Manufacturing workers receive 17 percent higher total hourly compensation than those in nonmanufacturing sectors, according to the U.S. Commerce Department's Economics and Statistics Administration's The Benefits of Manufacturing jobs, which studies wages and benefits of manufacturing works.
This higher figure also includes premiums in wages as well as employer-provided benefits, such as health insurance and retirement plans.
The report also reveals that there are more manufacturing workers with at least a high school diploma, and now 53 percent of all manufacturing workers have some college education. Today's manufacturing jobs have a greater focus on science, technology, engineering and math than nonmanufacturing industries. In fact, 32 percent of college-educated manufacturing workers have jobs in these areas compared to 10 percent in nonmanufacturing positions.
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"Today's report is welcome and important news on America's job front: Manufacturing employment means higher wages and important benefits for Americans and their families," says Commerce Secretary John Bryson. "My priority as commerce secretary is to support American manufacturers in building things here and selling them everywhere, and today's analysis underscores the importance of the resurgence in U.S. manufacturing to our middle class.
Average hourly wages and salaries for manufacturing jobs hit $29.75 an hour as opposed to $27.47 an hour for nonmanufacturing jobs, the report finds. While total hourly compensation, including employer-provided benefits, is $38.27 for workers in manufacturing jobs, it is only $32.84 for workers in nonmanufacturing jobs, representing a 17 percent premium. The higher wages and benefit premiums in manufacturing jobs are even true after considering demographic, geographic and job characteristics.
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