Full text of The Employment Situation : December 2008

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News

United States
Department
of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Washington, D.C. 20212

Technical information:
Household data:
(202) 691-6378
http://www.bls.gov/cps/

USDL 09-0004

Establishment data:
(202) 691-6555
http://www.bls.gov/ces/
Media contact:
(202) 691-5902

Transmission of material in this release
is embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EST),
Friday, January 9, 2009.

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: DECEMBER 2008
Nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply in December, and the unemployment rate rose from
6.8 to 7.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment fell by 524,000 over the month and by 1.9 million over the last 4 months of 2008. In
December, job losses were large and widespread across most major industry sectors.
Chart 1. Unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted,
January 2006 – December 2008

Chart 2. Nonfarm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted,
January 2006 – December 2008
Millions

Percent

8.0

140.0

7.5

138.0

7.0

136.0

6.5

134.0

6.0
5.5

132.0

5.0

130.0

4.5

128.0

4.0
2006

2007

2008

2006

2007

2008

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
In December, the number of unemployed persons increased by 632,000 to 11.1 million and the unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of

Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data
Seasonally adjusted household survey data have been revised using updated seasonal
adjustment factors, a procedure done at the end of each calendar year. Seasonally adjusted
estimates back to January 2004 were subject to revision. The unemployment rates for JanuaryNovember 2008 (as originally published and as revised) appear on page 5, along with
additional information about the revisions.

2
Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
Quarterly averages
Category

III 2008

IV 2008

Monthly data
Oct. 2008

Dec. 2008

Nov.-Dec.
change

154,447
143,338
11,108
80,588

-173
-806
632
380

6.8
6.7
5.6
20.4
6.2
11.3
8.6

7.2
7.2
5.9
20.8
6.6
11.9
9.2

0.4
.5
.3
.4
.4
.6
.6

p 136,013
p 20,867
p 6,934
p 13,130
p 115,146
p 15,032
p 17,563
p 19,059
p 13,490
p 22,507

p 135,489
p 20,616
p 6,833
p 12,981
p 114,873
p 14,966
p 17,450
p 19,104
p 13,468
p 22,514

p -524
p -251
p -101
p -149
p -273
p -67
p -113
p 45
p -22
p7

p 33.3
p 39.9
p 3.0

p -0.2
p -.4
p -.3

Nov. 2008

Labor force status

HOUSEHOLD DATA
Civilian labor force …………….…………… 154,650
Employment …………………….………… 145,299
9,350
Unemployment ……………….……………
Not in labor force ………………….………… 79,460

154,648
144,046
10,602
80,177

154,878
144,657
10,221
79,734

154,620
144,144
10,476
80,208

Unemployment rates
All workers ……………….……………....…
Adult men …………………....……...……
Adult women ………….……………………
Teenagers ………….………………...……
White ……….………….…...……………
Black or African American ………….……
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ………..……

6.0
5.8
5.0
19.7
5.4
10.7
7.8

6.9
6.8
5.6
20.7
6.3
11.5
8.9

6.6
6.4
5.4
20.7
6.0
11.3
8.8
Employment

ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Nonfarm employment ……….……...……… 137,331
21,351
Goods-producing 1…...…...………………
Construction ..…...…………….…………
7,141
Manufacturing …………………....……
13,423
Service-providing 1 ………...……..……… 115,980
15,259
Retail trade 2 …...…………….…..……
Professional and business service ….....… 17,849
Education and health services …..…….… 18,975
Leisure and hospitality …...…………….
13,627
Government ………...…………………… 22,504

p 136,033
p 20,844
p 6,929
p 13,115
p 115,189
p 15,043
p 17,574
p 19,058
p 13,505
p 22,510

136,597
21,049
7,019
13,234
115,548
15,132
17,708
19,012
13,557
22,510

Hours of work 3
Total private ……...…………...……………
Manufacturing …………….……...………
Overtime ……...………………..…….…

33.7
40.8
3.7

p 33.4
p 40.2
p 3.3

33.5
40.4
3.5

p 33.5
p 40.3
p 3.3

Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100) 3
Total private ……...………………….………

106.6

p 104.5

105.3

p 104.7

p 103.5

p -1.2

p $18.36
p 611.39

p $0.05
p -2.00

Earnings 3
Average hourly earnings, total private …...…
Average weekly earnings, total private …….
1

$18.12
610.15

p $18.30
p 611.83

$18.23
610.71

p $18.31
p 613.39

Includes other industries, not shown separately.
Quarterly averages and the over-the-month change are calculated using unrounded data.
3
Data relate to private production and nonsupervisory workers.
p = preliminary.
NOTE: Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised. See note on page 5.
2

3

unemployed persons has grown by 3.6 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 2.3 percentage
points. (See table A-1.)
The unemployment rates for adult men (7.2 percent), adult women (5.9 percent), and whites (6.6
percent) increased in December. The jobless rates for teenagers (20.8 percent), blacks (11.9 percent),
and Hispanics (9.2 percent) were little changed over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was
5.1 percent in December, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs rose
by 315,000 to 6.5 million in December. Over the past 12 months, the size of this group has increased by
2.7 million. (See table A-8.) The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or
more) rose to 2.6 million in December and was up by 1.3 million in 2008. (See table A-9.)
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
The civilian labor force (154.4 million) and the labor force participation rate (65.7 percent) were
little changed in December. The employment-population ratio fell by 0.4 percentage point to 61.0
percent over the month and by 1.7 percentage points in 2008. (See table A-1.)
In December, the number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons (sometimes
referred to as involuntary part-time workers) continued to increase, reaching 8.0 million. The number of
such workers rose by 3.4 million over the past 12 months. This category includes persons who would
like to work full time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they
were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-5.)
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
About 1.9 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in
December, 564,000 more than 12 months earlier. These individuals wanted and were available for work
and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed
because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally
attached, there were 642,000 discouraged workers in December, up by 279,000 from a year earlier.
Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work specifically because they believe no
jobs are available for them. The other 1.3 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in
December had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school
attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)
Total nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply (-524,000) in December. Over the past 4
months, payroll employment has fallen by 1.9 million, or 1.4 percent. In December, large job losses
continued in manufacturing, construction, and employment services, while health care continued to add
jobs. (See table B-1.)
Manufacturing employment fell by 149,000 in December, the largest over-the-month decline since
August 2001. Factory job losses totaled 791,000 in 2008, with nearly half of the decrease occurring in
the fourth quarter. In December, declines were widespread among the component industries. The
largest job losses occurred in fabricated metal products (-28,000) and motor vehicles and parts
(-21,000).

4

Employment in construction continued to decline (-101,000) in December and has fallen by 899,000
since peaking in September 2006. Over the month, job losses occurred throughout the industry.
Within professional and business services, the temporary help industry lost 81,000 jobs in
December, bringing job losses in 2008 to 490,000. In December, employment also fell in the
management of companies and enterprises (-8,000) and in architectural and engineering services
(-7,000).
Employment in retail trade declined by 67,000 in December and by 522,000 for all of 2008. More
than half of the losses in 2008 occurred in the last 4 months of the year. In December, employment
decreased in automobile dealerships (-22,000), furniture and home furnishing stores (-8,000), and
electronics and appliance stores (-5,000). Wholesale trade employment fell by 30,000 over the month
and by 164,000 in 2008.
Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, employment in transportation and warehousing declined
by 24,000 in December, with losses in truck transportation (-16,000) and air transportation (-4,000).
The information industry lost 20,000 jobs over the month. Food services employment continued to
trend downward (-20,000) and has decreased by 104,000 since its recent peak in June 2008.
Employment in financial activities edged down in December and fell by 148,000 in 2008.
Health care employment continued to grow in December (32,000), with over-the-month job gains in
ambulatory services (14,000) and hospitals (12,000). In 2008, health care added 372,000 jobs.
The change in total nonfarm employment for October was revised from -320,000 to -423,000, and
the change for November was revised from -533,000 to -584,000. Monthly revisions result from
additional sample reports and the monthly recalculation of seasonal factors.
Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
In December, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm
payrolls fell by 0.2 hour to 33.3 hours, seasonally adjusted—the lowest level on record for the series,
which began in 1964. The manufacturing workweek, at 39.9 hours, declined by 0.4 hour over the
month, and factory overtime, at 3.0 hours, declined by 0.3 hour. (See table B-2.)
The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm
payrolls fell by 1.1 percent in December and 4.0 percent since peaking in December 2007. The manufacturing index declined by 2.4 percent over the month. (See table B-5.)
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
In December, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, seasonally adjusted. This followed gains of 8 cents in

5

November and 6 cents in October. For all of 2008, average hourly earnings increased by 3.7 percent and
average weekly earnings rose by 2.2 percent. (See table B-3.)
______________________________

The Employment Situation for January 2009 is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 6, at
8:30 A.M. (EST).

Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data
At the end of each calendar year, BLS routinely updates the seasonal adjustment factors for the
labor force series derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS), or household survey. As a result
of this process, seasonally adjusted data for January 2004–November 2008 were subject to revision.
Table B shows the unemployment rates for January to November 2008, as first published and as
revised. The rates were unchanged in 5 of the 11 months and changed by one-tenth of a percentage
point in the remaining 6 months. Revised seasonally adjusted data for other major labor force series
beginning in December 2007 appear in table C.
An article describing the seasonal adjustment methodology for the household survey data and
revised data for January 2008–November 2008 is available at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsrs2009.pdf.
Historical data for the household series contained in the A tables of this release can be accessed at
http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsatabs.htm. Revised historical seasonally adjusted monthly and quarterly data
for additional series are available on the Internet at ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/.
Table B. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates and changes due to revision,
January–November 2008
Year and month

As first
published

As revised

Change

4.9
4.8
5.1
5.0
5.5
5.5
5.7
6.1
6.1
6.5
6.7

4.9
4.8
5.1
5.0
5.5
5.6
5.8
6.2
6.2
6.6
6.8

0.0
.0
.0
.0
.0
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1

2008
January .......................................
February .....................................
March .........................................
April ...........................................
May ............................................
June ............................................
July ............................................
August ........................................
September ..................................
October ......................................
November ..................................

6
HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table C. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age, seasonally adjusted
2007

2008

Employment status, sex, and age
Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

TOTAL
Civilian noninstitutional population1 ...................... 233,156 232,616 232,809 232,995 233,198 233,405 233,627 233,864 234,107 234,360 234,612 234,828 235,035
Civilian labor force .............................................. 153,836 153,873 153,498 153,843 153,932 154,510 154,400 154,506 154,823 154,621 154,878 154,620 154,447
Participation rate ...........................................
66.0
66.1
65.9
66.0
66.0
66.2
66.1
66.1
66.1
66.0
66.0
65.8
65.7
Employed .......................................................... 146,294 146,317 146,075 146,023 146,257 145,974 145,738 145,596 145,273 145,029 144,657 144,144 143,338
Employment-population ratio ........................
62.7
62.9
62.7
62.7
62.7
62.5
62.4
62.3
62.1
61.9
61.7
61.4
61.0
Unemployed .....................................................
7,541
7,555
7,423
7,820
7,675
8,536
8,662
8,910
9,550
9,592 10,221 10,476 11,108
Unemployment rate ......................................
4.9
4.9
4.8
5.1
5.0
5.5
5.6
5.8
6.2
6.2
6.6
6.8
7.2

Men, 20 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population1 ...................... 104,197 103,866 103,961 104,052 104,152 104,258 104,371 104,490 104,613 104,741 104,869 104,978 105,083
Civilian labor force .............................................. 78,943 78,907 78,806 78,866 78,820 78,913 79,055 79,286 79,308 79,392 79,380 79,335 78,998
Participation rate ...........................................
75.8
76.0
75.8
75.8
75.7
75.7
75.7
75.9
75.8
75.8
75.7
75.6
75.2
Employed .......................................................... 75,496 75,474 75,395 75,216 75,147 74,992 74,949 74,973 74,737 74,503 74,292 74,045 73,285
Employment-population ratio ........................
72.5
72.7
72.5
72.3
72.2
71.9
71.8
71.8
71.4
71.1
70.8
70.5
69.7
Unemployed .....................................................
3,446
3,433
3,412
3,650
3,673
3,921
4,106
4,313
4,572
4,889
5,088
5,290
5,714
Unemployment rate ......................................
4.4
4.4
4.3
4.6
4.7
5.0
5.2
5.4
5.8
6.2
6.4
6.7
7.2

Women, 20 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population1 ...................... 111,903 111,739 111,822 111,902 111,990 112,083 112,183 112,290 112,401 112,518 112,633 112,731 112,825
Civilian labor force .............................................. 67,888 67,982 67,879 68,174 68,118 68,367 68,421 68,273 68,666 68,385 68,700 68,753 68,891
Participation rate ...........................................
60.7
60.8
60.7
60.9
60.8
61.0
61.0
60.8
61.1
60.8
61.0
61.0
61.1
Employed .......................................................... 64,976 65,101 64,993 65,079 65,196 65,114 65,169 65,103 65,003 65,008 64,975 64,902 64,860
Employment-population ratio ........................
58.1
58.3
58.1
58.2
58.2
58.1
58.1
58.0
57.8
57.8
57.7
57.6
57.5
Unemployed .....................................................
2,912
2,881
2,886
3,095
2,923
3,252
3,252
3,170
3,662
3,377
3,725
3,851
4,031
Unemployment rate ......................................
4.3
4.2
4.3
4.5
4.3
4.8
4.8
4.6
5.3
4.9
5.4
5.6
5.9

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian noninstitutional population1 ......................
Civilian labor force ..............................................
Participation rate ...........................................
Employed ..........................................................
Employment-population ratio ........................
Unemployed .....................................................
Unemployment rate ......................................

17,056
7,005
41.1
5,822
34.1
1,183
16.9

17,012
6,984
41.1
5,742
33.8
1,241
17.8

17,027
6,813
40.0
5,688
33.4
1,125
16.5

17,041
6,803
39.9
5,729
33.6
1,075
15.8

17,056
6,993
41.0
5,914
34.7
1,079
15.4

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation.
NOTE: Seasonally adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.

17,064
7,231
42.4
5,868
34.4
1,363
18.9

17,073
6,924
40.6
5,620
32.9
1,304
18.8

17,084
6,947
40.7
5,520
32.3
1,427
20.5

17,092
6,849
40.1
5,533
32.4
1,316
19.2

17,101
6,844
40.0
5,518
32.3
1,326
19.4

17,110
6,799
39.7
5,390
31.5
1,408
20.7

17,118
6,531
38.2
5,196
30.4
1,335
20.4

17,126
6,557
38.3
5,194
30.3
1,363
20.8

7

Changes to Household Data Table A-13
Effective with this release, the wording was changed in one of the categories in table
A-13. "Searched for work and available to work now," was changed to "Marginally attached
to the labor force." This is strictly a change in title, and not in definition; the data shown are
not affected. This change is being made to correspond with the text in the release.

Revisions in the Establishment Survey Data
With the release of January 2009 data on February 6, 2009, the Current Employment
Statistics survey will introduce revisions to the nonfarm payroll employment, hours, and
earnings data to reflect the annual benchmark adjustments for March 2008 and updated
seasonal adjustment factors. Not seasonally adjusted data beginning with April 2007 and
seasonally adjusted data beginning with January 2004 are subject to revision.

Planned Changes in the Household Survey
Effective with the release of data for January 2009, revisions will be introduced into the
population controls for the household survey. These changes reflect the routine annual updating of intercensal population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau.
In addition, the Current Population Survey (household data) will change its industry classification from the 2002 Census Industry Classification to an updated version derived from the
2007 North American Industry Classification System. Several industry titles will be updated.
In addition, the new classification reflects minor definitional changes within the information
sector. Historical data will not be revised.

8

Frequently Asked Questions about Employment and Unemployment Estimates
Why are there two monthly measures of employment?
The household survey and establishment survey both produce sample-based estimates of employment and both have strengths and limitations. The establishment survey employment series has a
smaller margin of error on the measurement of month-to-month change than the household survey
because of its much larger sample size. An over-the-month employment change of 104,000 is statistically significant in the establishment survey, while the threshold for a statistically significant change in
the household survey is about 400,000. However, the household survey has a more expansive scope
than the establishment survey because it includes the self-employed, unpaid family workers, agricultural workers, and private household workers, who are excluded by the establishment survey. The
household survey also provides estimates of employment for demographic groups.
Are undocumented immigrants counted in the surveys?
Neither the establishment nor household survey is designed to identify the legal status of workers.
Thus, while it is likely that both surveys include at least some undocumented immigrants, it is not
possible to determine how many are counted in either survey. The household survey does include
questions about whether respondents were born outside the United States. Data from these questions
show that foreign-born workers accounted for 15.7 percent of the labor force in 2007 and 47.7 percent
of the net increase in the labor force from 2000 to 2007.
Why does the establishment survey have revisions?
The establishment survey revises published estimates to improve its data series by incorporating
additional information that was not available at the time of the initial publication of the estimates.
The establishment survey revises its initial monthly estimates twice, in the immediately succeeding
2 months, to incorporate additional sample receipts from respondents in the survey and recalculated
seasonal adjustment factors. For more information on the monthly revisions, please visit
http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesrevinfo.htm.
On an annual basis, the establishment survey incorporates a benchmark revision that re-anchors
estimates to nearly complete employment counts available from unemployment insurance tax records.
The benchmark helps to control for sampling and modeling errors in the estimates. For more information on the annual benchmark revision, please visit http://www.bls.gov/web/cesbmart.htm.
Does the establishment survey sample include small firms?
Yes; about 40 percent of the establishment survey sample is comprised of business establishments
with fewer than 20 employees. The establishment survey sample is designed to maximize the reliability
of the total nonfarm employment estimate; firms from all size classes and industries are appropriately
sampled to achieve that goal.
Does the establishment survey account for employment from new businesses?
Yes; monthly establishment survey estimates include an adjustment to account for the net employment change generated by business births and deaths. The adjustment comes from an econometric
model that forecasts the monthly net jobs impact of business births and deaths based on the actual past

9

values of the net impact that can be observed with a lag from the Quarterly Census of Employment and
Wages. The establishment survey uses modeling rather than sampling for this purpose because the survey is not immediately able to bring new businesses into the sample. There is an unavoidable lag between the birth of a new firm and its appearance on the sampling frame and availability for selection.
BLS adds new businesses to the survey twice a year.
Is the count of unemployed persons limited to just those people receiving unemployment insurance
benefits?
No; the estimate of unemployment is based on a monthly sample survey of households. All persons
who are without jobs and are actively seeking and available to work are included among the unemployed.
(People on temporary layoff are included even if they do not actively seek work.) There is no requirement or question relating to unemployment insurance benefits in the monthly survey.
Does the official unemployment rate exclude people who have stopped looking for work?
Yes; however, there are separate estimates of persons outside the labor force who want a job,
including those who have stopped looking because they believe no jobs are available (discouraged
workers). In addition, alternative measures of labor underutilization (discouraged workers and other
groups not officially counted as unemployed) are published each month in the Employment Situation
news release.

Technical Note
This news release presents statistics from two major surveys, the
Current Population Survey (household survey) and the Current
Employment Statistics survey (establishment survey). The household survey provides the information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment that appears in the A tables, marked
HOUSEHOLD DATA. It is a sample survey of about 60,000 households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS).
The establishment survey provides the information on the
employment, hours, and earnings of workers on nonfarm payrolls that
appears in the B tables, marked ESTABLISHMENT DATA. This
information is collected from payroll records by BLS in cooperation
with state agencies. The sample includes about 160,000 businesses
and government agencies covering approximately 400,000 individual
worksites. The active sample includes about one-third of all nonfarm
payroll workers. The sample is drawn from a sampling frame of
unemployment insurance tax accounts.
For both surveys, the data for a given month relate to a particular
week or pay period. In the household survey, the reference week is
generally the calendar week that contains the 12th day of the month. In
the establishment survey, the reference period is the pay period including the 12th, which may or may not correspond directly to the
calendar week.

Coverage, definitions, and differences
between surveys
Household survey. The sample is selected to reflect the entire
civilian noninstitutional population. Based on responses to a series of
questions on work and job search activities, each person 16 years and
over in a sample household is classified as employed, unemployed, or
not in the labor force.
People are classified as employed if they did any work at all as
paid employees during the reference week; worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm; or worked without pay at least
15 hours in a family business or farm. People are also counted as
employed if they were temporarily absent from their jobs because of
illness, bad weather, vacation, labor-management disputes, or personal
reasons.
People are classified as unemployed if they meet all of the following
criteria: They had no employment during the reference week; they were
available for work at that time; and they made specific efforts to find
employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with the
reference week. Persons laid off from a job and expecting recall need
not be looking for work to be counted as unemployed. The unemployment data derived from the household survey in no way depend upon
the eligibility for or receipt of unemployment insurance benefits.
The civilian labor force is the sum of employed and unemployed
persons. Those not classified as employed or unemployed are not
in the labor force. The unemployment rate is the number unemployed
as a percent of the labor force. The labor force participation rate is
the labor force as a percent of the population, and the employmentpopulation ratio is the employed as a percent of the population.

Establishment survey. The sample establishments are drawn
from private nonfarm businesses such as factories, offices, and stores,
as well as federal, state, and local government entities. Employees on
nonfarm payrolls are those who received pay for any part of the reference pay period, including persons on paid leave. Persons are counted
in each job they hold. Hours and earnings data are for private businesses and relate only to production workers in the goods-producing
sector and nonsupervisory workers in the service-providing sector.
Industries are classified on the basis of their principal activity in
accordance with the 2007 version of the North American Industry
Classification System.
Differences in employment estimates. The numerous conceptual and methodological differences between the household and
establishment surveys result in important distinctions in the employment estimates derived from the surveys. Among these are:
• The household survey includes agricultural workers, the self-employed, unpaid family workers, and private household workers among
the employed. These groups are excluded from the establishment survey.
• The household survey includes people on unpaid leave among the
employed. The establishment survey does not.
• The household survey is limited to workers 16 years of age and older.
The establishment survey is not limited by age.
• The household survey has no duplication of individuals, because
individuals are counted only once, even if they hold more than one job.
In the establishment survey, employees working at more than one job
and thus appearing on more than one payroll would be counted separately for each appearance.

Seasonal adjustment
Over the course of a year, the size of the nation’s labor force and the
levels of employment and unemployment undergo sharp fluctuations
due to such seasonal events as changes in weather, reduced or expanded
production, harvests, major holidays, and the opening and closing of
schools. The effect of such seasonal variation can be very large; seasonal fluctuations may account for as much as 95 percent of the monthto-month changes in unemployment.
Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern
each year, their influence on statistical trends can be eliminated by
adjusting the statistics from month to month. These adjustments make
nonseasonal developments, such as declines in economic activity or
increases in the participation of women in the labor force, easier to
spot. For example, the large number of youth entering the labor force
each June is likely to obscure any other changes that have taken place
relative to May, making it difficult to determine if the level of economic activity has risen or declined. However, because the effect of
students finishing school in previous years is known, the statistics
for the current year can be adjusted to allow for a comparable change.
Insofar as the seasonal adjustment is made correctly, the adjusted figure provides a more useful tool with which to analyze changes in
economic activity.
Most seasonally adjusted series are independently adjusted in both
the household and establishment surveys. However, the ad-

justed series for many major estimates, such as total payroll employment, employment in most supersectors, total employment, and
unemployment are computed by aggregating independently adjusted component series. For example, total unemployment is derived by summing the adjusted series for four major agesex components; this differs from the unemployment estimate
that would be obtained by directly adjusting the total or
by combining the duration, reasons, or more detailed age categories.
For both the household and establishment surveys, a concurrent
seasonal adjustment methodology is used in which new seasonal
factors are calculated each month, using all relevant data, up to and
including the data for the current month. In the household survey, new
seasonal factors are used to adjust only the current month’s data. In
the establishment survey, however, new seasonal factors are used each
month to adjust the three most recent monthly estimates. In both
surveys, revisions to historical data are made once a year.

Reliability of the estimates
Statistics based on the household and establishment surveys are
subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample rather
than the entire population is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample
estimates may differ from the “true” population values they represent.
The exact difference, or sampling error, varies depending on the
particular sample selected, and this variability is measured by the
standard error of the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or
level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no
more than 1.6 standard errors from the “true” population value because
of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90percent level of confidence.
For example, the confidence interval for the monthly change in total
employment from the household survey is on the order of plus or
minus 430,000. Suppose the estimate of total employment increases
by 100,000 from one month to the next. The 90-percent confidence
interval on the monthly change would range from -330,000 to 530,000
(100,000 +/- 430,000). These figures do not mean that the sample
results are off by these magnitudes, but rather that there is about a
90-percent chance that the “true” over-the-month change lies within
this interval. Since this range includes values of less than zero, we
could not say with confidence that employment had, in fact, increased.
If, however, the reported employment rise was half a million, then
all of the values within the 90-percent confidence interval would be
greater than zero. In this case, it is likely (at least a 90-percent chance)
that an employment rise had, in fact, occurred. At an unemployment
rate of around 5.5 percent, the 90-percent confidence interval for the
monthly change in unemployment is about +/- 280,000, and for the
monthly change in the unemployment rate it is about +/- .19 percentage
point.

In general, estimates involving many individuals or establishments
have lower standard errors (relative to the size of the estimate) than
estimates which are based on a small number of observations. The
precision of estimates is also improved when the data are cumulated
over time such as for quarterly and annual averages. The seasonal
adjustment process can also improve the stability of the monthly
estimates.
The household and establishment surveys are also affected by
nonsampling error. Nonsampling errors can occur for many reasons,
including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to
obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or
unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information on a
timely basis, mistakes made by respondents, and errors made in the
collection or processing of the data.
For example, in the establishment survey, estimates for the most
recent 2 months are based on incomplete returns; for this reason, these
estimates are labeled preliminary in the tables. It is only after two
successive revisions to a monthly estimate, when nearly all sample
reports have been received, that the estimate is considered final.
Another major source of nonsampling error in the establishment
survey is the inability to capture, on a timely basis, employment
generated by new firms. To correct for this systematic underestimation
of employment growth, an estimation procedure with two components
is used to account for business births. The first component uses business
deaths to impute employment for business births. This is incorporated
into the sample-based link relative estimate procedure by simply not
reflecting sample units going out of business, but imputing to them the
same trend as the other firms in the sample. The second component is
an ARIMA time series model designed to estimate the residual net birth/
death employment not accounted for by the imputation. The historical
time series used to create and test the ARIMA model was derived from
the unemployment insurance universe micro-level database, and reflects
the actual residual net of births and deaths over the past five years.
The sample-based estimates from the establishment survey are
adjusted once a year (on a lagged basis) to universe counts of payroll
employment obtained from administrative records of the unemployment insurance program. The difference between the March samplebased employment estimates and the March universe counts is known
as a benchmark revision, and serves as a rough proxy for total survey
error. The new benchmarks also incorporate changes in the classification of industries. Over the past decade, the benchmark revision for
total nonfarm employment has averaged 0.2 percent, ranging from
less than 0.1 percent to 0.6 percent.

Other information
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; TDD
message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339.

HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age
(Numbers in thousands)

Seasonally adjusted 1

Not seasonally adjusted
Employment status, sex, and age
Dec.
2007

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

233,156
153,705
65.9
146,334
62.8
7,371
4.8
79,451
4,398

234,828
154,624
65.8
144,609
61.6
10,015
6.5
80,204
5,077

235,035
154,349
65.7
143,350
61.0
10,999
7.1
80,686
5,180

233,156
153,836
66.0
146,294
62.7
7,541
4.9
79,320
4,666

234,107
154,823
66.1
145,273
62.1
9,550
6.2
79,284
4,836

234,360
154,621
66.0
145,029
61.9
9,592
6.2
79,739
5,140

234,612
154,878
66.0
144,657
61.7
10,221
6.6
79,734
5,065

234,828
154,620
65.8
144,144
61.4
10,476
6.8
80,208
5,393

235,035
154,447
65.7
143,338
61.0
11,108
7.2
80,588
5,488

112,852
82,171
72.8
77,970
69.1
4,201
5.1
30,680

113,660
82,415
72.5
76,690
67.5
5,725
6.9
31,245

113,769
82,226
72.3
75,548
66.4
6,678
8.1
31,543

112,852
82,398
73.0
78,275
69.4
4,123
5.0
30,453

113,281
82,790
73.1
77,484
68.4
5,306
6.4
30,491

113,414
82,885
73.1
77,249
68.1
5,636
6.8
30,529

113,546
82,892
73.0
76,938
67.8
5,954
7.2
30,654

113,660
82,666
72.7
76,577
67.4
6,089
7.4
30,994

113,769
82,338
72.4
75,847
66.7
6,491
7.9
31,431

104,197
78,893
75.7
75,296
72.3
3,597
4.6
25,305

104,978
79,243
75.5
74,283
70.8
4,960
6.3
25,735

105,083
79,071
75.2
73,088
69.6
5,984
7.6
26,012

104,197
78,943
75.8
75,496
72.5
3,446
4.4
25,255

104,613
79,308
75.8
74,737
71.4
4,572
5.8
25,305

104,741
79,392
75.8
74,503
71.1
4,889
6.2
25,349

104,869
79,380
75.7
74,292
70.8
5,088
6.4
25,489

104,978
79,335
75.6
74,045
70.5
5,290
6.7
25,643

105,083
78,998
75.2
73,285
69.7
5,714
7.2
26,085

120,304
71,534
59.5
68,364
56.8
3,170
4.4
48,771

121,168
72,209
59.6
67,919
56.1
4,290
5.9
48,959

121,266
72,122
59.5
67,802
55.9
4,320
6.0
49,143

120,304
71,437
59.4
68,020
56.5
3,418
4.8
48,867

120,825
72,033
59.6
67,789
56.1
4,244
5.9
48,792

120,946
71,735
59.3
67,780
56.0
3,956
5.5
49,210

121,066
71,986
59.5
67,720
55.9
4,267
5.9
49,080

121,168
71,954
59.4
67,567
55.8
4,387
6.1
49,214

121,266
72,109
59.5
67,491
55.7
4,618
6.4
49,157

111,903
68,116
60.9
65,359
58.4
2,757
4.0
43,787

112,731
69,108
61.3
65,317
57.9
3,791
5.5
43,623

112,825
69,042
61.2
65,204
57.8
3,838
5.6
43,784

111,903
67,888
60.7
64,976
58.1
2,912
4.3
44,015

112,401
68,666
61.1
65,003
57.8
3,662
5.3
43,736

112,518
68,385
60.8
65,008
57.8
3,377
4.9
44,133

112,633
68,700
61.0
64,975
57.7
3,725
5.4
43,933

112,731
68,753
61.0
64,902
57.6
3,851
5.6
43,978

112,825
68,891
61.1
64,860
57.5
4,031
5.9
43,935

17,056
6,696
39.3
5,679
33.3
1,017
15.2
10,359

17,118
6,272
36.6
5,008
29.3
1,264
20.2
10,846

17,126
6,235
36.4
5,058
29.5
1,177
18.9
10,891

17,056
7,005
41.1
5,822
34.1
1,183
16.9
10,051

17,092
6,849
40.1
5,533
32.4
1,316
19.2
10,243

17,101
6,844
40.0
5,518
32.3
1,326
19.4
10,257

17,110
6,799
39.7
5,390
31.5
1,408
20.7
10,311

17,118
6,531
38.2
5,196
30.4
1,335
20.4
10,587

17,126
6,557
38.3
5,194
30.3
1,363
20.8
10,568

TOTAL
Civilian noninstitutional population .................................
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .....................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ..................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ................................................
Not in labor force ..........................................................
Persons who currently want a job ...............................

Men, 16 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population .................................
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .....................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ..................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ................................................
Not in labor force ..........................................................

Men, 20 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population .................................
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .....................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ..................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ................................................
Not in labor force ..........................................................

Women, 16 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population .................................
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .....................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ..................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ................................................
Not in labor force ..........................................................

Women, 20 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population .................................
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .....................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ..................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ................................................
Not in labor force ..........................................................

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian noninstitutional population .................................
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .....................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ..................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ................................................
Not in labor force ..........................................................

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns.
NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised to reflect
updated seasonal adjustment factors.

HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age
(Numbers in thousands)

Seasonally adjusted 1

Not seasonally adjusted
Employment status, race, sex, and age

Dec.
2007

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

189,093
125,334
66.3
120,004
63.5
5,331
4.3
63,759

190,221
126,057
66.3
118,721
62.4
7,336
5.8
64,165

190,351
125,588
66.0
117,409
61.7
8,179
6.5
64,763

189,093
125,403
66.3
119,947
63.4
5,456
4.4
63,690

189,747
125,987
66.4
119,082
62.8
6,904
5.5
63,761

189,916
125,844
66.3
118,964
62.6
6,880
5.5
64,072

190,085
126,298
66.4
118,722
62.5
7,577
6.0
63,787

190,221
126,029
66.3
118,226
62.2
7,803
6.2
64,193

190,351
125,634
66.0
117,357
61.7
8,277
6.6
64,718

65,462
76.2
62,789
73.1
2,674
4.1

65,681
76.0
61,995
71.7
3,686
5.6

65,424
75.6
60,965
70.5
4,459
6.8

65,471
76.3
62,929
73.3
2,542
3.9

65,680
76.2
62,336
72.3
3,344
5.1

65,718
76.2
62,125
72.0
3,593
5.5

65,792
76.2
61,972
71.8
3,821
5.8

65,762
76.1
61,761
71.5
4,001
6.1

65,331
75.5
61,101
70.7
4,230
6.5

54,465
60.4
52,517
58.3
1,948
3.6

55,131
60.8
52,454
57.8
2,677
4.9

55,033
60.6
52,199
57.5
2,833
5.1

54,249
60.2
52,148
57.8
2,101
3.9

54,703
60.5
52,113
57.6
2,590
4.7

54,543
60.2
52,233
57.7
2,310
4.2

54,891
60.6
52,178
57.6
2,714
4.9

54,810
60.4
52,014
57.3
2,796
5.1

54,878
60.5
51,846
57.1
3,031
5.5

5,406
41.3
4,698
35.9
709
13.1

5,245
40.0
4,272
32.6
973
18.6

5,131
39.1
4,245
32.4
886
17.3

5,683
43.4
4,870
37.2
813
14.3

5,604
42.8
4,634
35.4
970
17.3

5,583
42.6
4,605
35.2
978
17.5

5,615
42.9
4,572
34.9
1,043
18.6

5,457
41.6
4,451
34.0
1,006
18.4

5,425
41.4
4,409
33.6
1,016
18.7

27,704
17,498
63.2
15,999
57.7
1,499
8.6
10,206

28,021
17,683
63.1
15,705
56.0
1,979
11.2
10,338

28,059
17,720
63.2
15,649
55.8
2,071
11.7
10,339

27,704
17,574
63.4
16,013
57.8
1,561
8.9
10,129

27,896
17,949
64.3
16,026
57.4
1,923
10.7
9,947

27,939
17,733
63.5
15,709
56.2
2,024
11.4
10,206

27,982
17,768
63.5
15,762
56.3
2,006
11.3
10,214

28,021
17,708
63.2
15,703
56.0
2,005
11.3
10,313

28,059
17,796
63.4
15,674
55.9
2,122
11.9
10,263

7,858
70.4
7,196
64.5
662
8.4

7,957
70.6
7,013
62.2
944
11.9

7,981
70.7
6,879
60.9
1,102
13.8

7,888
70.7
7,244
64.9
644
8.2

8,072
72.0
7,213
64.3
859
10.6

8,000
71.2
7,049
62.7
952
11.9

7,961
70.7
7,019
62.3
942
11.8

7,954
70.5
6,989
62.0
965
12.1

7,999
70.8
6,930
61.4
1,069
13.4

8,814
63.5
8,212
59.1
602
6.8

9,069
64.5
8,234
58.6
836
9.2

9,031
64.2
8,264
58.7
767
8.5

8,830
63.6
8,203
59.1
627
7.1

9,036
64.6
8,218
58.7
818
9.1

8,931
63.7
8,097
57.8
834
9.3

9,016
64.2
8,213
58.5
804
8.9

9,069
64.5
8,249
58.7
820
9.0

9,060
64.4
8,256
58.7
804
8.9

826
31.0
590
22.2
235
28.5

657
24.4
457
17.0
199
30.4

708
26.3
506
18.8
202
28.5

856
32.2
567
21.3
289
33.8

842
31.4
595
22.2
247
29.3

802
29.9
563
21.0
239
29.8

790
29.4
531
19.8
260
32.9

685
25.5
464
17.3
221
32.2

736
27.4
488
18.1
248
33.7

WHITE
Civilian noninstitutional population .................................
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................
Not in labor force ..........................................................

Men, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................

Women, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................

BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN
Civilian noninstitutional population .................................
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................
Not in labor force ..........................................................

Men, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................

Women, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................

See footnotes at end of table.

HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age — Continued
(Numbers in thousands)

Seasonally adjusted 1

Not seasonally adjusted
Employment status, race, sex, and age

Dec.
2007

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

10,801
7,225
66.9
6,958
64.4
267
3.7
3,577

10,811
7,134
66.0
6,791
62.8
343
4.8
3,677

10,873
7,223
66.4
6,857
63.1
365
5.1
3,651

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

ASIAN
Civilian noninstitutional population .................................
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................
Not in labor force ..........................................................

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore,
identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns.
2 Data not available.
NOTE: Estimates for the above race groups will not sum to totals shown in

table A-1 because data are not presented for all races. Updated population
controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. Seasonally
adjusted household data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal
adjustment factors.

Table A-3. Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age
(Numbers in thousands)

Seasonally adjusted 1

Not seasonally adjusted
Employment status, sex, and age

Dec.
2007

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

31,903
21,924
68.7
20,534
64.4
1,390
6.3
9,980

32,558
22,137
68.0
20,263
62.2
1,874
8.5
10,421

32,649
22,221
68.1
20,129
61.7
2,093
9.4
10,428

31,903
21,861
68.5
20,504
64.3
1,357
6.2
10,042

32,273
22,201
68.8
20,404
63.2
1,797
8.1
10,073

32,369
22,259
68.8
20,506
63.4
1,752
7.9
10,111

32,465
22,187
68.3
20,232
62.3
1,955
8.8
10,278

32,558
22,074
67.8
20,168
61.9
1,906
8.6
10,484

32,649
22,134
67.8
20,096
61.6
2,038
9.2
10,515

12,654
85.0
11,921
80.0
733
5.8

12,760
84.1
11,777
77.7
983
7.7

12,752
83.8
11,558
76.0
1,194
9.4

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

8,206
58.6
7,707
55.0
498
6.1

8,362
58.5
7,745
54.2
618
7.4

8,430
58.8
7,765
54.2
665
7.9

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

1,064
35.5
906
30.2
158
14.9

1,015
32.8
741
24.0
274
27.0

1,039
33.5
805
26.0
234
22.6

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY
Civilian noninstitutional population .................................
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................
Not in labor force ..........................................................

Men, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................

Women, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian labor force ........................................................
Participation rate .......................................................
Employed ....................................................................
Employment-population ratio ....................................
Unemployed ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..................................................

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore,
identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns.
2 Data not available.
NOTE: Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of

any race. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of
January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised to reflect
updated seasonal adjustment factors.

HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-4. Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment
(Numbers in thousands)

Not seasonally adjusted
Educational attainment

Seasonally adjusted

Dec.
2007

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

12,283
46.4
11,280
42.6
1,003
8.2

12,137
47.0
10,865
42.1
1,272
10.5

12,136
46.5
10,719
41.1
1,417
11.7

12,283
46.4
11,356
42.9
927
7.5

12,203
47.5
11,014
42.9
1,189
9.7

12,165
47.0
10,977
42.5
1,187
9.8

12,390
48.3
11,106
43.3
1,284
10.4

12,185
47.2
10,899
42.2
1,286
10.6

12,108
46.4
10,793
41.4
1,315
10.9

38,850
62.9
37,036
60.0
1,814
4.7

38,586
62.8
36,009
58.6
2,577
6.7

38,838
62.7
35,815
57.9
3,023
7.8

38,714
62.7
36,928
59.8
1,786
4.6

38,323
62.8
36,084
59.1
2,239
5.8

38,264
62.4
35,851
58.5
2,413
6.3

38,428
62.6
35,939
58.5
2,489
6.5

38,271
62.3
35,643
58.1
2,628
6.9

38,656
62.5
35,683
57.6
2,972
7.7

36,269
72.0
34,932
69.3
1,337
3.7

37,342
72.1
35,380
68.3
1,961
5.3

36,867
71.7
34,819
67.7
2,048
5.6

36,428
72.3
35,071
69.6
1,356
3.7

36,736
71.6
34,913
68.0
1,823
5.0

36,952
71.8
35,053
68.1
1,898
5.1

36,820
71.5
34,867
67.7
1,954
5.3

37,120
71.6
35,077
67.7
2,043
5.5

37,049
72.0
34,969
68.0
2,080
5.6

44,620
78.2
43,725
76.6
895
2.0

45,272
77.8
43,900
75.4
1,372
3.0

45,202
77.9
43,619
75.2
1,583
3.5

44,552
78.1
43,606
76.4
946
2.1

45,327
77.4
44,082
75.3
1,244
2.7

45,183
77.6
44,011
75.6
1,172
2.6

45,454
77.7
44,044
75.3
1,410
3.1

45,232
77.7
43,794
75.3
1,438
3.2

45,182
77.9
43,517
75.0
1,665
3.7

Less than a high school diploma
Civilian labor force ..........................................................
Participation rate .........................................................
Employed ......................................................................
Employment-population ratio ......................................
Unemployed .................................................................
Unemployment rate ....................................................

High school graduates, no college 1
Civilian labor force ..........................................................
Participation rate .........................................................
Employed ......................................................................
Employment-population ratio ......................................
Unemployed .................................................................
Unemployment rate ....................................................

Some college or associate degree
Civilian labor force ..........................................................
Participation rate .........................................................
Employed ......................................................................
Employment-population ratio ......................................
Unemployed .................................................................
Unemployment rate ....................................................

Bachelor’s degree and higher 2
Civilian labor force ..........................................................
Participation rate .........................................................
Employed ......................................................................
Employment-population ratio ......................................
Unemployed .................................................................
Unemployment rate ....................................................

1 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
2 Includes persons with bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral

degrees.

NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release
of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised to
reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.

HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-5. Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status
(In thousands)

Not seasonally adjusted

Seasonally adjusted

Category
Dec.
2007

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

CLASS OF WORKER
Agriculture and related industries ...................................
Wage and salary workers .............................................
Self-employed workers .................................................
Unpaid family workers ..................................................

2,078
1,235
825
17

2,141
1,198
920
23

2,068
1,162
883
23

2,211
1,350
866
(1)

2,138
1,292
822
(1)

2,199
1,323
824
(1)

2,177
1,313
827
(1)

2,206
1,267
915
(1)

2,191
1,264
925
(1)

Nonagricultural industries ...............................................
Wage and salary workers .............................................
Government ................................................................
Private industries ........................................................
Private households ...................................................
Other industries ........................................................
Self-employed workers .................................................
Unpaid family workers ..................................................

144,256
135,125
20,836
114,289
803
113,486
9,049
81

142,468
133,697
21,613
112,084
836
111,247
8,706
65

141,282
132,518
21,415
111,103
782
110,321
8,701
62

143,992
134,659
20,807
113,846
(1)
113,005
9,291
(1)

143,111
133,727
21,257
112,489
(1)
111,721
9,313
(1)

142,851
133,582
21,183
112,407
(1)
111,591
9,178
(1)

142,566
133,694
21,539
112,170
(1)
111,279
8,852
(1)

141,901
132,983
21,431
111,542
(1)
110,677
8,816
(1)

141,047
132,082
21,395
110,684
(1)
109,863
8,940
(1)

All industries:
Part time for economic reasons ..................................
Slack work or business conditions ...........................
Could only find part-time work .................................
Part time for noneconomic reasons ............................

4,750
3,308
1,172
20,361

7,135
5,354
1,509
19,892

8,250
6,340
1,562
19,719

4,638
3,154
1,223
19,536

5,879
4,240
1,412
19,690

6,292
4,418
1,514
19,275

6,848
4,953
1,514
19,083

7,323
5,399
1,585
18,886

8,038
6,020
1,617
18,922

Nonagricultural industries:
Part time for economic reasons ..................................
Slack work or business conditions ...........................
Could only find part-time work .................................
Part time for noneconomic reasons ............................

4,639
3,250
1,153
20,074

7,001
5,251
1,497
19,592

8,110
6,250
1,553
19,405

4,548
3,101
1,206
19,251

5,802
4,171
1,385
19,269

6,167
4,279
1,541
18,930

6,742
4,889
1,499
18,808

7,209
5,304
1,579
18,635

7,932
5,938
1,619
18,642

PERSONS AT WORK PART TIME 2

1 Data not available.
2 Persons at work excludes employed persons who were absent from their

jobs during the entire reference week for reasons such as vacation, illness, or
industrial dispute. Part time for noneconomic reasons excludes persons who
usually work full time but worked only 1 to 34 hours during the reference week for
reasons such as holidays, illness, and bad weather.

NOTE: Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will not
necessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the
various series. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the
release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised
to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.

HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-6. Selected employment indicators
(In thousands)

Not seasonally adjusted

Seasonally adjusted

Characteristic
Dec.
2007

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Total, 16 years and over .................................................
16 to 19 years ...............................................................
16 to 17 years .............................................................
18 to 19 years .............................................................
20 years and over .........................................................
20 to 24 years .............................................................
25 years and over .......................................................
25 to 54 years ...........................................................
25 to 34 years .........................................................
35 to 44 years .........................................................
45 to 54 years .........................................................
55 years and over .....................................................

146,334
5,679
2,132
3,547
140,655
13,682
126,973
100,653
31,672
34,163
34,818
26,320

144,609
5,008
1,771
3,237
139,601
13,446
126,155
98,921
31,298
33,007
34,616
27,233

143,350
5,058
1,743
3,314
138,292
13,320
124,972
97,781
30,885
32,731
34,165
27,191

146,294
5,822
2,171
3,646
140,473
13,731
126,737
100,519
31,652
34,116
34,751
26,218

145,273
5,533
1,984
3,549
139,740
13,649
126,140
99,217
31,425
33,254
34,538
26,923

145,029
5,518
2,023
3,525
139,511
13,625
125,950
99,086
31,352
33,250
34,485
26,863

144,657
5,390
1,933
3,469
139,267
13,528
125,833
98,803
31,122
33,176
34,505
27,029

144,144
5,196
1,791
3,408
138,948
13,443
125,422
98,373
31,070
32,883
34,420
27,049

143,338
5,194
1,779
3,413
138,144
13,374
124,748
97,651
30,864
32,691
34,097
27,096

Men, 16 years and over ..................................................
16 to 19 years ...............................................................
16 to 17 years .............................................................
18 to 19 years .............................................................
20 years and over .........................................................
20 to 24 years .............................................................
25 years and over .......................................................
25 to 54 years ...........................................................
25 to 34 years .........................................................
35 to 44 years .........................................................
45 to 54 years .........................................................
55 years and over .....................................................

77,970
2,674
932
1,742
75,296
7,180
68,116
54,240
17,430
18,433
18,377
13,876

76,690
2,406
769
1,638
74,283
6,939
67,344
52,983
17,076
17,871
18,036
14,361

75,548
2,460
797
1,663
73,088
6,760
66,328
52,031
16,784
17,581
17,666
14,297

78,275
2,779
989
1,787
75,496
7,279
68,258
54,355
17,442
18,514
18,399
13,902

77,484
2,748
939
1,818
74,737
7,134
67,653
53,385
17,195
18,068
18,121
14,268

77,249
2,746
958
1,797
74,503
7,153
67,365
53,136
17,112
18,001
18,023
14,230

76,938
2,646
895
1,751
74,292
6,974
67,372
53,090
17,064
17,962
18,065
14,282

76,577
2,531
800
1,728
74,045
6,965
67,039
52,740
16,979
17,816
17,944
14,299

75,847
2,562
847
1,712
73,285
6,863
66,456
52,128
16,789
17,663
17,676
14,328

Women, 16 years and over ............................................
16 to 19 years ...............................................................
16 to 17 years .............................................................
18 to 19 years .............................................................
20 years and over .........................................................
20 to 24 years .............................................................
25 years and over .......................................................
25 to 54 years ...........................................................
25 to 34 years .........................................................
35 to 44 years .........................................................
45 to 54 years .........................................................
55 years and over .....................................................

68,364
3,005
1,200
1,805
65,359
6,502
58,857
46,413
14,242
15,729
16,441
12,444

67,919
2,602
1,002
1,600
65,317
6,507
58,810
45,938
14,223
15,135
16,580
12,872

67,802
2,598
946
1,651
65,204
6,560
58,644
45,750
14,101
15,150
16,499
12,894

68,020
3,043
1,182
1,860
64,976
6,452
58,480
46,164
14,210
15,601
16,353
12,316

67,789
2,785
1,045
1,731
65,003
6,514
58,487
45,832
14,230
15,186
16,417
12,655

67,780
2,772
1,065
1,728
65,008
6,472
58,585
45,951
14,240
15,249
16,462
12,634

67,720
2,744
1,038
1,718
64,975
6,553
58,460
45,713
14,058
15,215
16,440
12,747

67,567
2,665
990
1,680
64,902
6,478
58,383
45,634
14,091
15,067
16,476
12,750

67,491
2,632
932
1,701
64,860
6,510
58,292
45,523
14,075
15,027
16,421
12,769

46,281
35,898
9,049

45,781
35,937
9,314

45,215
35,835
8,987

46,233
35,662
(1)

45,804
35,994
(1)

45,887
35,864
(1)

45,787
35,590
(1)

45,610
35,649
(1)

45,182
35,632
(1)

121,042
25,291

118,432
26,176

116,422
26,927

121,501
24,701

119,643
25,649

119,661
25,411

119,304
25,452

118,413
25,577

116,865
26,250

7,577
5.2

7,539
5.2

7,432
5.2

7,479
5.1

8,013
5.5

7,612
5.2

7,551
5.2

7,410
5.1

7,352
5.1

AGE AND SEX

MARITAL STATUS
Married men, spouse present .........................................
Married women, spouse present ....................................
Women who maintain families ........................................

FULL- OR PART-TIME STATUS
Full-time workers 2 .........................................................
Part-time workers 3 .........................................................

MULTIPLE JOBHOLDERS
Total multiple jobholders .................................................
Percent of total employed ...........................................

1 Data not available.
2 Employed full-time workers are persons who usually work 35 hours or more

per week.
3 Employed part-time workers are persons who usually work less than 35
hours per week.

NOTE: Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will not
necessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the
various series. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the
release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised
to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.

HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-7. Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally adjusted

Characteristic

Number of
unemployed persons
(in thousands)

Unemployment rates 1

Dec.
2007

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Total, 16 years and over .................................................
16 to 19 years ...............................................................
16 to 17 years .............................................................
18 to 19 years .............................................................
20 years and over .........................................................
20 to 24 years .............................................................
25 years and over .......................................................
25 to 54 years ...........................................................
25 to 34 years .........................................................
35 to 44 years .........................................................
45 to 54 years .........................................................
55 years and over .....................................................

7,541
1,183
535
654
6,358
1,391
4,981
4,159
1,601
1,314
1,245
843

10,476
1,335
567
765
9,141
1,684
7,421
6,074
2,341
1,874
1,859
1,350

11,108
1,363
564
806
9,745
1,843
7,903
6,526
2,490
2,041
1,995
1,409

4.9
16.9
19.8
15.2
4.3
9.2
3.8
4.0
4.8
3.7
3.5
3.1

6.2
19.2
22.2
17.4
5.6
10.7
5.0
5.2
6.3
5.0
4.4
4.1

6.2
19.4
21.7
17.8
5.6
10.8
5.0
5.3
6.2
5.2
4.5
4.2

6.6
20.7
23.1
18.4
6.0
10.6
5.3
5.5
6.7
5.4
4.6
4.6

6.8
20.4
24.1
18.3
6.2
11.1
5.6
5.8
7.0
5.4
5.1
4.8

7.2
20.8
24.1
19.1
6.6
12.1
6.0
6.3
7.5
5.9
5.5
4.9

Men, 16 years and over ..................................................
16 to 19 years ...............................................................
16 to 17 years .............................................................
18 to 19 years .............................................................
20 years and over .........................................................
20 to 24 years .............................................................
25 years and over .......................................................
25 to 54 years ...........................................................
25 to 34 years .........................................................
35 to 44 years .........................................................
45 to 54 years .........................................................
55 years and over .....................................................

4,123
677
282
398
3,446
780
2,659
2,212
902
682
627
447

6,089
799
324
466
5,290
1,027
4,218
3,448
1,373
1,008
1,068
770

6,491
777
313
468
5,714
1,137
4,545
3,770
1,510
1,117
1,144
775

5.0
19.6
22.2
18.2
4.4
9.7
3.7
3.9
4.9
3.6
3.3
3.1

6.4
21.1
24.5
19.0
5.8
11.7
5.1
5.3
6.5
5.0
4.5
4.3

6.8
21.4
23.2
20.4
6.2
11.9
5.5
5.8
6.9
5.6
5.0
4.5

7.2
24.7
27.3
21.7
6.4
12.9
5.6
5.8
7.1
5.6
4.8
4.7

7.4
24.0
28.8
21.2
6.7
12.9
5.9
6.1
7.5
5.4
5.6
5.1

7.9
23.3
27.0
21.5
7.2
14.2
6.4
6.7
8.3
5.9
6.1
5.1

Women, 16 years and over ............................................
16 to 19 years ...............................................................
16 to 17 years .............................................................
18 to 19 years .............................................................
20 years and over .........................................................
20 to 24 years .............................................................
25 years and over .......................................................
25 to 54 years ...........................................................
25 to 34 years .........................................................
35 to 44 years .........................................................
45 to 54 years .........................................................
55 years and over 2 ..................................................

3,418
506
253
256
2,912
611
2,322
1,947
698
631
617
366

4,387
536
243
299
3,851
657
3,202
2,625
968
866
791
577

4,618
587
251
339
4,031
707
3,358
2,756
981
924
852
583

4.8
14.3
17.6
12.1
4.3
8.6
3.8
4.0
4.7
3.9
3.6
2.9

5.9
17.3
20.1
15.6
5.3
9.5
4.9
5.1
6.0
5.0
4.3
4.5

5.5
17.3
20.3
14.9
4.9
9.4
4.4
4.6
5.3
4.8
3.8
3.9

5.9
16.5
19.2
14.7
5.4
8.1
5.1
5.2
6.3
5.2
4.4
4.3

6.1
16.7
19.7
15.1
5.6
9.2
5.2
5.4
6.4
5.4
4.6
4.3

6.4
18.2
21.2
16.6
5.9
9.8
5.4
5.7
6.5
5.8
4.9
4.3

1,255
1,105
669

2,003
1,590
953

2,077
1,672
948

2.6
3.0
6.9

3.7
3.7
9.6

3.9
3.5
8.2

4.1
4.2
8.8

4.2
4.3
9.3

4.4
4.5
9.5

6,147
1,429

8,940
1,566

9,537
1,632

4.8
5.5

6.3
5.7

6.3
5.9

6.8
5.7

7.0
5.8

7.5
5.9

AGE AND SEX

MARITAL STATUS
Married men, spouse present .........................................
Married women, spouse present ....................................
Women who maintain families 2 .....................................

FULL- OR PART-TIME STATUS
Full-time workers 3 .........................................................
Part-time workers 4 .........................................................

1 Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force.
2 Not seasonally adjusted.
3 Full-time workers are unemployed persons who have expressed a desire to

work full time (35 hours or more per week) or are on layoff from full-time jobs.
4 Part-time workers are unemployed persons who have expressed a desire to
work part time (less than 35 hours per week) or are on layoff from part-time jobs.

NOTE: Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will not
necessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the
various series. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the
release of January data. Data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal
adjustment factors.

HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-8. Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment
(Numbers in thousands)

Not seasonally adjusted

Seasonally adjusted

Reason
Dec.
2007

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

4,013
1,061
2,952
2,066
887
724
2,078
556

5,746
1,166
4,580
3,520
1,060
916
2,659
694

6,878
1,675
5,203
4,034
1,169
928
2,523
670

3,785
966
2,820
1
( )
(1)
787
2,302
693

4,994
1,279
3,715
(1)
(1)
999
2,678
829

5,348
1,396
3,952
(1)
(1)
982
2,587
822

5,811
1,367
4,443
(1)
(1)
946
2,650
825

6,156
1,413
4,744
(1)
(1)
940
2,655
760

6,471
1,524
4,946
(1)
(1)
1,007
2,777
829

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

54.4
14.4
40.1
9.8
28.2
7.5

57.4
11.6
45.7
9.1
26.6
6.9

62.5
15.2
47.3
8.4
22.9
6.1

50.0
12.8
37.3
10.4
30.4
9.2

52.6
13.5
39.1
10.5
28.2
8.7

54.9
14.3
40.6
10.1
26.6
8.4

56.8
13.4
43.4
9.2
25.9
8.1

58.6
13.4
45.1
8.9
25.3
7.2

58.4
13.8
44.6
9.1
25.1
7.5

2.6
.5
1.4
.4

3.7
.6
1.7
.4

4.5
.6
1.6
.4

2.5
.5
1.5
.5

3.2
.6
1.7
.5

3.5
.6
1.7
.5

3.8
.6
1.7
.5

4.0
.6
1.7
.5

4.2
.7
1.8
.5

NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED
Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs
On temporary layoff ....................................................
Not on temporary layoff ..............................................
Permanent job losers ..............................................
Persons who completed temporary jobs ................
Job leavers .....................................................................
Reentrants ......................................................................
New entrants ..................................................................

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION
Total unemployed ...........................................................
Job losers and persons who completed temporary
jobs .............................................................................
On temporary layoff ..................................................
Not on temporary layoff ............................................
Job leavers ...................................................................
Reentrants ....................................................................
New entrants ................................................................

UNEMPLOYED AS A PERCENT OF THE
CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE
Job losers and persons who completed temporary
jobs .............................................................................
Job leavers ...................................................................
Reentrants ....................................................................
New entrants ................................................................

1 Data not available.
NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised to reflect
updated seasonal adjustment factors.

HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-9. Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment
(Numbers in thousands)

Not seasonally adjusted

Seasonally adjusted

Duration
Dec.
2007

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Less than 5 weeks ..............................................................................
5 to 14 weeks .....................................................................................
15 weeks and over .............................................................................
15 to 26 weeks ................................................................................
27 weeks and over ..........................................................................

2,666
2,302
2,403
1,128
1,275

3,079
3,130
3,806
1,614
2,192

3,227
3,390
4,381
1,869
2,512

2,718
2,314
2,484
1,169
1,315

3,242
2,874
3,447
1,568
1,878

2,864
3,083
3,662
1,621
2,041

3,108
3,055
4,109
1,834
2,275

3,255
3,141
3,964
1,757
2,207

3,267
3,398
4,517
1,927
2,591

Average (mean) duration, in weeks ....................................................
Median duration, in weeks ..................................................................

16.4
8.3

19.2
9.9

19.5
10.5

16.5
8.4

17.6
9.3

18.7
10.3

19.8
10.6

18.9
10.0

19.7
10.6

100.0
36.2
31.2
32.6
15.3
17.3

100.0
30.7
31.3
38.0
16.1
21.9

100.0
29.3
30.8
39.8
17.0
22.8

100.0
36.2
30.8
33.1
15.6
17.5

100.0
33.9
30.1
36.0
16.4
19.6

100.0
29.8
32.1
38.1
16.9
21.2

100.0
30.3
29.7
40.0
17.9
22.1

100.0
31.4
30.3
38.3
17.0
21.3

100.0
29.2
30.4
40.4
17.2
23.2

NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION
Total unemployed ...............................................................................
Less than 5 weeks ............................................................................
5 to 14 weeks ...................................................................................
15 weeks and over ...........................................................................
15 to 26 weeks ...............................................................................
27 weeks and over .........................................................................

NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal
adjustment factors.

Table A-10. Employed and unemployed persons by occupation, not seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)

Employed

Unemployed

Occupation

Total, 16 years and over 1 .......................................................
Management, professional, and related occupations .............
Management, business, and financial operations
occupations ....................................................................................
Professional and related occupations ......................................
Service occupations .......................................................................
Sales and office occupations .......................................................
Sales and related occupations ..................................................
Office and administrative support occupations ......................
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance
occupations ....................................................................................
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations .............................
Construction and extraction occupations ................................
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations ................
Production, transportation, and material moving
occupations ....................................................................................
Production occupations ..............................................................
Transportation and material moving occupations .................

Dec.
2007

Dec.
2008

Unemployment
rates

Dec.
2007

Dec.
2008

146,334
52,324

143,350
52,548

7,371
1,041

10,999
1,802

4.8
2.0

7.1
3.3

21,699
30,625
23,551
36,467
16,654
19,812

21,928
30,619
24,371
34,987
16,354
18,633

461
580
1,571
1,717
903
814

888
915
2,057
2,448
1,233
1,215

2.1
1.9
6.3
4.5
5.1
3.9

3.9
2.9
7.8
6.5
7.0
6.1

15,459
931
9,302
5,226

14,202
901
8,025
5,276

1,286
101
990
195

2,063
201
1,522
339

7.7
9.8
9.6
3.6

12.7
18.3
15.9
6.0

18,533
9,458
9,075

17,242
8,421
8,821

1,174
600
575

1,928
992
936

6.0
6.0
6.0

10.1
10.5
9.6

1 Persons with no previous work experience and persons whose last job was in the Armed Forces are included in the unemployed total.
NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

Dec.
2007

Dec.
2008

HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-11. Unemployed persons by industry and class of worker, not seasonally adjusted

Number of
unemployed
persons
(in thousands)

Industry and class of worker
Dec.
2007

Total, 16 years and over 1 ....................................................
Nonagricultural private wage and salary workers ....................
Mining .............................................................................................
Construction ..................................................................................
Manufacturing ...............................................................................
Durable goods ............................................................................
Nondurable goods .....................................................................
Wholesale and retail trade .........................................................
Transportation and utilities .........................................................
Information .....................................................................................
Financial activities ........................................................................
Professional and business services .........................................
Education and health services ..................................................
Leisure and hospitality ................................................................
Other services ...............................................................................
Agriculture and related private wage and salary workers ......
Government workers .....................................................................
Self employed and unpaid family workers .................................

Unemployment
rates

Dec.
2008

7,371
5,943
24
968
772
459
313
1,009
210
125
315
803
521
961
235
96
451
326

Dec.
2007

10,999
9,030
46
1,438
1,315
839
477
1,535
421
219
540
1,147
791
1,210
367
229
511
559

Dec.
2008

4.8
4.9
3.4
9.4
4.6
4.3
5.1
4.8
3.4
3.7
3.2
5.7
2.6
7.9
3.9
7.5
2.1
3.2

7.1
7.5
5.2
15.3
8.3
8.0
8.8
7.2
6.7
6.9
5.6
8.1
3.8
9.5
6.1
17.0
2.3
5.5

1 Persons with no previous work experience are included in the unemployed total.
NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

Table A-12. Alternative measures of labor underutilization
(Percent)

Not seasonally adjusted

Seasonally adjusted

Measure
Dec.
2007

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008

Dec.
2008

U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the
civilian labor force .....................................................................

1.6

2.5

2.8

1.6

2.2

2.4

2.7

2.6

2.9

U-2 Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a
percent of the civilian labor force ..............................................

2.6

3.7

4.5

2.5

3.2

3.5

3.8

4.0

4.2

U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force
(official unemployment rate) .................................................

4.8

6.5

7.1

4.9

6.2

6.2

6.6

6.8

7.2

U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the
civilian labor force plus discouraged workers ...........................

5.0

6.8

7.5

5.1

6.4

6.5

6.9

7.1

7.6

U-5 Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other
marginally attached workers, as a percent of the civilian labor
force plus all marginally attached workers ................................

5.6

7.6

8.3

5.7

7.2

7.2

7.6

7.9

8.3

U-6 Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus
total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent
of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers

8.7

12.2

13.5

8.7

10.9

11.2

12.0

12.6

13.5

NOTE: Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither
working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job
and have looked for work sometime in the recent past. Discouraged workers, a
subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not
looking currently for a job. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are
those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a

part-time schedule. For more information, see "BLS introduces new range of
alternative unemployment measures," in the October 1995 issue of the Monthly
Labor Review. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the
release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised
to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.

HOUSEHOLD DATA

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-13. Persons not in the labor force and multiple jobholders by sex, not seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)

Total

Men

Women

Category
Dec.
2007

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Dec.
2008

Dec.
2007

Dec.
2008

79,451
4,398
1,344

80,686
5,180
1,908

30,680
2,039
755

31,543
2,432
1,000

48,771
2,359
589

49,143
2,748
908

363
981

642
1,266

238
516

367
634

125
464

276
632

Total multiple jobholders 4 ..................................................................
Percent of total employed ...............................................................

7,577
5.2

7,432
5.2

3,734
4.8

3,743
5.0

3,843
5.6

3,689
5.4

Primary job full time, secondary job part time .................................
Primary and secondary jobs both part time ....................................
Primary and secondary jobs both full time ......................................
Hours vary on primary or secondary job .........................................

4,067
1,868
252
1,344

4,176
1,774
218
1,215

2,239
565
166
746

2,288
638
143
653

1,828
1,303
86
598

1,888
1,136
75
562

NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE
Total not in the labor force ..................................................................
Persons who currently want a job ......................................................
Marginally attached to the labor force 1 ........................................
Reason not currently looking:
Discouragement over job prospects 2 ..................................
Reasons other than discouragement 3 .................................

MULTIPLE JOBHOLDERS

1 Data refer to persons who have searched for work sometime during the prior 12
months and were available to take a job during the reference week.
2 Includes thinks no work available, could not find work, lacks schooling or training,
employer thinks too young or old, and other types of discrimination.
3 Includes those who did not actively look for work in the prior 4 weeks for such
reasons as school or family responsibilities, ill health, and transportation problems, as

well as a small number for which reason for nonparticipation was not determined.
4 Includes persons who work part time on their primary job and full time on their
secondary job(s), not shown separately.
NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of
January data.

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
(In thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted
Industry

Dec.
2007

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Seasonally adjusted

Dec.
2008p

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Dec.
2008p

Change
from:
Nov. 2008Dec. 2008 p

Total nonfarm ............................. 138,934 137,715 137,073 136,119 138,078 137,423 137,020 136,597 136,013 135,489

-524

Total private ........................................ 116,232 114,843 114,081 113,247 115,745 114,909 114,525 114,087 113,506 112,975

-531

Goods-producing ............................................

21,875

21,363

21,024

20,485

21,976

21,367

21,250

21,049

20,867

20,616

-251

Natural resources and mining ..................................
Logging ...........................................................
Mining ....................................................................
Oil and gas extraction ........................................
Mining, except oil and gas 1.................................
Coal mining ......................................................
Support activities for mining ..............................

735
61.2
674.0
152.6
221.4
78.5
300.0

806
61.9
743.6
166.3
240.3
85.7
337.0

807
61.4
746.0
167.2
237.2
86.6
341.6

799
58.8
739.8
168.5
230.3
86.7
341.0

739
60.6
677.9
153.1
225.2
78.3
299.6

788
58.1
729.6
164.1
233.8
83.5
331.7

795
58.9
736.2
165.8
234.1
84.4
336.3

796
59.1
737.3
166.2
234.5
85.2
336.6

803
59.7
743.0
167.4
235.3
86.1
340.3

802
58.1
744.2
168.8
234.7
86.3
340.7

-1
-1.6
1.2
1.4
-.6
.2
.4

Construction .............................................................
Construction of buildings ...................................
Residential building .........................................
Nonresidential building ....................................
Heavy and civil engineering construction ........
Specialty trade contractors ...............................
Residential specialty trade contractors ...........
Nonresidential specialty trade contractors .....

7,353
1,691.9
899.5
792.4
960.6
4,700.4
2,163.0
2,537.4

7,266
1,617.5
833.5
784.0
996.1
4,652.4
2,079.3
2,573.1

7,049
1,573.7
813.2
760.5
954.3
4,520.9
2,006.2
2,514.7

6,706
1,516.9
778.0
738.9
872.3
4,316.5
1,911.9
2,404.6

7,465
1,702.4
902.0
800.4
993.8
4,768.4
2,201.1
2,567.3

7,153
1,612.8
831.9
780.9
952.8
4,587.8
2,055.6
2,532.2

7,098
1,592.1
823.3
768.8
943.6
4,562.5
2,046.5
2,516.0

7,019
1,573.9
809.7
764.2
932.6
4,512.6
2,020.1
2,492.5

6,934
1,554.6
800.8
753.8
920.1
4,458.9
1,989.3
2,469.6

6,833
1,528.6
781.6
747.0
907.5
4,397.0
1,954.9
2,442.1

-101
-26.0
-19.2
-6.8
-12.6
-61.9
-34.4
-27.5

Manufacturing ...........................................................
Production workers .......................................

13,787
9,952

13,291
9,504

13,168
9,387

12,980
9,214

13,772
9,933

13,426
9,636

13,357
9,572

13,234
9,451

13,130
9,355

12,981
9,221

-149
-134

Durable goods .......................................................
Production workers .......................................
Wood products ...................................................
Nonmetallic mineral products ............................
Primary metals ....................................................
Fabricated metal products .................................
Machinery ...........................................................
Computer and electronic products 1....................
Computer and peripheral equipment .............
Communications equipment ...........................
Semiconductors and electronic components .
Electronic instruments .....................................
Electrical equipment and appliances ................
Transportation equipment 1..................................
Motor vehicles and parts 2.................................
Furniture and related products ..........................
Miscellaneous manufacturing ............................

8,755
6,240
505.3
490.9
451.8
1,565.6
1,191.2
1,260.3
186.0
129.7
435.1
444.2
424.3
1,698.0
974.1
524.1
643.5

8,359
5,855
457.9
477.4
441.0
1,515.2
1,182.0
1,238.3
184.8
132.1
417.9
441.7
416.7
1,526.3
834.2
471.5
632.5

8,283
5,783
443.5
465.7
434.6
1,495.3
1,171.0
1,232.4
184.2
129.3
416.3
441.2
411.9
1,539.6
825.7
461.6
627.0

8,152
5,662
428.6
445.6
427.0
1,463.0
1,163.7
1,225.1
183.8
127.9
411.5
440.9
406.6
1,520.6
808.7
451.8
619.6

8,739
6,220
507.2
496.4
452.2
1,562.7
1,191.0
1,257.6
185.4
129.0
434.9
443.7
423.8
1,684.7
962.6
523.8
639.9

8,482
5,980
467.6
475.8
443.0
1,534.3
1,193.0
1,247.4
185.4
131.2
423.4
444.7
419.4
1,584.0
866.2
487.4
630.1

8,433
5,930
462.2
471.0
442.7
1,524.2
1,187.2
1,245.5
185.3
131.7
422.1
444.5
416.8
1,572.2
850.1
482.4
628.9

8,336
5,834
453.5
468.6
440.6
1,507.6
1,182.8
1,239.3
185.0
131.3
419.1
442.6
415.8
1,529.3
838.3
470.9
627.9

8,259
5,765
443.2
459.4
434.4
1,488.9
1,171.4
1,231.3
184.0
129.0
415.9
441.5
411.2
1,534.8
822.5
461.9
622.1

8,145
5,659
431.4
451.5
427.7
1,460.6
1,164.5
1,223.1
183.3
127.3
411.2
440.8
406.5
1,510.5
801.1
452.6
617.0

-114
-106
-11.8
-7.9
-6.7
-28.3
-6.9
-8.2
-.7
-1.7
-4.7
-.7
-4.7
-24.3
-21.4
-9.3
-5.1

Nondurable goods .................................................
5,032
Production workers .......................................
3,712
Food manufacturing ........................................... 1,488.8
Beverages and tobacco products ......................
189.2
Textile mills .........................................................
162.4
Textile product mills ...........................................
155.8
Apparel ................................................................
203.6
Leather and allied products ...............................
33.9
Paper and paper products .................................
460.2
Printing and related support activities ...............
622.8
Petroleum and coal products .............................
109.2
Chemicals ...........................................................
862.7
Plastics and rubber products .............................
743.3

4,932
3,649
1,500.1
193.3
147.5
147.3
190.0
34.6
447.5
590.8
115.2
849.8
715.7

4,885
3,604
1,494.1
189.4
141.6
145.5
188.2
34.4
444.0
586.2
114.4
847.9
699.5

4,828
3,552
1,473.9
186.8
138.0
143.1
184.1
34.0
442.1
577.6
111.4
846.5
690.1

5,033
3,713
1,486.3
192.0
163.0
155.7
204.8
33.7
460.3
619.5
111.7
862.0
744.2

4,944
3,656
1,474.0
191.3
150.6
147.9
196.1
35.1
453.4
599.2
114.1
855.4
726.4

4,924
3,642
1,476.7
191.3
148.3
147.9
193.1
35.0
449.8
595.2
114.2
852.5
720.0

4,898
3,617
1,477.7
189.1
146.5
146.7
189.5
34.4
447.5
588.9
114.0
851.6
711.7

4,871
3,590
1,481.0
189.9
141.7
145.2
188.1
34.1
444.7
582.5
114.6
849.8
699.4

4,836
3,562
1,472.7
190.0
138.8
143.5
185.3
34.0
442.7
576.1
114.3
847.0
692.0

-35
-28
-8.3
.1
-2.9
-1.7
-2.8
-.1
-2.0
-6.4
-.3
-2.8
-7.4

See footnotes at the end of table.

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail

Continued

(In thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted
Industry

Dec.
2007

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Seasonally adjusted

Dec.
2008p

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Dec.
2008p

Service-providing .............................................. 117,059 116,352 116,049 115,634 116,102 116,056 115,770 115,548 115,146 114,873

Change
from:
Nov. 2008Dec. 2008 p

-273

Private service-providing ...............................

94,357

93,480

93,057

92,762

93,769

93,542

93,275

93,038

92,639

92,359

-280

Trade, transportation, and utilities ...........................

27,328

26,229

26,360

26,435

26,658

26,346

26,225

26,118

25,954

25,833

-121

Wholesale trade .................................................... 6,085.1
Durable goods .................................................... 3,150.6
Nondurable goods .............................................. 2,094.3
Electronic markets and agents and brokers .....
840.2

5,987.4
3,064.1
2,076.6
846.7

5,950.7
3,038.1
2,068.3
844.3

5,917.7
3,019.5
2,054.6
843.6

6,072.9
3,145.0
2,089.3
838.6

6,007.1
3,084.9
2,075.2
847.0

5,999.5
3,080.1
2,070.0
849.4

5,972.2
3,058.9
2,066.6
846.7

5,939.4
3,036.4
2,058.9
844.1

5,909.4
3,015.4
2,052.4
841.6

-30.0
-21.0
-6.5
-2.5

Retail trade ............................................................ 16,085.9 15,179.2 15,387.6 15,506.9 15,487.8 15,274.7 15,199.1 15,132.1 15,032.1 14,965.5
Motor vehicle and parts dealers 1........................ 1,898.9 1,823.3 1,774.7 1,739.5 1,909.3 1,853.2 1,837.4 1,809.8 1,779.7 1,754.7
Automobile dealers ......................................... 1,240.8 1,162.0 1,126.0 1,100.2 1,244.6 1,189.6 1,177.1 1,152.9 1,127.1 1,105.6
Furniture and home furnishings stores .............
612.0
560.7
560.5
560.9
584.5
566.4
561.7
555.5
545.6
537.6
Electronics and appliance stores .......................
564.8
532.1
541.5
538.8
540.4
535.3
530.3
527.3
522.9
517.5
Building material and garden supply stores ...... 1,237.3 1,228.1 1,206.6 1,190.0 1,271.6 1,237.0 1,235.9 1,233.8 1,225.6 1,221.0
Food and beverage stores ................................. 2,907.7 2,860.4 2,885.0 2,880.2 2,871.9 2,871.5 2,863.2 2,864.6 2,856.7 2,848.4
Health and personal care stores ....................... 1,016.2
981.7
987.9
999.3
999.9
985.1
984.4
983.0
978.0
982.3
Gasoline stations ................................................
848.1
834.3
832.1
830.5
850.5
839.8
834.2
834.7
834.1
832.8
Clothing and clothing accessories stores ......... 1,674.4 1,484.2 1,536.2 1,595.4 1,508.6 1,495.8 1,482.9 1,478.2 1,457.2 1,453.2
Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music
stores ................................................................
721.4
656.6
667.8
681.0
661.6
659.5
650.1
648.1
635.5
629.2
General merchandise stores 1............................. 3,223.4 2,910.4 3,068.8 3,159.5 2,976.7 2,941.1 2,929.8 2,911.7 2,919.1 2,922.1
Department stores .......................................... 1,756.0 1,481.5 1,591.0 1,648.8 1,568.4 1,507.0 1,494.2 1,477.6 1,475.0 1,472.6
Miscellaneous store retailers .............................
895.7
865.2
862.7
861.9
866.3
856.4
855.5
854.5
846.5
835.7
Nonstore retailers ...............................................
486.0
442.2
463.8
469.9
446.5
433.6
433.7
430.9
431.2
431.0

-66.6
-25.0
-21.5
-8.0
-5.4
-4.6
-8.3
4.3
-1.3
-4.0

Transportation and warehousing .......................... 4,600.9
Air transportation ................................................
500.8
Rail transportation ..............................................
232.4
Water transportation ...........................................
63.4
Truck transportation ........................................... 1,424.6
Transit and ground passenger transportation ...
427.9
Pipeline transportation .......................................
40.9
Scenic and sightseeing transportation ..............
27.0
Support activities for transportation ...................
589.2
Couriers and messengers ..................................
625.1
Warehousing and storage ..................................
669.6

-6.3
3.0
-2.4
-10.8
-.2

4,499.4
483.2
232.2
60.9
1,399.1
421.7
43.3
31.4
591.0
576.4
660.2

4,457.8
482.2
232.2
58.5
1,374.7
420.5
44.1
26.0
578.2
579.1
662.3

4,445.7
477.8
232.2
57.0
1,349.8
417.1
44.2
24.6
575.6
610.6
656.8

4,539.9
502.1
232.5
64.4
1,423.1
411.8
40.8
31.3
587.1
588.1
658.7

4,505.1
490.9
230.6
60.7
1,400.1
416.5
43.0
30.9
590.8
585.8
655.8

4,465.9
487.4
229.2
60.3
1,387.3
408.2
43.7
29.5
587.2
580.2
652.9

4,450.2
484.3
231.3
59.7
1,379.0
406.6
43.8
30.2
585.8
578.6
650.9

4,417.7
483.0
232.0
58.9
1,366.4
405.2
44.1
29.2
577.6
572.6
648.7

4,393.8
479.2
232.0
57.9
1,350.8
402.8
44.2
28.7
574.9
575.8
647.5

-23.9
-3.8
.0
-1.0
-15.6
-2.4
.1
-.5
-2.7
3.2
-1.2

556.3

562.7

564.1

564.4

557.1

559.2

560.8

563.2

564.5

564.4

-.1

Information ................................................................
3,032
Publishing industries, except Internet ...............
893.8
Motion picture and sound recording industries .
381.7
Broadcasting, except Internet ............................
324.3
Telecommunications .......................................... 1,029.6
Data processing, hosting and related services .
273.7
Other information services .................................
128.8

2,960
864.4
374.0
318.3
1,004.4
266.4
132.8

2,955
858.3
376.3
318.6
1,003.6
265.6
132.5

2,942
852.7
374.1
314.7
1,002.0
267.1
131.7

3,018
889.7
376.3
321.9
1,026.8
273.5
129.3

2,984
870.4
379.4
318.4
1,016.0
268.0
131.7

2,978
867.0
379.4
317.7
1,014.4
267.4
131.7

2,972
863.7
383.1
317.9
1,008.0
267.3
132.3

2,953
855.3
378.2
317.3
1,003.7
266.0
132.5

2,933
849.9
371.1
313.4
1,000.2
266.5
132.1

-20
-5.4
-7.1
-3.9
-3.5
.5
-.4

Financial activities ....................................................
Finance and insurance ..........................................
Monetary authorities - central bank ...................
Credit intermediation and related activities 1.......
Depository credit intermediation 1.....................
Commercial banking ....................................
Securities, commodity contracts, investments ..
Insurance carriers and related activities ...........
Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles ........
Real estate and rental and leasing .......................
Real estate ..........................................................
Rental and leasing services ...............................
Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets .........

8,140
6,036.1
20.1
2,764.0
1,804.3
1,332.9
847.0
2,316.4
88.6
2,103.6
1,457.2
614.8
31.6

8,096
6,015.5
20.5
2,746.0
1,796.2
1,327.8
844.3
2,316.4
88.3
2,080.3
1,446.3
602.4
31.6

8,090
6,009.8
20.2
2,746.4
1,797.8
1,328.3
842.6
2,311.7
88.9
2,080.0
1,450.7
596.9
32.4

8,252
6,111.2
20.7
2,829.2
1,824.6
1,345.9
856.7
2,316.8
87.8
2,140.6
1,476.4
633.6
30.6

8,196
6,075.1
20.8
2,784.7
1,813.2
1,339.4
860.9
2,320.3
88.4
2,121.3
1,465.6
623.8
31.9

8,173
6,062.2
20.9
2,785.3
1,808.9
1,337.2
851.5
2,316.2
88.3
2,110.7
1,457.9
620.6
32.2

8,146
6,044.9
20.4
2,770.7
1,805.2
1,334.3
847.5
2,317.5
88.8
2,100.6
1,454.9
613.8
31.9

8,118
6,024.7
20.6
2,755.2
1,800.9
1,331.5
845.7
2,314.7
88.5
2,093.0
1,452.6
608.5
31.9

8,104
6,015.1
20.4
2,751.0
1,799.6
1,330.2
845.9
2,309.5
88.3
2,088.7
1,451.6
604.8
32.3

-14
-9.6
-.2
-4.2
-1.3
-1.3
.2
-5.2
-.2
-4.3
-1.0
-3.7
.4

Utilities ...................................................................

See footnotes at the end of table.

8,249
6,113.4
20.6
2,827.8
1,824.7
1,345.2
855.7
2,320.9
88.4
2,135.6
1,476.3
628.5
30.8

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail

Continued

(In thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted

Seasonally adjusted
Change
from:
Nov. 2008Dec. 2008 p

Industry

Dec.
2007

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Dec.
2008p

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Dec.
2008p

Professional and business services ........................
Professional and technical services 1.....................
Legal services ..................................................
Accounting and bookkeeping services ...........
Architectural and engineering services ..........
Computer systems design and related
services ..........................................................
Management and technical consulting
services ..........................................................
Management of companies and enterprises .......
Administrative and waste services .......................
Administrative and support services 1.................
Employment services 1......................................
Temporary help services .............................
Business support services ..............................
Services to buildings and dwellings ...............
Waste management and remediation services

18,163
7,845.9
1,176.0
1,003.3
1,456.1

17,929
7,841.1
1,167.8
906.1
1,465.0

17,664
7,828.6
1,165.6
915.4
1,453.1

17,438
7,847.8
1,169.0
974.1
1,435.1

18,131
7,820.5
1,173.9
993.3
1,460.4

17,854
7,859.5
1,166.6
977.7
1,464.2

17,789
7,860.8
1,166.2
975.3
1,457.0

17,708
7,864.4
1,166.9
971.3
1,454.1

17,563
7,845.9
1,165.8
968.3
1,447.3

17,450
7,827.8
1,167.1
964.9
1,440.6

-113
-18.1
1.3
-3.4
-6.7

1,397.4

1,436.9

1,439.3

1,434.8

1,391.4

1,424.5

1,427.4

1,430.4

1,431.4

1,428.5

-2.9

1,004.3
1,860.8
8,456.3
8,094.1
3,634.1
2,640.3
817.7
1,788.9
362.2

1,036.4
1,822.8
8,264.6
7,891.6
3,334.4
2,387.4
793.0
1,897.8
373.0

1,039.0
1,808.8
8,026.6
7,657.2
3,177.2
2,254.4
797.4
1,842.0
369.4

1,035.4
1,800.6
7,789.4
7,425.3
3,031.1
2,114.1
797.9
1,757.2
364.1

994.3
1,847.8
8,462.8
8,099.3
3,566.9
2,578.5
803.7
1,872.0
363.5

1,019.8
1,832.1
8,162.7
7,793.5
3,285.8
2,353.5
785.6
1,861.8
369.2

1,029.6
1,823.7
8,104.6
7,735.8
3,236.2
2,308.6
787.7
1,855.9
368.8

1,028.9
1,818.3
8,025.3
7,654.8
3,168.2
2,255.1
786.8
1,849.1
370.5

1,027.8
1,805.6
7,911.4
7,542.3
3,068.1
2,169.4
788.9
1,839.9
369.1

1,026.0
1,797.2
7,824.6
7,459.0
2,987.5
2,088.5
783.6
1,842.3
365.6

-1.8
-8.4
-86.8
-83.3
-80.6
-80.9
-5.3
2.4
-3.5

Education and health services ................................ 18,741 19,207 19,281 19,265 18,568 18,997 18,993 19,012 19,059 19,104
Educational services ............................................. 3,124.9 3,236.2 3,262.0 3,209.3 2,984.5 3,126.6 3,082.3 3,066.9 3,074.1 3,081.1
Health care and social assistance ........................ 15,616.5 15,971.2 16,018.8 16,055.3 15,583.2 15,870.8 15,910.5 15,945.4 15,985.2 16,022.7
Health care 3......................................................... 13,133.9 13,438.0 13,470.7 13,503.7 13,109.6 13,363.4 13,388.0 13,417.1 13,449.6 13,481.2
Ambulatory health care services 1.................... 5,583.3 5,748.4 5,761.3 5,775.6 5,566.0 5,703.8 5,721.1 5,732.4 5,746.9 5,761.1
Offices of physicians .................................... 2,246.2 2,302.6 2,309.6 2,319.0 2,235.6 2,282.7 2,289.7 2,295.2 2,301.5 2,307.1
Outpatient care centers ................................
513.9
521.6
524.2
522.0
513.0
522.2
519.9
521.5
522.8
521.7
Home health care services ..........................
933.2
975.6
980.5
983.8
930.9
963.4
967.0
972.0
977.7
982.7
Hospitals .......................................................... 4,574.5 4,694.5 4,702.6 4,713.6 4,572.4 4,669.1 4,677.0 4,689.7 4,699.4 4,711.3
Nursing and residential care facilities 1............ 2,976.1 2,995.1 3,006.8 3,014.5 2,971.2 2,990.5 2,989.9 2,995.0 3,003.3 3,008.8
Nursing care facilities ................................... 1,611.3 1,607.1 1,610.4 1,614.9 1,608.2 1,607.4 1,603.5 1,606.1 1,607.9 1,611.1
Social assistance 1................................................ 2,482.6 2,533.2 2,548.1 2,551.6 2,473.6 2,507.4 2,522.5 2,528.3 2,535.6 2,541.5
Child day care services ...................................
867.7
871.2
875.3
873.6
857.1
850.5
861.5
860.1
862.1
862.6

45
7.0
37.5
31.6
14.2
5.6
-1.1
5.0
11.9
5.5
3.2
5.9
.5

Leisure and hospitality ............................................. 13,358 13,490 13,213 13,151 13,635 13,639 13,587 13,557 13,490 13,468
Arts, entertainment, and recreation ...................... 1,860.7 1,946.8 1,834.4 1,827.1 2,010.3 2,004.0 1,988.7 1,993.3 1,982.0 1,979.1
Performing arts and spectator sports ................
416.7
425.8
410.7
404.7
429.9
432.9
427.6
429.3
422.4
420.5
Museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks ......
125.3
130.0
125.2
122.2
131.5
131.7
130.3
129.5
129.5
129.3
Amusements, gambling, and recreation ........... 1,318.7 1,391.0 1,298.5 1,300.2 1,448.9 1,439.4 1,430.8 1,434.5 1,430.1 1,429.3
Accommodation and food services ...................... 11,496.9 11,543.6 11,378.8 11,324.2 11,624.7 11,634.6 11,598.3 11,564.1 11,507.9 11,488.7
Accommodation .................................................. 1,803.0 1,800.8 1,706.7 1,707.1 1,858.1 1,824.9 1,810.6 1,802.9 1,767.7 1,768.9
Food services and drinking places .................... 9,693.9 9,742.8 9,672.1 9,617.1 9,766.6 9,809.7 9,787.7 9,761.2 9,740.2 9,719.8

-22
-2.9
-1.9
-.2
-.8
-19.2
1.2
-20.4

Other services ..........................................................
5,486
Repair and maintenance .................................... 1,246.5
Personal and laundry services .......................... 1,304.3
Membership associations and organizations .... 2,935.2

5,525
1,228.8
1,315.2
2,981.2

5,488
1,208.6
1,304.6
2,974.9

5,441
1,196.1
1,306.4
2,938.1

5,507
1,255.5
1,306.9
2,944.4

5,526
1,233.9
1,318.5
2,973.6

5,530
1,232.7
1,319.4
2,977.5

5,525
1,228.0
1,315.1
2,982.2

5,502
1,217.1
1,310.4
2,974.8

5,467
1,208.1
1,310.7
2,947.7

-35
-9.0
.3
-27.1

Government ..............................................................
Federal ...................................................................
Federal, except U.S. Postal Service .................
U.S. Postal Service ............................................
State government ..................................................
State government education ..............................
State government, excluding education ............
Local government ..................................................
Local government education .............................
Local government, excluding education ...........

22,872
2,767
2,043.8
723.3
5,350
2,535.6
2,814.6
14,755
8,302.2
6,453.2

22,992
2,758
2,045.7
712.1
5,379
2,564.1
2,815.1
14,855
8,393.8
6,461.3

22,872
2,763
2,047.5
715.7
5,323
2,509.4
2,813.8
14,786
8,371.7
6,414.3

22,333
2,735
1,972.3
763.1
5,153
2,332.5
2,820.9
14,445
8,016.5
6,428.2

22,514
2,748
2,025.2
722.4
5,210
2,378.8
2,831.2
14,556
8,058.6
6,497.4

22,495
2,750
2,033.6
716.8
5,206
2,378.8
2,826.7
14,539
8,043.7
6,495.1

22,510
2,758
2,045.3
712.8
5,208
2,378.4
2,829.2
14,544
8,052.6
6,491.8

22,507
2,757
2,052.7
704.3
5,215
2,384.9
2,829.9
14,535
8,044.1
6,490.7

22,514
2,755
2,056.7
698.4
5,221
2,389.4
2,831.6
14,538
8,041.9
6,496.3

7
-2
4.0
-5.9
6
4.5
1.7
3
-2.2
5.6

1

22,702
2,740
1,960.8
779.1
5,250
2,447.5
2,802.6
14,712
8,360.4
6,351.9

Includes other industries, not shown separately.
Includes motor vehicles, motor vehicle bodies and trailers, and motor
vehicle parts.
3 Includes ambulatory health care services, hospitals, and nursing
and residential care facilities.
p = preliminary.
NOTE: Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North
2

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for
the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry, replacing
NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm for more
details.

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-2. Average weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and
selected industry detail

Not seasonally adjusted
Industry

Seasonally adjusted
Change
from:
Nov. 2008Dec. 2008 p

Dec.
2007

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Dec.
2008p

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Dec.
2008p

Total private .......................................

34.1

33.6

33.7

33.3

33.8

33.7

33.6

33.5

33.5

33.3

-0.2

Goods-producing ..........................................

40.7

40.2

39.8

39.5

40.5

40.3

39.9

39.8

39.6

39.3

-.3

Natural resources and mining ..............................

45.8

45.2

44.9

44.0

45.8

45.3

44.5

44.6

44.5

44.0

-.5

Construction ............................................................

38.6

38.8

37.8

37.3

39.0

38.7

38.4

38.1

37.8

37.8

.0

Manufacturing .........................................................
Overtime hours ............................................

41.6
4.3

40.7
3.6

40.5
3.4

40.3
3.2

41.1
4.0

40.9
3.7

40.5
3.5

40.4
3.5

40.3
3.3

39.9
3.0

-.4
-.3

Durable goods .....................................................
Overtime hours ............................................

41.8
4.4

40.8
3.5

40.6
3.2

40.5
3.1

41.3
4.0

41.2
3.7

40.7
3.5

40.6
3.4

40.4
3.1

40.0
2.9

-.4
-.2

Wood products ..................................................
Nonmetallic mineral products .........................
Primary metals ..................................................
Fabricated metal products ..............................
Machinery ..........................................................
Computer and electronic products ................
Electrical equipment and appliances ............
Transportation equipment ...............................
Motor vehicles and parts 2..............................
Furniture and related products .......................
Miscellaneous manufacturing .........................

39.4
41.1
42.8
42.1
43.5
41.4
42.7
42.9
42.3
39.9
39.3

38.2
42.5
41.6
41.1
42.1
40.9
40.8
41.6
40.7
37.3
38.7

38.3
41.4
40.8
40.8
41.8
41.5
40.8
40.9
40.0
37.2
38.8

37.5
41.0
40.2
40.4
41.5
41.3
41.0
41.5
40.5
37.8
39.1

39.2
41.5
42.2
41.6
42.9
40.5
41.6
42.1
41.6
39.1
38.8

38.9
42.3
42.7
41.3
42.7
41.0
41.0
41.8
40.4
38.1
39.5

38.4
42.0
42.1
41.0
42.2
40.9
41.0
40.8
40.9
37.5
38.8

38.1
41.9
41.4
40.7
41.9
40.8
40.5
41.3
40.6
37.4
38.8

38.0
41.5
40.6
40.5
41.5
41.1
40.3
40.9
40.2
37.3
38.8

37.4
41.6
39.9
40.0
41.0
40.5
40.0
40.8
39.9
37.2
38.8

-.6
.1
-.7
-.5
-.5
-.6
-.3
-.1
-.3
-.1
.0

Nondurable goods ...............................................
Overtime hours ............................................

41.3
4.2

40.4
3.8

40.5
3.7

40.1
3.3

40.8
4.0

40.4
3.7

40.2
3.6

40.2
3.6

40.1
3.5

39.7
3.2

-.4
-.3

Food manufacturing .........................................
Beverages and tobacco products ..................
Textile mills ........................................................
Textile product mills .........................................
Apparel ...............................................................
Leather and allied products ............................
Paper and paper products ..............................
Printing and related support activities ...........
Petroleum and coal products ..........................
Chemicals ..........................................................
Plastics and rubber products ..........................

41.0
40.3
41.1
40.7
37.5
40.0
44.6
39.3
43.1
41.8
42.0

40.8
37.6
38.3
37.7
36.2
36.9
42.5
38.9
46.1
41.4
40.7

40.9
38.4
38.3
37.9
37.1
36.0
42.0
38.8
45.2
41.6
40.7

40.0
37.3
37.5
37.7
37.2
37.2
41.9
38.8
44.5
41.5
40.7

40.4
40.8
40.2
39.9
37.5
39.1
44.0
38.8
44.0
41.5
41.4

40.5
38.2
39.5
38.8
36.4
37.6
43.0
38.3
45.5
41.5
41.0

40.4
38.2
39.0
38.2
36.0
37.5
42.4
38.3
45.3
41.3
40.8

40.4
38.0
38.2
37.9
36.2
37.0
42.2
38.5
45.3
41.5
40.6

40.3
38.1
37.9
37.8
36.8
36.2
41.7
38.4
44.6
41.3
40.5

39.5
37.6
36.8
37.2
37.0
36.5
41.3
38.3
45.2
41.2
40.2

-.8
-.5
-1.1
-.6
.2
.3
-.4
-.1
.6
-.1
-.3

Private service-providing .............................

32.7

32.2

32.5

32.1

32.4

32.4

32.3

32.3

32.3

32.2

-.1

Trade, transportation, and utilities .......................

33.7

33.0

33.0

33.0

33.3

33.2

33.2

33.1

33.0

32.9

-.1

Wholesale trade ...................................................

38.8

38.2

38.5

37.9

38.3

38.3

38.1

38.2

38.1

38.0

-.1

Retail trade ...........................................................

30.5

29.8

29.7

29.9

30.1

30.0

30.1

29.9

29.8

29.7

-.1

Transportation and warehousing ......................

37.6

36.2

36.3

36.5

36.8

36.4

36.3

36.3

36.0

36.3

.3

Utilities ...................................................................

42.7

42.6

42.9

42.7

42.8

42.2

42.6

42.5

42.5

42.8

.3

Information ...............................................................

36.7

36.9

37.4

36.8

36.3

36.8

36.9

36.9

37.0

37.0

.0

Financial activities ..................................................

36.4

35.7

36.6

35.7

35.8

36.1

36.0

35.9

36.0

35.9

-.1

Professional and business services ....................

35.2

35.0

35.3

34.6

34.8

34.9

34.8

34.9

35.0

34.7

-.3

Education and health services .............................

32.8

32.4

32.7

32.3

32.6

32.6

32.5

32.5

32.5

32.4

-.1

Leisure and hospitality ...........................................

25.3

25.0

25.0

24.6

25.3

25.2

25.2

25.1

25.1

25.0

-.1

Other services .........................................................

31.0

30.7

30.9

30.5

30.8

30.9

30.8

30.7

30.7

30.6

-.1

1 Data

relate to production workers in natural resources and mining
and manufacturing, construction workers in construction, and nonsupervisory
workers in the service-providing industries. These groups account
for approximately four-fifths of the total employment on private
nonfarm payrolls.
2 Includes motor vehicles, motor vehicle bodies and trailers, and motor
vehicle parts.

p

= preliminary.
NOTE: Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for
the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry, replacing
NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm for more
details.

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-3. Average hourly and weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and
selected industry detail

Average hourly earnings
Industry

Average weekly earnings

Dec.
2007

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Dec.
2008p

Dec.
2007

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Total private .......................................
Seasonally adjusted .....................

$17.75
17.70

$18.23
18.23

$18.38
18.31

$18.37
18.36

$605.28
598.26

$612.53
610.71

$619.41
613.39

$611.72
611.39

Goods-producing ..........................................

18.96

19.59

19.64

19.69

771.67

787.52

781.67

777.76

Natural resources and mining ..............................

21.68

22.96

23.08

22.99

992.94

1,037.79

1,036.29

1,011.56

Construction ............................................................

21.38

22.27

22.32

22.48

825.27

864.08

843.70

838.50

Manufacturing .........................................................

17.51

17.84

17.94

18.03

728.42

726.09

726.57

726.61

Durable goods .....................................................
Wood products ..................................................
Nonmetallic mineral products .........................
Primary metals ..................................................
Fabricated metal products ..............................
Machinery ..........................................................
Computer and electronic products ................
Electrical equipment and appliances ............
Transportation equipment ...............................
Furniture and related products .......................
Miscellaneous manufacturing .........................

18.46
13.88
16.94
19.73
16.82
17.95
20.33
15.73
23.46
14.50
15.00

18.78
14.41
16.93
20.00
17.18
18.09
21.46
15.85
24.01
14.55
15.33

18.90
14.45
16.74
20.05
17.22
18.21
21.54
15.83
24.26
14.58
15.44

19.01
14.58
16.58
20.08
17.38
18.29
21.58
15.98
24.37
14.63
15.56

771.63
546.87
696.23
844.44
708.12
780.83
841.66
671.67
1,006.43
578.55
589.50

766.22
550.46
719.53
832.00
706.10
761.59
877.71
646.68
998.82
542.72
593.27

767.34
553.44
693.04
818.04
702.58
761.18
893.91
645.86
992.23
542.38
599.07

769.91
546.75
679.78
807.22
702.15
759.04
891.25
655.18
1,011.36
553.01
608.40

Nondurable goods ...............................................
Food manufacturing .........................................
Beverages and tobacco products ..................
Textile mills ........................................................
Textile product mills .........................................
Apparel ...............................................................
Leather and allied products ............................
Paper and paper products ..............................
Printing and related support activities ...........
Petroleum and coal products ..........................
Chemicals ..........................................................
Plastics and rubber products ..........................

15.90
13.70
19.69
13.13
11.75
11.28
12.12
18.71
16.65
25.52
19.57
15.65

16.31
14.09
19.24
13.72
11.62
11.38
13.14
19.06
17.00
28.86
19.71
16.01

16.39
14.21
19.72
13.88
11.63
11.42
13.26
18.94
17.01
28.53
20.02
16.03

16.44
14.26
19.67
13.89
11.83
11.38
13.30
19.13
17.17
28.13
19.86
16.10

656.67
561.70
793.51
539.64
478.23
423.00
484.80
834.47
654.35
1,099.91
818.03
657.30

658.92
574.87
723.42
525.48
438.07
411.96
484.87
810.05
661.30
1,330.45
815.99
651.61

663.80
581.19
757.25
531.60
440.78
423.68
477.36
795.48
659.99
1,289.56
832.83
652.42

659.24
570.40
733.69
520.88
445.99
423.34
494.76
801.55
666.20
1,251.79
824.19
655.27

Private service-providing .............................

17.45

17.89

18.07

18.06

570.62

576.06

587.28

579.73

Trade, transportation, and utilities .......................

15.89

16.26

16.30

16.17

535.49

536.58

537.90

533.61

Wholesale trade ...................................................

20.10

20.21

20.40

20.27

779.88

772.02

785.40

768.23

Retail trade ...........................................................

12.64

12.91

12.92

12.83

385.52

384.72

383.72

383.62

Transportation and warehousing ......................

18.04

18.53

18.56

18.55

678.30

670.79

673.73

677.08

Utilities ...................................................................

28.61

29.00

29.15

29.23

1,221.65

1,235.40

1,250.54

1,248.12

Information ...............................................................

24.34

25.01

25.14

24.96

893.28

922.87

940.24

918.53

Financial activities ..................................................

19.97

20.42

20.54

20.51

726.91

728.99

751.76

732.21

Professional and business services ....................

20.67

21.39

22.00

22.09

727.58

748.65

776.60

764.31

Education and health services .............................

18.51

18.92

18.96

19.08

607.13

613.01

619.99

616.28

Leisure and hospitality ...........................................

10.77

10.92

10.93

11.04

272.48

273.00

273.25

271.58

Other services .........................................................

15.75

15.91

15.97

16.02

488.25

488.44

493.47

488.61

1 See

footnote 1, table B-2.
preliminary.
NOTE: Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for
p=

Dec.
2008p

the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry, replacing
NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm for more
details.

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-4. Average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector
and selected industry detail, seasonally adjusted
Percent
change from:
Nov. 2008-p
Dec. 2008

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Dec.
2008p

Total Private:
Current dollars ................................................
Constant (1982) dollars 2.................................

$17.70
8.27

$18.14
8.17

$18.17
8.19

$18.23
8.32

$18.31
8.54

$18.36
N.A.

0.3

Goods-producing ..........................................................

18.90

19.41

19.47

19.52

19.60

19.63

.2

Natural resources and mining ..............................................

21.54

23.02

23.17

23.06

23.05

22.85

-.9

Construction ............................................................................

21.30

22.01

22.09

22.15

22.27

22.37

.4

Manufacturing .........................................................................
Excluding overtime 4.....................................................

17.41
16.60

17.76
16.99

17.79
17.05

17.86
17.12

17.94
17.23

17.92
17.27

-.1
.2

Durable goods .....................................................................

18.33

18.70

18.72

18.80

18.89

18.88

-.1

Nondurable goods ...............................................................

15.86

16.18

16.27

16.34

16.39

16.39

.0

Private service-providing .............................................

17.39

17.82

17.85

17.92

18.00

18.06

.3

Trade, transportation, and utilities .......................................

16.00

16.26

16.23

16.27

16.31

16.33

.1

Wholesale trade ...................................................................

19.93

20.29

20.23

20.23

20.25

20.22

-.1

Retail trade ...........................................................................

12.81

12.93

12.93

12.92

12.98

13.00

.2

Transportation and warehousing ......................................

18.07

18.47

18.45

18.55

18.56

18.59

.2

Utilities ...................................................................................

28.52

28.88

28.84

28.92

29.00

29.12

.4

Information ...............................................................................

24.18

24.91

24.86

24.95

25.06

25.00

-.2

Financial activities ..................................................................

19.91

20.38

20.42

20.44

20.42

20.55

.6

Professional and business services ....................................

20.46

21.30

21.40

21.56

21.83

22.03

.9

Education and health services .............................................

18.48

18.85

18.91

18.95

18.99

19.04

.3

Leisure and hospitality ...........................................................

10.65

10.89

10.89

10.91

10.90

10.92

.2

Other services .........................................................................

15.71

15.92

15.93

15.95

15.97

16.00

.2

Industry

1 See

footnote 1, table B-2.
Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
(CPI-W) is used to deflate this series.
3 Change was 2.6 percent from Oct. 2008 to Nov. 2008, the latest month available.
4 Derived by assuming that overtime hours are paid at the rate of time
and one-half.
N.A. = not available.
2 The

p

(3)

= preliminary.
NOTE: Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for
the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry, replacing
NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm for more
details.

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-5. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and
selected industry detail
(2002=100)

Not seasonally adjusted

Seasonally adjusted

Dec.
2007

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Dec.
2008p

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Percent
Dec. change from:
2008p Nov. 2008Dec. 2008 p

Total private ....................................... 109.2

106.4

106.0

103.8

107.8

106.8

106.1

105.3

104.7

103.5

-1.1

Goods-producing .......................................... 100.6

96.6

93.8

90.0

100.6

96.9

95.3

93.9

92.4

90.3

-2.3

Natural resources and mining .............................. 135.1

145.8

144.6

139.4

135.6

143.0

141.9

141.5

142.1

139.8

-1.6

Construction ............................................................ 109.4

109.2

102.8

95.3

112.7

106.8

104.9

102.8

100.5

98.9

-1.6

95.0

88.8

87.3

85.2

93.7

90.5

89.0

87.6

86.5

84.4

-2.4

Durable goods ..................................................... 98.0
Wood products .................................................. 86.9
Nonmetallic mineral products ......................... 92.4
Primary metals .................................................. 90.9
Fabricated metal products .............................. 106.3
Machinery .......................................................... 106.7
Computer and electronic products ................ 104.3
Electrical equipment and appliances ............ 92.0
Transportation equipment ............................... 98.0
Motor vehicles and parts 2.............................. 84.1
Furniture and related products ....................... 86.2
Miscellaneous manufacturing ......................... 92.7

89.7
76.2
95.4
85.8
99.4
100.7
99.5
87.3
81.3
66.5
71.6
89.1

88.2
73.9
89.8
82.4
97.1
98.1
100.1
86.2
81.4
64.9
69.0
88.1

86.1
69.7
84.6
78.9
94.0
96.7
98.2
85.1
80.9
63.7
68.4
87.8

96.5
86.9
94.4
89.6
104.8
105.0
101.7
89.2
95.2
81.6
84.2
91.0

92.6
79.4
94.3
88.7
101.6
103.7
101.3
88.0
86.4
69.2
75.5
90.9

90.7
77.4
92.4
87.2
100.0
101.4
100.2
87.5
83.5
68.8
73.9
89.0

89.0
75.2
92.0
85.2
97.9
100.1
99.1
86.3
81.1
66.8
71.6
88.7

87.5
73.4
89.2
81.9
95.9
97.4
98.8
84.8
81.0
64.8
69.6
87.4

85.0
70.1
87.6
78.4
92.8
95.6
96.0
83.0
78.9
62.0
67.8
86.9

-2.9
-4.5
-1.8
-4.3
-3.2
-1.8
-2.8
-2.1
-2.6
-4.3
-2.6
-.6

Nondurable goods ............................................... 90.3
Food manufacturing ......................................... 102.7
Beverages and tobacco products .................. 89.1
Textile mills ........................................................ 54.8
Textile product mills ......................................... 77.7
Apparel ............................................................... 59.7
Leather and allied products ............................ 74.0
Paper and paper products .............................. 89.0
Printing and related support activities ........... 92.4
Petroleum and coal products .......................... 90.3
Chemicals .......................................................... 96.2
Plastics and rubber products .......................... 91.2

86.9
103.0
89.8
46.1
69.1
54.2
71.5
83.5
86.6
103.2
94.3
84.6

86.0
102.7
89.9
43.7
67.7
54.9
68.5
81.9
85.8
99.0
94.3
82.5

83.9
98.9
86.3
41.6
65.8
53.7
69.8
81.4
84.2
92.6
93.7
81.2

89.3
101.0
92.3
53.8
76.4
60.3
71.5
87.9
90.6
95.1
95.6
90.1

87.0
100.2
87.6
48.9
70.9
56.3
74.3
85.3
86.6
102.4
95.5
87.1

86.3
100.2
87.8
47.3
70.2
54.7
73.4
83.7
86.3
102.0
94.6
85.7

85.7
100.2
87.6
45.5
69.0
54.0
70.9
83.1
85.3
99.8
95.0
84.0

84.8
99.9
88.9
43.4
67.6
54.3
68.4
81.6
84.2
97.9
94.3
82.2

83.3
97.5
88.7
41.2
65.5
53.9
68.5
80.4
82.8
97.9
93.3
80.6

-1.8
-2.4
-.2
-5.1
-3.1
-.7
.1
-1.5
-1.7
.0
-1.1
-1.9

Private service-providing ............................. 111.4

108.9

109.3

107.6

109.7

109.6

108.9

108.6

108.1

107.4

-.6

Trade, transportation, and utilities ....................... 109.4

102.5

103.1

103.5

105.1

103.6

103.1

102.3

101.2

100.4

-.8

Wholesale trade ................................................... 112.8

109.3

109.4

107.0

111.1

110.0

109.1

108.9

108.0

107.1

-.8

Retail trade ........................................................... 107.2

98.3

99.6

101.2

101.4

99.7

99.5

98.3

97.1

96.4

-.7

Transportation and warehousing ...................... 113.6

107.4

106.4

106.7

109.5

107.7

106.7

106.3

104.3

104.6

.3

97.1

99.1

99.8

99.2

97.5

97.4

98.8

98.9

98.9

99.8

.9

Information ............................................................... 101.3

99.8

101.1

99.4

99.7

100.2

100.3

100.4

100.0

99.5

-.5

Financial activities .................................................. 110.0

107.5

109.5

106.6

108.2

109.2

108.6

108.1

108.0

107.4

-.6

Professional and business services .................... 118.1

115.9

114.8

110.8

116.7

115.0

114.2

113.9

113.0

111.2

-1.6

Education and health services ............................. 115.8

117.5

119.0

117.5

114.1

116.9

116.6

116.7

116.9

116.9

.0

Leisure and hospitality ........................................... 109.2

109.3

106.9

104.7

111.6

111.4

111.0

110.3

109.8

109.1

-.6

99.5

99.4

97.1

99.2

100.0

99.8

99.5

99.0

98.1

-.9

Industry

Manufacturing .........................................................

Utilities ...................................................................

Other services .........................................................

1 See

99.3

footnote 1, table B-2.
motor vehicles, motor vehicle bodies and trailers, and
motor vehicle parts.
p = preliminary.
NOTE: The indexes of aggregate weekly hours are calculated by
dividing the current months estimates of aggregate hours by
the corresponding 2002 annual average levels. Aggregate hours
2 Includes

estimates are the product of estimates of average weekly hours
and production and nonsupervisory worker employment.
Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis
for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry,
replacing NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm
for more details.

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-6. Indexes of aggregate weekly payrolls of production and nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and
selected industry detail
(2002=100)

Not seasonally adjusted

Seasonally adjusted

Dec.
2007

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Dec.
2008p

Dec.
2007

Aug.
2008

Sept.
2008

Oct.
2008

Nov.
2008p

Percent
Dec. change from:
2008p Nov. 2008Dec. 2008 p

Total private ....................................... 129.6

129.6

130.1

127.5

127.5

129.4

128.8

128.3

128.1

127.0

-0.9

Goods-producing .......................................... 116.8

115.9

112.8

108.6

116.5

115.2

113.6

112.2

110.9

108.6

-2.1

Natural resources and mining .............................. 170.3

194.7

194.1

186.3

169.8

191.4

191.2

189.8

190.5

185.8

-2.5

Construction ............................................................ 126.3

131.3

123.9

115.7

129.6

126.9

125.1

123.0

120.9

119.4

-1.2

Manufacturing ......................................................... 108.8

103.6

102.4

100.5

106.7

105.1

103.5

102.4

101.5

99.0

-2.5

Durable goods ..................................................... 112.9

105.2

104.1

102.2

110.4

108.1

106.0

104.4

103.2

100.2

-2.9

Nondurable goods ............................................... 101.5

100.1

99.6

97.5

100.0

99.5

99.2

98.9

98.2

96.5

-1.7

Private service-providing ............................. 133.3

133.5

135.5

133.3

130.8

133.9

133.3

133.5

133.4

133.0

-.3

Trade, transportation, and utilities ....................... 124.0

118.9

119.9

119.4

119.9

120.2

119.4

118.7

117.7

117.0

-.6

Wholesale trade ................................................... 133.6

130.1

131.5

127.8

130.4

131.5

130.0

129.8

128.8

127.6

-.9

Retail trade ........................................................... 116.2

108.8

110.3

111.2

111.3

110.5

110.3

108.8

108.1

107.4

-.6

Transportation and warehousing ...................... 130.0

126.3

125.3

125.6

125.5

126.2

124.9

125.0

122.9

123.4

.4

Utilities ................................................................... 115.9

119.9

121.4

121.1

116.1

117.5

119.0

119.4

119.7

121.3

1.3

Information ............................................................... 122.1

123.6

125.9

122.9

119.4

123.6

123.5

124.0

124.0

123.2

-.6

Financial activities .................................................. 135.8

135.7

139.1

135.2

133.2

137.6

137.1

136.6

136.4

136.4

.0

Professional and business services .................... 145.3

147.5

150.3

145.7

142.1

145.7

145.5

146.1

146.8

145.7

-.7

Education and health services ............................. 141.0

146.1

148.3

147.4

138.6

144.9

144.9

145.3

146.0

146.3

.2

Leisure and hospitality ........................................... 133.6

135.6

132.7

131.3

135.0

137.8

137.3

136.6

135.9

135.3

-.4

Other services ......................................................... 114.0

115.3

115.6

113.4

113.6

116.0

115.8

115.6

115.2

114.4

-.7

Industry

1 See

footnote 1, table B-2.
preliminary.
NOTE: The indexes of aggregate weekly payrolls are calculated
by dividing the current months estimates of aggregate payrolls
by the corresponding 2002 annual average levels. Aggregate
payroll estimates are the product of estimates of average hourly
earnings, average weekly hours, and production and nonsupervisory
p=

worker employment.
Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis
for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry,
replacing NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm
for more details.

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-7. Diffusion indexes of employment change
(Percent)
Time span

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Private nonfarm payrolls, 274 industries 1
Over 1-month span:
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008

.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................

50.5
52.2
65.1
51.6
45.4

50.5
60.6
60.9
51.8
41.4

64.1
54.2
64.4
52.7
47.4

62.6
58.2
59.3
51.1
45.6

61.7
55.8
53.3
56.6
46.4

58.9
58.2
52.7
50.4
42.3

56.0
58.0
60.4
52.2
38.3

50.0
61.3
58.9
51.6
46.2

56.9
54.7
53.5
56.4
35.9

56.9
53.6
55.8
54.6
34.1

51.3
62.4
57.1
48.2
p 27.2

51.8
54.7
56.0
48.5
p 25.4

54.4
52.2
67.2
58.4
46.7

52.9
55.5
66.2
54.7
42.7

57.3
57.5
66.6
55.3
42.3

63.5
60.8
65.5
54.7
44.0

68.8
58.9
60.6
56.2
43.1

66.6
61.9
58.2
53.3
44.0

61.3
60.4
56.0
53.1
36.3

56.4
63.9
58.9
54.7
37.4

57.7
61.1
55.7
58.4
34.1

59.5
54.4
56.4
56.8
33.0

61.9
54.9
57.1
54.7
p 28.3

54.6
61.3
58.4
52.4
p 24.1

50.0
54.6
63.1
59.1
51.5

51.6
57.3
64.4
56.4
49.8

55.3
56.8
67.2
57.5
44.7

60.9
57.5
67.0
56.8
46.5

63.7
57.5
64.4
58.8
43.6

65.1
58.2
66.4
58.2
39.1

65.1
64.4
61.5
56.2
37.6

63.9
62.8
61.7
58.0
39.1

60.4
62.0
60.4
58.2
33.6

61.7
59.3
59.7
57.1
31.6

58.2
61.5
60.8
54.6
p 28.3

56.0
62.0
56.0
53.8
p 26.8

40.5
60.6
67.2
62.6
53.8

42.3
60.8
65.1
59.1
54.6

45.1
59.7
65.5
60.4
52.6

48.9
58.9
62.6
58.9
50.4

51.3
58.0
64.8
59.5
49.3

58.2
60.0
66.4
58.4
45.8

57.5
60.9
64.4
57.5
44.7

55.7
63.3
64.4
58.8
42.5

57.3
60.4
66.2
61.7
41.4

58.8
58.9
65.1
60.4
38.0

60.6
59.5
64.4
59.9
p 31.8

60.8
61.7
65.5
57.7
p 30.5

Over 3-month span:
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008

.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................

Over 6-month span:
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008

.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................

Over 12-month span:
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008

.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................

Manufacturing payrolls, 84 industries 1

Over 1-month span:
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008

.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................

43.5
36.3
57.7
47.6
40.5

47.6
48.8
45.8
35.7
28.6

47.0
42.9
54.8
30.4
38.1

63.7
44.6
48.8
29.8
35.1

50.6
42.3
38.1
37.5
44.6

51.2
35.1
53.0
39.3
30.4

58.3
38.1
50.6
41.7
26.8

42.9
47.0
44.0
33.3
37.5

42.9
45.8
36.3
40.5
25.0

48.2
46.4
40.5
45.2
18.5

42.3
47.0
38.1
44.6
p 18.5

39.9
47.0
39.3
36.3
p 11.3

41.1
38.1
54.8
33.9
35.7

40.5
39.3
52.4
28.6
27.4

43.5
42.3
47.6
32.1
26.8

56.5
44.6
48.8
27.4
29.2

58.9
36.3
44.6
29.8
29.8

61.3
37.5
50.6
32.7
35.7

57.7
33.3
42.9
31.0
24.4

47.0
39.9
47.6
34.5
22.6

46.4
45.8
36.3
32.1
21.4

41.7
41.7
37.5
39.3
22.6

44.6
38.7
32.1
44.0
p 18.5

38.7
49.4
34.5
41.7
p 14.3

29.2
33.9
42.9
34.5
34.5

31.5
38.1
45.2
27.4
33.9

32.7
35.1
50.6
23.8
32.1

44.6
36.9
47.6
27.4
28.0

49.4
32.1
48.2
31.5
26.8

54.8
32.1
47.6
34.5
20.8

59.5
41.7
46.4
33.3
19.6

56.0
35.7
48.8
31.0
24.4

51.2
36.3
43.5
29.2
17.3

51.8
36.9
41.7
35.1
17.9

44.0
37.5
38.7
34.5
p 15.5

38.7
42.3
29.8
32.7
p 15.5

13.1
44.6
44.6
39.3
29.8

14.3
43.5
40.5
36.3
29.8

13.1
41.7
40.5
36.9
29.8

20.2
40.5
39.3
28.6
24.4

23.2
36.3
39.3
29.8
27.4

35.7
35.1
44.6
26.2
24.4

36.9
32.1
41.7
26.8
23.8

38.1
33.9
42.3
29.2
21.4

36.9
32.7
46.4
30.4
22.6

44.0
33.3
48.2
29.8
20.2

44.6
33.3
45.2
33.3
p 17.9

44.6
38.1
44.0
33.9
p 17.9

Over 3-month span:
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008

.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................

Over 6-month span:
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008

.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................

Over 12-month span:
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008

.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
.........................................................

1 Based on seasonally adjusted data for 1-, 3-, and 6-month spans and
unadjusted data for the 12-month span.
p = preliminary.
NOTE: Figures are the percent of industries with employment increasing
plus one-half of the industries with unchanged employment, where
50 percent indicates an equal balance between industries with increasing

and decreasing employment.
Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for the assignment
and tabulation of economic data by industry, replacing NAICS 2002.
See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm for more details.