. 3 ; !<t 03 / Co/y <zmyer) EMPLOYEE EARNINGS IN SELECTED METROPOLITAN AREAS OF THE SOUTH JUNE 1961-JUNE 1962 DRURY COLLEGE LIBRARY U. S. DEPOSITORY COPY AUG 3 1 1964 Bulletin No. 1403 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Ewan Clague, Commissioner Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis EMPLOYEE EARNINGS IN SELECTED METROPOLITAN AREAS OF THE SOUTH JUNE 1961-JUNE 1962 Bulletin No. 1403 July 1964 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Ewan Clague, Commissioner For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 20402 - Price 30 cents Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Preface This bulletin presents estimates of employment and earnings for nonsupervisory employees in manufac­ turing and selected nonmanufacturing industries in nine metropolitan areas of the South with populations of between 100,000 and 150,000. The results of this survey relate to June of 1961 and 1962 which permit an examination of wage changes occurring during a period when the Federal minimum wage was increased from $1 to $1.15, and a $ 1 minimum wage was extended to workers brought under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for the first time on September 3, 1961. The survey, made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was part of a broad pro­ gram of studies initiated by the Department of Labor for continuing appraisal of Federal minimum wage legislation. The Wage and Hour and Public Contracts Divisions participated in the planning of the survey and provided the necessary funds. This study was conducted in the Bureau's Division of National Wage and Salary Income by Norman J. Samuels, Chief of the Division, under the general direction of L. R. Linsenmayer, Assistant Commissioner for Wages and Industrial Relations. The analysis was prepared by Joseph K. Cocco, under the immediate supervision of Herbert Schaffer. m Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Contents P age S u m m a ry ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 C h a r a c te r istic s------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Selected metropolitan areas of the South: A m a rillo , T e x --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 A sh e v ille , N. C -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 D urham , N. C ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 H u n tsville, A la -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 L ake C h a rles, L a -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 L exington, K y---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 M onroe, L a ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 T u sca lo o sa , A la ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 W ichita F a lls , T e x ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 C harts: 1. Pay levels for manufacturing and nonmanufacturing industries in 9 southern metropolitan areas, June 1962 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 2. Wage distribution for nonsupervisory employees at $1.15 Federal minimum wage in manufacturing and at $ 1 Federal minimum wage in retail trade, June 1961 and June 1962------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 T ables: Percentage distribution of nonsupervisory employees by average straight-time hourly earnings, selected industry groups, June 1961 and June 1962: 1. A m a rillo , T e x --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 2. A sh e v ille , N. C -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 3. D urham , N . C ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 4. H u n tsville, A la -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26 5. Lake C h a rles, L a -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 6. L exington, Ky---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 7. M onroe, L a ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 8. T u sca lo o sa , A la ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 9. W ichita F a lls , T e x ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 Appendixes: A . Scope and m ethod of su r v e y -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33 B . Q u estion n aire---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35 v Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Employee Earnings in Selected Metropolitan Areas of the South, June 1961 and June 1962 Sum m ary Pay levels for nonsupervisory workers in nine southern metropolitan areas selected for study1 differed by as much as 44 percent, ranging from $1.51 an hour in Asheville, N. C. , to $2.18 in Lake Charles, La., in June 1962. Among the remaining areas, however, average earnings differed by no more than 10 percent, from $1.70 to $1.87 an hour, as shown on chart 1. The proportions of workers earning less than $1 an hour varied from 6 to 13 percent, while from 21 to 34 percent averaged less than $1.25 an hour among the nine areas. Comparatively greater differences were found in the proportion of workers earning $ 2 or more an hour, which ranged from 16 to 55 percent. The dispersion of individual earnings for the middle half of the area workers varied widely as shown in the following tabulation. Earnings were com­ pressed over a 57-cent range in Asheville, compared with a spread of $1.69 in Lake Charles. The range of such earnings was less than $ 1 in four other areas and more than $ 1 in the remaining three areas. The extent to which the wage distribution departed from symmetry in each of the areas is reflected in the difference between the mean (the arithmetic average of all the individual hourly earnings) and the median (the amount below and above which earnings for 50 percent of the workers are found). Such differences varied from 4 cents an hour in Lake Charles, to 27 cents an hour in Huntsville, Ala. , and were at least 14 cents in five other areas. Average (mean) earnings exceeded median earnings in each of the nine areas. Cents-per-hour advantage of the mean over the Area Interquartile range1 median Amarillo, Tex----------------------- $1.26—$2. 17 $0.20 Asheville, N. C --------------------- 1.19— 1.76 .09 Durham, N. C ----------------------- 1.21— 2.17 .08 Huntsville, A la --------------------- 1.20- 2.29 .27 Lake Charles, La------------------- 1.30— 2.99 .04 Lexington, Ky ----------------------- 1.24— 2.30 .14 Monroe, L a -------------------------- 1» 18— 2,16 .15 Tuscaloosa, Ala .-------------------- 1.17— 2.40 .18 Wichita Falls, Tex ---------------- 1.21— 2.07 .18 1 The limits of the interquartile range and the median were determined by interpolation within a 5- or 10-cent wage interval shown in the tables. In manufacturing industries, the level of straight-time earnings for nonsupervisory employees ranked lowest in Asheville at $ 1. 58 an hour and highest in Lake Charles at $2. 69. Manufacturing averages were between $ 1. 7 5 and $ 2 an hour in four other areas and above $2 in two others.1 2 Relatively few factory 1 The survey covered most major industry divisions except agriculture and government in 9 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the South which had populations of 100,000 to 150,000 (according to the 1960 census). Other industry exceptions were petroleum and natural gas production; railroad transportation; and nonprofit religious, charitable, educational, and humane organizations. See appendix A for a more detailed description of the scope and method of survey and definitions of terms. 2 Insufficient data were obtained for manufacturing in Huntsville, Ala. , to warrant separate presentation. 1 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Chart 1. Pay Levels for Manufacturing and Nonmanufacturing Industries in 9 Southern Metropolitan Areas, June 1962 AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS $ 3 .0 0 $ 3 . 0 0 $ 2 . 5 0 $ 2 . 5 0 $ 2.00 $ 2.00 $ 1 5 0 $ 1 .5 0 $1 00 $ 1.00 ASHVILLE,