October 19, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Nationwide earnings data by occupation from National Compensation Survey now available
According to a new
BLS survey program, average hourly earnings of State and local government
workers were $17.82 in 1997, about 24 percent higher than the average of
$14.39 for the private industry workers covered by the survey.
![Mean hourly earnings for selected occupations, private industry and State and local government, National Compensation Survey, 1997](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120925100918im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/1999/Oct/wk3/art02.gif)
[Chart data—TXT]
Differences between earnings in private industry and State and local
government varied by occupational group. Among executive, administrative,
and managerial workers, those in private industry earned more than the
government employees ($27.86 per hour versus $23.95). Hourly wages of
administrative support employees were about the same in private industry—$11.54—as
in State and local government—$11.50.
Workers in service occupations earned much more in State and local
government than in private industry. Service workers in State and local
government averaged $13.26 per hour, well above the $7.51 average in
private industry.
A wide variety of additional information is available from the new
National Compensation Survey program. For example, wages for a specific
occupation such as mechanical engineer are published separately when
publication criteria are met.
These data on earnings are a product of the National
Compensation Survey program, which
conducts establishment-based surveys. Note that the 1997 NCS covered
establishments with 50 or more employees. An overview of the initial NCS
results for the nation is in "National Compensation Survey Produces
First Nationwide Results" (PDF
56K), by John Buckley, Compensation and Working
Conditions, Fall 1999.
Additional information can be found in National Compensation Survey:
Occupational Wages in the United States, 1997, BLS Bulletin 2519 (PDF
922 K). Reports
on earnings in individual areasof
the country can also be obtained.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »