At the request of the Employment Standards Administration, the Bureau of Labor Statistics conducted a nationwide survey of private nonfarm industries, designed to provide comprehensive frequency distributions of nonsupervisory employees by average straight-time hourly earnings and weekly hours of work by coverage status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Including all private nonfarm industries except private household services, the survey data, which relate to a payroll period in April 1970, add a new dimension to the Department of Labor's continuing research program of evaluating the economic implications of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In addition to providing an overview of existing wage and hours structures and differences or similarities when viewed by industry, region, coverage status, or unionization, the survey provides the basis for ascertaining the benefits and the direct wage bill costs associated with proposed changes in labor provisions. Data, presented in extensive tables, indicate that: (1) The federal minimum wage is more important to employees in nonunionized than in unionized establishments, (2) The wage bill impact is greatest in the South, (3) Total hours worked during the survey week increased as average hourly earnings rose, and (4) Earnings were highest in previously covered industries, metropolitan areas, and the West, and lowest in retail trades, services, noncovered industries, and the South. (Author/AG)