December 03, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Lowest paying occupations in 2001

The occupational groups with the lowest average wages in 2001 were the food preparation and serving related occupations, farming, fishing, and forestry occupations, building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations, and personal care and service occupations.

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Three of these four groups had average wages of less than $10.00 per hour. Food preparation and serving jobs averaged $8.04 per hour. Farming, fishing, and forestry workers earned $9.44 per hour and those in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance averaged $9.80. Personal care and service jobs paid $10.10 per hour.

In each of these four groups except for building and grounds cleaning and maintenance, over half of all workers earned less than $8.50 per hour. Fewer than 2-½ percent of workers in any of these groups earned the $27.25 or more that signified a worker in one of the top 3 (of 9) wage categories in 2001.

The BLS Occupational Employment Statistics program produced these data. Find more information on wages by occupation in 2001 in "Occupational Employment and Wages, 2001," news release USDL 02-619.