live in the same building in which they conduct their business and thus can charge part of the rent or mortgage payments as a business expense.

In contrast to most of the occupational groups, self-employed professional workers have substantially higher incomes than wage and salary workers in these occupations. In 1960, self-employed professional men, with an average annual income of almost $11,000, earned about $4,000 more than salaried workers in this group. In professional occupations, unlike most other fields of work, self-employment is very often the goal, as it is often possible to command a higher income with a private practice.

Personal Characteristics. Self-employed persons are substantially older, on the average, than wage and salary workers; the difference in median age exceeded 8 years in 1961. Much of the concentration of the self-employed in older age groups results from the time often required to accumulate sufficient capital and skill to start a business. Older workers are attracted to self-employment because of the opportunity to maintain an income and to work at their own pace, even after compulsory retirement age. On the other hand, younger workers generally do not determine career interests until they have had several years of experience, often spanning many different jobs. Most of the self-employed are men-78 percent in 1961, slightly less than in 1948 (81 percent). Only 22 percent of the self-employed are women, contrasted with one-third of the total employed. However, the proportion of self-employed women is expected to rise in coming years in line with their increased labor force participation and career interests.

A comparison by age groups of the ratio of selfemployed men to total nonfarm employed reveals a steady increase of self-employment in each age bracket. (See table 9.) In 1961, only 3 percent of the 14- to 24-year-old men were self-employed, as compared with 30 percent of those 65 and older. Every age group between 25 and 64 recorded a declining proportion of self-employed between 1948 and 1961. No change was shown for those under 25 where self-employment is still negligible. A notable exception to the trend was shown among men 65 and over. However, the actual number of self-employed in this group has not risen significantly since 1948; the 3 percentage point increase was actually a result of earlier retirements among wage and salary workers.

In contrast to the self-employed, the majority of unpaid family workers are women. In 1961, their median age was 45 years-an increase of 5 years since 1948-which approximated the median age of their self-employed husbands. More than half of the male unpaid family workers are under 20, generally still in school, and working in the family business after school.

Nonwhite workers enter self-employment less frequently than white workers. Only 4.7 percent of the nonwhite nonagricultural employed were self-employed in 1961. In agriculture, the ratio was significantly higher at 24 percent. These percentages were less than half those for white workers. The infrequency of self-employment among nonwhite workers probably results from the same circumstances which bar young people from setting up their own business. However, selfemployment among nonwhites will probably increase as they rise in economic status and obtain improved educational opportunities.

Earnings in Retail Trade, June 1961

MORE THAN 6 million nonsupervisory employees represented in the Bureau of Labor Statistics nationwide survey of retail trade averaged $1.62 an hour at straight-time rates in June 1961. Fourteen percent of the workers earned less than $1 an hour, 37 percent less than $1.25, and 23 percent $2 or more an hour. Average weekly earnings varied from $11.67 for employees who worked less than 35 hours to $85.06 for those who worked 44 hours. This article highlights the survey results, examines some of the wage relationships which affect the level and distribution of earnings in retail trade, and compares the present findings with those for October 1956.

Characteristics of Retail Trade

Retail establishments distribute the goods produced for personal, household, and farm consumption. Stores provide the major outlet for the sale of retail merchandise, supplemented by mail-order houses, direct selling organizations, and automatic vending machines. Retail establishments range in size from individually operated stores to large department stores. The 1958 Census of Business revealed that nearly 478,000 retail establishments (excluding eating and drinking places) had fewer than 4 paid employees, and about 122,000 establishments had 10 or more paid employees. Total volume of sales in large-size establishments, however, was substantially greater than in the smaller ones. In number of outlets, the retail industry was dominated by single-unit firms, which accounted for almost nine-tenths of the total number of establishments (excluding eating and drinking places) and for nearly two-thirds of the total sales. Because the retail industry serves the entire population, retail activity extends to even the smallest rural community. Of the more than 6 million nonsupervisory employees included in the

June 1961 BLS study, about 1.8 million, or 30 percent, were employed outside metropolitan areas. Twenty-six percent of the nonsupervisory employees were located in the Northeast, 29 percent in the South, 30 percent in the North Central region, and 15 percent in the West.

Retail trade, as defined in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual prepared by the Bureau of the Budget, is divided into seven major groups (excluding eating and drinking places): Building materials, hardware, and farm equipment; general merchandise; food; automotive dealers and gasoline service stations; apparel and accessories; furniture, home furnishings, and household appliances; and miscellaneous retail stores. These groups, in turn, are divided into 79 separate lines of business, which differ in their labor force requirement, method of wage payment, product lines, profit margins, and other characteristics. For example, the majority of workers in limited price variety stores, women's ready-to-wear stores, drugstores, and department stores were women, while men dominated employment in the other lines of business for which data are shown separately in this article. The majority of workers in each line of business were located in metropolitan areas, but the proportions differed from 60 percent for motor vehicle dealers to 85 percent for department stores. Enterprises with gross annual sales of $1 million or more employed all but 5 percent of the workers in department stores and a majority in limited price variety

1 The survey included all retail establishments (except eating and drinking places) with one or more paid employees located in the 50 States and the District of Columbia. The survey was conducted on a sample basis and was designed to yield national and regional estimates for each of the major kinds of retail business groups as well as some specific lines of retail business. More comprehensive information on the scope and method and the results of the overall study is presented in BLS Bulletin 1338-8, Employee Earnings in Retail Trade, June 1961. Separate bulletins are provided for each major retail group: 1338-1, Building Materials, Hardware, and Farm Equipment Dealers; 1338-2, General Merchandise Stores; 1338-3, Food Stores: 1338-4, Automotive Dealers and Gasoline Service Stations; 1338-5, Apparel and Accessory Stores; 1338-6, Furniture, Home Furnishings, and Household Appliances, and 1338-7, Miscellaneous Retail Stores.

2 The straight-time hourly earnings presented in this article differ in concept from the gross average hourly earnings published in the Bureau's monthly hours and earnings series. Unlike the latter, the estimates presented here exclude premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends, holidays, and late shifts.

stores, grocery stores, and at motor vehicle dealers.

Occupational requirements varied within and among business lines. Virtually all retail stores employ salesmen, but in smaller stores, selling may be combined with such other functions as buying, recordkeeping, credit management, and advertising. In large stores, employees usually specialize in these functions. Some nonselling occupations require special skills and are peculiar to certain retail operations. Some sales positions require limited training, while others demand a thorough knowledge of the merchandise and experience in handling customers.

Wage payments on a time basis as well as in the form of commissions and bonuses are quite The wide range of common in retail trade. earnings found in retail trade reflects, in part, the extensive use of the latter methods.

Seasonal fluctuations in consumer demand produce changes in employment levels. Sales for many lines of business increase sharply durier, certain periods, such as Christmas and Eastng creating a need for a supplementary work force. Regular part-time employees are needed because of daily and weekly variation in numbers of customers and for those stores which are open long hours to the public.

All of these factors affect the levels and distributions of earnings found in retail trade. They are, however, interrelated and the extent to which any one of these factors influence wages has not been established.

Overall Earnings

The mid-June 1961 earnings for the 6.1 million retail trade nonsupervisory employees covered by the study were widely distributed; pay for ninetenths of the workers ranged from 75 cents to $3 an hour, with the middle half of the workers earning from $1.07 to $1.93 an hour. The nationwide average of $1.62 an hour was exceeded by 3 cents in the North Central region, 12 cents in the Northeast, and 39 cents in the West. Average earnings in the South, on the other hand, were 30 cents below the national average. Differences in regional averages reflect the variation s in the distribution of employee earnings. In the South, for example, 31 percent of the workers earned less than $1 an hour, and 12 percent, $2 or

Excludes eating and drinking places.

The regions used in this study include: Northeast-Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South-Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; North Central-Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; and West-Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. NOTE: Dashes indicate less than 0.5 percent.

more an hour. In the West, all but 3 percent earned at least $1 an hour and 40 percent earned $2 or more. (See table 1.)

Grouping employees by community size showed that earnings in metropolitan areas averaged 24 percent higher than those in nonmetropolitan areas. A fourth of the workers in the lower paid areas (almost three times the proportion in the higher paid areas) received less than $1 an hour; nearly three-tenths in the higher paid areas (twice the proportion in the former areas) earned $2 or more an hour, as shown on page 46.

part of an enterprise or company with at leas $1 million in annual gross sales.3

In the $1 million sales-size enterprises, employee in establishments with annual sales of $250,000 or more averaged $1.78 an hour, 31 percen higher than employees in establishments with smaller sales volume. More than a fourth o the workers in the latter establishments (thre times the proportion in the former establishments earned less than $1. The 42-cent-an-hour wag difference between the two groups of establish ments was reduced to 29 cents for enterprises with less than $1 million in annual sales. A fifth of the workers in the smaller sales-size establishments (almost twice the proportion found in the larger sales-size establishments) earned less than $1. (See table 2.)

When average earnings were compared for establishments of the same sales-size group but part of different sales-size enterprises, higher pay levels were not consistently found in establishments which were part of enterprises with the higher sales volume. For example, employees in establishments with sales of $250,000 or more which were part of the larger enterprises averaged 9 cents an hour more than employees in establishments of similar size in smaller enterprises. In establishments with sales of less than $250,000, on the other hand, average earnings were 4 cents an hour higher in those establishments which were part of enterprises with annual sales of less than $1 million.

The sales-size classes are included in the definition of retail establishments subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act as amended on May 5, 1961. Generally, retail enterprises with $1 million or more in annual gross sales are subject to the act. Retail establishments which are part of such enterprises are exempt if annual sales are less than $250,000. For other exemptions and the complete definition, see Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1961 (Public Law 87-30).

Selected Lines of Retail Business

Average hourly earnings among the lines of business for which data are shown separately ranged from $1.08 in limited price variety stores to $2.04 at motor vehicle dealers (table 3). For the two largest employers of retail workers, grocery stores and department stores (accounting for 17 and 13 percent of the work force, respectively), average pay did not vary by more than 4 percent from the overall average.

Sharp differences in earnings existed among some lines of business within the same major retail group. In the apparel and accessories group, for example, women's ready-to-wear stores

by kinds of retail business. The selection of business lines is based on their numerical importance in retail trade employment.

NOTE: Dashes indicate less than 0.5 percent.

paid an hourly average of $1.36 and men's clothing stores, an average of $1.75 an hour. The automotive dealers and gasoline service stations group included gasoline service stations paying $1.29 on the average and motor vehicle dealers paying $2.04 an hour.

Significant proportions of workers earning less than $1 were found in limited price variety stores, drugstores, and gasoline service stations. The largest proportions of workers earning at least $2 an hour were found in the higher paying retail operations where the commission form of wage payments was quite common, such as motor vehicle dealers, furniture and appliance stores, shoe stores, and men's clothing stores. Grocery