the fourth quarter of 2014 (not seasonally adjusted), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
This was 1.7 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 1.2 percent in the Consumer
Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the same period.
Highlights from the fourth-quarter data are:
Note: The Department of Labor does not adjust for differences in the types of jobs that men and women have, which would account for some of the differences in median weekly salary.
Median weekly earnings were $799 in the fourth quarter of 2014. Women who usually worked full time had median weekly earnings of $724, or 82.1 percent of the $882 median for men.
The women's-to-men's earnings ratio varied by race and ethnicity. White women earned 81.4 percent as much as their male counterparts, compared with black (90.3 percent), Asian (77.4
percent), and Hispanic women (86.2 percent).
Among the major race and ethnicity groups, median weekly earnings for black men working at full-time jobs were $667 per week, or 73.5 percent of the median for white men ($907). The difference was less among women, as black women's median earnings ($602) were 81.6 percent of those for white women ($738). Overall, median earnings of Hispanics who worked full time ($600) were lower than those of blacks ($621), whites ($823), and Asians ($959).
Usual weekly earnings of full-time workers varied by age. For men, those age 45 to 54 and age 55 to 64 had the highest median weekly earnings ($1,012 and $1,029, respectively). Weekly earnings were highest for women age 35 to 64: weekly earnings were $784 for women age 35 to 44, $774 for women age 45 to 54, and $790 for women age 55 to 64. Workers age 16 to 24 had the lowest median weekly earnings, at $493.
Among the major occupational groups, persons employed full time in management,
professional, and related occupations had the highest median weekly earnings—$1,366 for men and $999 for women. Men and women employed in service jobs earned the least, $588 and $470, respectively.
By educational attainment, full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $491, compared with $664 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,224 for those holding at least a bachelor's degree. Among college graduates with advanced degrees (professional or master's degree and above), the highest earning 10 percent of male workers made $3,508 or more per week, compared with $2,394 or more for their female counterparts.
"does not adjust for differences in the types of jobs that men and women have"
ReplyDeleteAnd when adjusted for all other differences (like hours per week) almost all of the pay differences disappear. Don't play into the totalitarian game.
Duh, I think that is Wenzel's point.
DeleteI can't imagine this is counting taxes. If the typical 16 year old could take home $12/hr, as this implies, there would be no such thing as poor people.
ReplyDeletePoor is a relative term. What we call poor, someone living in poverty in Haiti would call well off or even rich. So in relative terms to the rest of the world, the US already has very few poor people.
DeleteOT: If you listen to our politicians the US middle class is dieing. The funny thing is the "middle class is dieing" argument has been around since the Presidential election of 1896. I guess its the easiest way for American's to support policies that essentially vote themselves wealth.
This is talking about median incomes... which means half the people earn less. 16 year olds, for the most part, are the lowest of the low half.
ReplyDelete