The primary difference between this report and the
low-wage recovery stories in the media is that we use
occupations to group jobs rather than industries. Industry
refers primarily to the employers and the kinds of products
and services they produce, whereas occupation classifies
a specific set of activities performed on the job. If only
the industry average earnings are used to sort jobs, then
everyone from the CEO to a janitor who works at the same
firm is assigned the same average pay. Yet the skills
required and the wages paid are vastly different among
workers who are employed in the same industry, but in
different occupations.