Median usual weekly earnings (second quartile), Employed full time, Wage and salary workers, Black or African American

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a sample survey of the population 16 years of age and over. The survey is conducted each month by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides comprehensive data on the labor force, the employed, and the unemployed, classified by such characteristics as age, sex, race, family relationship, marital status, occupation, and industry attachment. The information is collected by trained interviewers from a sample of about 60,000 households located in 754 sample areas chosen to represent all counties and independent cities in the United States, with coverage in 50 States and the District of Columbia.

Earnings data are available for all workers, with data available by age, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, sex, occupation, usual full- or part-time status, educational attainment, and other characteristics. The earnings data are collected from one-quarter of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers are excluded. Most series pertain to workers who usually work full time on their sole or primary job.

Data represent earnings before taxes and other deductions, and include any overtime pay, commissions, or tips usually received. Earnings reported on a basis other than weekly (for example, annual, monthly, hourly) are converted to weekly. The term "usual" is as perceived by the respondent — if asked for a definition, interviewers define it as more than half the weeks worked during the past 4 or 5 months. Median earnings figures indicate the value that divides the earnings distribution into two equal parts. The medians shown are calculated by linear interpolation of the $50 centered interval within which each median falls. Data expressed in constant dollars are deflated by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Quarterly averages, not seasonally adjusted, are available for all series, as are annual averages. Updates are usually available with the issuance of the quarterly usual weekly earnings news release. Annual average data are available in the fourth quarter news release.

References: Employment and Earnings, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics