For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Friday, July 17, 2020 USDL-20-1380 Technical information: cpsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cps Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov USUAL WEEKLY EARNINGS OF WAGE AND SALARY WORKERS SECOND QUARTER 2020 Median weekly earnings of the nation's 104.5 million full-time wage and salary workers were $1,002 in the second quarter of 2020 (not seasonally adjusted), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was 10.4 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 0.4 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the same period. Data on usual weekly earnings are collected as part of the Current Population Survey, a nationwide sample survey of households in which respondents are asked, among other things, how much each wage and salary worker usually earns. (See the Technical Note in this news release.) Data shown in this news release are not seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified. ___________________________________________________________________________ | | | Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact on Second Quarter 2020 | | Household Survey Data | | | | Usual weekly earnings data for the second quarter of 2020 continue to | | reflect the impact on the labor market of the coronavirus (COVID-19) | | pandemic and efforts to contain it. Changes in weekly earnings in | | recent quarters must be interpreted with caution. The unusually large | | increase in median weekly earnings in the second quarter reflects the | | fact that employment declined more for lower-paid workers than for | | higher-paid workers. More information on labor market developments in | | recent months is available at | | www.bls.gov/cps/employment-situation-covid19-faq-june-2020.pdf. | |___________________________________________________________________________| Highlights from the second-quarter data: --Median weekly earnings of full-time workers were $1,002 in the second quarter of 2020. Women had median weekly earnings of $913, or 84.0 percent of the $1,087 median for men. (See table 2.) --The women's-to-men's earnings ratio varied by race and ethnicity. White women earned 83.3 percent as much as their male counterparts, compared with 93.7 percent for Black women, 77.1 percent for Asian women, and 85.1 percent for Hispanic women. (See table 2.) --Among the major race and ethnicity groups, median weekly earnings of Blacks ($806) and Hispanics ($786) working at full-time jobs were lower than those of Whites ($1,018) and Asians ($1,336). By sex, median weekly earnings for Black men were $831, or 74.5 percent of the median for White men ($1,116). Median earnings for Hispanic men were $843, or 75.5 percent of the median for White men. The difference was less among women, as Black women's median earnings were $779, or 83.8 percent of those for White women ($930), and earnings for Hispanic women were $717, or 77.1 percent of those for White women. Earnings of Asian men ($1,479) and women ($1,141) were higher than those of their White counterparts. (See table 2.) --By age, median weekly earnings were highest for men ages 35 to 64: weekly earnings were $1,239 for men ages 35 to 44, $1,271 for men ages 45 to 54, and $1,220 for men ages 55 to 64. Usual weekly earnings were highest for women age 35 and over: median weekly earnings were $1,011 for women ages 35 to 44, $1,005 for women ages 45 to 54, $972 for women ages 55 to 64, and $998 for women age 65 and over. Men and women ages 16 to 24 had the lowest median weekly earnings, $640 and $594, respectively. (See table 3.) --Among the major occupational groups, persons employed full time in management, professional, and related occupations had the highest median weekly earnings-- $1,606 for men and $1,168 for women. Men and women employed in service occupations earned the least, $704 and $584, respectively. (See table 4.) --By educational attainment, full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $630, compared with $789 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,416 for those holding at least a bachelor's degree. Among college graduates with advanced degrees (master's, professional, and doctoral degrees), the highest earning 10 percent of male workers made $3,997 or more per week, compared with $2,910 or more for their female counterparts. (See table 5.) --Seasonally adjusted median weekly earnings increased to $1,006 in the second quarter of 2020. (See table 1.)