Fourth Quarter 2002 Wages and Employment (Discontinued) — 2003-07-15

The average weekly wages of all workers covered by state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) programs was $739 in the fourth quarter of 2002, an increase of 1.7 percent from the same quarter in 2001, according to preliminary data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Quarterly employment and wage data are compiled from reports submitted by employers subject to state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) laws, covering 129.3 million full- and part-time jobs. Average weekly wages are computed by dividing total quarterly payrolls of employees covered by UI programs by the average monthly number of these employees and dividing by 13, for the 13 weeks in the quarter. These wage levels reflect both the level of wages and salaries paid per employee during the quarter and nonwage cash payments, such as tips, bonuses, and some stock options and other contributions that these employees earned.