There were approximately 38.5 million employed persons in the country in October 2013.  Of the total employed, 57.6 percent or 22.2 million were wage and salary workers.  Of this number, 8.3 million or 37.5 percent were women while 13.9 million or 62.5 percent were men (Table 1).  These findings are based on the October 2013 Labor Force Survey.  Wage and salary workers refer to those who work with pay in private households, private establishments, government and government-controlled corporations and those who work with pay in their own family-operated farm or business.

Three in every five of the female wage and salary workers work for private establishments

Out of the 8.3 million female wage and salary workers in October 2013, three in every five or 60.6 percent worked for private establishments, 19.7 percent worked for private households, 19.3 percent worked for government or government-controlled corporations, and 0.4 percent worked with pay in own family-operated farm or business (Figure 1 and Table 1).

In comparison, 87.3 percent of the male wage and salary workers in October 2013 worked for private establishments, 2.1 percent worked for private households and 10.1 percent worked for government or government-controlled corporations. 

One-third of the female wage and salary workers are college graduates

One-third or 33.0 percent of the female wage and salary workers were college graduates, while 27.0 percent were high school graduates.  One in every ten (9.7%) of them finished an elementary education (Figure 2 and Table 2).

In comparison, 14.7 percent of the male wage and salary workers were college graduates, 30.4 percent finished high school, and 13.0 percent were elementary graduates.

Four in five of the female wage and salary workers are in the services sector

Four in every five (78.4%) of the female wage and salary workers were working in the services sector.  Those in the industry sector comprised 13.0 percent, while those in agriculture sector, 8.7 percent (Figure 3 and Table 3).

In comparison, half of the male wage and salary workers were in the services sector. Those working in the industry sector made up 28.2 percent, while those in agriculture sector, 22.1 percent. 

Four in five female wage and salary workers are working full time

Of the total female wage and salary workers, those working for 40 hours and over in a week, or working full time made up 78.1 percent.  One in five (21.2%) of them worked for less than 40 hours per week or worked part-time.  Female wage and salary workers who were not working during the reference week accounted for less than 1.0 percent (Figure 4 and Table 3).

In comparison, of the male wage and salary workers, 75.9 percent were working full time and 23.2 percent were working part-time (Table 3).

The average number of hours worked per week by both male and female wage and salary workers is similar, that is, 43.8 hours for males and 43.4 hours for females.