June 10, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Women in managerial, professional occupations earn more than others

In 1998, women in managerial and professional occupations earned much more per week than women in other occupations. Their median weekly earnings were 56 percent greater than those of technical, sales, and administrative support workers, the next-highest category.

[Chart data—TXT]

Women in managerial and professional jobs earned $655 per week, while those in technical, sales, and administrative support jobs made $419. Workers in the third-highest group—precision production, craft, and repair—earned $408 per week.

In the remaining categories, workers earned less than half of what managers and professionals made. The median weekly earnings of operators, fabricators, and laborers were $327, and for service workers, weekly earnings were $296. Women with farming, forestry, and fishing jobs made the least per week, $272.

These data on earnings are produced by the Current Population Survey. More information can be found in "Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 1998," BLS Report 928.