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October 14, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Women's earnings as a percentage of men's, 2008

Women's earnings as a percent of men's, by race and ethnicity, 1979–2008
Year (1) Women's earnings as a percent of men's
  Total     White   Black or
African American
  Asian   Hispanic or
Latino ethnicity

1979

62.3 61.7 74.4 71.7

1980

64.2 63.4 75.8 73.5

1981

64.4 63.1 76.9 75.7

1982

65.7 64.5 78.1 75.5

1983

66.5 65.6 78.9 78.5

1984

67.6 66.8 79.5 77.7

1985

68.1 67.2 82.6 77.7

1986

69.5 67.9 82.8 80.6

1987

69.8 68.2 84.4 82.0

1988

70.2 68.4 82.8 84.4

1989

70.1 69.3 86.5 85.4

1990

71.9 71.5 85.3 87.4

1991

74.2 73.7 86.1 90.4

1992

75.8 75.3 88.2 89.1

1993

77.1 76.5 88.8 90.5

1994

76.4 74.6 86.5 88.9

1995

75.5 73.3 86.4 87.1

1996

75.0 73.8 87.9 88.8

1997

74.4 74.6 86.8 85.7

1998

76.3 76.1 85.5 86.4

1999

76.5 75.7 83.8 85.7

2000

76.9 75.8 84.1 79.9 87.8

2001

76.4 75.8 85.8 76.9 88.2

2002

77.9 77.9 90.3 74.9 88.0

2003

79.4 79.3 88.5 77.5 88.4

2004

80.4 79.8 88.8 76.4 87.3

2005

81.0 80.2 89.3 80.6 87.7

2006

80.8 80.0 87.8 79.3 87.1

2007

80.2 79.4 88.8 78.1 91.0

2008

79.9 79.3 89.4 78.0 89.6

Footnotes:
(1) The comparability of historical labor force data has been affected at various times by methodological and conceptual changes in the Current Population Survey (CPS).

NOTE: Beginning in 2003, estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) include persons who selected this race group only; persons who selected more than one race group are not included. Prior to 2003, persons who reported more than one race were included in the group they identified as the main race. Data for 2000-02 are for the category Asians and Pacific Islanders. Starting in 2003, Asians constitute a separate category. For more information, see the Historical Comparability documentation. Data for Asians were not tabulated prior to 2000.

These data featured in the TED article, Women's earnings as a percentage of men's, 2008.

 

 

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