April 01, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Women's earnings up relative to men's in 2002

Median weekly earnings of women increased at a faster pace than those of men in 2002—3.9 percent versus 1.9 percent.

[Chart data—TXT]

This faster pace was reflected in the earnings of white and black workers. Earnings of white women increased by 5.6 percent, compared with a 2.2-percent rise for those of white men. Black women’s earnings rose 5.1 percent compared with a 1.2-percent gain for black men. In contrast, earnings for Hispanic men were up 3.4 percent from 2001 to 2002 while Hispanic women’s earnings grew by 2.9 percent. 

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information on labor market trends in 2002, see "U.S. labor market in 2002: continued weakness," by Terence M. McMenamin, Rachel Krantz, and Thomas J. Krolik, Monthly Labor Review, February 2003.

 

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