Technical information: (202) 606-6378 USDL 96-441 606-6373 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 606-5902 Thursday, October 24, 1996 USUAL WEEKLY EARNINGS OF WAGE AND SALARY WORKERS: THIRD QUARTER 1996 Median weekly earnings of the nation's 92.7 million full-time wage and salary workers were $488 in the third quarter of 1996, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This was 1.9 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 3.0 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 explanatory note.) Highlights from the third-quarter data are: ---Women who usually worked full time had median earnings of $415 a week, or 75.2 percent of the $552 median for men. The female-male earnings ratios were higher among blacks (89.6 percent) and Hispanics (88.5 percent) than among whites (73.3 percent). (See table 1.) ---Median earnings for black men working at full-time jobs were $405 per week, 70.2 percent of the median for white men ($577). The racial variation was much less among women, as black women's median earnings ($363) were 85.8 percent of those for their white counterparts ($423). Overall, median earnings of Hispanics who worked full time ($346) were lower than those of blacks ($383) and whites ($502). (See table 1.) ---The highest median weekly earnings for men who usually work full time were in the 45- to 54-year-age group ($693), with the median for 55- to 64- year-old men next, at $646. Among women, the highest-earning age group also was 45- to 54-year-olds, who had a median of $483; this was followed by 35- to 44-year-olds, with a median of $459. (See table 2.) ---Among the major occupational groups, persons employed full time in managerial and professional specialty occupations had the highest median weekly earnings--$837 for men and $614 for women--while men and women in service and farm jobs earned the least. (See table 3.) ---Full-time workers age 25 and over with less than a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $319, compared with $445 for high school graduates (no college) and $756 for college graduates. Among college graduates with advanced degrees (master's degree and above), the highest 10 percent of male workers earned more than $1,992, compared with more than $1,417 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 Bureau of the Census 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: 202-606-STAT; TDD phone: 202-606-5897; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-326-2577. Reliability In any sample survey, variations in the data can occur by chance because a sample, rather than the whole of the population, is surveyed. The standard error is a measure of such potential variation. The chances are about 68 out of 100 that an estimate from the survey differs from a figure that would be obtained from a complete census by less than one standard error. The chances are about 90 out of 100 that such a difference would be less than 1.6 standard errors. All statements of comparisons in the text of this release are significant at 1.6 or more standard errors. 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, taxes, 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). 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-to- 24 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 self-employed persons whose businesses are incorporated. - 2 - 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 of 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 Median weekly earnings (in thousands) Characteristic In current dollars In constant (1982) dollars III III 1995 1996 III III III III 1995 1996 1995 1996 SEX AND AGE Total, 16 years and over.................................. 90,686 92,703 $479 $488 $302 $299 Men, 16 years and over................................. 52,228 53,000 536 552 338 338 16 to 24 years....................................... 6,782 6,694 304 305 192 187 25 years and over.................................... 45,446 46,305 591 600 373 368 Women, 16 years and over............................... 38,458 39,703 405 415 255 254 16 to 24 years....................................... 4,805 4,756 269 280 170 172 25 years and over.................................... 33,653 34,947 432 443 273 272 RACE, HISPANIC ORIGIN, AND SEX White.................................................. 76,146 77,704 495 502 312 308 Men.................................................. 44,672 45,442 565 577 357 354 Women................................................ 31,474 32,262 415 423 262 260 Black.................................................. 10,628 11,060 380 383 240 235 Men.................................................. 5,309 5,402 406 405 256 248 Women................................................ 5,319 5,657 358 363 226 222 Hispanic origin........................................ 9,007 9,460 333 346 210 212 Men.................................................. 5,790 6,127 357 364 225 223 Women................................................ 3,217 3,333 305 322 192 197 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. Publication of data on family relationship has been temporarily suspended due to editing and weighting problems associated with the redesigned survey. Table 2. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by age, race, Hispanic origin, and sex, third quarter 1996 averages, not seasonally adjusted Total Men Women Age, race, and Hispanic origin Number Number Number of Median of Median of Median workers weekly workers weekly workers weekly (in earnings (in earnings (in earnings thousands) thousands) thousands) TOTAL 16 years and over......................................... 92,703 $488 53,000 $552 39,703 $415 16 to 24 years.......................................... 11,451 294 6,694 305 4,756 280 16 to 19 years........................................ 2,625 233 1,625 244 1,000 219 20 to 24 years........................................ 8,826 312 5,069 324 3,756 297 25 years and over....................................... 81,252 520 46,305 600 34,947 443 25 to 54 years........................................ 72,273 519 41,171 596 31,101 447 25 to 34 years...................................... 25,918 467 15,115 503 10,803 417 35 to 44 years...................................... 27,092 551 15,486 630 11,606 459 45 to 54 years...................................... 19,263 592 10,570 693 8,693 483 55 years and over..................................... 8,979 521 5,134 630 3,845 416 55 to 64 years...................................... 7,921 544 4,483 646 3,439 428 65 years and over................................... 1,058 372 651 473 406 325 White 16 years and over......................................... 77,704 502 45,442 577 32,262 423 16 to 24 years.......................................... 9,786 299 5,874 310 3,911 282 25 years and over....................................... 67,919 544 39,568 617 28,351 456 25 to 54 years........................................ 60,162 544 35,069 613 25,093 462 55 years and over..................................... 7,757 541 4,499 650 3,258 420 Black 16 years and over......................................... 11,060 383 5,402 405 5,657 363 16 to 24 years.......................................... 1,254 258 625 256 629 259 25 years and over....................................... 9,806 408 4,777 436 5,029 383 25 to 54 years........................................ 8,876 407 4,331 433 4,546 383 55 years and over..................................... 929 417 447 465 483 386 Hispanic origin 16 years and over......................................... 9,460 346 6,127 364 3,333 322 16 to 24 years.......................................... 1,567 275 1,085 272 482 280 25 years and over....................................... 7,892 374 5,041 395 2,851 336 25 to 54 years........................................ 7,267 373 4,649 391 2,618 341 55 years and over..................................... 626 383 393 443 233 300 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. Publication of data on family relationship has been temporarily suspended due to editing and weighting problems associated with the redesigned survey. 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 Median weekly earnings (in thousands) Occupation and sex III III III III 1995 1996 1995 1996 TOTAL Managerial and professional specialty.................... 26,443 27,291 $704 $710 Executive, administrative, and managerial.............. 13,200 13,761 680 683 Professional specialty................................. 13,243 13,530 724 731 Technical, sales, and administrative support............. 26,306 26,512 425 442 Technicians and related support........................ 3,316 3,290 562 557 Sales occupations...................................... 9,035 9,341 438 464 Administrative support, including clerical............. 13,956 13,882 401 410 Service occupations...................................... 9,885 10,484 299 302 Private household...................................... 358 393 193 211 Protective service..................................... 2,048 1,947 535 577 Service, except private household and protective....... 7,479 8,145 277 282 Precision production, craft, and repair.................. 11,323 11,271 524 545 Mechanics and repairers................................ 3,836 3,826 552 583 Construction trades.................................... 3,902 3,833 508 520 Other precision production, craft, and repair.......... 3,585 3,613 522 518 Operators, fabricators, and laborers..................... 15,080 15,495 379 387 Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors.......... 6,990 7,172 368 371 Transportation and material moving occupations......... 4,170 4,384 472 471 Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers.... 3,920 3,939 318 331 Farming, forestry, and fishing........................... 1,649 1,649 294 295 Men Managerial and professional specialty.................... 13,800 14,060 832 837 Executive, administrative, and managerial.............. 7,263 7,476 831 823 Professional specialty................................. 6,536 6,585 834 853 Technical, sales, and administrative support............. 10,136 10,270 554 548 Technicians and related support........................ 1,768 1,779 649 636 Sales occupations...................................... 5,054 5,245 570 569 Administrative support, including clerical............. 3,314 3,246 502 495 Service occupations...................................... 5,015 5,326 354 347 Private household...................................... 19 24 (1) (1) Protective service..................................... 1,757 1,678 $566 $592 Service, except private household and protective....... 3,239 3,623 300 300 Precision production, craft, and repair.................. 10,347 10,207 544 574 Mechanics and repairers................................ 3,681 3,646 555 584 Construction trades.................................... 3,845 3,750 510 523 Other precision production, craft, and repair.......... 2,821 2,811 583 593 Operators, fabricators, and laborers..................... 11,472 11,669 409 424 Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors.......... 4,362 4,369 $419 $429 Transportation and material moving occupations......... 3,926 4,102 477 486 Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers.... 3,184 3,198 322 342 Farming, forestry, and fishing........................... 1,457 1,468 302 304 Women Managerial and professional specialty.................... 12,644 13,231 611 614 Executive, administrative, and managerial.............. 5,937 6,286 574 575 Professional specialty................................. 6,707 6,945 643 653 Technical, sales, and administrative support............. 16,169 16,242 380 398 Technicians and related support........................ 1,547 1,511 468 491 Sales occupations...................................... 3,981 4,095 319 358 Administrative support, including clerical............. 10,641 10,636 382 395 Service occupations...................................... 4,869 5,159 263 270 Private household...................................... 339 368 198 213 Protective service..................................... 291 269 411 420 Service, except private household and protective....... 4,240 4,521 263 270 Precision production, craft, and repair.................. 976 1,065 349 362 Mechanics and repairers................................ 155 180 484 562 Construction trades.................................... 57 83 (1) (1) Other precision production, craft, and repair.......... 763 802 $325 $346 Operators, fabricators, and laborers..................... 3,608 3,826 304 308 Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors.......... 2,628 2,803 303 308 Transportation and material moving occupations......... 243 282 346 324 Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers.... 736 741 302 304 Farming, forestry, and fishing........................... 192 181 247 242 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, third quarter 1996 averages, not seasonally adjusted Number Upper limit of: of Characteristic workers (in First First Second Third Ninth thousands) decile quartile quartile quartile decile (median) SEX, RACE, AND HISPANIC ORIGIN Total, 16 years and over.................................. 92,703 $229 $317 $488 $733 $1,046 Men..................................................... 53,000 248 354 552 826 1,165 Women................................................... 39,703 212 289 415 613 863 White................................................... 77,704 234 328 502 755 1,074 Men................................................... 45,442 256 372 577 850 1,196 Women................................................. 32,262 215 295 423 623 880 Black................................................... 11,060 203 272 383 575 782 Men................................................... 5,402 215 286 405 608 892 Women................................................. 5,657 194 259 363 523 719 Hispanic................................................ 9,460 190 246 346 513 758 Men................................................... 6,127 194 254 364 547 813 Women................................................. 3,333 185 233 322 459 668 EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT Total, 25 years and over................................ 81,252 249 350 520 771 1,098 Less than a high school diploma....................... 8,337 186 236 319 450 630 High school graduates, no college..................... 26,686 236 314 445 623 844 Some college or associate degree...................... 22,997 270 369 521 734 974 College graduates, total.............................. 23,231 372 534 756 1,084 1,502 Bachelor's degree only.............................. 15,543 349 496 698 984 1,352 Advanced degree..................................... 7,689 454 634 918 1,268 1,767 Men, 25 years and over................................ 46,305 279 398 600 876 1,226 Less than a high school diploma..................... 5,508 197 264 362 509 711 High school graduates, no college................... 14,960 271 375 514 714 943 Some college or associate degree.................... 12,475 301 429 611 842 1,085 College graduates, total............................ 13,363 396 597 865 1,225 1,701 Bachelor's degree only............................ 8,932 378 564 792 1,125 1,501 Advanced degree................................... 4,430 477 685 1,011 1,447 1,992 Women, 25 years and over.............................. 34,947 227 308 443 642 898 Less than a high school diploma..................... 2,829 170 209 269 344 422 High school graduates, no college................... 11,727 209 278 371 502 668 Some college or associate degree.................... 10,522 244 325 445 605 782 College graduates, total............................ 9,869 349 484 660 909 1,193 Bachelor's degree only............................ 6,610 $325 $444 $608 $812 $1,069 Advanced degree................................... 3,258 439 593 792 1,072 1,417 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 Median weekly earnings (in thousands) Age, race, and Hispanic origin III III III III 1995 1996 1995 1996 SEX AND AGE Total, 16 years and over.................................. 19,787 20,045 $145 $150 Men, 16 years and over................................. 6,026 6,264 135 141 16 to 24 years....................................... 3,327 3,302 116 118 25 years and over.................................... 2,699 2,962 169 182 Women, 16 years and over............................... 13,761 13,781 149 155 16 to 24 years....................................... 4,149 4,279 113 116 25 years and over.................................... 9,612 9,502 171 182 RACE, HISPANIC ORIGIN, AND SEX White.................................................. 17,071 17,226 145 152 Men.................................................. 5,036 5,194 133 143 Women................................................ 12,035 12,032 151 157 Black.................................................. 1,949 1,968 139 138 Men.................................................. 697 733 136 131 Women................................................ 1,252 1,235 141 142 Hispanic origin........................................ 1,583 1,564 142 143 Men.................................................. 601 530 150 158 Women................................................ 981 1,034 137 138 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. Publication of data on family relationship has been temporarily suspended due to editing and weighting problems associated with the redesigned survey.