September 7, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Service, farm workers have highest
poverty rates
In 1997, workers in service
occupations and agricultural jobs had double-digit poverty rates. The poverty rate for
service workers was 12.1 percent while the rate for workers in farming, forestry, and
fishing was 16.0 percent.
![Poverty rate by occupation of the longest job held, persons in labor force for 27 weeks or more, 1997](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120921220256im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/1999/Sept/wk2/art01.gif)
[Chart data—TXT]
Workers in other occupations had poverty rates below 10
percent. The proportion living below the poverty level ranged from just 1.8 percent for
persons in managerial and professional specialty occupations to 7.3 percent for persons
working as operators, fabricators, and laborers.
Poverty rates varied within the major occupational groups, especially within service
occupations. For private household workers, the poverty rate in 1997 was 22.3 percent, and
for protective service workers it was 3.1 percent. Among all other workers in service
occupations (such as waiters and waitresses, dental assistants, janitors, and
beauticians), 13.0 percent lived below the poverty level.
These data on poverty rates are from the Current
Population Survey. The above figures are for individuals who spent at least 27 weeks
in the labor force in 1997. Find out more in "A Profile of the Working Poor,
1997," BLS Report 936.
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 »