January 27, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Women's earnings 76 percent of median for men in 1998

The median weekly earnings of women working full-time during 1998 were $456, compared with $598 for men. The female-male earnings ratio of 76 percent was slightly higher than the 74 percent reported in 1997. In 1998, the female-male earnings ratio was higher among Hispanics (86 percent) and blacks (85 percent) than it was among whites.

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Median weekly earnings for white men were $615, compared to $468 for white women.  Median earnings for black men were $468 per week; black women’s were $400.

Median earnings for Hispanics were lower than those for blacks or for whites.   Hispanic men had the second lowest average weekly earnings at $390, while Hispanic women had the lowest at $337.

These earnings data are produced by the Current Population Survey. More information can be found in news release USDL 99-15, "Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers, Fourth Quarter 1998."  The difference in earnings by gender and other demographic characteristics reflects a variety of influences, including variations in the distribution of workers by occupation, industry, firm size, and geographic region.