Wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing Federal minimum wage by occupation and industry

NOTE: The prevailing Federal minimum wage was $7.25 per hour in 2011. Data are for wage and salary workers; all self-employed workers are excluded, both those with incorporated businesses and those with unincorporated businesses. The data refer to a person's earnings on the sole or principal job, and pertain only to workers who are paid hourly rates. Salaried workers and other non-hourly workers are not included. Hourly earnings for hourly-paid workers do not include overtime pay, commissions, or tips received. The presence of workers with hourly earnings below the minimum wage does not necessarily indicate violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as there are exceptions to the minimum wage provisions of the law. In addition, some survey respondents reported hourly earnings below the minimum wage even though they earned the minimum wage or higher. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. Effective with January 2011 data, occupations reflect the introduction of the 2010 Census occupational classification system into the Current Population Survey, or household survey. This classification system is derived from the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). No historical data have been revised. Occupational data for 2011 are not strictly comparable with earlier years.