May 06, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Lowest paying occupations in May 2003

The lowest-paying major groups of occupations in May 2003 were food preparation and serving related occupations and farming, fishing, and forestry occupations.

Major occupational groups with lowest mean hourly wages, May 2003
[Chart data—TXT]

Those in food preparation and serving related jobs had a mean hourly wage of $8.31, while those in farming, fishing, and forestry jobs had an average wage of $9.71. The next lowest paid groups were building grounds cleaning and maintenance ($10.12), personal care and service ($10.28), and healthcare support ($10.94).

The BLS Occupational Employment Statistics program produced these data. Find more information on wages by occupation in May 2003 in "Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04-752.

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