respondents are asked, among other things, how much each wage and salary worker usually earns. Highlights from the second-quarter data are:
- Women who usually worked full time had median earnings of $652 per week, or 80.0 percent of the $815 median for men. The female-to-male earnings ratios were higher among blacks (91.5 percent) and Hispanics (88.9 percent) than among whites (79.1 percent) or Asians (80.6 percent).
- Median earnings for black men working at full-time jobs were $620 per week, 73.6 percent of the median for white men ($842). The difference was smaller among women, as black women's median earnings ($567) were 85.1 percent of those for white women ($666). Overall, median earnings of Hispanics who worked full time ($547) were lower than those of blacks ($592), whites ($754), and Asians ($909).
- Among men, those age 45 to 54 and age 55 to 64 had the highest median weekly earnings, $961 and $964, respectively. Among women, weekly earnings were highest for those ages 55 to 64 ($721).
- Among the major occupational groups, persons employed full time in management, professional, and related occupations had the highest median weekly earnings--$1,250 for men and $900 for women. Persons employed in service jobs earned the least.
- Full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $465, compared with $630 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,140 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 $3,434 or more per week, compared with $2,130 or more for their female counterparts.
