2. Distribution of production workers by hourly earnings 1. All manufacturing - Number and cumulative number of workers All manufacturing - Percent and cumulative percent of workers 3. Durable-and nondurable-goods industries - Number of workers. 4. Durable-and nondurable-goods industries Percent of workers. 5. All manufacturing (men) Percent and cumulative percent of workers 6. All manufacturing (women) workers Percent and cumulative percent of Number and cumulative number of 7. All manufacturing (men) 8. workers workers 9. Durable-goods industries 10. Durable-goods industries Percent of men and women 23 24 25 Selected industry groups Percent of workers 26 Number and average hourly earnings of production workers 14. All manufacturing by sex, and by selected industry groups 31 CHARTS: 1. Percentages of production workers in manufacturing earning less than specified amounts per hour, April 1954 2 2. Distribution of production workers in manufacturing by hourly earnings, April 1954. 3. Cumulative distributions of production workers in manufacturing by hourly earnings, April 1954 4. Cumulative percentage distributions of production workers in 5. Earnings of production workers in manufacturing, April 1954 7. durable-goods and nondurable-goods manufacturing by hourly Cumulative percentage distributions of men and women production Scope and method of study APPENDIX 10 11 12 13 32 Factory Workers' Earnings: Distributions by Straight-Time Hourly Earnings April 1954 1/ Summary The United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics provides in this report the results of a broad survey of the straight-time hourly earnings (exclusive of premium pay for overtime and work on weekends, holidays, and late shifts) of factory workers in the United States. The survey provides information on the number of factory workers in various wage intervals between 75 cents and $3 an hour. Nationwide, an estimated 380,000 factory workers, or 3 percent of the total, earned less than 80 cents an hour; 817,000, or 6.5 percent, under 90 cents; 1,282,000, or 10.2 percent, under $1; and 2,823,000, or 22.4 percent, under $1.25. The upper 25 percent of the factory labor force earned $2 or more an hour. Earnings distributions differed among the 4 broad regions adopted for this study. Thus, the proportion of factory workers earning less than 90 cents an hour was 1.1 percent in the Far West, 2.3 percent in the Middle West, 4.1 percent in the Northeast, and 20.2 percent in the South (chart 1). Average hourly earnings, exclusive of premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends, holidays, and late shifts, were recorded as follows: Nationwide, $1.68; Far West, $1.94; Middle West, $1.80; Northeast, $1.67; and South, $1.36. Pay levels were higher in durable-goods industries as a group than in nondurablegoods industries; within each of these groups the level of earnings for men exceeded the level for women. Proportions of workers earning less than 90 cents an hour were: Durable goods, all workers-4.2 percent, men-3.9 percent, women-6.0 percent; and nondurable goods, all workers-9.7 percent, men 4.2 percent, women-18.4 percent. Hourly averages and the proportions of workers at lower earnings levels varied greatly among 12 industry groups examined separately. In half of these groups, fewer than 5 percent of the workers earned less than 90 cents an hour in April 1954; the largest proportion (25 percent) was found in the lumber and furniture products group. All manufacturing industries The more than 12 million production workers employed in manufacturing industries in April 1954 were distributed among more than 200,000 establishments in 469 separate industries. Substantial differences exist among these establishments and industries in the types of labor skills utilized, proportions of men and women employed, and the extent to which wage incentive plans are in effect. Numerous surveys of occupational earnings conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics over a period of years have revealed intraindustry as well as interindustry differences in wage levels within labor markets. Similarly, interregional differences in pay for work in comparable jobs and industries also exist. These are among the factors reflected in the spread in earnings as shown in the distributions and averages presented in the accompanying tables and charts. Approximately one-fourth of the 12,590,000 production workers earned less than $1.30 an hour, half earned between $1.30 and $2, and the upper fourth earned $2 or more. About 23,000 workers, or 0.2 percent of the total workers employed, earned less than the 75-cent Federal minimum wage." Cumulatively, 380,000 workers, or 3 percent of the total, 1 Prepared in the Bureau's Division of Wages and Industrial Relations. The statistical and sampling techniques were developed by Samuel E. Cohen and Theodore Golonka; the analytical work was under the supervision of Toivo P. Kanninen, assisted by L. Earl Lewis; 2 See description of Scope and Method of Study, p. 32. The Standard Industrial Classification Manual (November 1945 edition), prepared by the Bureau of the Budget, lists 469 industries under 21 major groups. Some manufacturing establishments, such as small logging camps, are not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Provision is also made in the Act for exempting, under certain conditions, learners, apprentices, and handicapped workers. Chart 1. PERCENTAGES OF PRODUCTION WORKERS IN MANUFACTURING EARNING LESS THAN SPECIFIED AMOUNTS PER HOUR, APRIL 1954 earned less than 80 cents; 817,000, or 6.5 percent, under 90 cents; and 1,282,000, or 10.2 percent, under $1 (tables 1 and 2). Particular interest attaches to the 90-cent figure in view of the recommendation of President Eisenhower in his State of the Union message of January 6, 1955, for an increase in the statutory minimum wage of 75 cents to 90 cents an hour. For purposes of this study, the 48 States and the District of Columbia were grouped into four broad regions. The 9 Northeastern States accounted for 4,498,000 production workers, or 36 percent of the nationwide total. Employment in the South-16 States and the District of Columbia-aggregated 2,564,000, or 20 percent of the total. Twelve Midwestern States accounted for 4,378,000 workers, or 35 percent of the total, and 11 States in the Far West accounted for 1,150,000 workers, or 9 percent. The proportions of factory workers earning less than any given amount varied significantly among the regions particularly at the lower levels of earnings. Thus, the proportion of factory workers earning less than 90 cents an hour was 1.1 percent in the Far West, 2.3 percent in the Middle West, 4.1 percent in the Northeast, and 20.2 percent in the South. Of the 817,000 workers earning less than 90 cents an hour in April 1954, 12,000 were employed in the Far West, 100,000 in the Middle West, 186,000 in the Northeast, and 519,000 in the South. Although the South accounted for only 20 percent of the total production-worker employment in factories, it accounted for 64 percent of all factory workers in the Nation earning less than 90 cents an hour. Among those earning less than $1 an hour about 60 percent were found in the South (chart 2). These variations in the regional distribution of workers by straight-time earnings are reflected in regional differences in the general level of earnings. As already indicated, in manufacturing as a whole, production workers averaged $1.68 an hour, exclusive of premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends, holidays, and late shifts. The corresponding regional averages were $1.94 in the Far West, $1.80 in the Middle West, $1.67 in the Northeast, and $1.36 in the South. Except in the South and Northeast, median earnings (the amount below and above which 50 percent of the workers were found) did not differ significantly from the weighted averages (means) cited above (chart 5). Thus, for manufacturing as a whole, the median was $1.67, only 1 cent below the mean; in the Far West, the median ($1.92) was 2 cents below the mean; in the Midwest area the two figures were approximately the same. In the Northeast, however, the median ($1.62) was 5 cents below the mean and in the South, the median ($1.25 was 11 cents below. The divergences between mean and median in the South, and to a lesser extent in the Northeast, are due principally to the industrial composition of these areas, coupled with the 75-cent legal limit below which wages generally are not permitted to fall. For example, in the relatively low-wage industries in the South, such as lumber, large groups of workers are concentrated at or near the legal minimum, whereas in higher wage southern industries the proportions of workers are more evenly distributed over a comparatively wide range. By contrast, the distributions of earnings in the Middle West and Far West are characterized by the lack of any concentration at or near the legal minimum, and in general by greater symmetry. Durable and nondurable goods 6 Durable-goods industries as a group had a higher wage level than nondurable-goods industries. Nationwide, the 7,309,000 durable-goods workers averaged $1.78 an hour compared with $1.54 for the 5,281,000 workers in nondurable-goods plants. Among durablegoods workers, a fourth earned less than $1.50, half earned between $1.50 and $2.05, and the remainder, $2.05 or more an hour. Slightly less than a fourth of the nondurable-goods workers earned less than $1.10, half earned between $1.10 and $1.85, and the remainder earned $1.85 or more (tables 3 and 4). For listing of states in each region, see Scope and Method of Study, p. 33. industries. |