2000 Occupational Employment and Wages — 2001-11-14

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor announces the release of national employment and wage estimates for wage and salary workers from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey. Legal, management, and computer and mathematical occupations are the highest paying occupations. The OES survey is a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs). The OES survey provides estimates of employment, average (mean) and median hourly wages, and mean annual wages for over 750 detailed occupations and for 22 major occupational groups, as defined by the Standard Occupational Classi- fication (SOC) system. (See Technical Note.) Table A displays the number and percentage of detailed occupations within each major occupational group, as well as the level and distribution of employment and the mean hourly wage for each occupational group. The major group with the largest employment is office and administrative support occupations, with almost 18 percent of total employment.