A Note on Average Hourly Earnings in Aircraft and Guided Missiles and Space Vehicles Manufacturing

Employment and Earnings, May, 2001

For many years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics average hourly earnings series for production workers in aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721) and guided missiles and space vehicles manufacturing (SCI 3761) have been used to escalate labor costs in contracts between aerospace companies and their customers. Although the Bureau's series by definition take account of traditional wage rate changes, they do not capture "lump-sum payments to workers in lieu of general wage increase" which were negotiated in aerospace manufacturers' collective bargaining agreements beginning in late 1983.

Because of special circumstances in the aerospace industry, BLS has calculated average hourly earnings series for SIC 3721 and SIC 3761 which include lump-sum payments. These series, beginning in October 1983, the effective date of the first aerospace bargaining agreement using lump-sum payments, were published in the June 1998 issue of Employment and Earnings. Current and year earlier data are presented in table B-15a along with the average hourly earnings series produced as part of the Current Employment Statistics program. An explanation of the methodology used to derive these series appears in the Explanatory Notes of this publication.