Hired Worker Wages, Number Up

WASHINGTON - Feb 17/06 - SNS -- More hired hands are working on farms than was the one year earlier and the average wages paid have risen 3%, according to the USDA.

There were 796,000 hired workers on U.S. farms and ranches during the week of January 8-14, 2006, up 3% from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 616,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 180,000 workers.

Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $10.11 per hour during the January 2006 reference week, up 33 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $9.15 per hour, up 44 cents from last January, while livestock workers earned $9.25 per hour compared with $9.20 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $9.19 per hour, was up 29 cents from last year.

The number of hours worked averaged 38.2 hours for hired workers during the survey week, up 3% from a year ago.

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