This table was prepared using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Report # 943: Highlights of Women's Earnings in 1999 published in May of 2000. (The report is in pdf format, and requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader.) That report contains additional data, including more breakdowns of job categories by more precise sub-categories, median wage for all employees in a given category, and the number of people employed in each category by gender. It also includes a history of the wage gap since 1979.
I have included sub-category breakdown information only when that detail shows significant variance of the experience of women in that category, either compared to the category averages, or within the sub-categories. For example, a category may show a high percentage of women employed in general, but the sub-category detail may show that the majority of the women in that general category are all employed in one or two sub-categories. In another instance, the sub-category median pay for women may vary widely from the median pay associated with the general category.
Operators, Fabricators, Laborers
Full-Time Workers - 1999 |
Occupational Categories
defined by the
Department of Labor
| Percent
Female
| Median Wage
| Female Wage
as % of
Male's |
| Female
| Male
|
|
| All |
23.0 |
337 |
472 |
71.4 |
| Operator/Assembler/Insp |
35.9
| 340 |
487 |
69.7 |
|
Machine Operators
|
35.2
|
326
|
481
|
67.8
|
|
Metalworking & Plastic
|
16.8
|
410
|
534
|
76.8
|
|
Metal/Plastic Processing
|
22.5
|
*
|
471
|
*
|
|
Woodworking
|
13.8
|
*
|
398
|
*
|
|
Printing
|
22.8
|
366
|
526
|
69.5
|
|
Textile/Apparel/Furnishings
|
71.7
|
282
|
348
|
80.9
|
|
Assorted Materials
|
30.9
|
350
|
487
|
71.9
|
|
Fabricators/Assemblers
|
33.1
|
365
|
495
|
73.8
|
|
Inspectors/Testers/Samplers
|
47.5
|
369
|
506
|
72.9
|
|
| Transportation/Materials |
7.2 |
394 |
522 |
75.5 |
|
Motor Vehicle Operators
|
8.1
|
389
|
524
|
74.2
|
|
Other Transportation
|
1.3
|
*
|
772
|
*
|
|
Material Moving Equipment
|
5.5
|
415
|
503
|
82.6
|
|
| Handlers/Laborers |
18.6 |
314 |
377 |
83.2 |
|
Construction/Extractive Help
|
2.8
|
*
|
330
|
*
|
|
Construction Laborers
|
3.5
|
*
|
413
|
*
|
|
Freight/Stock/Mat'l Handlers
|
22.6
|
318
|
375
|
85.0
|
|
Hand Packers/Packagers
|
58.1
|
305
|
338
|
90.2
|
|
Non-Construction Laborers
|
20.7
|
315
|
393
|
80.1
|
|
* Not shown where base is less than 50,000 workers.
Data from BLS Report: Highlights of Women's Earnings - 1999 (PDF) |
Median wage is the amount that divides a category's earning distribution into two equal groups: half of the workers in that category make more than that amount, and half of the workers make less than that amount. The median wage is calculated on "usual weekly earnings" - wages and salaries before taxes and other deductions, and include any overtime pay, commissions or tips usually received. Self-employed workers are excluded. The term "usual" is defined to mean more than half the weeks worked during the past 4 or 5 months.
