and sex, first quarter 2001 averages, not seasonally adjusted Total Age, race, and Hispanic origin Men Women Number of workers (in thousands) Median weekly earnings Number of workers (in thousands) Median weekly earnings Number of workers (in thousands) Median weekly earnings 99,054 11,026 1,929 $592 374 297 55,382 6,195 1,112 $668 384 313 43,673 4,831 817 $508 358 276 TOTAL 16 years and over......................................... 16 to 24 years.......................................... 16 to 19 years........................................ 20 to 24 years........................................ 25 years and over....................................... 25 to 54 years........................................ 25 to 34 years...................................... 35 to 44 years...................................... 45 to 54 years...................................... 55 years and over..................................... 55 to 64 years...................................... 65 years and over................................... 9,096 88,028 76,953 24,687 28,827 23,439 11,076 9,633 1,442 393 624 625 578 647 683 613 627 488 5,082 49,187 43,007 14,070 16,373 12,564 6,180 5,349 831 403 718 717 622 747 809 725 743 533 4,014 38,842 33,946 10,617 12,454 10,874 4,896 4,285 611 380 535 535 513 534 570 534 549 390 81,758 9,084 72,674 63,174 9,500 610 381 650 651 639 46,862 5,244 41,618 36,231 5,387 695 391 743 742 752 34,896 3,840 31,056 26,943 4,113 520 365 553 553 556 12,527 1,477 11,050 9,890 1,160 477 328 500 501 483 5,899 700 5,199 4,612 587 505 327 526 524 540 6,628 777 5,851 5,278 573 440 330 467 472 423 11,627 2,086 9,541 8,671 870 407 316 439 441 423 7,083 1,337 5,746 5,179 567 424 319 478 480 428 4,543 749 3,795 3,492 303 377 307 397 395 418 White 16 years and over......................................... 16 to 24 years.......................................... 25 years and over....................................... 25 to 54 years........................................ 55 years and over..................................... Black 16 years and over......................................... 16 to 24 years.......................................... 25 years and over....................................... 25 to 54 years........................................ 55 years and over..................................... Hispanic origin 16 years and over......................................... 16 to 24 years.......................................... 25 years and over....................................... 25 to 54 years........................................ 55 years and over..................................... NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Table 3. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by occupation and sex, quarterly averages, not seasonally adjusted Number of workers (in thousands) Median weekly earnings Occupation and sex I 2000 I 2001 I 2000 I 2001 31,508 15,433 16,074 27,980 3,726 9,753 14,500 10,529 318 1,976 8,235 11,945 4,160 4,221 3,564 14,756 6,464 4,407 3,885 1,506 31,990 15,754 16,236 28,412 3,715 10,239 14,458 11,025 380 2,101 8,544 12,120 4,143 4,405 3,572 14,312 6,220 4,108 3,984 1,196 $827 820 833 505 637 558 467 357 258 619 329 608 660 593 566 445 428 528 378 320 $853 865 844 519 660 579 483 367 265 613 330 622 654 603 619 454 446 556 390 370 15,959 7,986 7,973 10,701 1,930 5,342 3,429 5,143 17 1,676 3,450 10,869 4,023 16,179 8,331 7,848 10,708 1,905 5,617 3,186 5,420 23 1,755 3,642 11,016 3,921 976 981 972 661 747 679 588 418 1,029 1,059 1,009 681 796 725 583 429 (1) 639 366 643 661 TOTAL Managerial and professional specialty.................... Executive, administrative, and managerial.............. Professional specialty................................. Technical, sales, and administrative support............. Technicians and related support........................ Sales occupations...................................... Administrative support, including clerical............. Service occupations...................................... Private household...................................... Protective service..................................... Service, except private household and protective....... Precision production, craft, and repair.................. Mechanics and repairers................................ Construction trades.................................... Other precision production, craft, and repair.......... Operators, fabricators, and laborers..................... Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors.......... Transportation and material moving occupations......... Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers.... Farming, forestry, and fishing........................... Men Managerial and professional specialty.................... Executive, administrative, and managerial.............. Professional specialty................................. Technical, sales, and administrative support............. Technicians and related support........................ Sales occupations...................................... Administrative support, including clerical............. Service occupations...................................... Private household...................................... Protective service..................................... Service, except private household and protective....... Precision production, craft, and repair.................. Mechanics and repairers................................ (1) 646 359 623 660 Construction trades.................................... Other precision production, craft, and repair.......... Operators, fabricators, and laborers..................... Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors.......... Transportation and material moving occupations......... Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers.... Farming, forestry, and fishing........................... 4,128 2,717 11,144 4,087 4,028 3,029 1,273 4,324 2,771 11,022 4,030 3,731 3,261 1,036 595 624 488 495 548 395 329 605 684 491 504 576 405 376 15,549 7,447 8,102 17,279 1,796 4,412 11,071 5,386 301 300 4,785 1,076 137 92 847 3,612 2,377 379 855 233 15,811 7,423 8,387 17,704 1,810 4,622 11,272 5,605 357 346 4,902 1,104 222 81 801 3,290 2,190 377 723 159 702 674 725 446 524 410 443 317 251 507 314 421 644 731 710 745 469 556 423 464 319 269 483 317 466 556 Women Managerial and professional specialty.................... Executive, administrative, and managerial.............. Professional specialty................................. Technical, sales, and administrative support............. Technicians and related support........................ Sales occupations...................................... Administrative support, including clerical............. Service occupations...................................... Private household...................................... Protective service..................................... Service, except private household and protective....... Precision production, craft, and repair.................. Mechanics and repairers................................ Construction trades.................................... Other precision production, craft, and repair.......... Operators, fabricators, and laborers..................... Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors.......... Transportation and material moving occupations......... Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers.... Farming, forestry, and fishing........................... (1) (1) 402 348 349 399 320 279 432 361 368 412 317 344 1 Data not shown where base is less than 100,000. Table 4. Quartiles and selected deciles of usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by selected characteristics, first quarter 2001 averages, not seasonally adjusted Characteristic Number of workers (in Upper limit of: First First Second Third Ninth thousands) decile quartile quartile (median) quartile decile Total, 16 years and over.................................. Men..................................................... Women................................................... 99,054 55,382 43,673 $287 309 267 $392 434 350 $592 668 508 $894 1,012 748 $1,332 1,502 1,062 White................................................... Men................................................... Women................................................. 81,758 46,862 34,896 293 315 274 404 456 364 610 695 520 922 1,041 761 1,364 1,537 1,088 Black................................................... Men................................................... Women................................................. 12,527 5,899 6,628 257 281 241 328 359 308 477 505 440 686 732 643 997 1,077 928 Hispanic................................................ Men................................................... Women................................................. 11,627 7,083 4,543 241 252 229 295 307 275 407 424 377 609 659 538 884 947 778 Total, 25 years and over................................ Less than a high school diploma....................... High school graduates, no college..................... Some college or associate degree...................... College graduates, total.............................. Bachelor's degree only.............................. Advanced degree..................................... 88,028 7,784 27,571 25,012 27,661 18,183 9,478 301 232 286 318 455 419 562 417 284 375 433 640 602 743 624 371 513 613 922 857 1,058 940 505 732 862 1,357 1,248 1,552 1,384 704 993 1,164 1,893 1,750 2,161 Men, 25 years and over................................ Less than a high school diploma..................... High school graduates, no college................... Some college or associate degree.................... College graduates, total............................ Bachelor's degree only............................ Advanced degree................................... 49,187 4,873 15,645 13,287 15,382 10,064 5,318 336 254 322 364 508 483 605 483 309 427 501 736 688 841 718 417 597 714 1,086 989 1,248 1,071 569 838 980 1,559 1,441 1,817 1,559 782 1,112 1,315 2,141 1,914 2,434 Women, 25 years and over.............................. Less than a high school diploma..................... High school graduates, no college................... Some college or associate degree.................... College graduates, total............................ Bachelor's degree only............................ 38,842 2,911 11,926 11,725 12,279 8,120 278 211 256 293 407 380 371 253 323 387 584 534 535 306 426 522 774 731 773 404 591 716 1,072 999 1,107 511 771 958 1,498 1,386 SEX, RACE, AND HISPANIC ORIGIN EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT Advanced degree................................... 4,160 518 667 897 1,191 1,663 NOTE: Ten percent of all full-time wage and salary workers earn less than the upper limit of the first decile; 25 percent earn less than the upper limit of the first quartile; 50 percent earn less than the upper limit of the second quartile, or median; 75 percent earn less than the upper limit of the third quartile; and 90 percent earn less than the upper limit of the ninth decile. Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Table 5. Median usual weekly earnings of part-time wage and salary workers by selected characteristics, quarterly averages, not seasonally adjusted Number of workers (in thousands) Median weekly earnings Characteristic I 2000 I 2001 I 2000 I 2001 Total, 16 years and over.................................. 21,222 21,431 $164 $175 Men, 16 years and over................................. 16 to 24 years....................................... 25 years and over.................................... 6,824 3,867 2,957 6,799 3,696 3,103 153 123 207 163 129 221 Women, 16 years and over............................... 16 to 24 years....................................... 25 years and over.................................... 14,398 4,633 9,765 14,632 4,752 9,880 170 123 200 181 127 214 White.................................................. Men.................................................. Women................................................ 18,301 5,724 12,576 18,488 5,654 12,835 165 152 171 175 163 182 Black.................................................. Men.................................................. Women................................................ 1,997 711 1,286 1,959 737 1,222 158 150 163 170 151 181 SEX AND AGE RACE, HISPANIC ORIGIN, AND SEX Hispanic origin........................................ Men.................................................. Women................................................ 1,896 640 1,256 2,027 716 1,310 175 183 170 NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. 175 174 176