FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: FOR RELEASE:
Cheryl Abbot Wednesday,
Regional Economist January 30, 2008
(214) 767-6970
http://www.bls.gov/ro6/home.htm
HIGHLIGHTS OF NEW ORLEANS-METAIRIE-KENNER, LA
NATIONAL COMPENSATION SURVEY MAY 2007
Workers in the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metropolitan area earned an
average of $19.14 per hour in May 2007, according to new survey results from the
National Compensation Survey (NCS) released by the U.S. Department of Labors
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted
that wage data were reported for workers in a wide range of occupational groups,
including average hourly earnings of $25.71 for healthcare practitioner and
technical occupations and $19.13 for production occupations. Another occupational
group, office and administrative support, had a mean hourly wage rate of $15.02.
The NCS data available for the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner area include earnings
for 20 major occupational groups with additional detail for selected occupations
within those groups. (See table 1.)
Registered nurses, part of the healthcare practitioner and technical
occupational group, earned $31.30 per hour. Within the production occupational
group, machinists averaged $24.70 per hour and welding, soldering, and brazing
workers, $17.07. Secretaries and administrative assistants, an occupation within
the office and administrative support group, registered an average hourly rate of
$17.72, and bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks earned $11.76 per hour.
(See table 1.)
Broad coverage of selected occupational characteristics is available from NCS
for the local area. Full-time workers averaged $20.17 per hour while their part-
time counterparts earned $9.10. Union workers earned $21.57 and non-union
workers, $18.90. Workers in establishments with 1-99 workers averaged $16.33 per
hour, those in establishments with 100-499 workers earned $19.57, and those in
establishments with 500 or more employees earned $24.32.
The occupational wage data available from NCS may be used by businesses for
establishing pay plans, making decisions concerning plant relocation, and in
collective bargaining negotiations. Individuals may use such data to help choose
potential careers. NCS results also include the work level and respective
earnings for occupations determined by a point factor leveling process. The four
occupational leveling factors are: knowledge, job controls and complexity,
contacts, and physical environment. Details on the NCS are available at
http://www.bls.gov/ncs/home.htm.
The NCS data reported here covered 255 establishments with one or more
workers in private industry and State and local governments. Agricultural
establishments, private households, the self-employed, and the Federal Government
were excluded from the survey. This sample of establishments represented 477,800
workers in the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metropolitan area which is comprised of
Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist,
and St. Tammany Parishes in Louisiana.
Survey Availability
While supplies last, single copies of the bulletin are available from the
Southwest Information Office by calling (214) 767-6970 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00
a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT. In addition, data contained in the bulletin
are available on the Internet in both text and PDF formats at
http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/compub.htm.
Table 1. Civilian workers: Mean hourly earnings(1) for full-time and part-time workers(2),
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA, May 2007
===========================================================================================================
| | |
| Total | Full-time workers | Part-time workers
|---------------------|---------------------|----------------------
Occupation(3) | | Relative | | Relative | | Relative
| | error(4)| | error(4)| | error(4)
| Mean | (percent)| Mean | (percent)| Mean | (percent)
===========================================================================================================
All workers............................. $19.14 5.2 $20.17 5.3 $9.10 5.4
Management occupations................ 42.53 9.7 42.53 9.7
Engineering managers................ 60.65 9.2 60.65 9.2
Business and financial operations
occupations..................... 24.76 15.3 24.60 15.6
Accountants and auditors............ 21.48 27.9 21.48 27.9
Computer and mathematical science
occupations..................... 24.68 13.6 24.68 13.6
Architecture and engineering
occupations..................... 35.51 13.0 35.51 13.0
Engineers........................... 37.79 14.6 37.79 14.6
Life, physical, and social science
occupations..................... 28.76 10.1 28.76 10.1
Community and social services
occupations..................... 18.57 14.5 18.45 14.7
Social workers...................... 18.91 5.1 18.91 5.1
Education, training, and library
occupations..................... 31.98 7.2 32.53 7.3 9.58 32.4
Postsecondary teachers.............. 41.95 14.6 42.49 14.6
Miscellaneous postsecondary
teachers........................ 29.02 8.1 29.21 7.4
Primary, secondary, and special
education school teachers....... 34.23 2.9 34.23 2.9
Elementary and middle school
teachers........................ 32.27 2.9 32.27 2.9
Elementary school teachers,
except special education........ 32.35 .4 32.35 .4
Teacher assistants.................. 13.84 10.3 13.84 10.3
Arts, design, entertainment, sports,
and media occupations........... 18.21 15.9 18.21 15.9
Healthcare practitioner & technical
occupations..................... 25.71 3.1 26.01 3.3 16.78 20.0
Registered nurses................... 31.30 4.4 31.30 4.4
Clinical laboratory technologists
and technicians................. 18.29 3.5 18.29 3.5
Health diagnosing and treating
practitioner support
technicians..................... 14.90 7.0
Licensed practical and licensed
vocational nurses............... 18.75 11.7 18.73 12.1
Healthcare support occupations........ 16.37 27.6 16.67 27.6
Nursing, psychiatric, and home
health aides.................... 9.36 3.8 9.48 3.3
Nursing aides, orderlies, and
attendants...................... 9.39 2.5
Miscellaneous healthcare support
occupations..................... 12.12 8.7 12.12 8.7
Protective service occupations........ 14.44 5.3 14.15 3.9
Food preparation and serving related
occupations..................... 8.06 16.0 8.51 17.3 7.07 19.9
Cooks............................... 11.48 9.3 11.18 12.7
Food service, tipped................ 4.39 4.7 4.12 16.7 4.76 20.9
Waiters and waitresses............ 2.93 9.8 3.22 24.4
Food servers, nonrestaurant......... 7.84 17.5
Building and grounds cleaning and
maintenance occupations......... 9.81 3.1 9.74 4.2
Building cleaning workers........... 9.50 2.8 9.63 3.3
Janitors and cleaners, except
maids & housekeeping cleaners... 9.55 5.2
Maids and housekeeping cleaners... 9.63 5.2 9.63 5.2
Personal care & service occupations... 9.53 6.9 10.09 10.5 8.41 4.0
Sales and related occupations......... 17.36 24.8 19.92 25.2 8.07 10.2
First-line supervisors/managers,
sales workers................... 25.27 30.1 25.59 31.3
First-line supervisors/managers
of retail sales workers......... 17.36 28.1 17.51 29.9
Retail sales workers................ 10.12 14.5 11.48 10.9 7.89 9.0
Cashiers, all workers............. 8.53 4.4 8.31 2.5
Cashiers........................ 8.53 4.4 8.31 2.5
Office and administrative support
occupations..................... 15.02 4.6 15.28 4.7 10.97 7.7
Financial clerks.................... 12.13 8.0 12.47 10.0 10.76 8.5
Bookkeeping, accounting, and
auditing clerks................. 11.76 3.8 12.02 4.5
Tellers........................... 10.93 .3 10.65 2.3
Customer service representatives.... 20.14 5.4 20.14 5.4
Receptionists & information clerks.. 8.96 6.5 9.13 8.7
Secretaries and administrative
assistants...................... 17.72 3.8 17.80 3.9
Executive secretaries and
administrative assistants....... 20.19 6.1 20.19 6.1
Office clerks, general.............. 13.26 8.0 13.26 8.0
Construction and extraction
occupations..................... 18.97 2.1 18.85 1.5
Electricians........................ 19.42 1.0 19.09 1.0
Installation, maintenance, and repair
occupations..................... 19.10 8.2 19.10 8.2
Industrial machinery installation,
repair, & maintenance workers... 16.96 5.1 16.96 5.1
Production occupations................ 19.13 17.2 19.13 17.2
First-line supervisors/managers of
production & operating workers.. 25.47 26.0 25.47 26.0
Machinists.......................... 24.70 .0 24.70 .0
Welding, soldering, and brazing
workers......................... 17.07 .5 17.07 .5
Transportation and material moving
occupations..................... 14.93 9.7 15.60 9.2 8.78 10.5
Driver/sales workers and truck
drivers......................... 11.90 20.0 12.85 17.2
Sailors and marine oilers........... 14.79 8.0 14.79 8.0
Laborers and material movers, hand.. 10.44 1.6 10.56 2.1
Laborers and freight, stock, and
material movers, hand........... 10.43 2.3 10.49 2.7
===========================================================================================================
(1) Earnings are the straight-time hourly wages or salaries paid to employees. They include incentive
pay, cost-of-living adjustments, and hazard pay. Excluded are premium pay for overtime, vacations,
holidays, nonproduction bonuses, and tips. The mean is computed by totaling the pay of all workers
and dividing by the number of workers, weighted by hours. For more information see full publication.
(2) Employees are classified as working either a full-time or a part-time schedule based on the
definition used by each establishment. Therefore, a worker with a 35-hour-per-week schedule might be
considered a full-time employee in one establishment, but classified as part-time in another firm,
where a 40-hour week is the minimum full-time schedule.
(3) Workers are classified by occupation using the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system.
(4) The relative standard error (RSE) is the standard error expressed as a percent of the estimate.
It can be used to calculate a "confidence interval" around a sample estimate. For more information
about RSEs, see full publication.
NOTE: Dashes indicate that no data were reported or that data did not meet publication criteria.
Overall occupational groups may include data for categories not shown separately.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.
Last Modified Date: January 30, 2008
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