Full text of Monthly Labor Review : August 1985, Volume 108, Number 8

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MONTHLY LABOR REVffW
U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
August 1985:


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In this issue:
Employment and unemployment in the first h;
Unemployment In ten industrial countries
New worklife tables

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
William E. Brock, Secretary

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for Bureau of Labor Statistics

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August cover:
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MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
AUGUST 1985
VOLUME 108, NUMBER 8

0 6 1985

Susan E. Shank

Henry Lowenstern, Editor-in-Chief
Robert W. Fisher, Executive Editor

3

Employment rose in first half as recovery entered its third year
The total employment gain and unemployment decrease since the recovery began
compare favorably with earlier postwar recoveries, but manufacturing lags

Joyanna T. Moy

9

Recent trends in unemployment and the labor force, 10 countries
The marked gains in employment and sharp declines in joblessness In the U.S.
contrast with little or no movement in Western Europe and Japan

Shirley J. Smith

23

Revised worklife tables reflect 1979-80 experience
Based on an expanded sample of individuals, new worklife estimates provide
more complete measures of labor force behavior than were previously possible

Jerome T. Barrett

31

The

fm cs

contribution to nonlabor dispute resolution

During the 1961-80 period, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
shared its expertise by assisting parties outside the labor relations arena

REPORTS
David K. Horne

35

Modeling Army enlistment supply for the All-Volunteer Force

John B. Farrell

39

Incorporating March 1984 employment benchmarks

Ellen Sehgal

42

Employment problems and their effect on family income, 1979-83

Tadd Linsenmayer

46

ilo


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examines impact of technology on worker safety and health

DEPARTMENTS
35
42
46
48
49
52
57

Technical notes
Research summaries
Foreign labor developments
Major agreements expiring next month
Developments in industrial relations
Book reviews
Current labor statistics


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Employment rose in the first half of 1985
as the recovery entered its third year
The total employment gain and unemployment decrease
since the recovery began compare favorably
with the earlier postwar recoveries; but recently,
manufacturing has weakened largely due to the
strong U.S. dollar and deteriorating trade balance
Su sa n E. Shank

Employment continued to increase in the first half of 1985,
but, as is typical in later stages of recoveries, the pace of
job growth slackened. Two and one-half years after the
1981-82 recession trough, total employment was up by 7.6
million or 7.7 percent. This gain was substantially greater
than the 6.1-percent average in the first 2Vi years of recovery
from earlier postwar recessions.1 Nonfarm payroll employ­
ment rose by an even larger amount— 8.6 million over the
recovery period. (See note on survey differences in box.)
The service-producing sector and construction accounted for
all the growth in nonfarm payroll employment in the first
half of 1985. In contrast, after showing strong job gains in
the first year and a half of recovery, manufacturing em­
ployment slowed and then declined during the first half of
1985. The unemployment rate, which fell sharply through­
out 1983 and most of 1984, has shown little movement
since last fall.
This article summarizes employment and unemployment
developments in the first half of 1985 and compares the
performance of key labor market indicators in the ninth and
tenth quarters of this recovery with similar periods in earlier
postwar recoveries. Changes during the first half of 1985
refer to movements in seasonally adjusted data from the
fourth quarter of 1984 to the second quarter of 1985.

Susan E. Shank is an economist in the Division of Employment and Un­
employment Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics.


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Employment
Total civilian employment continued to expand, rising by
about 800,000 in the first half of 1985; however, this was
less than the 1.0 million gain posted in the second half of
1984 and much smaller than the increases recorded earlier
in the recovery. At 106.8 million in the second quarter of
1985, employment had increased by approximately 7.6 mil­
lion from the recession trough in the fourth quarter of 1982.
Nearly 6 million of this increase occurred in the first IVi
years of the recovery.
Age and gender. The employment gain in the first half of
1985 was concentrated among adult women (650,000 of
800,000), which represented a return to the secular pattern
of the 1970’s and early 1980’s, when women also accounted
for a disproportionately large share of employment growth.
This trend had been interrupted during the first 2 years of
the current recovery, when adult men, who had experienced
the sharpest job cutbacks during the recession, recorded the
largest employment gains. However, adult male employ­
ment rose by only 100,000 in the first half of 1985. (See
table 1.)
The employment-population ratio (the proportion of a
given population that is employed) provides additional in­
sight into trends in employment for adult men and women
in recent years. The ratio for men has declined since the
mid-1950’s, and this trend accelerated considerably during
the recession period of the early 1980’s. The following
3

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Employment in the First Half

Sources of the data
D ata d isc u sse d in this article com e from tw o
sources: (1) household interviews, and (2) reports from
employers. The Current Population Survey is conducted
monthly in a sample o f about 60,000 households and pro­
vides information on the labor force, employment, and
unemployment by demographic and economic character­
istics.
The Current Employment Statistics program is a monthly
survey of more than 200,000 nonagricultural establish­
ments and provides information on the number of persons
on business payrolls, as well as on average hours and
earnings.
The long-term movements o f employment from these
two surveys have been very similar but differences in shortrun changes, especially over the course of a business cycle,
are not unusual. As pointed out in this article, the estab­
lishment survey has shown considerably more employment
growth during the current recovery and, in particular, over
the past year, than the household survey. Although the
precise reasons for this divergence are unclear, there are
several factors which can cause different survey results.
These include differences in definition, coverage, methods
of collection, and estimating procedures.

tabulation shows the employment-population ratio of adult
men and women in selected periods:
1979
1982
1984
1985

annual ............................
IV quarter ....................
IV quarter ....................
II quarter ......................

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

Men
76.5
70.9
73.4
73.2

Women
47.7
48.2
50.4
50.9

Despite a rebound in the first 2 years of the recovery, the
adult male ratio in mid-1985 remained well below its 1979
level. In contrast, the employment-population ratio for women
20 years of age and over has shown a secular increase,
except for pauses during economic recessions, such as oc­
curred in the early 1980’s. However, as was the case in
previous business cycles, the ratio for women resumed its
upward climb in this recovery, and topped 50 percent for
the first time in 1984.
Teenage employment was little changed in the first half
of 1985. However, the decrease in youth employment that
was evident in the early 1980’s bottomed out in 1984. Each
year between 1979 and 1983, teenage employment dropped,
reflecting both the decline in the youth population and the
effect of back-to-back recessions in 1980 and 1981-82. The
teenage employment-population ratio fell from a high of
48.5 percent in 1979 to 41 to 42 percent during most of
1982 and 1983. It then recovered to about 44 percent late
last year and fluctuated between 44 and 45 percent in the
first half of 1985.
Industry. Constmction, retail trade, and services have been
the most rapidly growing industry divisions throughout the
current recovery, and they continued to post the largest job
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gains going into 1985. Together these three divisions ac­
counted for 1.2 million of the 1.5 million increase in total
nonfarm payroll employment during the first half of 1985.
By contrast, manufacturing has shown almost no job growth
since mid-1984 and actually declined in the second quarter
of 1985. (See table 2.)
Construction employment reached an all-time high of 4.6
million in the second quarter of 1985— up 800,000, or 21
percent from the 1982 recession low. Approximately 200,000
of the construction employment gain occurred in the first
half of the year. Services and retail trade, whose job growth
during the recovery substantially outpaced the increase in
total nonfarm payroll employment, continued to post large
job gains in the first half of 1985— about 600,000 in services
and 400,000 in retail trade. In addition, job growth contin­
ued in finance, insurance, and real estate; wholesale trade;
and transportation and public utilities in the first half of
1985, while government employment was little changed.
After rebounding strongly during the first IVi years of
the current recovery and regaining about 60 percent of the
jobs lost during the recession, increases in factory employ­
ment slowed markedly in the subsequent year, and a decline
took place between the first and second quarters of 1985.
International economic forces have had an increasingly im­
portant effect on factory employment in recent years. As
the economy rebounded strongly in 1983 and 1984, the
exchange value of the U.S. dollar rose, compared with the
currencies of our major trading partners,2 making it more
difficult for U.S. manufactured goods to compete with for­
eign products. Part of the leveling off in U.S. industrial
output and employment in late 1984 and into 1985 was
related to increased imports. The value of U.S. imports of
manufactured goods rose by 39 percent for the year ending
in the third quarter of 1984, compared with the preceding
year.3
While the slowing in manufacturing job growth since mid1984 reflected increased pressure from imports, other fac­
tors, such as the moderation in job gains that occurs at this
stage of most recoveries, also had an impact. After jumping
by 1.3 million in the first six quarters of the recovery, factory
employment showed little growth in the second half of 1984,
and then decreased from the first to the second quarter of
1985. Total manufacturing employment was almost un­
changed between the second quarters of 1984 and 1985, but
declines occurred in several industries that have a history
of import sensitivity— primary metals, textiles, apparel, and
leather. In contrast, modest job gains occurred over the last
year in printing and publishing; rubber and miscellaneous
plastics products; and, most notably, transportation equip­
ment. But while automobile employment continued to rise,
the bulk of the transportation equipment job gain occurred
in aircraft and parts, and guided missiles and space vehicles.
Employment in mining, which has also been affected by
international developments, showed little cyclical respon­
siveness during the 1982-85 period. Rather, the number of

Table 1. Employment status by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, selected seasonally adjusted quarterly averages,
1981-85

[Numbers in thousands]
C h a r a c te r is tic

P eak

T ro u g h

III
1981

IV
1982

1985

1984

|

II

III

IV

I

II

T o ta l

Civilian labor force...............................................................................
Percent of population.......................................................................
Employed .............................. .......................................................
Employment-population ratio..............................................................
Unemployed......................................................................................
Unemployment rate........................................................................

108,519 110,892 112,650 113,514 113,754 114,185 115,158 115,176
64.7
64.9
64.4
64.5
64.5
64.1
63.7
64.1
100.477 99,121 103,768 104,985 105,306 105,951 106,732 106,758
60.0
60.1
59.6
59.8
59.6
59.1
57.3
59.0
8,417
8,426
8,447
8,233
8,529
8,882
8,041 11,772
7.3
7.3
7.4
7.2
7.9
7.5
10.6
7.4

M e n , 2 0 y ears and over

Civilian labor force...............................................................................
Percent of population.......................................................................
Employed ......................................................................................
Employment-population ratio..............................................................
Unemployed ...................................................................................
Unemployment rate.........................................................................

57,192
78.8
53,719
74.0
3,473
6.1

58,356
78.7
52,570
70.9
5,786
9.9

59,352
78.3
55,199
72.8
4,153
7.0

59,571
78.3
55,637
73.1
3,934
6.6

59,798
78.3
55,952
73.3
3,846
6.4

60,013
78.3
56,274
73.4
3,738
6.2

60,082
78.2
56,314
73.3
3,768
6.3

60,164
78.1
56,381
73.2
3,783
6.3

42,455
52.0
39,575
48.5
2,880
6.8

44,100
52.9
40,141
48.2
3,959
9.0

45,275
53.3
42,117
49.6
3,158
7.0

45,924
53.9
42,838
50.2
3,087
6.7

46,058
53.8
42,928
50.2
3,129
6.8

46,335
53.9
43,285
50.4
3,051
6.6

46,953
54.5
43,797
50.9
3,155
6.7

47,137
54.6
43,945
50.9
3,192
6.8

8,871
54.9
7,183
44.4
1,688
19.0

8,436
54.1
6,409
41.1
2,027
24.0

8,022
53.7
6,452
43.2
1,570
19.6

8,019
54.3
6,510
44.1
1,508
18.8

7,898
53.9
6,426
43.9
1,472
18.6

7,837
53.8
6,392
43.9
1,444
18.4

8,123
55.7
6,620
45.4
1,503
18.5

7,875
54.3
6,432
44.3
1,442
18.3

94,916
64.1
88,831
60.0
6,085
6.4

96,567
64.4
87,460
58.3
9,107
9.4

98,096
64.5
91,437
60.1
6,659
6.8

98,619
64.8
92,233
60.6
6,387
6.5

98,425
64.6
92,172
60.5
6,253
6.4

98,755
64.7
92,626
60.7
6,129
6.2

99,747
65.1
93,487
61.0
6,260
6.3

99,671
64.9
y3,35/
60.8
6,314
6.3

11,022
60.3
9,291
50.9
1,730
15.7

11,509
61.5
9,155
48.9
2,354
20.5

11,816
61.5
9,842
51.2
1,973
16.7

11,942
61.9
10,035
52.0
1,907
16.0

12,102
62.4
10,187
52.5
1,915
15.8

12,263
63.0
10,409
53.4
1,854
15.1

12,302
62.9
10,396
53.2
1,906
15.5

12,347
62.9
10,499
53.5
1,848
15.0

6,433
63.8
5,797
57.5
636
9.9

6,719
63.6
5,685
53.8
1,033
15.4

7,079
64.2
6,299
57.1
780
11.0

7,183
64.6
6,405
57.6
778
10.8

7,305
65.2
6,532
58.3
773
10.6

7,417
65.5
6,636
58.7
781
10.5

7,317
64.2
6,574
57.7
742
10.1

7,361
64.1
6,584
57.3
777
10.5

W o m e n , 2 0 y ears and over

Civilian labor force...............................................................................
Percent of population.......................................................................
Employed ............................................... ......................................
Employment-population ratio..............................................................
Unemployed ...................................................................................
Unemployment rate.........................................................................
B oth s e x e s , 1 6 to 1 9 y e a r s

Civilian labor force...............................................................................
Percent of population.......................................................................
Employment-population ratio..............................................................
Unemployed ...................................................................................
Unemployment rate........................................................................
W h ite

Civilian labor force...............................................................................
Percent of population................................................. •....................
Employed ......................................................................................
Employment-population ratio..............................................................
Unemployed ...................................................................................
Unemployment rate.........................................................................
B la c k

Civilian labor force...............................................................................
Percent of population.......................................................................
Employed ......................................................................................
Employment-population ratio..............................................................
Unemployed ...................................................................................
Unemployment rate..........................................................................
H is p a n ic o rig in

Civilian labor force.................................................................................
Percent of population.......................................................................
Employed
Employment-population ratio..............................................................
Unemployed ...................................................................................
Unemployment rate.........................................................................

Note: Detail for race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sumto totals because data for the “other races” group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and
black population groups.

jobs in mining fell from about 1.2 million in early 1982,
when a world-wide oil glut developed, to about 950,000 in
mid-1983. (Oil and gas extraction account for 6 of 10 mining
jobs.) U.S. mining employment increased only slightly over
the past 2 years, as the demand for oil remained weak.
Similarly, world copper prices plummeted in the early 1980’s,
and U.S. copper ore mining employment fell by more than
50 percent between 1981 and 1985.

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Unemployment
The civilian worker unemployment rate held steady at
7.3 percent in the first half of 1985, about the same as in
late 1984, but was down sharply from the recession high
of 10.7 percent in November-December 1982. From mid1984 to mid-1985, employment increases just about kept
pace with labor force growth, leaving both the level and
rate of unemployment about unchanged. There were also
5

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Employment in the First Half
Table 2. Employees on nonagricultural payrolls by
industry, selected seasonally adjusted quarterly averages,
1981-85

[In thousands]
In d u s try

Peak
III
1981

T ro u g h
IV
1982

1984
I

II

1985
III

IV

I

II

Total........ 91,412 88,721 93,035 94,013 94,915 95,849 96,640 97,324
Goods producing
Mining..........
Construction . . .
Manufacturing . .
Durable goods
Nondurable
goods........
Service producing
Transportation
and public
utilities........
Wholesale trade
Retail trade....
Finance,
insurance, and
real estate. . . .
Services........
Government . . .

25,642
1,189
4,159
20,294
12,194

22,982
1,029
3,836
18,117
10,485

24,402
965
4,255
19,182
11,315

24,680
973
4,313
19,394
11,487

24,681
983
4,368
19,509
11,613

24,973
977
4,432
19,564
11,673

25,077
976
4,537
19,564
11,676

25,053
980
4,648
19,425
11,581

8,099 7,631 7,867 7,907 7,897 7,891 7,888 7,844
65,770 65,740 68,633 69,333 70,055 70,876 71,563 42,271
5,183 5,023 5,108 5,148 5,193 5,233 5,267 5,300
5,374 5,214 5,453 5,516 5,580 5,649 5,699 5,748
15,250 15,183 16,224 16,454 16,682 16,960 17,166 17,369
5,316 5,356 5,607 5,657 5,706 5,756 5,811 5,886
18,691 19,133 20,360 20,627 20,876 21,174 21,502 21,807
15,957 15,831 15,882 15,931 16,017 16,104 16,118 16,160

no significant changes in jobless rates for major worker
groups in the first two quarters of 1985. The rate for adult
men (6.3 percent) remained below that for adult women
(6.8 percent). For teenagers, the unemployment rate has
fluctuated around 18.5 percent for the past year. Jobless
rates for whites (6.3 percent), blacks (15.0 percent), and
persons of Hispanic origin (10.5 percent) were all virtually
unchanged from late 1984 through the first half of 1985.
Industry and occupation. While the overall unemployment
rate was about the same in late 1984 and the first half of
1985, the rate for workers in manufacturing industries in­
creased.4 During the first 2 years of this recovery, the factory
jobless rate was cut in half— to 7.2 percent by the fourth
quarter of 1984. However, as employment growth slowed
and then halted in 1985, the rate rose to 7.6 percent in the
first quarter of 1985 and to 7.8 percent in the second quarter,
with most of the increase coming in the durable goods in­
dustries. By contrast, in construction, where job growth
remained strong, the unemployment rate in second-quarter
1985 was down from fourth-quarter 1984 (\2Vi versus 14
percent).
Employment rose and unemployment rates decreased for
most major occupational groups over the last year. (Un­
adjusted data for the first halves of 1984 and 1985 are
compared because there has been insufficient time to develop
seasonally adjusted data based on the 1980-census occu­
pational classification system.5) Executive, administrative,
and managerial workers recorded the largest employment
gains from 1984 to 1985, and their jobless rate decreased
from 2.9 to 2.7 percent. In contrast, employment actually
declined over the past year for machine operators, assem­
blers, and inspectors (most of whom are hi manufacturing).
At the same time, the jobless rate for this occupation edged
6

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up, following a very large drop between the first halves of
1983 and 1984.
Duration. Although there was little change in the total
jobless level, the mean duration of unemployment declined
to 15V2 weeks in 1985 from 17 weeks in the fourth quarter
of 1984. This measure, which normally lags changes in the
total unemployment rate, did not start to decrease until the
fourth quarter of 1983 (a full year after the trough) and, in
the first half of 1985, remained well above the pre-recession
low. The weight given to the very long-term jobless in
calculating the mean duration of unemployment causes this
delayed response to cyclical swings. The number of persons
jobless for 27 weeks or more fell rapidly between mid-1983
and late 1984 (from 2.8 million to 1.4 million), but then
declined more moderately— to 1.3 million by the second
quarter of 1985. However, the median duration of unem­
ployment, which is much less affected than the mean by the
very long-term jobless,6 continued to fall and, at 6.5 weeks
in the second quarter of 1985, reached its lowest level since
mid-1980.
Discouraged workers and short workweeks. Despite con­
tinued employment growth, the number of discouraged
workers— persons who report that they want to work but
have not actively looked for jobs because they believe they
could not find any— has improved only moderately since
the second quarter of 1984. As was the case with total
unemployment, the number of discouraged workers fell
sharply in the first 6 quarters of the recovery (from 1.8
million to 1.3 million). It fluctuated between 1.2 million
and 1.3 million for the next three quarters and then decreased
to 1,150,000 in the second quarter of 1985. All of the recent
decline occurred among women, who continue to comprise
a large share of the discouraged total.
Another measure of underutilized resources, persons
working part-time for economic reasons— principally, those
whose hours had been cut back and those who could only
find part-time jobs—displayed a similar pattern in the cur­
rent recovery. The number of involuntary part-time workers
decreased from the recession high of 6.7 million to 5.7
million in the second quarter of 1984, and then fluctuated
around the latter figure for the following year.

Cyclical perspectives
Many economic indicators flashed signals of weakness in
late 1984 and the early months of 1985. The low growth
of real gross national product in the first quarter of 1985
(0.3 percent at an annual rate) and the leveling off in the
index of industrial production after mid-1984 were signif­
icant changes from figures posted earlier in the recovery.
In addition, the index of leading economic indicators de­
clined in 3 of the 6 months since December 1984. However,
a slowing or even a pause in the pace of economic growth
is not unusual during the third year of a recovery. In fact,

Chart 1. Civilian employment percent changes and the unemployment rate during the
1981-82 recession and the average of five previous business cycles, in selected
quarters, before and after cyclical trough1
Percent

Percent

9

8
7

6
5
4
3

2
1

0
-1

-2

Percent

Percent


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11
10
9

8
7

6
5
4

0
Quarters before

Quarters after

1 The National Bureau of Economic Research designates business cyclical troughs.
NOTE: The most recent values plotted for 1981-85 are for the second quarter of 1985.

7

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Employment in the First Half
the recent moderation in key labor market indicators is char­
acteristic of other postwar recoveries at similar points in
time. The sharpest employment rebound and unemployment
drop normally occur in the first 1Vi years of a recovery.
(See chart 1.)
The current recovery-expansion has followed the postwar
pattern, that is, it was much stronger in the earlier than later
stages. The growth in total employment slowed to an av­
erage of 0.4 percent per quarter over the most recent four
quarters from a very strong 1.2 percent in the previous four
quarters. Overall, total employment increased substantially
more in the first 2lA years of the current recovery than in
comparable periods of earlier recoveries (7.7 versus 6.1
percent). Most of this difference stemmed from the ex­
tremely strong employment gains from mid-1983 to mid1984, as growth over the subsequent year has been very
similar to that experienced from the seventh through the
tenth quarters of other postwar recoveries.
The employment-population ratio, which equaled the pre­
vious high of 60.1 percent in the first half of this year, is
another measure of the strength of the current expansion.
In the 10 quarters following the 1982 recession trough, the
ratio rose by 2.7 points, about twice the increase recorded
in similar periods of the five earlier recoveries. All major
worker groups experienced healthy employment-population
ratio rebounds during the current recovery, but the largest
increases occurred for blacks and teenagers, two groups that
had experienced very substantial drops in their ratios during
the 1980 and 1981—82 recessions. Reflecting the moderation
in employment growth, the overall ratio increased 0.4 point
from mid-1984 to mid-1985, after jumping 2.3 points in the
first six quarters of the recovery.
The pickup in private nonfarm payroll jobs in the first
2Vi years of this recovery also compares very favorably
with previous recoveries— 10 percent this time, compared
with an average of 9 percent. Job gains in construction,
retail trade, and services in this recovery all set records for

the first 10 quarters of a postwar recovery. In contrast, the
manufacturing employment increase over the last 10 quar­
ters (7.2 percent) was below the average gain in the previous
five recoveries (9.5 percent). However, changes in manu­
facturing employment have much less impact on total em­
ployment today than they did in the early postwar business
cycles. As the long-term shift to the service-producing sector
has continued, factory jobs dropped from 40 percent of the
private nonfarm total in 1948 to 25 percent in 1984.
Total unemployment fell by 3.4 million or 28 percent in
the first 10 quarters of the current recovery, compared with
an average decrease of 24 percent for similar time periods
in the five previous recoveries. However, in 5 of the 6
postwar recoveries studied,7 the unemployment drop was
heavily concentrated in the first 1 to IVi years after the
trough. The total unemployment rate typically displayed a
similar sharp initial improvement and then leveled off or
even increased slightly for several quarters. The virtual sta­
bility in the unemployment rate from late 1984 to mid-1985
conforms to this pattern.

As th e current recovery has moved into its third year
in 1985, the economy continued to create jobs, but at a
slower pace than earlier in the recovery. Also, employment
growth since late 1984 was just sufficient to accommodate
the labor force, as both the number unemployed and the
rate leveled off. These developments are typical of this stage
in post-World War II economic recoveries, in which em­
ployment gains and unemployment reductions have been
sharpest in the first 1 to 1xh years of recovery. The total
employment gain and unemployment decrease over the first
2*/2 years of this recovery compare very favorably with
similar periods in earlier postwar recoveries. However, the
recent weakness in manufacturing indicates that the strong
U.S. dollar and the deteriorating trade balance have had an
adverse effect on industrial employment.

■FOOTNOTES
1The National Bureau o f Economic Research designates business cycle
peaks and troughs. Two of the eight postwar recoveries did not last for
10 quarters (those following the 1958 and 1980 recessions) and therefore
are excluded from the analysis in this article.
The trade weighted exchange value of the U .S. dollar in the first quarter
o f 1985 was 40 percent above the 1980 average.
3 Trade and Employment, Years Ending Third Quarter 1983 and 1984,
Publication No. t m —4—84, (U .S. Bureau of the Census and Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 1985).

system which evolved from the Standard Occupational Classification Sys­
tem. Seasonal adjustment of data based on the new classification system
will not be possible until 5 years of data are available. For further infor­
mation on the change in occupation classification, see “ Revisions in the
Current Population Survey Beginning in January 1983,” Employment and
Earnings, February 1983, pp. 7 -1 5 .

4 Unemployed persons are classified according to the industry and oc­
cupation o f their last full-time job lasting 2 weeks or more.

6The mean or average duration of unemployment is calculated by sum­
ming weeks of continuous joblessness for all unemployed persons and
dividing by the number unemployed. The median duration simply divides
the distribution of unemployed persons into two equal groups— those job­
less for periods o f time shorter than the median and those jobless for longer.

5 Beginning in January 1983, occupational data from the Current Pop­
ulation Survey were coded and published according to the 1980 Census

7 Both the level and rate of unemployment were about unchanged for
four quarters following the trough of the 1969-70 recession.

8

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Recent trends in unemployment
and the labor force, 10 countries
Marked gains in employment and sharp declines
in joblessness in the United States contrast
with little or no movement in Western Europe and Japan;
youth labor market since 1980 is analyzed
JOYANNA M O Y

The United States recovered from the 1981-82 recession
earlier than most other major industrial nations. In response
to strong output growth in 1983, U.S. employment growth
resumed and unemployment fell throughout the year. These
trends continued through the first half of 1984, with em­
ployment growth accelerating and unemployment dropping
sharply. Since then, the civilian unemployment rate has
remained virtually flat at around 7.3 percent, while em­
ployment has increased sufficiently to absorb increases in
the labor force. In Canada, output also began recovering in
early 1983 and the jobless rate fell steadily during the year,
but not so quickly as in the United States. Canadian un­
employment also stabilized at a record high level in 1984,
but Canada’s employment recovery was weaker than that
of the United States. The North American recovery was
followed by a more modest recovery in Japan. Japan’s em­
ployment growth was the strongest since 1973, although the
unemployment rate remained at a historic peak. In Western
Europe, where the recovery has lagged behind North Amer­
ica’s and Japan’s, unemployment continued to rise and em­
ployment continued to fall during 1983. In 1984, French,
German, British, and Italian unemployment rates increased
further while Swedish rates stabilized. Employment began
to inch upward in some of the European countries— most
notably in Great Britain.
At the end of 1984, unemployment rates were at double­
digit levels in the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, and
Joyanna Moy is an economist in the Division of Foreign Labor Statistics,
Bureau o f Labor Statistics.


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France. Japan and Sweden continued to have the lowest
jobless rates, and the U.S. rate was in the middle of the
international spectrum. (See table 1.)
The recent recession was accompanied by very high levels
of unemployment for young people. Unemployment rates
for teenagers and young adults (ages 20 to 24) rose sharply
in 1981 and 1982 in all countries studied. These rates con­
tinued upward or stabilized at high levels in 1983. Improve­
ment for U.S. youth in 1984 was generally not matched
abroad. Youth unemployment rates were two to three times
as high as adult rates in most countries, with much greater
differentials for teenagers than for young adults.
This article compares unemployment and related labor
market statistics in the United States and nine foreign na­
tions— Canada, Australia, Japan, France, Germany, Great
Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The foreign
data have been adjusted to approximate comparability with
U.S. definitions of employment and unemployment.1 Un­
employment rates by age2 are compared for the United States
and eight of the nine other countries (the Netherlands is
excluded). These data have also been adjusted to U.S. con­
cepts, except those for Great Britain.
The estimates presented here may differ from those pre­
viously published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics because
of revisions of seasonal adjustment factors or basic data and
the incorporation of more detailed or more recent survey
results. It should be noted that adjustments to the British
figures are based on household surveys taken through 1981.
The figures for all other countries are based on survey data
collected most recently in 1983 (for France and the Neth9

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • International Unemployment and Labor Force Trends
Table 1. Quarterly unemployment rates (civilian labor
force basis), seasonally adjusted, 1980-85
P e rio d

U n ite d
Canada
S ta te s

A us­
tr a lia

Japan

F ra n c e 1

G e r­
G re a t
m a n y 1 B rltia n

It a ly 1 2 S w e d e n

1980 . . . .
I .......
II.......
I l l __
IV ... .

7.1
6.3
7.3
7.7
7.4

7.5
7.5
7.7
7.4
7.2

6.1
6.0
6.3
6.2
6.0

2.0
1.9
2.0
2.1
2.2

6.4
6.2
6.5
6.5
6.6

2.9
2.7
2.8
3.0
3.2

6.8
5.7
6.2
7.1
8.2

3.9
4.0
3.9
3.9
3.9

2.0
1.8
2.0
1.9
2.2

1981__
I .......
II......
Ill . . . .
IV ....

7.6
7.4
7.4
7.4
8.2

7.5
7.3
7.1
7.4
8.3

5.8
5.8
5.5
5.9
6.0

2.2
2.2
2.3
2.2
2.2

7.5
6.8
7.5
7.8
7.8

4.1
3.4
3.8
4.3
4.8

10.4
9.4
10.1
10.8
11.1

4.3
3.9
4.2
4.2
4.8

2.5
2.2
2.2
2.5
3.0

1982 . . . . 9.7
I ....... 8.8
II...... 9.5
Ill .... 9.9
IV __ 10.6

11.0
8.9
10.4
12.2
12.8

7.2
6.2
6.6
7.2
8.8

2.4
2.3
2.4
2.4
2.5

8.4
8.2
8.4
8.5
8.5

5.9
5.4
5.7
6.1
6.7

11.8
11.4
11.6
12.1
12.3

4.8
5.0
4.8
4.7
4.6

3.1
3.0
3.1
3.4
3.1

1983 . . . .
I ____
II.......
I l l __
IV __

9.6
10.4
10.1
9.3
8.5

11.9
12.5
12.2
11.6
11.2

10.0
9.6
10.3
10.3
9.7

2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.6

8.6
8.5
8.5
8.6
8.8

7.5
7.2
7.6
7.6
7.5

12.8
12.8
13.0
13.0
12.7

5.3
4.9
5.4
5.3
5.6

3.5
3.3
3.5
3.6
3.4

1984 ....
I .......
II.......
Ill ....
IV ....

7.5
7.9
7.5
7.4
7.2

11.3
11.4
11.4
11.2
11.1

9.0
9.4
9.2
8.8
8.6

2.8
2.8
2.7
2.8
2.7

10.1
9.6
10.1
10.3
10.4

7.8
7.7
7.9
8.0
7.8

13.0
12.8
12.9
13.2
13.1

5.6
5.5
5.6
5.5
5.6

3.1
3.2
3.2
3.1
2.9

1985 ....
I .......

7.3

11.1

8.5

2.6

10.5

7.9

13.2

5.4

3.0

’Preliminary for Great Britain from 1982 onward and for France, Germany, and Italy
from 1984 onward.
Quarterly data are for January, April, July, and October.
Note: Quarterly figures for France, Germany, Italy, and Great Britain are calculated
by applying annual adjustment factors to current published data, and therefore should
be viewed as only approximate indicators of unemployment under U.S. concepts. Pub­
lished data for Australia, Canada, Japan, and Sweden require little or no adjustment.

erlands) or 1984 (all other countries). Historical data for all
series beginning with 1959 or 1960 for most countries are
available upon request.

Unemployment trends compared
The international array of unemployment rates underwent
some major changes in rankings in the late 1970’s to early
1980’s. (See table 2.) The United States, which had pre­
viously been at the high end of the spectrum, moved down
to the middle. Some European countries, notably the Neth­
erlands and Great Britain, had jobless increases so large
that they moved from the low to the high end of the array.
Germany, which had long had one of the lowest jobless
rates, became a mid-range country. Only Japan and Sweden
maintained their positions as low unemployment countries;
Canada continued at the high end of the spectrum; and Italy
maintained a mid-range jobless rate.
Joblessness in the United States rose steadily from 1980
through the end of 1982. The unemployment rate peaked
in the fourth quarter of 1982 at 10.6 percent, the highest
quarterly rate recorded in the post-World War II era. At the
beginning of 1983, joblessness began moving downward.
As the economic recovery gathered momentum, the un­
employment rate plummeted. By December 1983, the job­
less rate, 8.2 percent, was more than 2 percentage points
10

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lower than in January. The decline continued until mid1984. During the second half of 1984 and early 1985, the
unemployment rate remained virtually unchanged. In the
first quarter of 1985, the jobless rate, 7.3 percent, was 3.5
percentage points lower than the recession high.
The Canadian recession, probably the most severe among
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop­
ment (oecd ) member states,3 bottomed out in the fourth
quarter of 1982, when the jobless rate peaked at a record
12.8 percent. Throughout 1983, the unemployment rate fell
steadily, reaching 11.2 percent in the fourth quarter. How­
ever, the rate inched upward during the first half of 1984
to 11.4 percent. Unemployment rates moved back down in
the second half, and the December rate of 10.8 percent was
the lowest in 2Vi years.
In Japan, unemployment rates rose steadily from 2.0 per­
cent in 1980 to 2.4 percent in 1982. A new plateau was
reached in the first quarter of 1983 when the unemployment
rate reached 2.7 percent. Japanese jobless rates have since
shown very little movement.
In Australia, unemployment began rising in the second
half of 1981 and rose sharply during 1982 and the first half
of 1983, exceeding 10 percent for the first time. The rate
began to fall at the end of 1983 and by the fourth quarter
of 1984, had dropped to 8.6 percent.
In Western Europe, unemployment rates reached new
highs during the 1983-84 period. By late 1983, the rapid
rise in unemployment was brought to a halt in Germany,
Great Britain, Italy, and Sweden. However, except for a
moderate downturn in Sweden, jobless rates remained near
their levels of a year earlier throughout 1984 and early 1985.
In contrast, French unemployment continued to rise.
In Germany, lengthy labor disputes during the spring of
1984 in the metalworking and printing industries and the
subsequent losses in output contributed to the dampened
demand for labor. After the settlement of the disputes in
August, the demand for labor increased and the unemploy­
ment rate began to inch downward.
The French jobless rate was stable between mid-1982 and
the third quarter of 1983, partly a reflection of the impact
of various government actions to counter the rise in un­
employment, including measures to accelerate early retire­
ments and to expand youth training programs. However,
the labor market situation subsequently deteriorated, as “ the
effects of the different programs seem to have worn off as
of the last quarter of 1983.” 4 Between the third quarter of
1983 and the first quarter of 1985, the jobless rate rose by
almost 2 percentage points.
In Italy, the unemployment rate rose approximately onehalf a percentage point a year from 1980 to 1983. In the
fourth quarter of 1983, the rate reached 5.6 percent, the
highest in nearly two decades. Throughout 1984, the jobless
rate remained at this level, which seems low compared with
those of most of the other European countries. However,
there are a very large number of Italians who wish to work

but are not currently seeking jobs and who do not appear
in the unemployment figures after adjustment to U.S. def­
initions. Such discouraged workers are discussed later.
The Swedish unemployment rate began to move slowly
upward in mid-1980, reaching a new high of 3.6 percent
by the third quarter of 1983. The labor market situation
improved at the end of 1983 and early 1984. The decline
in the jobless rate was suspended in the second quarter but
resumed at midyear. By December, the 2.8-percent un­
employment rate was the lowest in 3 years.
A major reason for Sweden’s low unemployment rates
relative to those of the other nations studied is the existence
of extensive labor market programs. When economic con­
ditions deteriorate, labor market schemes such as public
relief work, vocational training, and sheltered workshops
are utilized to absorb the excess supply of labor. The number
of persons affected by these various schemes fluctuates in
conjunction with the business cycle but has exceeded the
number of unemployed for the past decade. In 1983, the
number of persons enrolled in these programs was equiv­
alent to 3.7 percent of the labor force. In comparison, the
unemployment rate was 3.5 percent.
Unemployment in Great Britain rose steadily from 1980
to mid-1983. Since early 1981, the jobless rate has exceeded
10 percent, peaking at 13 percent in mid-1983. In the fourth
quarter of 1983, unemployment declined slightly, but the
improvement was shortlived— in the third quarter of 1984,
unemployment resumed its upward movement and reached
a new peak of 13.2 percent.
Quarterly jobless rates approximating U.S. concepts are
not available for the Netherlands. However, the number of
seasonally adjusted registered unemployed has risen steadily
since 1980. By 1983, the Dutch rate averaged more than
14 percent, the highest of any country studied. In 1984, the
jobless rate continued to rise, and reached a new high of
15 percent. In response to the rapid rise in joblessness, the
Dutch government took “ various structural measures de­
signed to lessen unemployment by increasing the profita­
bility of employing young workers and by lessening the
attraction of being unemployed. ’’5 Minimum wages for per­
sons under age 23 were cut, the length of time for which
unemployment benefits are paid to those under age 23 was
shortened, and unemployment insurance benefits were re­
duced by excluding end-of-year bonuses in calculating
benefits.
Unemployment rates by sex. In the past, women have had
higher unemployment rates than men in all the countries
studied, except in Great Britain. (See table 3.) In 1982 and
1983, this historical relationship was reversed in two coun­
tries— the United States and Canada. The reason for this
reversal was the greater cyclical sensitivity of male em­
ployment which overrode the factors which generally push
female unemployment higher. In 1984, unemployment rates
declined for both men and women. Because the jobless rate


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for men declined more rapidly, the historical relationship
of higher female unemployment rates reappeared in both
countries.
In Japan, Australia, and Western Europe (except Great
Britain), female unemployment rates remained well above
male rates throughout the recession, although male jobless
rates rose more rapidly than female rates with two excep­
tions— Italy and Japan. In Italy, unemployment growth has
generally been faster for men than for women, but this trend
was reversed in 1983. In Japan, unemployment rates have
generally risen more slowly for men than for women. The
Japanese system of lifetime employment which covers “ reg­
ular employees” is not extended to temporary and casual
workers. Seven of ten regular employees are men, while a
similar percentage of temporary and casual workers are
women.

Job creation: U.S. leads
The contrast between the North American and European
experiences in employment creation is stark and predates
the recent recession. In the 10 years to 1983, almost 18
million additional jobs were created in North America, while
the six Western European countries experienced a net loss
of 840,000 jobs. Japan and Australia also gained jobs over
the period, but not nearly as fast as North America. (See
chart 1.)
In 1983, U.S. employment rebounded strongly from its
1982 decline. More than 1.3 million jobs were created, in
continued sharp contrast with the six European countries
which lost 715,000 jobs. U.S. employment growth accel­
erated in 1984, as 4.2 million jobs were added. Canadian
job creation, which had outpaced that in the United States
in the 1970’s, has not been as strong in the 1980’s. Canadian
job growth in 1984 was 2.5 percent, compared with the
4.1-percent increase in U.S. employment.
Japanese employment has been rising at a steady pace,
even increasing in 1982 when sharp declines occurred in
North America. In 1983, nearly 1 million more Japanese
had jobs than the year before, and growth continued in 1984.
Australia’s employment growth resumed in 1984 after de­
clining in the previous year.
In Western Europe, employment has generally declined
since 1980, but some turnabout in the trend began to occur
in 1983 and 1984. In 1983, small gains in employment were
recorded in Italy and Sweden, and the prerecession level
was regained in Italy. In 1984, employment continued to
rise in Sweden, but resumed its decline in Italy. Great Brit­
ain recorded gains in employment in the first half of the
year and Germany’s jobs increased in the fourth quarter.
Besides the large differences in overall employment trends,
there is also a marked difference in the types of jobs which
are being created. Full-time jobs have been increasing faster
than part-time opportunities in the United States. In contrast,
part-time jobs have grown more strongly in Europe, Japan,
and Australia, oecd estimates indicate that, on a net new
11

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • International Unemployment and Labor Force Trends

Chart 2. Percent distribution of unemployment and the labor force by age, 1984

I
o

1 Data are for 1983.
2 Data are for 1982.

12

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I
10

I
20

I
30

I
40

I
50

I----------1---------- 1------------1---------- 1
60
70
80
90
100

job basis, one of two new jobs created in Europe since the
first oil shock in 1973 was a part-time job, compared with
one of five new jobs in the United States.6
Comparative and current data on part-time work in Europe
are difficult to obtain. However, data are available for North
America, Japan, and Australia. In the United States, the
number of persons working full-time schedules increased
faster than part-time employment in both 1983 and 1984.
In 1983, 98 percent of the increase in overall employment
was accounted for by increased numbers of persons on full­
time schedules. In 1984, the increase in full-time employ­
ment, 4.4 million, exceeded the 4.2 million increase in
overall employment, reflecting the decline in involuntary
part-time work. The number of persons voluntarily working
part-time schedules, however, rose 2 percent or 260,000,
although the proportion of overall employment in this cat­
egory continued to decline.

Table 2.

In Canada, growth in full-time jobs exceeded growth in
part-time jobs in 1984. Almost 90 percent of the 270,000
jobs created were full time. However, full-time employment
did not regain its prerecession level or proportion of overall
employment. In contrast, the number of part-time jobs has
increased steadily since 1980. The proportion of part-time
to overall employment stabilized in 1984 after having risen
between 1981 and 1983.
The situation in Japan regarding part-time jobs parallels
that of Europe. To protect the lifetime employment system
for their regular employees, Japanese enterprises have in­
creased the use of part-time and casual workers who can be
easily hired and fired. Part-time workers do not receive many
of the benefits such as retirement, vacation, and sick leave
accorded to regular employees and, therefore, cost less to
employ. In 1983, employment of full-time regular employ­
ees rose 2 percent, while employment of part-time and cas-

Civilian labor force, employment, and unemployment approximating U.S. concepts, 10 countries, 1975-84

[Numbers inthousands]
N e th e r ­
la n d s

Sw eden

20,080
20,300
20,530
20,630
20,910

4,820
4,890
4,950
5,010
5,100

4,123
4,149
4,168
4,203
4,262

25,870
25,870
125,880
125,980
126,390

21,210
21,410
21,450
21,610
121,600

5,290
5,500
15,560
15,720
15,740

4,312
4,326
4,350
4,369
4,385

54.4
53.8
53.4
53.3
53.3

63.1
63.2
63.2
63.3
63.2

47.5
47.8
48.0
47.7
47.8

49.2
49.1
49.0
48.8
49.0

65.9
66.0
65.9
66.1
66.6

56.7
56.5
56.7
56.1
156.3

53.2
52.9
52.5
52.8
153.1

63.2
62.2
161.9
162.2
162.7

48.0
48.0
47.4
47.2
147.5

50.0
51.3
151.2
152.4
152.3

67.0
66.8
66.8
166.9
167.0

51,530
52,020
52,720
53,370
54,040

20,700
20,850
21,030
21,110
21,110

25,230
25,010
24,970
25,130
25,460

24,000
23,810
23,840
24,040
24,360

19,480
19,600
19,800
19,870
20,100

4,570
4,630
4,700
4,750
4,830

4,056
4,083
4,093
4,109
4,174

54,600
55,060
55,620
56,550
56,870

21,120
20,950
20,980
20,840
120,670

25,730
25,520
25,060
24,650
124,610

24,100
23,190
122,820
122,650
122,960

20,380
20,480
20,430
20,470
120,400

4,960
4,990
14,930
14,890
14,880

4,226
4,218
4,213
4,218
4,249

61.2
61.1
61.2
61.3
61.4

54.3
54.3
54.3
54.1
53.6

52.5
52.0
51.6
51.5
51.7

60.3
59.5
59.3
59.4
59.8

46.1
46.1
46.3
45.9
45.9

46.6
46.5
46.5
46.3
46.4

64.8
64.9
64.8
64.6
65.3

61.3
61.2
61.2
61.4
61.0

53.1
52.3
51.9
51.3
150.6

51.6
50.7
49.4
48.8
148.9

58.9
55.8
154.6
154.2
154.6

46.1
45.9
45.2
44.7
144.8

46.9
46.5
145.4
144.8
144.5

65.6
65.1
64. /
164.6
164.9

Japan

F ra n c e

G e rm a n y

G re a t
B rita in

Ita ly

6,169
6,244
6,358
6,443
6,519

52,530
53,100
53,820
54,610
55,210

21,600
21,840
22,100
22,290
22,470

26,130
25,900
25,870
26,000
26,240

25,130
25,290
25,430
25,620
25,710

11,573
11,904
11,958
12,183
12,399

6,693
6,810
6,910
6,997
7,133

55,740
56,320
56,980
58,110
58,480

22,570
22,640
22,900
22,800
122,990

26,500
26,610
26,640
26,640
126,700

61.2
61.6
62.3
63.2
63.7

61.1
61.1
61.6
62.7
63.4

63.2
62.7
62.7
62.0
61.7

62.4
62.4
62.5
62.8
62.7

56.7
56.9
57.0
57.1
57.0

1980 ........................................
1981
.........................
1982
..............................
1983
...........................
1984............................................

63.8
63.9
64.0
64.0
64.4

64.1
64.8
64.1
64.4
64.8

62.2
62.0
61.8
61.5
161.5

62.6
62.6
62.7
63.1
62.7

Employment:
1975
..............................
1976
................................
1977 ..........................................
1978
..............................
1979............................................

85,846
88,752
92,017
96,048
98,824

9,284
9,477
9,651
9,987
10,395

99,303
100,397
99,526
100,834
105,005

10,708
11,006
10,644
10,734
11,000

5,866
5,946
6,000
6,038
6,111
6,284
6,416
6,415
6,300
6,490

56.1
56.8
57.9
59.3
59.9
59.2
59.0
57.8
57.9
59.5

56.9
56.7
56.6
57.5
58.7

60.1
59.7
59.2
58.1
57.9
58.4
58.4
57.3
55.4
156.0

U n ite d
S ta te s

Canada

A u s tr a lia

Labor force:
1975
.........................
1976
.............................
1977
.............................
1978 ........................................
1979............................................

93,775
96,158
99,009
102,251
104,962

9,974
10,203
10,500
10,895
11,231

1980
.....................................
...................................
1981
1982
...................................
1983
................................
1984............................................

106,940
108,670
110,204
111,550
113,544

Labor force participation rate:2
1975
...........................
1976
...................................
1977 ........................................
1978............................................
1979............................................

Year

1980
...................................
1981
..................................
1982
.......................
1983
.......................
1984............................................
Employment-population ratio:3
1975
..............................
1976
................................
................................
1977
..................
1978
1979............................................
1980
.........................
1981
....................
1982
.............
1983
...............
1984............................................

59.3
59.9
57.0
56.7
57.4

See footnotes at end of table.


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13

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • International Unemployment and Labor Force Trends

1975-84

Continued— Civilian labor force, employment, and unemployment approximating U.S. concepts, 10 countries,

[Numbers in thousands]
Year

Unemployment:
1975
...............
1976
...............
1977
...............
1978
...............
1979
...............
1980.
1981.
1982.
1983.
1984.
Unemployment rate:
1975
....
1976
....
1977
....
1978
....
1979
....
1980.
1981.
1982.
1983.
1984.
Unemployment rate, as published:4
1975
.................
1976
................
1977
................
1978
................
1979
................
1980.
1981.
1982.
1983.
1984.

U n ite d
S ta te s

N e th e r ­
la n d s

A u s tr a lia

7,929
7,406
6,991
6,202
6,137

690
726
849
908
836

302
298
358
405
408

1,000
1,080
1,100
1,240
1,170

900
990
1,070
1,180
1,360

890
890
900
870
780

1,130
1,480
1,590
1,580
1,350

610
700
740
760
810

250
260
250
260
270

7,637
8,273
10,678
10,717
8,539

865
898
1,314
1,448
1,399

409
394
495
697
642

1,140
1,260
1,360
1,560
1,610

1,450
1,690
1,920
1,960
12,320

770
1,090
1,580
1,990
12,090

1,770
2,680
13,060
13,330
13,430

830
920
1,020
1,140
11,200

330
510
1630
1830
1860

8.5
7.7
7.1
6.1
5.8

6.9
7.1
8.1
8.3
7.4

4.9
4.8
5.6
6.3
6.3

1.9
2.0
2.0
2.3
2.1

4.2
4.5
4.8
5.3
6.1

3.4
3.4
3.5
3.4
3.0

4.5
5.9
6.3
6.2
5.3

3.0
3.4
3.6
3.7
3.9

52
53
5.0
5.2
5.3

2.2
2.1

7.1
7.6
9.7
9.6
7.5

7.5
7.5
11.0
11.9
11.3

6.1
5.8
7.2
10.0
9.0

2.0
2.2
2.4
2.7
2.8

6.4
7.5
8.4
8.6
110.1

2.9
4.1
5.9
7.5
17.8

6.8
10.4
111.8
112.8
113.0

3.9
4.3
4.8
5.3
15.6

6.2
9.3
111.3
114.5
115.0

2.5
3.1
3.5
3.1

8.5
7.7
7.1
6.1
5.8

6.9
7.1
8.1
8.3
7.4

4.9
4.8
5.6
6.3
6.3

1.9
2.0
2.0
2.2
2.1

4.2
4.5
4.8
5.3
6.0

4.7
4.6
4.5
4.3
3.8

3.9
5.4
5.7
5.6
5.2

5.9
6.7
7.2
7.2
7.7

5.0
5.3
5.1
51
5.1

7.1
7.6
9.7
9.6
7.5

7.5
7.5
11.0
11.9
11.3

6.1
5.8
7.2
10.0
9.0

2.0
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.7

6.4
7.5
8.4
8.6
110.1

3.8
5.5
7.5
9.1
9.1

6.7
10.2
11.9
12.7
12.9

Preliminary estimate.
Civilian labor force as a percent of the civilian working-age population.
Civilian employment as a percent of the civilian working-age population.
Published and adjusted data are Identical for the United States, Canada, and Australia.
For France, unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force; for Japan, Italy, and
Sweden, unemployment asapercent of thecivilian laborforcepluscareer military personnel;
for Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, registered unemployed (excluding adult
students in Great Britain) as a percent of employed wage and salary workers plus the
unemployed. Except for France, which does not publish an unemployment rate, these are
the usually published unemployment rates for each country. Published rates shown for
Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands cannot be computed from data contained in
this table.

ual workers rose 9 percent. However, the number of full­
time jobs created was more than double the number of new
part-time jobs. During the 1978-82 period, the part-time
work force rose by an average 2.5 percent a year. As in­
dicated earlier, the majority of part-time and casual workers
are women, while the majority of regular employees are
men.
In 1984, the use of part-time workers continued to in­
crease in Japan. According to a survey on part-time em­
ployment conducted in late 1984, manufacturing and
wholesale and retail enterprises tended “ to cut down their
regular payroll work forces in favor of more part-timers” 7
to minimize payroll costs.
In Australia, growth in part-time jobs also accelerated in
1984. Part-time jobs increased twice as rapidly as full-time
jobs. However, the number of full-time jobs created, 133,000,
far exceeded the number of part-time jobs, 56,000. The
14

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

G re a t
B rita in

Canada

Japan

F ra n c e

G e rm a n y

Ita ly

Sw eden

86

108
137
151
136
1.6
1.6

1.8

2.0

1.6
1.6

1.8
2.2
2.1

7.6
59
2.0
8.4
9.1
2.5
9.1
12 6
3.1
9.9
17.1
3.5
10.4
17.6
3.1
Note: Data for the United States relate to the population age 16 and over. Published
data for France, Germany and Italy relate to the population age 14 and over; for Sweden,
to the population age 16 to 74; and for Canada, Australia, Japan, Great Britain and thè
Netherlands, to the population age 15 and over. Beginning In 1973, published data for
Great Britain relate to the population age 16 and over. The adjusted statistics have been
adapted, insofar as possible, to the age at which compulsory schooling ends in each
country. Therefore, adjusted statistics for France relateto the population age 16 and over;
for Germany, to the population age 15 and over; and for the Netherlands, to the population
age 14 and over for 1973-74, and to the population age 15 and over from 1975 onward
The age limits of adjusted statistics for Canada, Australia, Japan, Great Britain and Italy
coincide with the age limits of the published statistics. Statistics for Sweden remain at the
lower age limit of 16, but have been adjusted to include persons age 75 and over.

proportion of full-time employees to overall employment
has continued to decline.
The part-time category may include persons working re­
duced hours both voluntarily and involuntarily. The dis­
cussion here focuses on involuntary part time only. Trends
in the number of persons working part time for economic
reasons gives further background to comparative employ­
ment trends. These data indicate that some countries have
a much larger group of underemployed persons than do
others.
Employers in all countries use the mechanism of shorttime work to varying degrees to maintain their experienced
work forces during times of reduced business. In Europe
and Japan, unemployment compensation systems provide
for payments to workers on shorter hours for economic
reasons. This is generally not the case in the United States
and Canada.

Table 3.

Labor force participation rates and unemployment rates (civilian labor force basis), by sex, 1975-84
U n ite d
Year

S ta te s

Canada

Aus­
t r a lia

Japan1

F ra n c e

G e r­

G re a t

m any

B rita in

Ita ly

N e th e r ­
la n d s 2

Sw eden

L a b o r fo rc e p a r tic ip a tio n r a te 3

Men:
1975...................................
1976
......................
1977 ................................
1978
.............................
1979...................................

77.9
77.5
77.7
77.9
77.8

78.4
77.6
77.7
78.1
78.5

82.2
81.5
81.0
79.8
79.5

81.2
81.0
80.4
80.1
79.9

74.4
74.4
74.0
73.8
73.0

73.1
72.1
71.6
71.3
71.1

81.4
81.3
80.8
80.3
79.7

70.4
70.2
69.2
68.5
68.1

73.1
(4)
71.8
(4)
70.4

77.0
76.5
75.6
75.1
75.1

1980
.................
1981
.............
1982
............
1983
.......
1984...................................

77.4
77.0
76.6
76.4
76.4

78.4
78.4
77.0
76.7
76.6

79.2
78.9
78.4
77.7
577.3

79.6
79.6
79.3
79.2
78.5

72.4
71.8
71.3
69.5
(4)

70.4
69.6
68.8
68.8
(4)

79.5
78.6
577.7
577.0
(4)

67.7
67.5
66.6
65.9
(4)

(4)
70.0
(4)
69.8
(4)

74.9
73.9
73.5
573.1
572.7

Women:
1975 ..................................
1976
.......................
1977 ................................
1978
....................
1979...................................

46.3
47.3
48.4
50.0
50.9

44.4
45.2
46.0
47.9
49.0

44.5
44.3
44.8
44.5
44.3

44.8
44.8
45.7
46.4
46.6

40.8
41.1
41.8
42.1
42.6

38.4
38.2
37.8
37.8
37.9

46.6
46.9
47.4
48.0
48.2

26.6
27.5
28.6
28.6
29.2

26.9
(4)
27.6
(4)
29.1

55.2
55.8
56.7
57.5
58.5

1980
.......................
1981
.........................
1982
.................
...............
1983
1984...................................

51.5
52.1
52.6
52.9
53.6

50.4
51.7
51.7
52.6
53.5

45.5
45.5
45.4
45.5
546.2

46.6
46.7
47.0
48.0
47.8

42.6
42.8
43.5
44.0
(4)

38.2
38.3
38.4
38.8
(4)

48.3
47.8
547.5
547.8
(4)

29.9
30.1
30.0
30.1
(4)

(4)
32.9
(4)
34.8
(4)

59.3
60.1
60.5
561.0
561.5

Men:
1975...................................
1976...................................
1977 ..................................
1978...................................
1979...................................

7.9
7.1
6.3
5.3
5.1

6.2
6.3
7.3
7.5
6.6

3.8
3.9
4.6
5.4
5.2

1.9
2.1
2.0
2.2
1.9

2.9
3.0
3.2
3.7
4.2

3.3
3.1
2.9
2.7
2.3

4.9
6.3
6.6
6.2
5.5

2.2
2.4
2.5
2.5
2.7

3.8
(4)
4.0
(4)
3.7

1.4
1.3
1.5
2.1
1.9

1980
...........................
1981
.................
1982
....................
1983
............
1984...................................

6.9
7.4
9.9
9.9
7.4

6.9
7.0
11.1
12.1
11.2

5.1
4.8
6.4
9.7
8.7

1.7
1.9
1.9
(4)
(4)

4.2
5.2
6.1
6.6
(4)

2.3
3.4
5.2
6.6
56.7

7.3
11.3
513.1
514.2
514.3

2.7
2.9
3.3
3.7
(4)

(4)
6.4
(4)
12.4
(4)

1.7
2.4
3.0
3.4
3.0

6.2
7.1
7.5
7.9
9.0

3.6
4.0
4.5
4.4
4.1
3.8
5.1
7.0
8.8
59.6

3.9
5.1
5.7
6.1
4.9

5.0
5.8
6.0
6.2
6.4

6.9
(4)
6.7
(4)
8.1

2.0
2.0
2.2
2.4
2.3

U n e m p lo y m e n t ra te

Women:
3.8
7.0
8.1
9.3
1975...................................
3.8
6.4
8.4
8.6
1976 ................................
4.3
9.4
7.5
8.2
1977...................................
4.3
7.9
9.6
7.2
1978...................................
4.1
8.2
8.8
6.8
1979...................................
3.3
8.4
7.9
7.4
1980...................................
3.6
7.4
8.3
7.9
1981
.............................
4.0
8.5
9.4
10.9
1982
.................
10.4
11.6
9.2
1983
..........
(4)
9.5
11.4
7.6
(4)
1984...................................
Unemployment rates estimated on the basis of special March survey data for 1977
through 1980. Adjustments for 1975-76 are based on March 1977 data, and adjustments
for 1981-82 are based on March 1980 data.
2Data refer to March-May.
3Data relate to the civilian labor force approximating U.S. concepts as a percent of the
civilian noninstitutlonalized working-age population. Working age is defined as 16 years
and over in the United States, France, and Sweden; 15 years and over in Australia,

In the United States, the number of persons working part
time for economic reasons (persons on reduced hours as
well as persons employed in part-time jobs who want full­
time work) rose between 1980 and 1983. In 1982, the num­
ber increased 30 percent to 6.2 million, or 6.2 percent of
the employed. In 1983, the number continued to rise, al­
though at a much slower pace, and the ratio of persons
affected remained unchanged. In 1984, the number of per­
sons working part-time for economic reasons declined to
5.7 million, or 5.5 percent of the employed.
The number of U.S. workers on reduced hours increased
steadily from 1978 to 1982. In 1982, the number rose by

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2.3
6.7
6.2
9.8
(4)
2.7
11.4
7.1
8.8
10.9
3.4
7.5
59.9
11.7
(4)
3.5
16.2
8.5
510.8
11.5
3.2
511.3
(4)
(4)
(4)
Canada, Germany, and Japan; and 14 years and over in Italy. For Great Britain, the lower
age limit was raised from 15 to 16 in 1973. For the Netherlands, the lower age limit was
raised from 14 to 15 in 1975. The institutionalized working-age population is included in
Japan and Germany.
4Not available.
Preliminary estimate.

one-third to 3.3 million, approximately 3.3 percent of ci­
vilian employment. In 1983, the number began to decline
and, by 1984, fewer than 2.5 million persons, 2.3 percent
of employment, were on reduced work schedules.
The number of persons in the United States working part
time because they could only find part-time jobs also in­
creased by one-third in 1982. However, the peak occurred
in 1983, when there were 3.1 million part-time workers who
were unable to find full-time jobs. This group typically
continues to increase even after employers restore the hours
of those they have put on short work hours. In 1984, the
number who could find only part-time jobs declined for the
15

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • International Unemployment and Labor Force Trends
first time since 1978 to 2.9 million, or 2.8 percent of em­
ployment.
In Canada, persons whose hours were cut back for eco­
nomic reasons followed a similar pattern. The number af­
fected rose from 1980 to 1982, with a dramatic increase of
76 percent to 146,000 (1.4 percent of civilian employment)
by 1982. In the following 2 years, the number of persons
working shorter hours for economic reasons decreased. By
1984, 112,000 (1.2 percent of civilian employment) were
on reduced work schedules.
Data are also collected on the number of Canadians work­
ing part time because they could only find part-time work.
In 1980, nearly 250,000 part-time workers wanted to work
full time but could not find such jobs. By 1984, the number
had more than doubled to 510,000 persons. The proportion
of employed persons working part time who want full-time
work also doubled, rising from 2.3 percent in 1980 to 4.6
percent in 1984.
In France, the number of persons who were compensated
for working shorter hours peaked in 1981. About 320,000
workers (1.5 percent of civilian employment) were com­
pensated for 17.4 million days not worked. In 1982, the
number of persons affected declined 40 percent and the
number of days compensated fell 30 percent. In 1983, the
numbers of both workers and days compensated rose 20
percent. Approximately 240,000 French workers (1.1 per­
cent of civilian employment) were reimbursed for 14.6 mil­
lion days not worked. In 1984, the number of workers
receiving short-time compensation rose 15 percent, while
the number of days compensated rose 5 percent. Nearly
275.000 workers (1.1 percent of civilian employment) were
paid for 15.2 million days not worked.
In Germany, the number of persons receiving payments
for shortened work schedules continued to increase in 1983,
but the rate of growth decelerated significantly, rising just
11 percent, compared with 75 percent in 1982. Approxi­
mately 675,000 employees, 2.7 percent of German em­
ployment, worked shorter hours for economic reasons in
1983. In 1984, the number of persons receiving short-time
benefits decreased 40 percent; approximately 385,000 per­
sons, or 1.6 percent of German employment, worked shorter
hours for economic reasons in 1984.
In Italy, the number of hours subsidized by the Wage
Supplement Fund increased each year from 1980 to 1983.
The rate of increase ranged from 85 percent in 1981, to
6 percent in 1982, and to 30 percent in 1983. By 1983, the
number of hours subsidized had risen to almost 700 million,
equivalent to 390,000 person years, or 1.9 percent of civilian
employment. In 1984, the number of hours subsidized rose
an additional 9 percent to 760 million hours, equivalent to
420.000 person years, or 2.1 percent of civilian employ­
ment.
In Great Britain and the Netherlands, the number of per­
sons affected by involuntary short-time schedules declined
in 1983. In Britain, emphasis has shifted away from the
16


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Temporary Short Time Working Compensation Scheme.
This scheme, which ended in September 1984, subsidized
68,000 workers in 1983, about one-eighth the number sub­
sidized in 1981. Approximately 0.3 percent of total em­
ployment was affected in 1983, compared with 2.3 percent
in 1981. In the Netherlands, the number of persons on
shorter hours has declined since 1982, although the number
of hours compensated rose until 1983. The number of per­
sons affected fell nearly 30 percent over the 1982-83 period,
to 16,200, or about 0.3 percent of employment. Hours com­
pensated declined 17 percent to 9.5 million.

Other indicators favorable for U.S.
Unemployment and employment are the key indicators
of the labor market, but there are other statistics which give
added perspective to international comparisons. The labor
force brings together the two key indicators in one concept
as it represents all persons either working or seeking work.
The labor force participation rate and the employment-pop­
ulation ratio show the extent to which labor force and em­
ployment growth are keeping pace with population growth.
Finally, trends in the number of discouraged workers tell
us about an important group of potential labor force entrants.
Even during the recession years of the 1980’s, the labor
force increased in all countries, with two exceptions— 1983
declines in France and Germany. Labor force growth was
far more rapid in Canada, the United States, Australia, and
Japan, than in Western Europe. North American and Jap­
anese increases in the 1980-83 period represented expand­
ing employment and unemployment components, except in
1982, when North American employment declined. In 1984,
big employment increases fueled labor force growth in the
United States and, to a lesser extent, in Japan, Canada, and
Australia. In contrast, European labor force growth so far
in the 1980’s has been associated with sharp growth in
joblessness and declining employment.
Although all countries’ labor forces were larger in the
1983-84 period than in 1980, only the United States, Can­
ada, Japan, and the Netherlands had seen increases in labor
force participation rates. In other words, labor force growth
exceeded working age population growth in these nations.
In Australia and Western Europe— except the Nether­
lands— participation rates either declined or remained vir­
tually unchanged (in Sweden), as labor force growth fell
below population growth. In some European countries, no­
tably Germany, increasing emigration of foreign workers
contributed to the decline. Programs promoting early re­
tirement have been a factor in France, Germany, Great
Britain, and Italy. Rising numbers of discouraged workers
(discussed later) have also contributed to the decline in
European participation rates.
Activity rates for men fell in all countries after 1980,
while rates for women rose in all countries. (See table 3.)
In most cases, these developments were continuations of
longer term trends, and the reasons for them have been

described by Constance Sorrentino in 1983.8 Although there
are many reasons for the rising participation of women, this
trend may partly reflect the “ added worker” phenomenon.
When household income is rising slowly or has been reduced
(either because of unemployment or shorter hours), the de­
sire for additional income tends to draw women from nonmarket activities into the labor market.
In Japan, women formerly moved from employment to
out of the labor force, bypassing unemployment. In recent
years, however, they have tended to remain in the labor
market, immediately seeking work upon becoming jobless,
and thus maintaining rising participation rates. This pattern
is also beginning to emerge in the Netherlands.
The United States was the only country with a higher
employment-to-population ratio in 1984 than in 1980. Even
in Canada, Japan, and Australia— countries with higher em­
ployment in 1984 than in 1980— employment growth was
outpaced by population growth, and employment ratios
declined. Some of the Western European countries had
particularly sharp decreases in this ratio because employ­
ment actually declined while the working-age population
increased.
Discouraged workers. Discouraged workers are persons
not in the labor force who state a current desire for work
but who are not actively seeking a job because they think
they cannot find one. Current data on these workers are
available for five countries— the United States, Canada,
Australia, Italy, and Sweden. However, because definitions
vary from country to country, international comparisons
should be made cautiously.
In the United States, the number of discouraged workers
peaked at the same time as the number of unemployed. In
the fourth quarter of 1982, the number of discouraged work­
ers, 1.8 million, was equal to about 15 percent of the un­
employed. By the fourth quarter of 1984, the number had
declined by .5 million, but was still equivalent to about 15
percent of unemployment.
In the United States, there is no requirement of prior job
search in order to be classified as discouraged. Data from
several sources indicate that a large proportion of discour­
aged workers test the job market only infrequently. More
than half report no jobseeking efforts in the year preceeding
the interview.9
In Canada, however, the definition of discouraged work­
ers requires that active steps to find work must have been
taken within 6 months prior to the interviews. The number
of Canadian discouraged workers has declined steadily from
the fourth quarter 1982 peak of 133,000, equivalent to 9
percent of unemployment. By the fourth quarter of 1984,
discouragement was reported at 84,000 persons, equivalent
to 6 percent of the number of jobless.
In Australia, the definition of discouraged workers is also
more restrictive than in the United States. Australia requires
persons who want a job but who have not taken active steps


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to find work to be available to start work within 4 weeks.
(The United States does not specifically apply an availability
criterion to its discouraged worker definition.) This avail­
ability criterion was applied to the Australian definition of
discouraged workers beginning in September 1983. In a
supplementary survey conducted in March 1984, discour­
aged workers numbered 116,000, comparable to 17 percent
of the unemployed. In addition, persons who wanted to
work, had not actively sought work, and who were not
available to begin a new job within 4 weeks, averaged
224.000 in the March 1984 survey, comparable to one-third
of the unemployed.
In Italy, discouraged workers— according to U.S. defi­
nitions— outnumber the unemployed. In 1982 and 1983,
the ratio of discouraged workers to the unemployed was
approximately 11 to 10. However, approximately 90 percent
of these discouraged workers are classified as unemployed
by the Italian authorities because they have sought work,
although not in the past month, the cutoff point in the U.S.
definition of unemployment. In Italy, discouraged workers
are defined as persons not in the labor force who declare
their desire and availability for work at the time of the survey
but who have not sought work because they think they
cannot find a job. When this definition is used, the ratio of
discouraged workers to the unemployed is less than 8 percent.
In Sweden, the number of discouraged workers fell to
50.000 in 1984 after averaging 60,000 in 1982 and 1983.
The number of discouraged jobseekers in 1984 was com­
parable to almost 40 percent of the unemployed. This pro­
portion has declined steadily since 1979.

Youth unemployment stays high
The recession of the early 1980’s aggravated an already
serious problem of high youth (under age 25) unemploy­
ment. Even in prosperous years, young persons experience
higher unemployment rates than adults. Youth problems in
the labor market have been attributed to such factors as lack
of skills, inadequate training or counseling, the difficulties
of transition from school to work, insufficient work expe­
rience, and loose labor force attachment. Cyclical down­
turns compound these problems because young people lack
seniority and are more vulnerable to dismissal.
The extent of youth unemployment varies widely, and
international differences have changed dramatically over
time.10 For instance, during the 1960’s through the early
1970’s, European countries, with the exception of Italy, had
much lower levels of youth unemployment than the United
States and Canada. In 1970, the youth jobless rates in the
United States, Canada, and Italy averaged around 10 per­
cent, compared with rates of 2 to 6 percent in Australia,
Japan, France, Great Britain, and Sweden. The German
youth unemployment rate was under 1 percent.
Since the 1974-75 recession, however, the traditional
gap between North American and European youth rates has
narrowed or disappeared. Youth rates in Western Europe
17

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • International Unemployment and Labor Force Trends
first matched and then exceeded the rates in the United States
and Canada. In 1982, youth unemployment rates rose in all
countries and reached new highs. (See table 4.) The rates
for persons under age 25 were 18 to 21 percent in North
America, France, Great Britain, and Italy; 14 percent in
Australia; and 4 to 8 percent in Japan, Germany, and Swe­
den, three of the four countries with the lowest overall
jobless rates. In 1983, the youth unemployment rate moved
downward slightly in the United States and Great Britain,
but continued to rise in the other countries studied. Un­
employment rates for persons under age 25 in all countries
but Japan, Germany, and Sweden exceeded those in the
United States.
In 1984, the youth unemployment rate declined in North
America, Australia, and Sweden, and fell back to its pre­
recession level in the United States. In Britain, the youth
jobless rate remained unchanged. In contrast, it continued
to rise among Japanese youth.
The dramatic turnaround in demographic trends was an
important factor influencing the comparative youth unem­
ployment picture. In North America, birth rates peaked in
the late 1950’s. In Western Europe, however, the peak
occurred in the early to mid-1960’s, which coincided with
the tapering off of North American birth rates. In Australia
and Japan, the peak was reached much later, in the 1970’s.
In the United States and Canada, the children bom during

Table 4.

the baby boom reached working age in the early 1970’s,
whereas those in Western European countries reached work­
ing age nearly 10 years later, during a period of generally
declining economic growth. For Australia and Japan, the
entry of the baby-boom generation is just beginning or yet
to come.
Trends fo r teenagers. Aggregate unemployment rates for
persons under 25 years of age tend to mask the separate
trends for teenagers (under age 20)11 and young adults (age
20 to 24).
Historically, unemployment rates among teenagers have
been considerably higher than those for young adults in all
countries studied except Germany. Double-digit teenage un­
employment rates have been the rule rather than the excep­
tion in North America, Australia, and most of Western
Europe in the last decade.
In 1975, teenage jobless rates rose sharply in all countries
studied except Sweden, where extensive labor market pro­
grams were implemented to maintain employment. Teenage
jobless rates reached new highs of nearly 20 percent in the
United States, and 13 to 17 percent in Canada, Australia,
France, Great Britain, and Italy. In Japan, Germany, and
Sweden, the rates were much lower, around 5 percent.
Following the 1974-75 recession, teenage jobless rates
declined slowly in the United States, but continued to rise

Unemployment rates (civilian labor force basis), by age, 1980-84
A g e g ro u p

U n ite d
S ta te s

Canada

A us­
t r a lia

Japan

F ra n c e 1

G e r­

G re a t

m any1

B r itia n 2

Ita ly

Sw eden

1980:
All working ages.....................................
Under 25 years.....................................
Teenagers3...................................
20-24 years...................................
25 years and over................................

7.1
13.9
17.8
11.5
5.1

7.5
13.2
16.2
11.0
5.4

6.1
12.6
17.1
8.9
3.7

2.0
3.5
4.2
3.3
1.8

6.1
16.2
25.9
13.0
4.3

2.7
3.5
3.5
3.5
2.4

6.6
12.6
15.7
10.3
4.9

3.9
14.5
18.4
12.1
1.7

20
51
77
3.7
1.4

1981:
All working ages................................
Under 25 years...................................
Teenagers3...................................
20-24 years.....................................
25 years and over..................................

7.6
14.9
19.6
12.3
5.4

7.5
13.2
16.2
11.2
5.6

5.8
11.4
15.6
8.2
3.7

2.2
4.1
5.6
3.7
2.0

7.0
18.2
29.1
15.1
5.0

3.6
4.8
4.3
5.1
3.3

10.1
18.1
21.1
15.9
7.9

4.3
16.0
20.9
13.0
1.9

25
65
96
49
1.8

9.7
17.8
23.2
14.9
7.4

11.0
18.8
21.9
16.8
8.4

7.1
13.9
18.5
10.4
4.7

2.4
4.3
5.6
4.0
2.1

7.8
20.3
31.3
17.3
5.6

5.3
7.5
6.9
8.0
4.8

11.8
20.6
24.1
18.0
9.3

48
17 7
23.7
14.2
2.1

31
76
10 9
60
2.3

9.6
17.2
22.4
14.5
7.5

11.9
19.9
22.2
18.5
9.4

9.9
18.3
23.6
14.6
6.9

2.7
4.6
6.4
4.1
2.4

8.0
21.2
30.7
18.8
5.8

(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)

11.6
20.4
23.4
18.2
9.1

53
19 2
26.6
15.6
2.5

10 6
70
2.6

1982:
All working ages................................
Under 25 years...........................
Teenagers3................................
20-24 years...................................
25 years and over.............................
1983:
All working ages.........................
Under 25 years...........................
Teenagers3..................................
20-24 years..................................
25 years and over .............................
1984:
All working ages...........................
Under 25 years.....................................
Teenagers3.............................
20-24 years...................................
25 years and over .............................

35
8 ?

7.5
11.3
9.0
2.8
11.6
(4)
31
(4)
(4)
14.0
17.9
16.8
5.1
20 4
(4)
61
(4)
V./
18.9
20.0
22.3
6.9
22.8
(4)
(4)
50
r)
11.5
16.8
12.9
4.6
18.8
(4)
67
(4)
r)
5.8
9.3
6.3
2.5
9.1
(4)
2.6
(4)
(4)
Trench data are for March 1980, 1981, and 1983 and April-May 1982; German data
3Dataarefor 16- to 19-year-olds inthe United States, France, Great Britain, and Sweden;
are for April 1980 and 1982 and May 1981.
15- to 19-year-olds In Canada, Australia, Japan, and Germany; and 14- to 19-year-olds In
Italy.
2Data are not adjusted to U.S. concepts. Adjusted figures for youth would be slightly
higher than those published here and adult rates would be slightly lower.
4Not available.

18

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Chart 1. Average annual percent change in employment, 10 countries, 1973*83 and 1983-84

in most of the other countries studied. By 1979, teenage
rates matched or surpassed the U.S. rate of 16 percent in
Canada, Australia, France, and Italy. In the early 1980’s,
teenage jobless rates were once again rising sharply in all
countries studied. In 1982, new highs were recorded, 31
percent in France and 20 to 25 percent in North America,
Australia, Great Britain, and Italy. Swedish teens had rates
in excess of 10 percent for the first time. Japanese and
German teens recorded jobless rates of around 6 percent,
the lowest among the countries studied here. In 1983, teen­
age jobless rates declined in the United States, France, Great
Britain, and Sweden, but continued to rise in the other
countries studied. In 1984, teenagers in the United States,
Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and Sweden recorded lower
unemployment rates than in the previous year. In Japan, the
teenage jobless rate continued to rise.
Trends for young adults. Historically, unemployment rates
among young adults have remained lower than among teen­
agers in all countries studied except Germany. Since 1977,
the German teenage jobless rate has been lower than that
for young adults. In addition, unemployment rates for young
adults have risen more rapidly than teenage rates in Ger­
many, as well as in Canada, Australia, France, Great Brit­
ain, and Sweden.
In 1975, young adult jobless rates ranged from 10 to 15
percent in North America and Italy to less than 5 percent

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in Japan, Germany, and Sweden. From 1976 to 1978, the
young adult rate moved downward in the United States,
while continuing to rise in most of the other countries. In
1979, the rates remained unchanged or declined in all coun­
tries but France.
Beginning in 1980, sharp rises in young adult joblessness
were recorded. Between 1980 and 1982, the unemployment
rate for persons age 20 to 24 rose 20 to 30 percent in the
United States, Japan, Australia, France, and Italy, and 50
to 75 percent in Canada, Great Britain, and Sweden. The
largest increase by far occurred in Germany, where the rate
more than doubled. Nevertheless, the 1982 German rate,
8.0 percent, was still among the lowest of the nine countries.
Only Japanese and Swedish young adults had lower rates
(4.0 and 6.0 percent). In contrast, young adult unemploy­
ment rates clustered between 14 to 18 percent in North
America and Western Europe.
In 1983, unemployment rates among 20- to 24-year-olds
continued to rise in all countries studied except the United
States. The steepest rise was recorded in Australia, where
the rate rose 40 percent to 14.6 percent. This was the first
time the Australian young adult rate had exceeded that in
the United States. Young adults in four other countries—
Canada, France, Great Britain, and Italy— experienced higher
rates of joblessness than those in the United States. (In 1980,
only France and Italy had higher unemployment rates for
20- to 24-year-olds than the United States.)
19

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • International Unemployment and Labor Force Trends
In 1984, lower jobless rates for 20- to 24-year-olds were
recorded in Canada, Australia, and Sweden, as well as in
the United States. In Japan and Great Britain, the young
adult jobless rate rose at an accelerated pace.

40 percent of the jobless were under age 25, except in Japan
and Germany where just 20 to 25 percent of the unemployed
were young persons. During the same year, youth comprised
one-fourth of the labor force in North America and Aus­
tralia, one-sixth in Western Europe, and one-eighth in
Japan.
Over the 1981-83 period, the youth share of both the
unemployed and the labor force moved downward in all

Youth share of unemployment declining
Youth account for a disproportionate share of the un­
employed. (See table 5 and chart 2.) In 1980, more than

Table 5.

Percent distribution of the labor force and the unemployed, by age, 1980-1984
A g e g ro u p

All working ages................................

U n ite d
S ta te s

C anada

A us­
tr a lia

Japan

F ra n c e 1

G e r­

G re a t

m any1

B r itla n 2

Ita ly

Sw eden

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

23.7
8.8
14.9
76.3

26.4
11.0
15.5
73.5

27.3
12.2
15.1
72.7

12.4
2.6
9.8
87.6

15.7
3.7
12.0
84.3

20.1
8.5
11.6
79.9

21.1
9.2
12.0
78.9

17.2
6.6
10.5
82.8

16.3
5.7
10.6
83.7

23.1
8.3
14.8
76.9

25.8
10.5
15.3
74.2

27.1
11.9
15.2
72.9

12.2
2.6
9.7
87.8

15.2
3.4
11.8
84.8

20.2
8.2
12.0
79.8

21.6
9.3
12.3
78.4

17.3
6.5
10.8
82.7

15.7
5.3
10.4
84.3

1982:
Under 25 years.......................................
Teenagers3 ........................................
20-24 years........................................
25 years and over.....................................

22.3
7.7
14.6
77.7

24.7
9.5
15.2
75.3

26.8
11.5
15.3
73.2

12.2
2.5
9.6
87.8

14.9
3.3
11.6
85.1

20.1
8.0
12.1
79.9

22.0
9.4
12.6
78.0

17.2
6.3
10.9
82.8

15.7
5.3
10.4
84.3

1983:
Under 25 years.......................................
Teenagers3 ........................................
20-24 years........................................
25 years and over.....................................

21.7
7.3
14.4
78.3

23.9
8.8
15.1
76.1

26.5
11.0
15.5
73.5

12.4
2.7
9.7
87.6

14.6
3.0
11.6
85.4

22.2
9.3
12.9
77.8

16.9
5.9
11.0
83.1

15.4
5.2
10.2
84.6

1984:
Under 25 years.......................................
Teenagers3 ........................................
20-24 years........................................
25 years and over.....................................

21.1
7.0
14.1
78.9

23.3
8.4
14.9
76.7

26.0
10.8
15.2
74.0

12.4
2.7
9.7
87.6

(4)

(4)

o

(4)

0

(4)

(4)

(4)

1980:
Under 25 years.......................................
Teenagers3 ........................................
20-24 years........................................
25 years and over.....................................

45.9
21.8
24.0
54.1

46.7
23.7
22.9
53.3

56.3
34.3
22.0
43.7

21.0
5.3
15.8
79.0

41.1
15.5
25.5
58.9

26.8
11.3
15.5
73.2

40.6
21.9
18.7
59.4

63.9
31.3
32.5
36.1

41.9
22.1
19.8
58.1

1981:
Under 25 years.......................................
Teenagers3 ........................................
20-24 years........................................
25 years and over.....................................

45.2
21.3
23.9
54.8

45.3
22.7
22.7
54.7

53.7
32.2
21.5
46.3

22.2
6.4
15.9
77.8

39.5
14.1
25.4
60.5

27.2
9.9
17.2
72.8

38.8
19.4
19.4
61.2

64.1
31.5
32.6
35.9

40.7
20.4
20.4
59.3

1982:
Under 25 years.......................................
Teenagers3 ........................................
20-24 years........................................
25 years and over.....................................

40.9
18.5
22.4
59.1

42.2
19.0
23.3
57.8

52.0
29.7
22.4
48.0

22.1
5.9
16.2
77.9

38.9
13.4
25.6
61.1

28.5
10.3
18.2
71.5

38.5
19.2
19.3
61.5

63.7
31.4
32.4
36.3

38.0
18.2
19.7
62.0

38.8
17.1
21.7
61.2

40.0
16.5
23.5
60.0

48.8
26.2
22.6
51.2

21.2
6.4
14.7
78.8

38.6
11.4
27.2
61.4

38.9
18.7
20.2
61.1

61.4
29.8
32.5
38.6

36.4
15.9
20.5
63.6

39.1
17.6
21.5
60.9

37.1
14.9
22.2
63.0

48.6
26.8
21.8
51.4

22.6
6.7
15.8
77.4

L a b o r fo rc e

1980:
Under 25 years.......................................
Teenagers3 ........................................
20-24 years........................................
25 years and over.....................................
1981:
Under 25 years.......................................
Teenagers3 ........................................
20-24 years........................................
25 years and over.....................................

(4)
0
(4 )
(4)

22.2
9.1
13.1
77.8

(4 )
(4)
(4)
(4)

15.3
5.0
10.3
84.7

U n e m p lo y e d

1983:
Under 25 years.......................................
Teenagers3 ........................................
20-24 years........................................
25 years and over.....................................
1984:
Under 25 years.......................................
Teenagers3 ........................................
20-24 years........................................
25 years and over.....................................

1French data are for March 1980, 1981, and 1983 and April-May 1982; German data
are for April 1980 and 1982 and May 1981.
2Data are not adjusted to U.S. concepts.

20

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(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)

39.0
30.1
(4)
17.8
8.1
(4)
21.2
22.1
(4)
(4)
(4)
61.0
69.9
(4)
(4)
(4)
30ata arefor 16-to 19-year-olds inthe United States, France, Great Britain, and Sweden;
15- to 19-year-olds in Canada, Australia, Japan, and Germany; and 14- to 19-year-olds in
Italy4Not available.
(4)

(4)

(4)

(4)

Table 6.

Ratios of youth-to-adult unemployment rates, 1980-84
Year

U n ite d
S ta te s

Canada

Aus­
tr a lia

Japan

F ra n c e 1

G e r­

G re a t

m any1

B r itia n 2

Ita ly

Sw eden

Y o u th -to -a d u lt r a tio 3

1980......................................................
1981......................................................
1982......................................................
1983......................................................
1984......................................................

2.7
2.8
2.4
2.3
2.4

2.4
2.4
2.2
2.1
1.9

3.4
3.1
3.0
2.7
2.7

1.9
2.0
2.0
1.9
2.0

3.7
3.6
3.6
3.7
(4)

1.5
1.5
1.6
(4)
(4)

2.6
2.3
2.2
2.2
2.2

8.5
8.4
8.4
7.7
(4)

3.6
3.6
3.3
3.2
2.3

3.5
3.6
3.1
3.0
3.3

3.0
2.9
2.6
2.4
2.2

4.6
4.2
3.9
3.4
3.5

2.3
2.8
2.7
2.7
2.8

6.0
5.8
5.6
5.3
(4)

1.5
1.3
1.4
(4)
(4)

3.2
2.7
2.6
2.6
2.5

10.8
11.0
11.3
10.6
(4)

5.5
5.3
4.7
4.1
1.9

T e e n a g e -to -a d u lt r a t io 5

1980......................................................
1981......................................................
1982......................................................
1983......................................................
1984......................................................
Y o u n g a d u lt- to -a d u lt r a tio 6

7.1
2.6
2.1
1.5
3.0
1.8
2.4
2.0
2.2
1980......................................................
2.7
6.8
2.0
1.6
3.0
2.2
1.8
2.0
2.3
1981......................................................
2.6
6.8
1.7
1.9
1.9
3
.1
2.2
2.0
2.0
1982......................................................
2.7
6.2
2.0
3.2
1.7
2.1
2.0
1.9
(4)
1983......................................................
2.6
2.1
1.8
2.1
1.8
(4)
2.0
(4)
(4)
1984......................................................
1French data are for March 1980, 1981, and 1983 and April-May 1982; German data
4Not available.
are for April 1980 and 1982 and May 1981.
5Ratio of teenage unemployment rate to rate for persons age 25 and over.
2Data are not adjusted to U.S. concepts.
6Ratio of unemployment rate for persons age 20 to 24 to rate for persons age 25 and
3Ratio of unemployment rate for persons under age 25 to rate for persons age 25 and
over.
over.

countries studied. Adult workers were especially hard hit
during the recession and their jobless rates rose more rapidly
than those for youth, with the result that the adult share of
unemployment increased while the youth share decreased.
The number of youth reaching working age and entering
the labor market tapered off during this period. Increased
numbers of young discouraged workers also contributed to
the declining youth share of the labor force. The declines
in youth shares of unemployment and labor force were larger
in North America and Australia than in Europe and Japan.
By 1983, the youth share of the unemployed had fallen
to less than 40 percent in all of the countries, except Aus­
tralia and Italy. However, this was still more than twice
their share of the labor force. In 1984, the downward trend
in the youth portion of unemployment was reversed in the
United States and Japan. The youth share of the labor force
reached a plateau in Japan and Great Britain and continued
to decline in the other countries.
The trends in teenage and young adult shares of unem­
ployment and labor force do not strictly follow those of
youth as a whole. During the 1980-83 period, the teenage
share of both the unemployed and the labor force fell in all
countries except Japan where the share of unemployment
rose and the share of the labor force remained the same. In
contrast, the trend for young adults showed more variation.
The young adult share of unemployment fell only in the
United States and Japan. However, the share of the labor
force declined in four countries— the United States, Canada,
France, and Sweden. The young adult portion of unem­
ployment rose in Canada, Australia, and Europe, while the
share of the labor force rose in Australia, Germany, Great
Britain, and Italy.


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In 1984, the pattern of falling teenage share of the un­
employed and the labor force was continued in Canada,
Great Britain, and Sweden. In the United States, Australia,
and Japan, the rising teenage portion of unemployment was
accompanied by continued declining shares of the labor
force. The share of both the unemployed and the labor force
among young adults declined in North America and Aus­
tralia and rose in Great Britain and Sweden in 1984,
compared with 1983. Overall, the teenage shares of the
unemployed and of the labor force have been lower than
the young adult shares although the teenage jobless rates
have been higher.

Youth-to-adult unemployment ratios narrow
The ratio of youth-to-adult unemployment rates can be
used as an indicator of the relative severity of youth job­
lessness. (See table 6.) Since 1980, the ratio has narrowed
in North America, Australia, Great Britain, Italy, and Swe­
den. While unemployment rates for both youth and adults
have risen steadily, growth in the adult rate has far exceeded
growth in the youth rate. In Japan, France, and Germany,
the ratio has shown little change, as the growth rates of both
adult and youth unemployment rates have been about equal.
In 1983, the youth-to-adult unemployment differential was,
by far, widest in Italy where overall youth jobless rates were
nearly eight times greater than the adult rate. The teenageto-adult ratio was even higher— about 11. The young adultto-adult ratio was, in contrast, about six. In Italy, as in the
other European countries studied, legal restrictions and col­
lective bargaining agreements make it very difficult to dis­
miss workers. Also, institutional arrangements encourage
21

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • International Unemployment and Labor Force Trends
the use of reduced hours for experienced members of the
work force. As conditions improve, employers tend to in­
crease hours rather than initiate hiring of new workers. Thus
youth, who are frequently first-time jobseekers, find it very
difficult to obtain jobs.
In 1983, the youth-to-adult unemployment ratio averaged
3.5 in Australia, France, and Sweden and 2 in North Amer­
ica, Japan, and Great Britain. The lowest ratio (1.6) was
recorded in Germany where apprenticeship programs tend
to shield youth from unemployment. In 1984, the youth-toadult ratios were little changed, except in Sweden, where
the ratio fell from 3.2 to 2.3 as the unemployment situation
improved for young persons, but not for workers age 25
and over.
The teenage-to-adult unemployment ratio also narrowed
steadily between 1980 and 1983 in all countries studied
except Italy and Sweden. In Italy, the ratio widened sharply

between 1979 and 1982, but returned to its 1979 level in
1983. In Japan, the ratio peaked in 1981 and has since
remained at about that level. In 1984, the U.S. teenage-toadult ratio rose for the first time since 1981 as the adult
jobless rate fell more rapidly than the teenage rate. In Swe­
den, the reverse occurred, with the ratio dropping 50 percent
as jobless rates fell sharply among teenagers and stabilized
among adults.
The young adult-to-adult ratio generally followed the same
pattern as the teenage-to-adult ratio, with the differential
slowly narrowing in the United States, Australia, Japan,
Great Britain, and Italy from 1980 to 1984. In France and
Germany, however, the ratio widened somewhat. The changes
in the young adult-to-adult ratio were smaller than the changes
in the teenage ratio. The differential was again highest in
Italy and lowest in Germany where the ratios were 6 and
1.5, respectively.

-FOOTNOTES
1For further information, see International Comparisons o f Unemploy­
ment, Bulletin 1979 (Bureau o f Labor Statistics, 1978), appendix B; and
Supplement to Bulletin 1979 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1983), appendix B.

7
“ Use o f Part-timers Is an Increasingly Favorite Practice o f Japanese
Business Enterprises for Saving Cost of Labor, ’ ’ Japan Economic Review,
Jan. 15, 1985, p. 9.

2For additional information, see Youth Unemployment: An International
Perspective, Bulletin 2098 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1981); and Const­
ance Sorrentino, “ Youth unemployment: an international perspective,”
Monthly Labor Review, July 1981, pp. 3 -1 5 .

8For earlier data and discussion, see Constance Sorrentino, “ Interna­
tional comparisons of labor force participation, 1960—8 1 ,” Monthly Labor
Review, February 1983, pp. 2 3 -3 6 .

3 National Institute o f Economic Research, The Swedish Economy, Au­
tumn 1983 (Stockholm, Norstedts Tryckeri, 1983), p. 3.
4Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Economic
Survey o f France (Paris, o e c d , July 1984), p. 27.
5 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Economic
Survey o f the Netherlands (Paris, OECD, February 1984), p. 12.
6 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Employ­
ment Outlook (Paris, o e c d , September 1984), pp. 17-18.

22

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9 Paul O. Flaim “ Discouraged workers: how strong are their links to the
job market?” Monthly Labor Review, August 1984, pp. 8 -1 1 .
10For earlier data and discussion, see Youth Unemployment, Bulletin
2098; and Constance Sorrentino, “ Youth unemployment.”
11The statistics have been adapted, insofar as possible, to the age at
which compulsory schooling ends in each country. Therefore, the adjusted
statistics relate to 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States, France, Great
Britain, and Sweden; 15- to 19-year-olds in Canada, Australia, Japan, and
Germany; and 14- to 19-year-olds in Italy.

Revised worklife tables
reflect 1979-80 experience
New worklife estimates, based on an expanded sample
o f individuals, provide more complete measures
o f laborforce behavior than were previously
possible; the effects o f race and educational
attainment on lifetime economic activity
are exploredfor the first time
S h ir l e y

J.

S m it h

It is estimated that if mortality conditions and labor force
entry and exit rates held constant at levels observed in 1979
to 1980, males bom during those years would work about
a third longer (38.8 years) over their lifetimes than would
their female counterparts (29.4 years). Whites would work
considerably longer than blacks and others, with white women
working more than 2 years longer and white men nearly 7
years longer than their minority counterparts. The impact
of education would be seen not only in occupational choice,
but also in the total length of time spent in the labor force.
Although remaining in school might delay career entry,
those who studied longest would also spend the most years
being economically active.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has been producing worklife estimates for the U.S. population since 1950. Initially,
these estimates portrayed workers as being continuously
active from the time of initial labor force entry until final
retirement. In 1982, after completing a major study of worklife methodology, the b l s published its first set of incrementdecrement, or multistate, working life tables for the years
1970 and 1977.1 Based on observed rates of labor force
entry and exit at all ages, those tables for the first time
Shirley J. Smith is a demographic statistician in the Office of Employment
and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics. This report is
based on a paper she and Francis W. Horvath, an economist with the
Bureau, presented at the 1984 annual meeting o f the Population Association
o f America, Minneapolis, m n .


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quantified the impact of midlife labor force withdrawal and
reentry on worklife duration. Their publication drew re­
sponses from many economists involved in litigation of
wrongful injury or death cases. Several such responses have
been published in the Monthly Labor Review,2 and some of
the refinements proposed by readers have since been im­
plemented in b l s worklife research.3
This analysis incorporates some of those refinements,
updates the 1982 study, and presents a new set of official
worklife estimates based on patterns observed during the
period 1979-80. It also adds two new dimensions to the
discussion, for the first time exploring how race and edu­
cational background affect lifetime labor force behavior.

Method of the new study
As was the case with previous b l s worklife estimates,
the new figures have been calculated from information col­
lected in the Current Population Survey ( c p s ) , a nationwide
monthly household survey conducted by the Bureau of the
Census on behalf of the b l s .4 Individuals are interviewed
during each of 4 successive months, and again in the same
4 months of the following year. Questions focus on the
labor force behavior of household members during the week
preceding each interview.
For the period of study, c p s records have been matched
so that each person’s status at the beginning and end of a
12-month interval can be compared. Labor force transitions
23

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Revised Worklife Tables
have been registered if labor force status changed between
the two reference dates. Transition rates have been devel­
oped for each age, sex, race, and educational category to
identify the group’s unique pattern of labor force mobility.
The worklife tables for 1977 were derived from a single
matched sample of about 40,000 persons, interviewed in
January 1977 and again in January 1978. To provide the
additional demographic detail presented below, the current
study pools six matched samples focusing on individuals’
labor force status in a given month of 1979 and in the same
month of 1980. Specifically, the study focuses on persons
interviewed in the following months of each of the 2
years: January, March, May, July, September, and No­
vember. Together the six samples include nearly 255,000
matched responses.5
The multistate working life table model is extremely sen­
sitive to rapid changes in rates of labor force entry or with­
drawal. Tables based on a recessionary period, during which
labor force exits increase, present a very bleak picture of
lifetime labor force involvement. Conversely, those cal­
culated during periods of rapid recovery or expansion tend
to overstate the average degree of lifetime labor force at­
tachment. To avoid the problems caused by the cyclical
swings of the early 1980’s, the current study rests on data
for a somewhat earlier but less turbulent period, 1979 to
1980.
The cost of avoiding cyclical irregularities in this way is
that certain secular trends may be understated. To the extent
that underlying patterns of male and female labor force
involvement have converged since 1980, the sex differen­
tials in this report may overstate those now in evidence.
However, until it is possible to update the tables again, the
1979-80 period has been judged the most viable for cal­
culation of multistate worklife estimates.

Factors affecting worklife duration
In the working life tables for 1970 and 1977, worklife
duration was treated as if it were a simple function of sex
and age. Tables were prepared separately for men and women,
giving no additional demographic or functional detail by
race, educational attainment, occupation, or other charac­
teristics that might distinguish high from low turnover groups.
In reality, labor force attachments are influenced by a
variety of factors, including training, health, marital and
family responsibilities, economic opportunity, and addi­
tional sources of income. However, it is not feasible to
control for all of these factors in computing worklife ex­
pectancy. For example, while worklife estimates by occu­
pation are in particular demand, it would require development
of a clustering scheme for occupations by prevailing work
patterns, together with study of job changes among poten­
tially hundreds of occupations, to compute them. The only
other approach is to assume that no such changes occur.6
Because neither of these alternatives is practical, no such
estimates are computed. Nonetheless, this study does add
24


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two new dimensions to the estimation of worklife: race and
education. Tables are presented separately for each of these
two variables. However, the combined impact of race and
education has not been computed because the present matched
sample is too limited to develop reliable joint probabilities.
Working life tables show the combined effects of mor­
tality and labor force mobility rates on lifetime labor force
involvement. The mortality estimates used in this report are
averages of the 1979 and 1980 values released by the Na­
tional Center for Health Statistics.7 Tables by race incor­
porate the effects of sex- and race-specific mortality. Those
focusing on education employ only sex-specific rates, be­
cause there are no comparable mortality tables by education.
Of course, access to health care is apt to be correlated with
schooling. If it were possible to quantify this relationship,
the tables would probably show still wider discrepancies
between the worklives of the less and more educated.
Apart from the factors listed above, all of which affect
the behavior of workers, certain properties of the data may
also influence our perception of that behavior. Model as­
sumptions and sample design are two such factors. The b l s
worklife model has changed little since 1977; it should cause
no marked discontinuities.8 However, the expanded sample,
in which subsets are observed at six different points during
the year, captures more labor force mobility than was ev­
ident in the earlier tables. In particular, the new sample
includes two groups of persons whose labor force behavior
was observed, retrospectively, in May and July of each of
the 2 years. This is the period during which students and
seasonal workers are most likely to report themselves as
economically active.
Neither worklife expectancies nor net flows appear to
have changed greatly between 1977 and the end of the
decade. But rates of labor force accession and separation
rose noticeably. Because of modification of the sample, such
differences should not be interpreted as an accurate reflection
of “ changes” in mobility rates.

Developments between 1977 and 1979-80
The general relationships observed in earlier worklife ta­
bles remained valid through the end of the 1970’s. Women
continued to have higher probabilities of labor force exit
and reentry than men. Consequently, men continued to have
longer worklives, on average, than women. (See table 1.)
Not surprisingly, the worklife expectancy of persons in the
labor force was higher than that of the inactive population.
The gap was small for young persons, but widened consid­
erably with age. Men who were in the labor force at age
50 could expect to work 6.3 years longer than other men
at that age. The comparable figure for women was 4.6 years.
Between 1977 and 1980, the cross-sectional participation
rates of men changed very little. (See table 2.) Those of
older teenagers and men above the age of 55 dropped slightly.
In contrast, the activity rates of women continued to climb.
There was an overall gain of more than 3 percentage points,

Table 1. Worklife expectancy of the population, 1970 and
1977, and of all persons by labor force status In 1979-80,
by sex and age
[In years]
S ex and
age

M en

0 ............
16 ..........
20 ..........
25 ..........
30 ..........
35 ..........
40 ..........
45 ..........
50 ..........
55 ..........
60 ..........
65 ..........
70 ..........
75 ..........
W om en

0 ............
16 ..........
20 ..........
25 ..........
30 ..........
35 ..........
40 ..........
45
50
55
60
65
70
75

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

W o r k life e x p e c ta n c y
o f th e p o p u la tio n

W o r k life e x p e c ta n c y b y c u r r e n t la b o r
fo rc e s ta tu s , 1 9 7 9 - 8 0
A c tiv e

In a c tiv e

38.8
39.1
36.8
33.1
28.9
24.5
20.0
15.7
11.6
7.8
4.4
2.3
1.2
.6

—
39.8
37.4
33.5
29.2
24.8
20.4
16.3
12.3
8.7
5.7
4.1
3.2
1.7

38.8
38.4
35.4
30.5
24.5
19.0
14.0
9.6
6.0
3.3
1.9
1.3
.7
.4

27.5
27.7
26.0
23.0
19.9
16.8
13.7

29.4
29.3
27.2
24.0
20.8
17.6
14.3

—
30.1
27.9
24.8
21.7
18.6
15.5

29.4
28.7
26.0
22.4
19.0
15.6
11.9

10.5
7.5
4.8
2.5
1.1
.5
.1

11.1
8.0
5.2
3.0
1.5
.8
.3

12.5
9.8
7.2
5.0
3.8
3.0
1.3

8.2
5.2
2.8
1.6
.9
.5
.2

1970

1977

T o ta l

37.8
38.7
37.3
34.4
30.6
26.1
21.7
17.4
13.4
9.5
6.0
3.1
1.4
.6

37.9
38.5
36.8
33.4
29.2
24.7
20.3
15.9
11.7
7.8
4.3
1.9
.9
.5

22.3
22.5
21.3
19.0
16.7
14.6
12.3
9.9
7.5
5.2
3.1
1.4
.5
.1

with the largest change occurring in the age range 25 to 54.
This change in cross-sectional rates signaled shifts in the
underlying patterns of labor force involvement. However,
because the multistate model builds on flow data (that is,
entry and exit rates) rather than stocks (activity rates), the
relationship between changes in activity rates and worklife
values is sometimes weak.9
During the period in question, the observed participation
rate for men 16 and older edged downward from 77.7 per­
cent to 77.4 percent, while their worklife expectancy rose
by .6 years. Worklife expectancies held steady for men aged
55 to 64, despite a modest drop in activity rates. Further,
despite the observed drop in participation rates of those 65
and older, worklife expectancies for these men actually rose
slightly as life expectancy increased.
Among women 16 and older, whose total activity rate
rose by 3.1 percentage points, worklife duration increased
by 1.8 years. The fact that expectancies rose across the
board indicates that women of all ages were developing a
stronger bond with the job market.
The relationship between lifespans and worklife expec­
tancies is particularly revealing. (See table 3.) Between 1977
and the end of the decade, the life expectancy of the average
20-year-old man rose by half a year. His worklife expec­
tancy went unchanged, the entire gain being allocated to
nonmarket activity. Women of the same age also gained a


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half year of life, but allocated this additional time to labor
force activity and reduced nonmarket time by an average
of .7 years, for a total worklife gain of 1.2 years. As a
result, the sex differential in worklife continued to narrow.
Whereas in 1977 the 20-year-old woman could expect to
work 70.7 percent as long as her male counterpart, by 1979—
80 the ratio had risen to 73.9 percent.
The trend toward earlier retirement observed between
1970 and 1977 appeared to have leveled off in the closing
years of the decade. The worklife expectancy of 65-yearold men, which had dropped from 3.1 years in 1970 to 1.9
in 1977, was 2.3 years by the end of the decade. (See table
4.) For women of a comparable age, the figure had dropped
from 1.4 to 1.1 years, but stood at 1.5 years by 1979-80.
The model’s insensitivity to hours of work makes it difficult
to interpret these changes. They may well reflect the im­
permanence of many retirement decisions, and the fact that
so-called retirees often resume part-time jobs for either eco­
nomic or social reasons.10
The new tables show little change in the proportion of
persons expected to die while economically active. (See
table 4.) In 1977, the figures for men and women were 27.0
percent and 9.5 percent, respectively, compared with 27.4
percent and 10.4 percent for 1979-80.

Differentials by race and education
Although expansion of the data base for the present study
has obscured our view of changing labor force mobility
rates, this loss has been more than offset by an improved
perspective on racial and educational differentials. Data users
have long pressed for more focused tables, and the new
estimates should meet some of their more urgent needs.
Life table models derive their estimates of lifetime be­
havior not from panel studies but from a series of crosssectional surveys collected during a single year. Each age

Table 2. Annual average civilian labor force participation
rates by sex and age, 1977 and 1980
[In percent]
S ex and age

Men, total .................
16-17 ...............
18-19 ...............
20-24 ...............
25-34 ...............
35-44 ...............
45-54 ...............
55-64 ...............
65 and over ..........
Women, total .............
16-17 ...............
18-19 ...............
20-24 ...............
25-34 ...............
35-44 ...............
45-54 ...............
55-64 ...............
65 and over ..........

Change,
1 9 7 7 -8 0

1977

1980

77.7
50.3
72.5
85.7
95.4
95.7
91.2
74.0
20.1
48.4
42.2
60.5
66.5
59.5
59.6
55.8
41.0
8.1

77.4
50.1
71.3
85.9
95.2
95.5
91.2
72.1
19.0

-.3
-.2
-1.2
.2
-.2
-.2
—
-1.9
-.9

51.5
43.6
61.9
68.9
65.5
65.5
59.9
41.3
8.1

3.1
1.4
1.4
2.4
6.0
5.9
4.1
.2

25

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Revised Worklife Tables
group in the population being analyzed contributes a single
year of life to the synthetic whole. It is possible to derive
group-specific estimates only if the group is closed to entry
and exit. If its members remain so classified for life, the
experiences of older persons can be used to derive a syn­
thetic “ future” for the young.
In the new tables, the population is subdivided by sex,
race, and educational attainment. While subject to misclassification, each of these traits is normally fixed during the
adult years. Sex and race are particularly stable, and beyond
the mid 20’s, education— especially as classified here— is
also relatively fixed. Only persons who already have some
advanced training are likely to continue schooling, and at­
tainment levels, once achieved, cannot be lost. Because
these groupings are closed, they satisfy the constraints of
the model. And because they relate closely to labor force
behavior, they are substantively meaningful controls.
The specific categories of tabulation have been dictated
by sample size and population distribution. The two racial
categories displayed are white (88 percent of the sample)
and blacks and others (12 percent). A separate set of tables
details years of schooling completed, using the categories
of less than high school (about 20 percent of the sample),
high school graduate to 14 years (about 52 percent of the
sample), and 15 years or more (about 28 percent). At older
ages, the sample of highly educated persons is very thin,
particularly for women. This has made the more conven­
tional cutoff of a college degree impossible to implement.

Table 3.

Race. Because the two components of worklife estimates,
mortality and labor force behavior, are known to vary by
race, the estimates themselves must also do so if appropri­
ately tabulated. The new tables based on 1979-80 data now
allow us to quantify the lifetime relationship between race
and labor force involvement. As might be expected, the
impact is striking, particularly for men.
Consider first the probabilities of moving into and out of
the labor force. Among all men ages 16 to 64 who are
outside the job market, whites are more likely to enter than
are their minority counterparts. (See table 5.) Among those
already in the labor force, blacks and others are the more
likely to withdraw. The pool of inactive minority members
is thus disproportionately large and contributes to a high
incidence of labor force mobility at all ages.
The result is that minority men are estimated to average
4.3 labor force entries and 3.9 withdrawals per lifetime,
while white men average 3.9 entries and 3.6 withdrawals.
(See table 4.) Based on the observations for the reference
period, the worklife expectancy of blacks and others was
nearly 7 years shorter than that of whites (32.9 years vs.
39.8 years). Minority men spent an average of just 50 per­
cent of their lives in labor force activity, compared with 56
percent for whites. This difference was all the more striking
because whites tended to live longer, allowing them greater
potential for both a longer worklife and post-retirement lei­
sure. Far more blacks and others were likely to die before
retirement (31.7 percent as against 26.7 percent for whites).

Changes in life and worklife expectancies by sex, selected years, and changes from 1977 to 1979-80
L ife e x p e c ta n c y

W o r k life e x p e c ta n c y

In a c tiv e y e a r s

P e rc e n t o f

(to ta l p o p u la tio n )

life s p a n a c tiv e

W o r k life m o d e l,
sex, and year

A ll p arso ns
At

At age

b irth

20

A t b irth

R a tio of
f e m a le to

W o rk e rs

At age

At age

20

20

m a le w o r k life

F ro m

F ro m

F ro m

F ro m

b irth

age 20

b irth

age 20

e x p e c ta n c ie s
at age 20

M en

Conventional model:
1900 .............
1940 .............
1950 .............
1960 .............

46.3
61.2
65.5
66.8

42.2
48.6
48.9
49.6

32.1
38.1
41.5
41.1

37.8
39.7
41.4
40.9

39.4
41.3
43.1
42.9

14.2
23.1
24.0
25.7

4.4
7.1
7.5
8.7

69.3
62.3
63.4
61.5

89 6
84 8
84 7
82.5

Increment-decrement model:
1970 ....................
1977 .................
1979-80 ...............
Change, 1977 to 1979-80

67.1
69.3
70.0
.7

49.6
51.3
51.8
.5

37.8
37.9
38.8
.9

37.3
36.8
36.8
.0

38.0
37.3
37.4
.1

29.4
31.5
31.2
-.3

12.3
14.5
15.0
.5

56.3
54.7
55.4
.7

75 2
71 7
71.0
-.7

Conventional model:
1900 ..................
1940 .................
1950 ..................
1960 ..................

48.3
65.7
71.0
73.1

43.8
50.4
55.7

6.3
12.1
15.1
20.1

(2)
11.9
14.5
18.6

0
0
0
37.3

42.0
53.6
55.9
53.0

0
38.5
39.2
37.1

13.0
18.4
21.3
27.5

13 7
23 6
27 0
33.4

30.0
35.0
45.0

Increment-decrement model:
1970 ...............
1977 .................
1979-80 ...............
Change, 1977 to 1979-80

74.8
77.1
77.6
.5

56.7
58.6
59.1
.5

22.3
27.5
29.4
1.9

21.3
26.0
27.2
1.2

22.1
26.7
27.9
1.2

52.4
49.7
48.2
-1.5

35.4
32.6
31.9
-.7

29.8
35.7
37.9
2.2

37 6
44 4
46.0
1.6

57.1
70.7
73.9
3.2

W om en

1Not applicable.
2Data not available.

26

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b 'à . l

(2)

Table 4. Selected workllfe indices by sex, 1970, 1977, and 1979-80, and by sex, race, and years of schooling completed,
1979-80

[In years, unless otherwise Indicated]

_________ ___________________ _______________________________
W om en

M en

1970

Life expectancy:
At birth..............................
At age 25 ...........................
At age 60 ...........................
At age 65 ...........................

1977

W h ite

B la c k s
an d
o th e rs

Less
th a n
h ig h
school

1 9 7 9 -8 0

H ig h
school
to 1 4
years

15
y e a rs
or
m o re

S c h o o lin g c o m p le te d

Race

S c h o o lin g c o m p le te d

Race

In d e x
and age

1 9 7 9 -8 0

T o ta l

1 9 7 9 -8 0

T o ta l

1970

1977

W h ite s

B la c k s
and
o th e rs

Less
th a n
h ig h
school

H ig h
scho ol
to 1 4
y ears

15
years
or
m o re

1 9 7 9 -8 0

69.3
46.8
17.0
13.9

70.0
47.3
17.5
14.2

70.7
47.9
17.6
14.3

65.3
43.3
16.5
13.8

70.0
47.3
17.5
14.2

70.0
47.3
17.5
14.2

70.0
47.3
17.5
14.2

74.8
51.9
20.8
17.0

77.1
53.8
22.1
18.3

77.6
54.2
22.4
18.5

78.3
54.7
22.6
18.7

73.9
51.0
21.0
17.7

77.6
54.2
22.4
18.5

77.6
54.2
22.4
18.5

77.6
54.2
22.4
18.5

Worklife expectancy:1
At birth.............................. 37.8 37.9
At age 25........................... 34.0 33.4
At age 60........................... 6.0 4.3
At age 65........................... 3.1 1.9

38.8
33.1
4.4
2.3

39.8
33.8
4.5
2.3

32.9
28.6
3.3
1.8

234.6
29.2
3.3
1.8

239.9
33.8
4.7
2.4

241.1
36.1
6.3
3.6

22.3 27.5
19.0 23.0
3.1 2.5
1.4 1.1

29.4
24.0
3.0
1.5

29.7
24.1
3.0
1.5

27.4
23.5
3.0
1.5

222.3
17.9
2.3
1.2

230.1
24.4
3.3
1.8

234.9
27.9
3.5
1.8

Percent of life economically active:3
From birth...........................
Fromage 25.......................
Fromage 60.......................
Fromage 65.......................

56.3
76.3
37.3
23.7

54.7
71.4
25.3
13.7

55.4
70.0
25.1
16'2

56.3
70.6
25.6
16.1

50.4
66.1
20.0
13.0

49.4
61.7
18.9
12.7

57.0
71.5
26.9
16.9

58.7
76.3
36.0
25.4

29.8 35.7
36.6 42.8
14.9 11.3
8.2 6.0

37.9
44.3
13.4
8.1

37.9
44.1
13.3
8.0

37.1
46.1
14.3
8.5

28.7
33.0
10.3
6.5

38.8
45.0
14.7
9.7

45.0
51.5
15.6
9.7

Labor force entries per:
Person born.........................
Person age 25......................

2.9
1.2

3.0
1.1

3.9
1.5

3.9
1.5

4.3
1.8

4.3
2.0

3.7
1.5

4.6
1.4

4.6
2.8

4.5
2.7

5.5
3.0

5.6
3.0

5.4
3.1

5.8
3.3

5.6
3.2

5.6
2.7

Expectected duration per entry
remaining:
From birth........................... 13.0 12.6
Fromage 25....................... 29.4 29.1

9.9
22.1

10.2
22.5

7.7
15.9

8.0
14.6

10.8
22.5

8.9
25.8

4.8
6.8

6.1
8.6

5.3
8.0

5.3
8.0

5.1
7.6

3.8
5.4

5.4
7.6

6.2
10.3

3.6
2.3

3.6
2.3

3.9
2.4

4.0
2.7

3.6
2.3

4.5
2.2

4.5
3.3

4.4
3.3

5.4
3.8

5.5
3.8

5.4
3.7

5.7
3.8

5.7
4.0

4.7
3.6

26.7
Percent dying while active............ 36.3 27.0 27.4
1Population-based index.
2Years of work expected, if this level of education is attained.

31.7

23.0

28.6

34.0

10.8

9.5

10.4

9.7

14.6

8.0

11.2

12.4

Voluntary exits remaining:
At birth..............................
At age 25 ...........................

67.1
45.1
16.1
13.1

2.6
1.6

2.7
1.7

Stated differently, although minority men could expect to
spend fewer years in the labor force, their additional periods
of inactivity were more likely to occur during prime working
ages.
The racial differentials in worklife expectancy were less
distinct for women. At most ages, it was minority rather
than white women who were the more likely to enter the
job market, if inactive. (See table 5.) However, they were
also the more likely to withdraw from economic activity.
One apparent difference by race involved the childrearing
years. Neither black nor white women showed strong ten­
dencies to withdraw from the job market to have children.
However, the data pointed toward a “ fertility trough,” al­
though weak, in the labor force attachment of white women.
Contradicting the patterns observed at other ages, white
women in their 30’s showed a stronger propensity to leave
the labor force than did their minority counterparts, and
those 35 to 44 showed a stronger tendency to reenter. Al­
though the timing of midlife labor force withdrawal differed
by race, estimates of lifetime entries and exits for the two
groups are surprisingly similar. (See table 4.) On balance,
white women averaged 2.3 more years of worklife (29.7
years vs. 27.4 years), but this is largely a reflection of their
greater longevity.


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3Fiatio of workllfe to life expectancy at the given age.

Education. The new tables reveal a clear and direct re­
lationship between years of schooling and duration of labor
force involvement. As noted earlier, the size of the differ­
ential is probably understated. There has been no attempt
to estimate the impact of education on health and survival.
The mechanism whereby education affects worklife du­
ration is probably occupational selection. Although the link
between schooling and occupation is imperfect, many oc­
cupations are closed to persons who have not met minimum
educational requirements. Therefore, breaking the popula­
tion into three educational strata effectively breaks it into
clusters of occupations for which certain levels of training
may be necessary.
The new tables reveal a decided employment “ payoff”
for time spent in school. During the prime working ages,
men with 15 or more years of schooling are roughly half
as likely to leave the job market, if active, as are those
without high school diplomas. (See table 4.) If inactive,
their probability of labor force entry is approximately twice
that of the least educated group. Over a lifetime, the most
educated class of men averages slightly more entries and
exits than do those without high school diplomas, but most
of this turnover occurs relatively early, while many indi­
viduals are still in school. After age 25, these men can
27

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Revised Worklife Tables
Table 5. Rates of labor force accession and separation per 1,000 persons at risk, by sex, race, and years of schooling
completed, 1979-80
M en
Race

Age
T o ta l
W h ite

W om en
Y e a r s o f s c h o o lin g c o m p le te d

B la c k a n d
o th e r

L e s s th a n
h ig h s c h o o l

H ig h s c h o o l
to 1 4 y e a r s

1 5 years

Race
T o ta l
W h ite

o r m o re

L a b o r fo rc e a c c e s s io n s p e r 1 , 0 0 0 in a c tiv e m e n

16-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Y e a r s o f s c h o o lin g c o m p le te d

B la c k a n d

L e s s th a n

H ig h s c h o o l

1 5 years

o th e r

h ig h s c h o o l

to 1 4 y e a r s

o r m o re

L a b o r fo rc e a c c e s s io n s p e r 1 ,0 0 0 in a c tiv e w o m e n

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

596.1
666.4
681.4
547.1
407.1
297.8
217.7

620.1
672.6
693.1
558.1
444.3
327.9
218.5

525.8
649.0
646.8
520.6
306.9
208.7
213.2

506.0
511.2
477.2
330.1
271.9
235.1
172.8

719.2
721.9
568.3
403.0
285.6
233.2

685.2
783.3
802.2
757.2
539.1
350.6

527.5
454.8
341.8
292.3
271.3
221.7
164.1

564.1
457.5
334.1
289.3
274.7
226.3
163.9

409.3
462.1
397.6
320.0
248.0
189.1
165.1

425.4
320.1
268.3
229.8
185.0
149.0
136.2

457.4
342.7
303.3
287.3
237.2
170.4

568.7
422.0
319.3
330.2
287.3
199.8

50-54 . . .
55-59 . . .
60-64 . . .
65-69 . . .
70-74 . . .
75 and over

168.8
120.9
88.6
75.3
52.0
3.9

175.0
129.0
92.0
75.1
51.8
4.2

138.8
75.1
62.9
76.4
54.5
1.0

123.3
93.4
81.4
68.5
51.9
4.7

213.3
142.8
93.7
78.7
50.2
3.7

260.9
174.5
103.8
95.6
54.0
1.2

122.7
81.1
56.4
41.8
33.3
3.1

120.4
79.0
55.0
40.9
33.9
3.2

141.7
100.3
68.7
50.1
27.1
2.2

102.4
67.8
48.4
37.7
29.7
2.6

127.4
85.8
64.0
47.9
38.9
4.1

155.3
99.6
55.4
38.5
36.2
3.7

L a b o r fo re e s e p a r a tio i s p e r 1 , 0 0 0 a c tiv e m e n

16-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

L a b o r fo rc e s e p a r a tio n s p e r 1 , 0 0 0 ac tiv e w o m e n

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

277.6
120.8
56.6
36.7
30.0
30.8
36.5

262.9
112.5
52.6
33.5
27.7
28.6
34.1

429.2
186.3
89.8
65.0
52.0
49.7
56.1

277.6
143.9
90.9
58.4
52.4
51.3
50.4

107.5
50.9
38.8
30.0
27.3
35.0

170.4
60.1
30.9
21.8
25.0
28.3

354.8
227.6
183.8
154.5
128.5
111.2
109.7

335.6
218.8
184.0
157.0
129.1
109.8
109.1

523.2
289.8
184.4
140.7
124.8
119.8
112.8

436.5
360.5
300.3
247.3
190.0
157.1
145.8

228.1
191.9
160.3
133.0
114.4
114.3

190.7
153.3
121.4
94.9
78.3
70.5

50-54 . . .
55-59 . . .
60-64 . . .
65-69 . . .
70-74 . . .
75 and over

50.1
98.9
232.5
337.9
381.8
1000.0

48.3
96.3
227.5
332.4
380.3
1000.0

66.8
127.2
286.5
386.7
374.2
1000.0

69.2
133.6
295.3
405.0
443.1
1000.0

48.4
91.8
225.6
325.2
367.6
1000.0

36.4
71.2
160.8
246.2
277.2
1000.0

114.7
151.5
253.5
339.4
384.5
1000.0

113.8
149.9
252.4
333.2
377.4
1000.0

122.6
166.1
262.8
393.9
428.0
1000.0

153.2
192.0
275.8
352.3
417.1
1000.0

111.6
140.0
249.4
335.4
380.3
1000.0

86.5
139.3
238.6
322.7
317.4
1000.0

anticipate fewer transitions in either direction.
Over a lifetime, the average man with 15 years of school­
ing or more can expect to work 6.5 years longer than his
classmate who left high school before graduation (41.1 vs.
34.6). The same increment to education will have twice as
much impact on the worklife duration of a woman, adding
an average of 12.6 years to her economically active life
(34.9 vs. 22.3 years).
Table 6 isolates the impact of education during three
periods of the worklife cycle: the early and middle phases
and the preretirement years. It displays the number of years
the average person can be expected to work during each
such phase, by sex and years of schooling completed.
At younger ages, education has a two-pronged effect on
men: While failure to earn a high school diploma costs the
individual about a year and a half of worklife between the
ages of 20 and 39, remaining in school also imposes a cost
in terms of forgone employment opportunities. However,
among the group ages 40 to 59, the payoff from education
is very evident. Those completing 15 years of school or
more can expect to work 1 year longer than high school
graduates, and 3 years longer than those who did not grad­
uate. Even though higher education, with its greater com­
pensation returns, may ease the financial strain of retirement,
it seems to engender a sense of “ career commitment” in
many men which holds them in the labor force. (This is

28

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evident in the separation rates in table 5.) Examples of this
phenomenon include self-employed career professionals such
as attorneys and physicians, who are reputed to remain
active long after most wage and salary workers have retired.
An additional effect of schooling seems to be that— among
those who have ‘‘retired, ’’ at least in terms of their principal
job— the most educated are the most likely to return to work
in some capacity, as reflected in accession rates. Finally, if
educational attainment is positively correlated with good
health and longevity, untreated health problems may dis­
courage economic activity among the least educated, least

Table 6. Worklife expectancy of the population between
specific ages,1 by sex and years of schooling completed,
1979-80
Age

Sex an d yea rs of
s c h o o lin g c o m p le te d

2 0 to 3 9

4 0 to 5 9

60 and over

Men, total................................
Less than high school.............
High school to 14 years ..........
15 years or more..................

17.6
16.0
17.9
17.6

16.3
14.5
16.6
17.5

4.4
3.4
4.7
6.3

Women, total.............................
Less than high school.............
High school to 14 years ..........
15 years or more..................

13.1
9.5
13.1
14.0

11.6
8.8
11.8
14.7

3.0
2.3
3.4
3.5

Computed usingthedifference inworkyears remaining at ages20, 40, and60, divided
by survivors to each initial age.

affluent groups, further widening the worklife gap associated
with schooling. Thus, in the final phase of the work cycle,
the most educated group remain active 1.6 years longer than
high school graduates and 3 years longer than those who
never finished high school.
The work patterns of women vary more widely than those
of men. Consequently, education has a stronger potential
impact on female worklife behavior than on that of males.
The new tables show this effect to be the greatest during
the prime working ages. Between the ages of 20 and 39,
women face fundamental tradeoffs among schooling, childrearing, and employment. The opportunity costs of childrearing increase with job skills. During this phase of life,
the woman with 15 years of schooling or more is likely to
work nearly a year longer than the high school graduate,
and 4.5 years longer than her classmate who left high school
early. The differential remains, and in fact widens, through­
out midlife. During the next 20 years of her life cycle, the
highly educated woman is likely to work 2.9 years longer
than the high school graduate, and 5.9 years longer than
the nongraduate. The tables suggest that the relationship
between education and retirement patterns is looser for women
than for men. As with men, the most educated show the
least inclination to retire early. (See table 5.) However, once
they have done so, these women are less likely than men
with comparable training to reverse their decision. (As ev­
idence, compare accession rates of the most educated men
and women in table 5.)

Conclusions
This latest worklife study, based on a larger sample of
individuals than had been used previously, has enabled us

to examine two new dimensions of worklife behavior. It has
also provided more complete measures of movement into
and out of the labor force than were previously possible.
During the period between 1977 and 1979-80, the worklife expectancy of adult men held relatively steady, while
that of women continued to edge upward. For both sexes,
there were indications that many retirement decisions were
being reversed. However, because the model does not mea­
sure hours of labor force involvement, the workyears re­
maining to older persons may in fact be less “ intense” now
than they were at the beginning of the decade.
Race seems to have more bearing on the worklife patterns
of men than of women. The tables confirmed that minority
men are both more likely to leave the labor force and less
likely to reenter than are whites. The racial differential for
women affects timing of movement more than it does overall
volume.
The more important factor affecting worklife patterns of
women is educational attainment. Using the categories dis­
played here, we find that women appear to reap twice as
much “ payoff” from additional schooling as do men. Their
additional training appears to drive up the opportunity costs
of alternative activities, encouraging longer and more con­
tinuous careers for those who have pursued higher education.
Opportunity costs also appear to play an important role
in the retirement process. For both sexes, higher education
is associated with later retirement. Among the men who do
retire, the most educated are most prone to reenter the work
force. The swifter, more permanent retirement pattern of
persons without high school diplomas may be due, in part,
to health differentials by educational attainment, mentioned
but not fully controlled for in this study.
□

■FOOTNOTES

1See Shirley J. Smith, “ New worklife estimates reflect changing pro­
file o f labor force,’’ M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , March 1982, pp. 15-20;
Shirley J. Smith, T a b les o f W orkin g L ife: Th e I n c r e m e n t-D e c r e m e n t M o d e l,
Bulletin 2135 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982); and Shirley J. Smith, N e w
W o rk life E s tim a te s , Bulletin 2157 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982).
2 See David M. Nelson, “ The use of worklife tables in estimates of
lost earning capacity,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , April 1983, pp. 30-31;
John L. Finch, “ Worklife estimates should be consistent with known
labor force participation,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , June 1982, pp. 34-36;
Kenneth J. Boudreaux, “ A further adjustment needed to estimate lost
earning capacity,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , October 1983, pp. 30-31; and
George C . Alter and William E . Becker, ‘ ‘Estimating lost future earnings
using the new worklife tables,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , February 1985,
pp. 3 9 -4 2 .
3We now estimate David Nelson’s index of median years to final re­
tirement. Following a suggestion by George Alter and William Becker,
we also make assumptions of retirement beyond age 75 explicit. It is
assumed that no one enters the labor force after age 75, and that anyone
active at exact age 76 either leaves the work force or dies before their
77th birthday.
4The sample for 1979 included 56,000 potential households. It was


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temporarily expanded to 65,000 households in 1980, and now contains a
potential of 60,000 units.
5 Because many respondents appear in more than one of these monthly
matches, the number of individuals included in the pooled sample is con­
siderably less than 255,000.
6The multistate model is equipped to deal with a variety o f different
“ transitions” simultaneously. It could incorporate data on moves between
occupations, if those data were reliable. However, interoccupational mo­
bility has proven difficult to measure accurately, and the number o f cat­
egories involved would hopelessly fragment the sample. We hope eventually
to develop a few occupational clusters, characterized by unique behavioral
patterns. Only in this way can the model realistically control for occupation.
’ National Center for Health Statistics, V ita l S ta tis tic s o f th e U n ite d
S ta te s , 1 9 7 9 , vol. II, section 6, “ Life Tables,” d h h s Publication No.
( p h s ) 8 4 - 1 1 0 1 (U .S. Government Printing Office, 1984); National Center
for Health Statistics, V ita l S ta tis tic s o f th e U n ite d S ta te s , 1 9 8 0 , vol. II,
section 6, “ Life Tables,” d h h s Publication No. ( p h s ) 8 4 - 1 104 (U.S. Gov­
ernment Printing Office, 1984); and unpublished tables from the National
Center for Health Statistics, Public Health Service.
8
The internal calculations of the model now begin at age 13, when by
definition all persons are outside the labor force. Entries and exits at 14
and 15 are recorded to yield a more complete count of the labor force at

29

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Revised Worklife Tables
exact age 16. This increased precision has had a minor impact on estimates
o f worklife values at birth and in the early teens, but the effect is imper­
ceptible at later ages.
9 Shirley J. Smith, ‘ ‘Labor force participation rates are not the relevant
factor,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , June 1983, pp. 3 6 -3 8 .
10Although it would be useful to examine changes in the labor force
entry and exit rates o f older persons to learn more about the retirement
process, the expanded sample has rendered such comparisons impossible.


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It captures far more gross movement than was evident in earlier tables.
For all men, the 1977 study indicated an average of 3.0 labor force entries
per lifetime; the 1979-80 tables set this average at 3.9. The earlier tables
indicated an average of 2.7 voluntary withdrawals, while this set shows a
figure o f 3.6. The picture for women is quite similar. Lifetime entries were
estimated at 4.5 in 1977. With the more sensitive modified sample, the
estimate for 1979-80 was 5.5. Voluntary withdrawals were estimated at
4.4 per lifetime in 1977, 5.4 at the end of the decade.

Problems and prospects
The rate of unionization— union membership as a percentage of the
wage and salary work force— has generally fared less favorably in the
United States during a large part of the post-1945 period, and especially
in the last 10 or 12 years, than in most other democratic, industrialized
nations. For some nine countries for which reliable union membership data
are available, only in the United States and Japan was membership as a
percentage of all wage earners significantly lower by 1979 than it had been
in 1948. . . . In the case of Japan, the high point of union membership
reached briefly right after World War II seems to have been something of
a historical exception.
In passing it should be noted that in absolute numbers, U.S. union
membership— 22.8 million in 1979— is far higher than any of these other
nations. This comparatively high absolute membership provides consid­
erable resources to U.S. unions and helps account for their very important
role in international labor circles. Even continued membership stagnation
would not change the strength of the international position of the U.S.
union movement in the years ahead. If international labor relations take
on added importance in the coming decade, as, for example, in new union
efforts to cope with multinational corporations, the relatively large size of
a number of American unions could make them a powerful force in such
efforts.
— E verett M . Kassa lo w ,

“ The Future of American Unionism: A Comparative Perspective,”
The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,
May 1984, p. 56-57.

The FMCS contribution
to nonlabor dispute resolution
During the 1961-80period , the Federal Mediation
and Conciliation Service shared its expertise
with parties outside the labor-relations arena;
results demonstrate the promise o f mediation
for the speedy, low-cost resolution o f many
different types o f economic and social conflicts
Je r o m e

T.

B arrett

Four formal procedures— litigation, arbitration, negotia­
tion, and mediation— are commonly used for the legitimate
resolution of disputes between individuals or groups. In
litigation and arbitration, a third party is empowered to
decide the issue in question. Negotiation has the advantage
of allowing the parties to participate fully in developing a
solution with which each can live. Mediation blends the
advantages of the other three methods, employing an ob­
jective third party, but leaving the decision on the outcome
to those who must abide by it.
Since its establishment in 1947, the U.S. Federal Me­
diation and Conciliation Service ( f m c s ) , the oldest and larg­
est mediation agency in the world,1 has acquired considerable
expertise through the resolution of labor-management dis­
putes. During the past two decades, the Service increasingly
shared its skills by helping to resolve disputes outside the
private-sector industrial relations arena. This article reviews
the recent contributions of the Service to problem resolution
in nontraditional areas. The discussion is based on f m c s
documents, interviews with mediators and recipients of Ser­
vice assistance, and the author’s own experience as former
head of the staff involved in the expanded scope.

Jerome T. Barrett is on leave from Northern Kentucky University while
on assignment with the Bureau of Labor-Management and Cooperative
Programs, U .S. Department of Labor.


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Testing new waters
Prior to the appointment of William Simkin as director
of the f m c s in 1961, the Service had not worked beyond
its legislative mandate in private-sector labor-management
relations. The emergence of public employee unionism in
the 1960’s changed this.
Although the Service lacked legislative authority to han­
dle disputes between public employees and their employers,
no other organization was available in most instances to
provide assistance. In response to public pressure and the
urgent requests of the parties, the Service began providing
mediation on a case-by-case basis. Because many of these
public employee disputes in large cities were civil rights
disputes as well, the Service was drawn further afield from
its usual work into new and unfamiliar areas.
J. Curtus Counts, who followed Simkin as f m c s director
in 1969, continued the policy of ad hoc mediation of public
employee disputes, but otherwise made no changes in the
mission of the Service. However, the appointment of Wil­
liam Usery to the post in July 1973 ushered in what was to
be a major growth period for the agency. By strongly urging
an expanded role for the Service, Usery persuaded the Ad­
ministration and the Congress to increase his staff and bud­
get accordingly.
In 1973, Usery’s plans for the Service led him to create
the Office of Technical Services within the agency’s national
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MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • The FMCS and Nonlabor Dispute Resolution
office. This office was to coordinate and promote technical
assistance cases, conduct an improved professional devel­
opment program for the mediators, provide a technical in­
formation and research function to assist the field mediator,
and experiment with new uses of mediation. During the 4
years of its existence, the office was the focal point of an
increasing amount of non-labor-relations work within the
Service.
In early 1974, Usery convened a 3-day meeting of all
Service managers to discuss the agency’s role. The major
result was the adoption of a five-part mission statement.
While four parts specifically referred to labor-management
relatio n s, the fifth envisioned an expanded role in
“ [developing the art, science and practice of dispute res­
olution.” This mission statement remains in effect today.
During the oil crisis in 1974, Director Usery personally
became involved in some non-labor-relations disputes be­
tween independent truckers and oil companies, and between
independent gas station operators and the oil companies. In
the same year, the Service undertook what is probably the
most noteworthy example of nontraditional mediation, the
settlement of a longstanding dispute between two Indian
tribes.
The Hopi-Navajo dispute. Geographically the largest In­
dian reservation in the United States, covering 2Vi million
acres in northeastern Arizona, the Hopi-Navajo reservation
had been created by executive order in 1882. There followed
years of disagreement over land use by the two tribes, during
which many traditional dispute-resolving procedures were
used with only partial and temporary success. In 1974,
Congress enacted a statute directing the f m c s to try to me­
diate the dispute.
Accordingly, the Service hired former Director Simkin
as principal mediator for the project. Congress appropriated
$500,000 to finance the mediation, and $50 million was
made available to other Federal agencies to help implement
the settlement by relocating fences, villages, families, burial
grounds, and monuments. If settlement were not fully achieved
within 6 months, the mediator was to make a report with
recommendations to the Federal District Court.
After months of work by the mediation team, supported
with information from other government agencies, agree­
ment was reached in principle on most issues. The media­
tors’ report and recommendations to the Federal Court were
adopted and enforced by the terms of a March 1977 ruling.
However, because many questions remained on the imple­
mentation, the court and the tribes requested that the me­
diation effort continue. For the next year, Simkin continued
to help the parties on an as-needed basis.
The success of this mediation effort was praised by the
court, the tribes, the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the De­
partment of the Interior, and the media. The length of the
dispute, the sacred nature of some issues, the uniqueness
of the Indian culture and habits, and the failure of the nu­
32

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merous prior efforts to settle the problem all had contributed
to the difficulty of the mediation project. But unlike the
earlier efforts— treaties, litigation, court orders, executive
orders, and acts of Congress which produced answers to
narrow questions— mediation allowed the parties to deal
with their needs and desires, and in that way to develop
solutions with which they both could live.
The Home Owners’ Warranty program. Another extensive
project begun during the Usery directorship involved the
Home Owners’ Warranty ( h o w ) program of the National
Association of Home Builders. The h o w program was started
in 1973 as a method of formally resolving disputes that arise
between home builders and home buyers. The program,
provided under a warranty, used mediation and arbitration
to resolve differences. Before h o w was created, the Na­
tional Association of Home Builders came to the f m c s for
advice and assistance.
The Service provided numerous suggestions on how the
program might work, and extensive help in preparing and
conducting more than 2 0 training sessions for h o w staff
throughout the country during 1973 and 1974. Once the
program was operating, technical advice was offered to h o w
conciliators who encountered mediation problems. And in
1976, when the Federal Trade Commission issued rules on
warrantys and guaranties under the newly passed Magnuson-Moss Bill, the Service assisted h o w in getting approval
from the commission for the program to operate as an ex­
periment under the new rules. Without this approval, h o w
mediators trained by the f m c s would have become ineligible
to participate in dispute resolution.
The Oglala Sioux election. Former Deputy Director James
Scearce became Director of the f m c s in the spring of 1976.
As Deputy, Scearce had acted as the liaison with the Bureau
of Indian Affairs and other Federal agencies during the
Hopi-Navajo mediation effort. As a result of these contacts,
the Oglala Sioux Tribe of Pine Ridge Reservation in South
Dakota contacted Scearce in 1975 to discuss its need for a
neutral organization to oversee a tribal election. (The pre­
vious election had been hotly contested and the results con­
troversial.) After considerable discussion— and an urgent
request from the Bureau of Indian Affairs— the Service
agreed to help.
The Pine Ridge reservation, geographically the second
largest in the country, was home to 12,000 tribal members
and 3,500 non-Indians. Twenty-one polling places were
needed to cover its 2 million acres. The Service was to
oversee the election conducted by the tribal election board
by developing the election rules and procedures, training
the election judges and observers, and providing a trained
election adviser at each polling place during the primary
and general elections. These advisers were f m c s mediators
and retirees from the Department of Labor and the National

Labor Relations Board who were selected by and who worked
under the direction of the Service.
Both elections were held without major problems during
January 1976.2
Federal agencies. A number of Federal agencies also re­
quested help from the Service during the tenure of Usery
and Scearce. A few examples will illustrate both the types
of requests and the Service’s responses.
• Community Relations Service (c r s ) . The c r s is a branch
of the U.S. Department of Justice charged with mediating
civil rights disputes. During 1973-79, f m c s helped de­
velop position descriptions for its mediators, conducted
a number of training sessions for the mediators, developed
an internship program, and arranged for liaison between
field mediators of the two agencies in cases involving
both civil rights and labor relations.
• Federal Bureau of Investigation ( f b i ) . The f b i training
facility in Quantico, v a , conducts training for State and
local police officers. At the Bureau’s request, the f m c s
in 1975 critiqued training sessions and instructional ma­
terials intended to aid officers in dealing with domestic
disputes and hostage taking. The Service also helped de­
velop suggestions for nonviolent response to these ex­
plosive situations.
• Department o f Commerce. Between 1976 and 1980, the
Service helped the Science and Technology Division of
the Commerce Department develop a system to resolve
disputes over voluntary standards for manufactured
products.
• Law Enforcement Assistance Administration and Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission. The Service
provided mediation training to the staff of both agencies.
The Washington Lab. During much of the 1973-77 pe­
riod, the Service’s Office of Technical Assistance responded
to the many opportunities in the Washington, D.C., area to
provide assistance in resolving nonlabor disputes. This was
a mutually beneficial arrangement— the parties were guided
toward long-term solutions for their problems, and the Ser­
vice got the opportunity to experiment and apply its skills
in new areas. The range of Service activities included:
1) mediating a racial dispute within the District of Columbia
fire department; 2) setting up a procedure for settling dis­
putes between landlords and tenants in the District, and
mediating several cases to help get the system work­
ing; 3) mediating a racial dispute between custodians and
teachers in the Arlington County, v a , schools; 4) working
behind the scenes with the Environmental Protection Agency,
the Steelworkers union, and an interested citizen group on
a proposed District of Columbia City Council ordinance
banning the sale of beverages in cans; and 5) training the
staff of the Montgomery County, m d , Consumer Complaint
Office in negotiation and mediation skills.


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The later years
Wayne Horvitz, who became Director of the f m c s in
April 1977, was acquainted with nontraditional mediation,
having spent 2 years as a consultant to the National Center
for Dispute Settlement during the late 1960’s. During his
tenure, the first continuing use of f m c s mediators in non­
labor-management cases began with age discrimination dis­
putes. Under the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, discrim­
ination on the basis of age is prohibited in programs and
activities that receive Federal funds. Responsibility for en­
forcing the Act was assigned to the Secretary of Health,
Education, and Welfare ( h e w ). Following months of dis­
cussion and planning, the f m c s and h e w developed a system
for handling these cases that featured mediation. The
uniqueness of this system was emphasized by h e w Secretary
Califano in a 1978 speech on aging:
We propose, for the first time in the history of civil rights en­
forcement, to enlist the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Ser­
vice to review claims of discrimination and resolve them, within
no more than 60 to 90 days. No other civil rights program in our
government employs such a process of third party mediation. But
perhaps, in time, every one o f our civil rights programs should
feature such a mediation process.3
f m c s used the introduction of this program to test a mod­
ified “ assessment center” concept for recruiting, selection,
and training.4 An evaluation phase was conducted using an
innovative case handling system: In one-half of the Service’s
regional offices, the cases were mediated by specially trained
f m c s mediators who also continued to handle their normal
labor-management caseloads. In the other regions, individ­
uals from outside the agency were selected to mediate on
an as-needed basis. These persons, called community con­
ciliators, were recruited and trained through various com­
munity-based mediation centers.5
During the first 18 months of the program, the Service
handled a total of 94 age discrimination cases, with 55
percent requiring no further action after mediation.6

Helping other Federal agencies. The Horvitz directorship
was characterized by an increase in the amount of non-labormanagement work done by the Service for other Federal
agencies. One such effort involved the Office of Environ­
mental Planning of the Federal Highway Administration
( f h a ) , which contacted f m c s in the spring of 1979 to discuss
its need for training in negotiation skills. The employees of
f h a and their State counterparts were involved in the con­
demnation of property and the exercise of eminent domain
in the construction of highways, activities which often give
rise to conflict. After discussions over several months, an
agreement was reached between the two agencies providing
for the detailing of two mediators to learn more about en­
vironmental disputes and the work of the f h a , and several
week-long training programs by f m c s covering a variety of
dispute-resolving methods such as negotiating, prioritizing,
consensus building, and problem solving.7
33

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • The FMCS and Nonlabor Dispute Resolution
The Service also received requests for training assistance
from a number of other agencies which had concluded that
their programs would be helped by having a staff more
skilled in conflict resolution. Among these agencies were
the Veterans’ Reemployment Office of the Department of
Labor, the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of
Health and Human Services, and the Department of Housing
and Urban Development. Some agencies simply sought ad­
vice on how to systematically deal with conflicts. Although
staff time limited the number of requests which f m c s could
satisfy, such help was given to the Division of Standards
and Regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency,
the Environmental Office of the Department of Energy, and
the Council on Environmental Quality within the Executive
Office of the President.
Non-Federal work. Although the emphasis during the
Horvitz directorship was on helping Federal agencies, some
assistance was given to other organizations. A few of these
cases, discussed below, will demonstrate the nature of these
Service efforts.
In 1979, f m c s and the Home Owners Warranty ( h o w )
program staff cooperated to create the National Academy
of Conciliators to assume responsibility for administering
the h o w program and to provide other dispute settlement
services. Over the next 2 years, the Service gave extensive
assistance to the Academy in developing its staff. Since its
establishment, the Academy has served more than 30 clients
in dispute settlement work, and continues to increase its
role and impact in new areas of dispute settlement.
In 1978-79, the Service provided assistance to the Family
Mediation Association, a nationwide organization of law­
yers, psychologists, marriage counselors, social workers,
and clergy. Since its establishment, the Association had
typically employed a very formal and structured form of
mediation in its sensitive and important work. At the request
of some Association members, f m c s undertook a cooper­
ative training and consultation program, which ultimately re­
sulted in some modification of the formal mediation techniques.
In a 1980 case, the Attorney General of Alaska requested
f m c s assistance in developing a dispute settlement system
for land use problems. A new State law required local gov­
ernments to clear their land use plans with the Alaska Coastal
Management Council. The Council wanted to adopt a dis­
pute settlement system that could resolve conflicts among
local planners, natives, and land resource developers. A
State Assistant Attorney General met with f m c s in Wash­
ington, D .C ., to discuss a system that would include Service
participation. A mediator then traveled to Alaska to meet
with the Council and to discuss the system and the f m c s
role in it. The Council adopted the system, which designated
f m c s to select and assign mediators as disputes arose.
In a final example, the f m c s was asked to serve in an
advisory capacity on a project funded by the Department of
Education and administered by the National Association of
34

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Social Workers. The intent of the project was to apply
mediation techniques to conflicts arising from a law re­
quiring the educational mainstreaming of handicapped chil­
dren within public school systems. During 1979-80, the
Service provided advice and suggestions to, and shared in­
structional materials and training strategies with, the director
of the mainstreaming program.

Mediators carry on the tradition
Because of budget cuts in 1981 and 1982, all Service
involvement with nonlabor work was stopped, except for a
small program dealing with age discrimination mediation.
However, interviews conducted by the author with f m c s
field mediators during 1983 revealed that many of them
continue to initiate their own work in the nonlabor field,
motivated by personal interest, opportunity, community in­
volvement, feelings of professional responsibility, or intel­
lectual curiosity. The range of activities reported by these
mediators includes providing general or specific information
about mediation; providing training; helping to develop dis­
pute settlement systems; and the actual mediation of cases.
Examples of recent projects undertaken by interviewees pro­
vide evidence of the value of mediation to such diverse
entities as governments, communities, universities, minor­
ity groups, troubled families, and even to the Nation’s ju ­
dicial system. It is noteworthy that most of the mediators
who reported taking on nonlabor cases enjoyed the work
and intend to continue their involvement in some capacity.
C e r t a i n l y , the use of nontraditional mediation has in­
creased greatly during the past 10 years. Given the expe­
rience of f m c s in mediation, and its demonstrated willingness
to share that expertise, there is no doubt that the Service
contributed immeasurably to the evolution and spread
of this highly effective, low-cost means of conflict re­
solution.
---------- F O O T N O T E S ---------A cknowledgment: Funds for this study were provided by the Na­
tional Institute for Dispute Resolution, Washington, D.C.
'Through its predecessor organization, the U .S. Conciliation Service,
the fmcs can trace its history to the creation of the U .S. Department of
Labor in 1913.
2 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, “ Report on the 1976 Pri­
mary and General Election of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation, South Dakota,” February 1976.
3Joseph A. Califano, “ Remarks to the National Journal Conference on
the Economics of A gin g,” Nov. 30, 1978, Washington, D.C.
4Jerome T. Barrett and Lucretia Dewey Tanner, “ The fmcs Role in
Age Discrimination Complaints: New Uses of Mediation,” L a b o r L a w
J o u r n a l, November 1981, pp. 7 4 9 -5 0 , describes more fully the assessment
center concept, which relies heavily on training through case studies and
role playing exercises.
5 Because of budget cuts in 1981-82, the community conciliators were
fired. Age discrimination mediation is now performed exclusively by fmcs
mediators.
6See Barrett and Tanner, “ The

fmcs

R ole,” pp. 745 -5 4 .

7Jerome T. Barrett, “ Skilled Are the Peacemakers,” N o r th e a s t T ra in in g
N e w s , June 1980, p. 19.

Technical Note

Modeling Army enlistment supply
for the All-Volunteer Force
D a v id K . H o r n e

The success of the All-Volunteer Force depends upon the
ability of the U.S. military to meet its manpower require­
ments. The Army alone intends to maintain a total active
duty force of 780,000.1 This target requires approximately
140,000 new accessions each year. Army recruiting has
exceeded overall enlistment goals since 1979, but this trend
may soon be reversed in wake of the recent economic ex­
pansion. The rising demand for labor is reducing youth
unemployment and increasing wages, inducing more youths
to enter the civilian labor market. In addition, the population
aged 17 to 21 is predicted to fall 6.4 percent between 1985
and 1990.2 The pool of potential recruits is limited even
further by higher enlistment standards mandated by Con­
gress in 1983.
The greatest recruiting challenge facing the Army is to
attract a sufficient number of “ high-quality males,” partic­
ularly those who are high school graduates and score above
the 50th percentile on the Armed Forces Qualifying Test
(category 1-3A), hereafter referred to as graduate-senior
males ( g s m 1-3A). Evidence suggests that the number of
accessions by such individuals is supply constrained, with
total manpower goals being met by accepting lower category
or nongraduate males, or women, as needed. The first sign
of recruiting difficulty, then, may not be a fall in the total
number of accessions, but rather a decrease in the percent
of accessions among the g s m 1-3A group. Although such
a decline may not have a significant immediate effect on
total accessions, the emphasis on maintaining the quality of
the force requires that the Army be able to compete suc­
cessfully for “ high quality” males.
This report models the peacetime supply of graduatesenior (1-3A) males with no prior military service, with
particular interest in the effects of both unemployment and
earnings on the Army enlistment rate. The model is then
used to generate short-run forecasts. These projections are
David K. Home is an economist with the U .S. Army Research Institute,
Alexandria, v a .


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useful to manpower planners, not only for developing re­
cruitment policies but also for allocating current accessions
to military occupational specialties.

Analytical framework
In a simple one-period model, an individual chooses to
enlist if the military wage at least equals his or her reser­
vation wage.3 This reservation wage is a function of the
alternative earnings in the civilian sector, the probability of
receiving a wage offer in that sector, and the net utility of
the nonpecuniary factors such as military lifestyle, travel,
loss of personal freedom, and risk. It is clear that both
earnings and unemployment rates in the civilian economy
should influence enlistment rates.4 However, much of the
recent research, particularly that research using time-series
or pooled cross-sectional data, finds no such effects. These
and other anomalous results may be due to model misspecification.
When an individual decides to join the Army, he or she
signs a contract. The contract may specify immediate entry,
or a delay for up to 12 months. Because the enlistment
decision is made at the time of contract, total contracts are
the appropriate quantity to use as the dependent variable.
Accessions at any time are a combination of past and present
contracts, and reflect the loss of those individuals who may
not actually enlist despite the contract. Some studies have
used accessions rather than contracts as the dependent var­
iable, producing ambiguous results.5
The recruiting success in the 1981-84 period has been
widely attributed to high youth unemployment rates. Yet
the relationship between enlistment and unemployment has
been difficult to identify empirically. Many studies have
found no unemployment effect,6 or have reported unem­
ployment significant with lags of 1 and 3, but not 2, months.7
Previous studies use a wide range of unemployment rate
measures, such as aggregate unemployment or the jobless
rate for 16- to 19-year-old males. Because most male re­
cruits are from 17 to 21 years old, the readily available
unemployment rate for males ages 16 to 21 is intuitively a
logical choice. This rate also generates the best fit in the
regression equations.
Compensation is now a significant inducement for en­
listment, particularly for individuals desiring to save for
further schooling. Soldiers currently receive $573.60 per
35

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Technical Notes
month in basic pay at entry, rising to $620.40 after advanced
individual training (or 4 months). In addition, the Services
provide food and housing (or subsistence allowance), a
clothing allowance, medical care, social security contri­
butions, retirement benefits after 20 years’ service, com­
missary and exchange benefits, and tax exemption for all
allowances. Soldiers may qualify for “ special” and incen­
tive pay, and supplemental benefits and allowances. Edu­
cational bonuses are also quite substantial. With educational
contributions and other related bonuses, a soldier may obtain
up to $24,000 in educational benefits for a 4-year tour, and
somewhat less for shorter tours. Therefore, the actual com­
pensation package may be quite attractive, particularly for
youths just out of high school with little or no work ex­
perience.
Not all recruits receive incentive and supplemental pay,
nor do all recruits who qualify for enlistment bonuses elect
to participate in the program. For simplicity, military com­
pensation is estimated in this analysis as the sum of basic
pay, allowances for quarters and subsistence, and the tax
advantage derived from the nontaxable status of the allow­
ances. Over time, this series is highly correlated with total
compensation. However, the level of military compensation
is probably not as important alone as it is relative to civilian
earnings. In a one-period model, the opportunity costs might
be considered to be youth earnings, although using this
series introduces substantial error into the analysis.8 When
military service affects future earnings or when the indi­
vidual is comparing enlistment with schooling, the rationale
for comparing military with civilian youth compensation is
less clear. In this analysis, military pay was compared to
earnings estimates for production or nonsupervisory workers
on private nonagricultural payrolls obtained from the Bureau
of Labor Statistics. This series can be interpreted as an
average measure of earnings for jobs which are similar in
nature to many Army jobs for the enlisted force.
Compensation enters this model with a slightly different
twist. Previous analyses simply included a compensation
ratio, usually the ratio of military to civilian pay, as an
independent variable. Yet the two series are not comparable.
The b l s earnings series are essentially moving averages
because wages are continually changing throughout the
economy over time. Military compensation, however, usu­
ally increases just once each year. Therefore, the ratio of
military to civilian compensation rises once each year, and
then falls for 11 months. Simple econometric models which
include the pay ratio yield anomalous results, and the size
as well as the sign of the pay effect varies as alternative
lags are chosen.9 In this analysis, military pay is first con­
verted to a moving average, and is then compared to civilian
earnings. It appears that the real wage difference has a larger
impact in the model than the wage ratio. Thus, the pay
variable of choice is the real difference of the two earnings
series expressed as moving averages.

36

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The Army devotes considerable resources to recruiting.
In fiscal 1984, the Army spent close to $235 million on
recruiting and examining activities alone.10 Two recruiting
factors are easily measured and are statistically signifi­
cant: (a) the number of recruiters, and (b) the real adver­
tising expenditures on national media.
Finally, the male population ages 16 to 21 is included in
the model, albeit indirectly. The dependent variable is num­
ber of contracts divided by male population, and recruiters
are also expressed as recruiters per eligible male, or recruiter
density. The enlistment (contract) forecasts are adjusted by
population projections to produce the level of expected con­
tracts.
The model to be estimated takes the form:
s/ po p

=

f

(Pay, u, Recruit/pop, Adver)

where:
s

= the supply of graduate-senior (1-3A) males;
= population of eligible males;
Pay
= real military compensation relative to civilian
earnings;
Recruit = number of recruiters;
u
= the unemployment rate for 16- to 21-yearolds; and
Adver = Army advertising expenditures.
po p

Results
Because the model initially exhibited a significant amount
of serial correlation, the generalized least squares ( g l s )
technique was used.11 Various two-stage g l s specifications
of the enlistment model have been estimated using quarterly
data covering second-quarter 1977 through second-quarter
1984 and are provided in table 1. The results demonstrate
that both the earnings and unemployment variables exert a
sizable and statistically significant effect on Army enlist­
ments. In addition, the number of recruiters and national
advertising expenditures are also important. The current
unemployment rate, although possessing the right sign, is
not statistically significant. This is not surprising because
individuals would not be expected to respond immediately
to an increase in unemployment, wishing to test the civilian
job market first before enlisting in the military.
Equation 4 substitutes a pay ratio for the pay difference
used in the other equations. While the ratio term is signif­
icant, the higher mean squared error demonstrates an inferior
fit. This result is particularly interesting because most other
studies use such a ratio as the pay variable. Equations 5 and
6 exhibit two of the Almon polynomial lags fit to the un­
employment variable.12 Neither quadratic distributed lag fits
the data very well. The final regression includes only those
variables which appear to be significant. Unemployment
lagged two quarters is significant at the . 10 level; all other
variables meet the .05 significance test. The coefficients are
quite stable across various specifications.

Table 1. Results of generalized least squares regressions of the determinants of military accessions, second-quarter 1977second-quarter 1984
___________________________________________________________ ____________
V a r ia b le
N a tio n a l a d v e r tis in g

U n e m p lo y m e n t ra te
E q u a tio n

C iv ilia n -

In te r c e p t
C u rre n t

1 .............

-48.4
(0.7)

2 .............

_

0.23
(0.23)

_

3 .............
4 .............

-4.18
(5.3)

_

52 ............

_

62 ............

_

0.23
(0.2)
0.30
(0.3)

7 .............

_

_

Lagged

Lagged

m ilita r y

p o p u la tio n

one

tw o

p a y d iffe r e n c e

ra tio

p e rio d

p e rio d s

3.11
(2.9)
2.57
(2.70)
2.66
(3.2)
3.65
(3.2)
2.62
(2.3)
2.50
(3.6)
2.73
(2.8)

2.18
(2.0)
2.24
(2.23)
2.26
(2.3)
2.01
(1.7)
1.99
(1.8)
32.28/.35
(3.3/0.3)
42.03
(1.9)

Lagged
C u rre n t

on e

M ean

A u to re g re s s iv e
p a r a m e te r

R2

s q u a re d
e rro r

(P )

p e rio d

-0.023
(3.0)
-0.028
(7.1)
-0.028
(7.4)
1316.11
(2.5)
-.028
(7.6)
-0.028
(7.5)
-0.028
(7.9)

1Pay ratio.
Quadratic Almon distributed lag equation.
Coefficients and statistics for second and third lags.

End-point elasticities have been calculated for each of the
significant variables from equation 7. Unemployment, Vvith
an elasticity of .73 (for both lags combined), has a large
impact on the level of contracts. For example, it is estimated
that the fall from 17 percent to 16 percent in the unem­
ployment rate for 16- to 21-year-old males would result in
a decline of almost 600 gsm 1-3A contracts per quarter.
The impact of changes in the unemployment rate is felt after
a lag of one to two quarters.
The effect of military compensation is also significant.
The pay elasticity based on equation 7 is 2.7, which implies
that a military pay increase of approximately $115 will result
in an increase of 390 gsm 1-3A contracts per quarter. It is
interesting to note that the pay ratio in this study generates
an elasticity of 2.1. This is comparable with other enlistment
studies which find ratio elasticities of around 2.0.
The recruiter elasticity of .76 implies that 100 additional
recruiters will induce 232 “ high quality” potential recruits
to enlist per quarter, or more than 9 per year per additional
recruiter. Additional recruiters will yield more contracts
from other recruit categories as well.
Finally, the national advertising elasticity of .044, based
on an annual expenditure level of $45.6 million, implies
that a $100,000 increase in expenditures per quarter should
result in 5.6 additional graduate-senior male recruits per
quarter. At this rate, the advertising cost to attract a single
additional contract is $17,857. This number appears unduly
high, but excludes the associated increase in contracts in
other recruit categories.

Enlistment projections
The Army uses enlistment projections to set recruiting
goals, allocate recruiting resources, and distribute recruits


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R e c r u ite r -to -

2.92
(2.8)
2.09
(2.9)
2.15
(3.5)
3.98
(4.0)
2.30
(2.9)
2.36
(2.8)
2.33
(3.5)

0.51
(2.8)
0.52
(3.3)
0.52
(3.4)
0.58
(2.9)
0.47
(2.5)
0.48
(2.6)
0.47
(2.7)

.70

.90

24.4

.76

—

20.7

.79

—

19.5

—

.61

.92

29.0

—

.67

—

26.9

—

.67

—

26.8

—

.71

—

24.8

0.24
(0.9)
0.23
(0.9)

Significant at .10 level.
Note: t statistics in parentheses.

to various military occupational specialties. The forecasts
provided here are generated assuming a constant pay dif­
ferential and no changes in the number of recruiters per
eligible male. Recruiting resources and goals did rise over
fiscal 1984, and the projections reflect this recruiting policy
change. The forecasts allow the civilian unemployment rate
to fall to 6.3 percent by 1988, which is consistent with the
August 1984 unemployment projections of the U.S. Con­
gressional Budget Office. The predicted unemployment rate
series for 16- to 21-year-old males is derived from forecasts
of the total civilian rate, based on the past relationship
between the two series. The rate for young males is therefore
assumed to fall to 14.5 percent by 1988. Table 2 presents

Table 2. Quarterly Army enlistment contracts and
accessions for graduate-senior (1-3A) males, 1984-firstquarter 1987 _________________________ ________ _ _
C a le n d a r y e a r
a n d q u a r te r

1984:
I ..................................
I I ..................................
Ill ................................
IV ................................
1985:
1 ..................................
I I ..................................
Ill ................................
IV ................................
1986:
I ..................................
I I ..................................
Ill ................................
IV ................................
1987:
I ..................................

C o n tra c ts 1

A c c e s s io n s 1

13,469
12,809
15,920
13,635

13,776
16,116
9,916
18,619

13,714
13,666
13,636
13,587

12,891
12,846
12,818
12,772

13,530
13,472
13,416
13,361

12,718
12,664
12,611
12,559

13,308

12,563

1Entries for 1984 are actual numbers of contracts and accessions. All other entries
are forecast estimates.

37

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Technical Notes
quarterly numbers of contracts and accessions for 1984 and
forecasts for first-quarter 1985 through first-quarter 1987.
These results demonstrate the manpower problem facing
the Army over the next several years. The forecast contract
numbers do not adjust for the delayed entry program loss,
which averages approximately 6 percent for graduate-senior
males; some persons who sign a contract do not actually
enlist when they are due to enter the Army. This effect is
illustrated by the forecast accessions in table 2. Given the
target of about 60,000 accessions per year for the next few
years, the Army alone would be facing a shortfall which
increases over time if no counteractive discretionary policies
are implemented. Data from the U.S. Army Recruiting
Command for fiscal 1984-86 illustrate the problem dra­
matically:
Predicted
accessions

Fiscal year
1984 ...........................................
1985 ...........................................
1986 ...........................................

58,450
51,154
50,397

Accession
goals
58,370
57,300
60,000

The delayed entry program creates a manpower pool which
can be reduced when recruiting becomes difficult. Because
recruits have some control over the length of the delay,
accessions fluctuate relative to contracts from quarter to
quarter. The increase in retention rates experienced by the
Army in recent years may reduce the number of accessions
needed to maintain the desired manpower levels in the fu­
ture.13 However, the latest reenlistment rates may indicate
a reversal of this trend.
Error analysis. Because the model has been developed to
generate forecasts of enlistment contracts, its forecasting
properties are considered here. Because the model is esti­
mated over 28 quarters, leaving only 21 degrees of freedom,
relatively few back forecasts can be derived. One-quarterahead forecasts for five quarters (1983: 11-1984: II) were
generated, and the mean squared error calculated on the
basis of percent changes over time. The error shares are
then allocated among the regression, bias, and disturbance
proportions.14 A good forecasting model should have rel­
atively little bias and regression error. If the actual numbers
of contracts (A,) are regressed on predicted values (Pt), the
regression can be expressed as:
At = a + (3Pt
The bias proportion is zero if a = 0, and the regression
proportion is zero if (3 — 1. The disturbance proportion
remaining is the random error in the regression. Because
the forecast error is expressed in terms of percent changes
over time, the root mean squared error provides a measure
of error in percent terms. The error allocation is provided
above:

38

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Error type
Regression.......................................

Proportion of total
forecast error
.123

B ia s ..........................................................

.184

Disturbance.....................................

.693

T o ta l....................................................

1.000

Root mean squared error....................

.028

The root mean squared error is 2.8 percent, well within
the range of respectable forecast error. The majority of the
error is disturbance error, as expected. The bias proportion
is quite reasonable, despite the fact that the number of con­
tracts peaked in first-quarter 1983 and began to decline in
the next quarter. The bias proportion should fall even further
given a longer forecasting horizon. However, the small number
of degrees of freedom prevents using an extended forecast
test. In any case, the low bias and regression error and the
large disturbance proportion indicate that the forecast model
is performing well.
These forecasts may perhaps be more accurately de­
scribed as simulations. It is expected that the Army will, in
fact, increase recruiting resources to meet the potential re­
cruiting difficulties ahead. Therefore, the actual shortfall
will most likely differ from current estimates. The latest
data show that large increases in recruiting resources, in
light of the projected shortfall for fiscal 1984, have indeed
resulted in more enlistments. The projections in this report
provide information on expected enlistment only if every­
thing else (including relative pay and recruiting resources)
is held constant, and if the economy continues strong with
unemployment declining. While the number of recruiters
and national advertising are the only recruiting variables in
the model, it is likely that other variables such as the level
of resources available to the recruiters, or pressure on re­
cruiters to produce accessions, will influence the level of
enlistment as well.
The aggregate time-series models are particularly useful
for short-term projections and can be updated and estimated
quickly and easily. In the long run, however, aggregation
problems become important. Parameter estimates cannot be
precise for this level of aggregation and must be used with
caution for policy analysis. Our model does not control for
competition from the other services, nor for the fact that
many recruiting districts met or exceeded recruiting goals.15
These factors may be significant, although experimentation
with limited-information maximum-likelihood estimation
incorporating the demand by other services in the time-series
model did not yield satisfactory results. The possibility that
the contracts are demand constrained is minimized by mod­
eling “ high quality” male contracts. Any such constraint
would lead to a negative bias in the estimated coefficients.
The contract projections become very tenuous when pre­
dicting more than several quarters into the future.

Conclusions

10The advertising expenditure data, as well as the contract and recruiting
data, were provided by the U .S. Army Recruiting Command.

The U.S. Army could face serious recruiting problems
throughout the remainder of the 1980’s. The two primary
causes of this shortfall would be economic gains and the
continued decline in the population of eligible males. The
model demonstrates that unemployment rates are an im­
portant determinant of peacetime enlistment, in contrast with
many previous studies, and that military compensation rel­
ative to civilian earnings is of paramount importance to
potential recruits. The recruitment shortfall can be reduced
if appropriate manpower management policies are imple­
mented. The number of recruiters is also significant, as are
national advertising expenditures.
The model appears to fit the data well over the entire
period, while the one-period-ahead forecasts for the four
quarters of 1984 differ from actual contracts by between 1.5
and 3.0 percent. Of course, the forecasts are expected to
be less accurate as the projections approach 1990, because
they depend upon the state of the economy as well as military
personnel policy.
D
---------- F O O T N O T E S ----------

"Simultaneity is a potentially serious problem, specifically between the
male population statistic in the denominator and independent variables
such as civilian earnings and unemployment. However, the time horizon
covered in the estimation (7 years) is relatively short, and the variation in
the size of the male population during the period is small. This simultaneity
is likely to be more of a problem in the long run if the decline in the male
population age 16 to 21 begins to exert downward pressure on unemploy­
ment and upward pressure on age-specific wages. For short-run prediction
and modeling, one would expect the effect of changes in the cohort size
to have a small effect on age-specific unemployment and wages. The wage
effect is estimated by Hong W. Tan and Michael P. Ward, F o r e c a s tin g
th e W a g e s o f Y o u n g M e n : T h e E ffe c ts o f C o h o r t S iz e (Santa Monica, CA,
The Rand Corp., 1984).
12The Almon polynomial technique may be briefly described as fol­
lows: If the current value of the dependent variable, y ,, depends upon
both current and past values of an independent variable x , the distributedlag regression model can be written:
Yt

=

Poxt +

P l x t-1

+

■' ■

+

Pkxt-k

—

u t

Least squares estimation of the model loses k degrees of freedom, and the
U s exhibit multicollinearity. Some structure can be imposed on the /3’s,
such as a quadratic polynomial where ¡3, = a 0 + a , i + a 2 i 2 . Substituting
for the /3’s, the regression model is y , = a 0 z 0t + a , z , t + a 2 z 2, + u ,,
where z0t = X ki= o
2 n = -£f=o
and z2t = 2 k=o ix 2,- , . The y , is
regressed on the constructed z variables. The estimated a ’s are then used
to derive the /3’s. For more information, see G .S. Maddala, E c o n o m e tr ic s
(London, M cGraw-Hill International Book C o., 1977), pp. 355 -5 9 .

13 This is suggested by James R. Hosek, Richard L. Fernandez, and
1
The characteristics of the Armed Forces are discussed in Carol Boyd David W. Grissmer, A c tiv e E n lis te d S u p p ly : P r o s p e c ts a n d P o lic y O p tio n s ,
mimeo (Santa Monica, CA, The Rand Corp., 1984).
Leon, “ Working for Uncle Sam: a look at members of the armed forces,”
M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , July 1984, pp. 3 -9 .
14Henri Theil, A p p lie d E c o n o m ic F o r e c a s tin g (Amsterdam, North Hol­
land Publishing C o., 1966).
2P r o je c tio n s o f th e P o p u la tio n o f th e U n ite d S ta te s , b y A g e , S ex , a n d
R a c e : 1 9 8 3 to 2 0 8 0 , C u r r e n t P o p u la tio n R e p o r ts , Series P -2 5 , No. 952
15The impact of the recruiting of other services is significant in the
(U .S. Bureau of the Census, 1984).
pooled time-series model in Thomas V. Daula and D. Alton Smith, “ Es­
timating Enlistment Models for the U .S. Arm y,” in Ronald G. Ehrenberg,
3 A one-period model is described in Anthony C. Fisher, “ The Cost of
ed., R e s e a r c h in L a b o r E c o n o m ic s , vol. 7 (Greenwich, CT, j a i Press Inc.,
the Draft and the Cost o f Ending the Draft,” A m e r ic a n E c o n o m ic R e v ie w ,
forthcoming 1985).
June 1969, pp. 2 3 9 -5 4 .
4In a life-cycle framework the model becomes more complex. The
impact o f the enlistment decision on future income must be considered.
Training and educational opportunities may have little effect on current
wages, but are reflected in future income. The life-cycle model thus pro­
vides a more realistic approach to the enlistment problem. See David K.
Home, A n E c o n o m ic A n a ly s is o f A r m y E n lis tm e n t S u p p ly , Technical Report
8 5 -4 (Alexandria, v a , Army Research Institute, 1985).
5 Examples include Lee D. Olvey, James R. Golden, and Robert C.
Kelley, T h e E c o n o m ic s o f N a tio n a l S e c u r ity (Wayne, n j , Avery Publishing
Group, 1984); Richard L. Fernandez, F o r e c a s tin g E n lis te d S u p p ly : P r o ­
j e c tio n s f o r 1 9 7 9 —1 9 9 0 (Santa Monica, c a , The Rand Corp., 1979); and
Colin Ash, Bernard Udis, and Robert F. McNown, “ A Military Personnel
Supply Model and Its Forecasts,” A m e r ic a n E c o n o m ic R e v ie w , March
1983, pp. 1 4 5-55. For a critique of Ash and others, see Charles Dale and
Curtis Gilroy, “ Enlistments in the All-Volunteer Force: N ote,” A m e r ic a n
E c o n o m ic R e v ie w , June 1985.
6Insignificant unemployment effects are found in Lawrence Goldberg,
v a , Center for
Naval Analyses, 1982), as well as in Ash and others, “ A Military Personnel
Supply M odel,” and Fernandez, F o r e c a s tin g E n lis te d S u p p ly .

E n lis te d S u p p ly : P a s t, P r e s e n t, a n d F u tu r e (Alexandria,

7 See Charles Dale and Curtis L. Gilroy, “ The Effects of the Business
Cycle on the Size and Composition of the U .S. Arm y,” A tla n tic E c o n o m ic
J o u r n a l, March 1983, pp. 4 5 -5 3 .
8Problems with the teen wage series are discussed in Charles Brown,
M ilita r y E n lis tm e n ts : W h a t C a n W e L e a r n F ro m G e o g r a p h ic V a ria tio n ?
Working Paper 1261 (Cambridge, m a , National Bureau of Economic Re­
search, Inc., January 1984). An extract appears in the A m e r ic a n E c o n o m ic

Establishment survey incorporates
March 1984 employment benchmarks
Jo h n

B.

F arrell

With the release of data for May 1985, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics introduced its annual revision of national estimates
of employment, hours, and earnings from the monthly sur­
vey of establishments. These revisions are based on March
1984 benchmark employment counts, the most recent avail­
able. As is the usual practice with the introduction of up­
dated benchmarks, the Bureau has also revised the seasonally
adjusted series for the previous 5-year period and has in­
troduced new seasonal adjustment factors.
Adjustment procedure. Monthly employment estimates from
the establishment survey are based on information provided
by a sample of establishments. Each year, the “ bench-

R e v ie w , March 1985, pp. 2 2 8 -3 4 .

9For example, Dale and Gilroy, “ The Effects,” use a 2-month lead on
pay to obtain the correct sign.


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John B. Farrell is an economist in the Division of Monthly Industry Em­
ployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

39

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Technical Notes
marking” procedure adjusts these estimates to accord with
independently derived, comprehensive counts of employ­
ment. These comprehensive counts are obtained primarily
from summations of the mandatory unemployment insur­
ance (ui) reports filed by employers with their State em­
ployment security agencies. For the 2 percent of employment
not covered by unemployment insurance, such as employees
of religious and charitable organizations, other sources are
used to derive the benchmark. Because estimates of hours
and earnings are weighted by employment estimates, they
are also subject to change as a result of benchmarking.
The comprehensive benchmark employment counts are
compared with sample-based estimates in table 1. The March
1984 benchmark for total nonagricultural employment—
92.6 million— was 353,000 above the corresponding samplebased estimate, a difference of 0.4 percent. Note that a
downward revision of 172,000 in manufacturing was more
than offset by upward revisions of 262,000 in retail trade
and 120,000 in construction.
The current revision affects unadjusted series from April
1983 (the month following the previous benchmark) forward
to the current month’s estimate. Revision of the seasonal
adjustment factors affects seasonally adjusted series from
January 1980 forward. Unadjusted series from April 1984
forward and seasonally adjusted series from January 1981
forward are subject to revision in future benchmark adjust­
ments.
The benchmark procedure serves as a quality control pro­
cess by providing a more accurate measure of employment
levels and thus a better perspective on trends. Normally,
new benchmarks are determined for March of each year for
the most detailed industrial classification levels at which
estimates are made.
The time required for compiling ui summaries and pro­
cessing a benchmark is generally about 15 months. Em­
ployment estimates for the period between benchmarks, in

Table 1. Difference between nonagricultural employment
benchmarks and estimates, by industry, March 1984

[Numbers in thousands]
In d u s try

Total nonagricultural
employment........
Total private...............
Mining..................
Construction............
Manufacturing..........
Transportation and
public utilities........
Wholesale trade........
Retail trade.............
Finance, Insurance, and
real estate............
Services...............
Government...............
Federal..................
State ..................
Local....................

40

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B e n c h m a rk

D iffe r e n c e
E s tim a te
Num ber

P e rc e n t

92,587

92,234

353

0.4

76,371
952
3,914
19,151

76,030
967
3,794
19,323

341
-15
120
-172

.4
-1.6
3.1
-.9

5,063
5,447
15,891

5,055
5,421
15,629

8
26
262

.2
.5
1.6

5,588
20,365

5,565
20,276

23
89

16,216
2,779
3,793
9,644

16,204
2,756
3,785
9,662

12
23
8
-18

.4
.4
.1
.8
.2
-.2

this case April 1983 through February 1984, usually are
adjusted by applying a ratio of the March 1984 difference
between the benchmark and the estimate. Approximately
V\ 2 of the March 1984 difference is added to the April 1983
estimate, 2/\i to the May 1983 estimate, and so forth, so
that the difference is “ wedged” over the 12-month period
from the preceding benchmark to the new one. Summaries
of ui data may also be substituted for the “ wedged” results,
if it is apparent that the ui employment data more accurately
reflect the trend of the series. Data subsequent to the new
benchmark, in this case from April 1984 forward, usually
are revised by linking the sample trend for each successive
month to the new March 1984 levels.
Benchmarks for bls series on women workers, produc­
tion or nonsupervisory workers, hours, and earnings are not
available. The women and production or nonsupervisory
worker series are revised by applying ratios derived from
the sample to the revised all-employee figures. Revisions
at the basic cell level are then added to become the summary
level revisions.
Average weekly hours and average hourly earnings are
estimated directly from reported figures at the cell level and
are not revised. However, broader industry groupings of
hours and earnings series require a weighting mechanism
to yield meaningful averages. The production or nonsuper­
visory worker employment estimates for the basic cells are
used as weights for the hours and earnings estimates for
broader industry groupings. Adjustments of the all-employee
estimates to new benchmarks may alter the weights, which
in turn may change the estimates for hours and earnings of
production and nonsupervisory workers at higher levels of
aggregation.
Seasonal adjustment. Most economic time series display
a regular seasonal movement, which can be estimated on
the basis of experience. By eliminating that part of the
change which can be ascribed to usual seasonal variation,
it is possible to observe the underlying cyclical and other
nonseasonal movements in the series.
Each year, employment, hours, and earnings data from
the new benchmark are incorporated into the calculation of
updated seasonal adjustment factors. The Bureau uses the
X - 11 a r im a (Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average)
seasonal adjustment methodology, developed by Statistics
Canada.1 X - l l a r im a is an adaption of the standard ratioto-moving average method, which provides for “ moving”
adjustment factors to take account of changing seasonal
patterns. The a r im a method is used to project the unadjusted
data forward for 1 year prior to seasonally adjusting the
series, so as to lessen the need for revisions of historical
data in future seasonal adjustments, (a r im a projections are
not used in series where the projections do not meet test
requirements.)
Seasonal adjustment factors are recalculated annually,
and updated factors are published in Employment and Earn-

ings in conjunction with the new benchmark. Seasonally
adjusted data are not published for four series characterized
by small seasonal components relative to their irregular com­
ponents.2 However, these series are used in aggregating to
broader seasonally adjusted levels.
Publication plans. Revised estimates of employment, hours,
and earnings appeared in the June issue of Employment and
Earnings, along with a more complete discussion of the
benchmarking procedure. Estimates reflecting the new
benchmark also appeared in the Current Labor Statistics
section of the Monthly Labor Review beginning with the
July issue.
All historical data revised in this benchmark appear in
Supplement to Employment and Earnings issued in July
1985. The supplement contains revised seasonally adjusted


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data for January 1980 through February 1985 and revised
unadjusted data for April 1983 through February 1985. Data
for earlier periods have not been revised and can be found
in Employment, Hours, and Earnings, United States, 190984, Bulletin 1312-12 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, April
1985). All publications may be purchased from the Super­
intendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C. 20402.
---------- F O O T N O T E S ---------1A detailed description of the procedure appears in Estella Bee Dagum,
a r m a S e a s o n a l A d ju s tm e n t M e th o d , Catalogue No. 12-564E
(Statistics Canada, February 1980).
The X - l l

2The four series are average hourly earnings for mining, and average
weekly hours for mining, tobacco manufactures, and rubber and m iscel­
laneous plastics products.

A note on communications
The Monthly Labor Review welcomes communications that supplement,
challenge, or expand on research published in its pages. To be considered
for publication, communications should be factual and analytical, not po­
lemical in tone. Communications should be addressed to the Editor-inChief, Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department
of Labor, Washington, D.C. 20212.

41

Research
Summaries

Employment problems and their effect
on family income, 1979-83
E l le n Se h g al

A few years ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics started the
publication of an annual report which examines three of the
key problems that workers may face during the course of a
year— unemployment, involuntary part-time work, and
earnings below the minimum-wage equivalent for full-time
year-round employment— and analyzes whether and to what
extent these problems affect the economic welfare of work­
ers and their families. An important feature of the report is
that it determines the proportion of such workers whose
family income falls below the poverty line.1
The first report in this annual series2 was based on data
from the March 1980 Current Population Survey ( cps) and
focused on the employment situation in 1979. The most
recent report in the series— “ Linking Employment Prob­
lems to Economic Status” — uses data from the March 1984
cps and focuses on the situation in 1983.
The report shows that considerably fewer persons expe­
rienced any of the above-mentioned three labor market dif­
ficulties in 1983 than in 1982. However, among those who
did, the proportion whose family income fell below the
poverty line increased slightly, continuing a trend evident
since 1979. The key data for 1983 and prior years are sum­
marized in table 1.
As table 1 shows, of the 23.8 million persons who en­
countered some unemployment during the year, about 23
percent lived in families with incomes below the poverty
level. Of the 14.9 million who worked part time involun­
tarily, either because their work hours were reduced or be­
cause they could not find full-time work, about 19 percent
were members of families in poverty. Finally, of the nearly
4.5 million full-time year-round workers who earned less
than $6,700 (the minimum-wage equivalent), approximately
31 percent were in families living in poverty.
In many cases, the same person encountered more than
one of the problems and was thus counted in at least two
Ellen Sehgal is an economist in the Division of Data Development and
Users’ Services, Office o f Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bu­
reau o f Labor Statistics.

42

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of the above categories, most often unemployment and in­
voluntary part-time work. Therefore, the total number of
individual workers experiencing one of the above problems
or more is not the simple aggregation of the three categories
(43.2 million) but a much lower number (35.8 million).

Employment problems
Unemployment. Of the 23.8 million persons with some
unemployment in 1983, more than 4 million were jobless
a month or less. On average, however, those with unem­
ployment spent 14 weeks without a job over the year, and
close to one-fourth were members of families whose in­
comes for 1983 fell below the poverty level. Furthermore,
even when unemployment did not result in poverty, it may
have caused some reductions in family living standards. The
differences in family income between persons with and with­
out unemployment were particularly large for blacks: the
median family income for those with unemployment was
47 percent lower than that for those who were free of un­
employment during the year.
Involuntary part-time work. There were two types of workers
among the 14.9 million who, although preferring a full-time
job, worked part time during at least some of 1983. One
group consisted of workers who had been in full-time jobs
but whose workweek was cut back, at least temporarily,
because of material shortages or slack demand. The other
type consisted of workers who had not been able to secure
full-time work and had to settle for a part-time job. The
latter group were generally on part time for much longer
periods than the former.

Table 1.

Persons with employment problems, 1979-83

[Numbers in thousands]
E m p lo y m e n t p ro b le m

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

Persons with unemployment:
Number......................
Percent below poverty line. .

18,468
14.3

21,410
17.5

23,382
19.1

26,493
20.5

23,799
22.9

11,455
13.4

13,033
15.4

14,627
16.7

16,064
18.0

14,903
19.1

4,922
22.4

5,199
24.4

5,202
26.5

4,608
29.8

4,453
30.5

Persons with involuntary parttime employment:
Number......................
Percent below poverty line . .
Persons with low earnings:
Number......................
Percent below poverty line . .

There also was a big difference in the incidence of poverty
between the two groups. It was 14 percent for those whose
involuntary part-time work was because of material short­
ages or slack work and nearly twice as high (27 percent)
for those who could find only part-time work. For blacks,
the proportion in either of these two categories whose fam­
ilies were in poverty was much higher— 26 and 45 percent.
Low earnings. The economic recovery in 1983 was re­
flected in an increase of about 2.9 million in the number of
workers employed full time year round, which reached 66.8
million. However, about 7 percent of these workers reported
earnings below $6,700— that is, less than what one would
have earned from a full year’s work at the Federal minimum
wage of $3.35 an hour. Many of these workers were selfemployed or otherwise exempted from coverage under the
minimum-wage law. Nevertheless, nearly one-third re­
ported total family income below the poverty level.
Teenagers and workers 65 years old and over were the
most likely to report low earnings for full-year work: more
than one-third of youth age 16 to 19 and about one-quarter
of workers age 65 and over in 1983. Overall, the incidence
of low earnings was much higher for women (9 percent)
than for men (5 percent).

Trends since 1979
Between 1979 and 1983, the number of persons with some
unemployment during the year increased and decreased in
line with the fluctuations of the economy. However, as
shown in table 1, there was a gradual but sustained annual
increase over this period in the proportion of persons with
unemployment whose family income fell below the poverty
line. The same pattern also prevailed for the persons with
involuntary part-time employment.
The number of full-time year-round workers with earn­
ings below the $6,700 minimum-wage equivalent rose slightly
between 1979 and 1981 and declined thereafter, even in
1982 when the number of persons with the other employ­
ment problems was increasing. But the meaning of the de­
cline is difficult to interpret. To a certain extent, it may have
reflected the fact that the Federal minimum wage remained
at the same level while the wages of most workers kept
inching upward. On the other hand, given the severity of
the recession, some low-wage workers who previously had
worked a full year may not have been able to do so in 1982.
They may thus have fallen among the persons with other
employment problems.
An additional phase of the research discussed in the report
cited above focused on individual workers for whom both
the labor force status and poverty status were tracked over
a 2-year period. It was found that of the workers who had
been in poverty in 1982, about one-half were no longer so
the following year. Among those who remained poor in
1983— a year of strong economic performance— many were
members of families maintained by women. This suggests


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that noneconomic factors, such as the makeup of families,
are important determinants of poverty status.
---------- F O O T N O T E S ---------'The poverty thresholds, based primarily on a U .S. Department of Ag­
riculture study of the consumption requirements of families by size, are
updated annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. The
poverty threshold for a family of four in 1983 was $10,178. However,
when making such determinations, only cash income is considered.
2
The report was launched in response to recommendations from the
National Commission on Employment and Unemployment Statistics. L in k ­
in g E m p lo y m e n t P r o b le m s to E c o n o m ic S ta tu s , Bulletin 2222, Stock No.
0 2 9 -0 0 1 -0 2 8 3 8 -5 , $2, is for sale by the Superintendent of Documents,
Washington 20402.

Pay levels in meat products
reflect trimmed rates
Straight-time hourly earnings of production workers aver­
aged $7.80 in meatpacking plants and $7.61 in prepared
meat products plants in June 1984, according to a study by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics.1 These averages represent
increases of 12 and 17 percent since a similar survey in
May 1979.2 Average annual increases were 2.3 percent for
meatpacking and 3.1 percent for prepared meat products,
contrasting sharply to the 6.8-percent annual rate for non­
durable goods manufacturing during approximately the same
period.3
The pace of pay increases in meat plants partly reflects
wage concessions agreed to by the United Food and Com­
mercial Workers Union in bargaining with a number of meat
companies. These companies sought reduced labor costs to
compete against newer, lower-cost firms with modem fa­
cilities and distribution methods. Concessions included re­
ductions in base hourly wage rates, suspension of automatic
cost-of-living adjustments (even though c o l a clauses were
retained in the contracts), and hiring rates set below existing
levels.4 Some reductions in employee benefit levels were
also negotiated at a few companies.
Seven-tenths of the meatpacking and nearly three-fifths
of the prepared meat products workers were in plants with
collective bargaining agreements covering a majority of their
production work force in June 1984. Most of these workers
were represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers
Union ( a f l - c i o ).
At the time of the June 1984 survey, meatpacking plants
employed 82,948 production workers— down 20 percent
since the May 1979 survey. Employment in prepared meat
products plants was up slightly during the period— from
48,804 to 50,854 production workers.
The $7.80 average in meatpacking plants and the $7.61
in prepared meat products plants also represented broadly
dispersed earnings in both industries. Hourly earnings of
individual workers ranged from the $3.35 Federal minimum
43

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Research Summaries
to more than $14. The middle 50 percent of workers in
meatpacking earned between $6.50 and $8.75 an hour, while
the corresponding range in prepared meat products was $5.70
to $9.59. Large differences in skill levels required for the
industries’ varied manufacturing processes contributed to
the relatively wide dispersions in pay.
Regional pay differences were also large, especially for
prepared meat products workers. June 1984 averages were
highest in the Pacific States ($8.60 an hour in meatpacking
and $9.03 in prepared meat products) and lowest in the
Southeast ($6.22 and $5.70). The regions with the largest
employments for both industries— the Great Lakes region
and the Middle West— averaged $8.31 and $8.41 an hour
in meatpacking and $8.76 and $7.16 in prepared meat prod­
ucts.
Seventy-nine occupations were selected to represent the
various skills and pay levels in meatpacking and prepared
meat products plants. These occupations accounted for ap­
proximately two-fifths of the production workers in each
industry. Among these occupations, hourly averages in meat­
packing plants ranged from $6.14 for washers who clean
beef carcasses to $10.15 for maintenance millwrights. Jobs
in meatpacking with at least 2,000 employees and their
hourly averages were: shipping packers, $7.25; trimmers,
$7.41; night cleaners ,$7.76; boners preparing boxed beef,
$7.99; and general maintenance workers, $8.85.
In prepared meat products plants, occupational averages
ranged from $6.25 for hangers (bellies) to $11.26 for sta­
tionary engineers. Shipping packers, numerically the most
important job studied in this industry, averaged $6.83. Other
numerically important jobs (having at least 1,000 workers)
and their pay averages included night cleaners, $7.46; slic­
ing-machine operators, $7.52; truckdrivers, $7.90; ham
boners, $8.71; and general maintenance workers, $8.90.
Virtually all production workers in each industry were in
plants providing paid holidays, paid vacations, and at least
part of the cost of various health and insurance plans. Re­
tirement pension plans covered approximately two-thirds of
the production workers in each industry. Seven to ten hol­
idays annually were typical, as were 1 to 5 weeks of vacation
pay (depending on years of service).
A comprehensive bulletin on the study, Industry Wage
Survey: Meat Products, June 1984, may be purchased from
any of the Bureau’s regional sales offices or the Superin­
tendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Wash­
ington, d c 20402. The bulletin provides additional information
on occupational pay, such as earnings distributions and av­
erages by type of company, size of establishment, and union
contract status, and the incidence of selected employee
benefits.
---------- FOOTNOTES---------'In meatpacking, the study covered establishments employing 50 work­
ers or more and primarily engaged in slaughtering cattle, hogs, sheep,
lambs, and calves either for the establishment’s own account or on a

44

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contract basis for the trade (sic 2011, as defined in the 1972 Standard
Industrial Classification Manual, prepared by the U .S. Office o f Man­
agement and Budget). For prepared meat products, the study covered
establishments employing 20 workers or more and primarily engaged in
manufacturing sausages and other products from purchased meats (sic
2013).
Wage data in this article are straight-time hourly earnings, which exclude
premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends, holidays, and late
shifts.
2See “ Wages in meatpacking and prepared meat products, May 1979,”
Monthly Labor Review, June 1981, p. 53.
3
Increases for nondurable goods manufacturing are from the wage and
salary component of the Bureau’s Employment Cost Index for the 5 years
ending in June 1984.
4See Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Wage Developments, January
1982 and March 1984 issues.

The status of women
in Canada’s labor force
Almost 2 million women joined the Canadian labor force
during the 1970’s and about half entered male-dominated
fields, according to a study on the role of women in the
economy published by the Economic Council of Canada.
Authors of the study state that although there was an increase
in the number of women who attained higher education,
worked more hours, and entered nontraditional occupations,
their progress was offset by a larger number of those who
had secondary school education, received lower earnings,
and entered traditional occupations.
In 1971, the participation rate for women was 33.9 per­
cent and by 1981 it was 52.9 percent (compared with 76.4
percent and 79.4 percent for men). All of the age groups
increased their participation rates except those in the 65and-over age group. Those in the 25-34 and 35-44 age
groups had the largest increase— almost 50 percent, while
those 15-19 participated almost as much as their male coun­
terparts (51.2 percent, compared with 55.0 percent).
The authors, Jac-André Boulet and Laval Lavellée, state
further that although the participation rates of women with
children increased sharply, those who had few or no family
responsibilities made up 83 percent of the increased number
of women in the labor market. The reason for this activity
is the slight decline in the number of working age women
with preschool children and the 30-percent increase in the
number of other women without such responsibilities.
Education played a major role in the economic status and
labor force participation of women. In 1972-73, 39 percent
of the total undergraduate student population was made up
of women, and by 1981-82, the figure increased to 47
percent. Those women in the Master’s and Doctorate pro­
grams increased their number from 28 percent to 42 percent
in the same periods, and tended to fare better in the labor
force in terms of occupations and earnings. The participation
rate of women with a bachelor’s degree or diploma below
a bachelor’s increased 12.7 percent, the highest increase of

all the educational attainment levels among women as well
as men.
During the 10-year period, the number of women in the
20 highest paid occupations quadrupled— 32,050 to 125,755—
while that of men only doubled. However, in the 20 lowest
paid occupations, the number of women almost doubled—
750,00 to 1,175,430— compared with the relatively small
increase for the men.
Earnings were another area in which Canadian women
enhanced their status. In 1970, the average annual earnings
of women were 51.2 percent of men’s, by 1980, the average
was 54.4 percent. However, in terms of average hourly
wages, the female-male earnings gap narrowed from about
66 percent that of men to almost 72 percent during the same
period.
One out of six families was headed by only one parent,
and five out of six single-parent families were headed by
women. Earnings of these women were very low, and trans­
fer income was low such that most of them were in poverty.
The financial status of women during preretirement and
retirement is also discussed in the study. Mainly, women
face more financial hardships during their retirement years
than do elderly men because they earned less than men,
lacked coverage in employer-sponsored pension plans, worked
fewer hours or had more part-time jobs, and they tended to
work in nonunionized companies which do not have pension
plans. Moreover, those women who lived alone, mainly
widows, were among the most impoverished.
In an attempt to remedy the difficulties that women face
in the labor market, Canadian governments have either pro­
posed or adopted recommendations such as: equal pay for
equal work; training for women re-entering the job market,
with emphasis on nontraditional occupations; expansion of
part-time work and job sharing; professional development
courses; adequate day care centers; and parental leave.


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In conclusion, the authors state that if current trends in
Canada’s labor market continue, there will be “ an even
more dramatic improvement in the economic status of
women” in the 1980’s.
The report, The Changing Economic Status o f Women,
is available from Canadian Government Publishing Centre,
Supply and Services Canada, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0S9,
for $8.35.
□

Earnings of 1975 Vietnam refugees
surpass U.S. average in 4 years
Starting low on the U.S. economic ladder, South Vietnam­
ese refugees of 1975 have moved up rapidly, according to
a recently published study.
In 1976, the refugees had median earnings subject to
Social Security taxes of $4,242, while the median for all
U.S. workers was $6,235. By 1979, the corresponding totals
were $8,874 and $7,478. Thus, in 4 years refugee earnings
rose from 68.1 percent of taxable U.S. earnings to 118.6
percent.
Authors Reginald P. Baker and David S. North urge
caution in interpreting the data, because the “ refugee pop­
ulation is younger, and has a higher proportion of males
than the U.S. labor force, thus tending to overstate the
refugees’ relative success in the labor market.” They also
note that most of the Indochinese who resettled here in 1975,
the year the Saigon government fell, were “ relatively well
prepared for life in the U .S.”
Their report, The 1975 Refugees: Their First Five Years
in America, was published in 1984 by New TransCentury
Foundation, Washington, D C .
□

45

Foreign Labor
Developments

examines impact of technology
on worker safety and health

ilo

T a d d L in s e n m a y e r

Industrial robots, computer-controlled machine tools, video
display terminals— these and other space-age technologies
can help reduce workplace injuries and illnesses if safety,
health, and work organization factors are built in during
design and development. But when accident and illness
prevention techniques for new technologies are adopted only
after worker injuries or illnesses begin, the result can be
serious new workplace hazards.
These are the fundamental conclusions of a special meet­
ing of safety and health experts held by the International
Labor Organization ( i l o ) in Geneva, Switzerland, March
25-29, 1985.
The i l o has become increasingly concerned about the
impact of new technology on worker safety and health. It
convened this meeting of 15 government, worker, and em­
ployer experts from the United States, Eastern and Western
Europe, Canada, and Australia to take a broad look at the
safety and health impact of new technology in industrialized
countries, focusing on such areas as robotics, biotechnol­
ogy, office equipment, and chemicals.
The i l o experts agreed that new technology can reduce
some safety and health hazards by relieving workers of
arduous or dangerous physical tasks or removing them from
exposure to dust and toxic substances. Examples include
automated materials handling equipment and the growing
use of robot welders and painters in the automobile industry.
The experts suggested that involving and consulting workers
at the earliest possible stage in the introduction of new
technology will help promote these benefits. They also em­
phasized the importance of training and retraining to make
employers and workers more aware of the safety and health
potential of new technology.
But the i l o experts were equally concerned about poten­
tial new hazards. With technology being developed, intro­
duced, and transferred at an accelerating pace, governments,
Tadd Linsenmayer is director, Office of International Organizations, Bu­
reau o f International Labor Affairs, Department of Labor, currently on
leave as a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

46

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workers, and employers are faced with a variety of new
serious safety and health hazards about which, all too often,
little is known.
The experts expressed special concern about safeguarding
against hazards which, while not immediately apparent, are
inherent in some new technologies. One example is the
unpredictable action patterns of robot arms. Studies in Eu­
rope, Japan, and the United States have identified a number
of real and potential robot hazards— which, in a few cases,
have caused fatal accidents— involved primarily in pro­
gramming and repair activities.1
Some experts were concerned that computer reliability
can also be a serious problem in cases where computers
control or monitor work processes. They noted that the
nuclear and aerospace industries frequently use redundancy
techniques (for example, secondary computers) to provide
an adequate margin of safety, but these techniques require
resources and skills not usually found in many parts of
manufacturing.
The i l o experts agreed that occupational stress has be­
come an increasingly serious health issue. New technology
can either increase or decrease work-related stress depend­
ing on how it is used— and that may mean changing the
organization of work to reduce the stress, fatigue, and mo­
notony often associated with some types of new technology.
Occupational stress is not a new issue in the United States.
The Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, in a
1984 report on office hazards, called stress “ one of the most
pervasive health problems in the United States.” Workrelated emotional disorders are recognized in 19 States and
accounted for more than 15 percent of total workers’ com­
pensation costs in California in 1980, according to data cited
by the Office of Technology Assessment.2
The i l o experts acknowledged that it is not easy to sep­
arate occupational and other sources of stress. They con­
cluded, however, that some new technologies can create
stress if insufficient attention is paid to work organization
issues. Examples include monotony and isolation in auto­
mated machinery control rooms, faster paced production
lines, electronic monitoring of work performance, possible
fragmentation and reduced skill requirements of jobs, re­
duced opportunities for worker responsibility and discretion,
and poor ergonomic design in offices using computers and
other video display terminals ( v d t ) and equipment.

Health hazards, particularly exposure to toxic chemicals,
were a major concern of the experts. Some were convinced
that it is very difficult for national safety and health au­
thorities to keep pace with the rapid development and in­
troduction of new chemicals into the workplace. In the United
States, for example, some 60,000 chemicals are reportedly
in commercial use, only a handful of which are subject to
Federal or State regulation.3
The i l o experts said more should be done to exchange
information between employers and workers— and, in some
cases, communities— about the potential hazards involved
in industrial chemicals. Similar concerns in the United States
have led more than 20 States to enact “ right-to-know” laws
requiring employers to inform workers and community of­
ficials about toxic substances being produced or used com­
mercially.4
American employers, responding to the Union Carbide
methyl isocyanate leak in Bhopal, India, recently announced
a voluntary program to provide hazard information on work­
place chemicals. Earlier this year, the Chemical Manufac­
turers Association announced plans to expand the chemical
industry’s involvement in community response planning and
emergency networks and to give the public access to in­
formation on hazardous chemicals.5
The i l o experts agreed that “ it might be necessary to
rely also on a general legal duty of care” because of the
difficulty of developing standards fast enough to keep pace
with the introduction of new workplace chemicals.
The notion of a general legal duty to prevent worker
exposure to chemical hazards has been a controversial issue
in the United States for some years. The Occupational Safety
and Health Act of 1970 contains such a “ general duty
clause” : Section 5(a) (1) requires each em ployer to “ fur­
nish to each of his employees employment and a place of
employment which are free from recognized hazards that
are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical
harm to his employees.” 6
Because the development of new Federal standards on
chemical hazards has become extremely complex and time
consuming, some groups (particularly American unions) have
strongly urged the Occupational Safety and Health Admin­
istration ( o s h a ) to use the “ general duty clause” more
aggressively to cite recognized health hazards not covered
by specific o s h a standards.
o s h a significantly expanded use of the general duty clause
during the 1970’s, reaching a peak of 3,816 citations in
fiscal year 1979. Since then, however, its use has been
scaled back, largely because of serious legal and adminis­
trative questions about its use.7 In fiscal year 1984, o s h a


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

issued 413 such citations. Current o s h a policy permits gen­
eral duty clause citations when there is no applicable stan­
dard, the hazard presents a probability of death or serious
harm to employees, and abatement is considered feasible.
Finally, the experts called for further examination of long­
term, low-level exposure to non-ionising radiation. Workers
using computers and other video display terminals complain
of a variety of problems associated with v d t use. These
include stress and such physical problems as eye strain and
musculoskeletal ailments. In some cases, workers have also
complained about suspected v d t health hazards, citing higher
than normal incidences of eye cataracts and reproductive
problems for pregnant women.
A number of v d t studies in the United States and other
industrialized countries have confirmed that stress and phys­
ical hazards can arise from poor ergonomic design of offices
using v d t equipment. In most cases, these can be corrected
through proper lighting, reduction of glare, flexible working
tables and chairs, adequate rest periods, and other physical
or work organization modifications.
So far, however, government and industry studies have
not found evidence of health effects related to exposure to
v d t non-ionizing radiation. The National Institute for Oc­
cupational Safety and Health is continuing to investigate the
issue.8
The meeting of experts concluded by urging the i l o to
focus future discussions on the safety and health implica­
tions of new technology within particular sectors. The meet­
ing also called for fuller use of the International Occupational
Safety and Health Hazard Alert System— an international
system developed with a U.S. Department of Labor grant
designed to facilitate the rapid exchange of technical infor­
m ation on know n or suspected safety and health hazards—

as well as other information exchange programs.
---------- FOOTNOTES---------'International Labor Office, Implications o f new technologies fo r work
organization and occupational safety and health in industrialized countries,
October 1984, p. 10.
2Robert Arndt and Larry Chapman, Potential Office Hazards and Con­
trols, September 1984, p. 29. A paper prepared for the Office o f Tech­
nology Assessment, U .S. Congress.
3The Washington Post, Jan. 3, 1985.

4Newsweek,

Dec. 17, 1984.

Launches Campaign on Accidents,” Chemical Marketing R e­
porter, Apr. 1, 1985, p. 3.
5“

cma

6Public Law No. 9 1 -5 9 6 , 84 Stat. 1590, effective April 28, 1971.
7Donald L. Morgan and Mark N. Duvall, ‘ ‘ o s h a ’ s General Duty Clause:
An Analysis of Its Use and A buse,” Industrial Relations Law Journal,
Vol. 5:283, pp. 3 0 0 -0 2 .
8 Arndt and Chapman, p. 97.

47

Major Agreements
Expiring Next Month

T h is list o f se lecte d co llectiv e b a rg a in in g a g reem en ts ex p irin g in S e p te m b er is b ased o n in fo r m a tio n
from th e B u r e a u ’s O ffice o f W a g es a n d In d u stria l R ela tio n s. T h e list in clu d es a g reem en ts coverin g
1 ,0 0 0 w o rk ers o r m o re. P riv a te in d u stry is a rra n g ed in o rd er o f S tan d ard In d u stria l C lassification .

E m p lo y e r a n d lo c a tio n

P r iv a te in d u str y

L a b o r o r g a n iz a tio n 1

N um b er o f
w orkers

Western States Field Construction Negotiating Committee Inc. (Interstate) .
National Electrical Contractors Association, South Florida Chapter
(Miami, fl)
Mechanical Contractors Association (Houston, tx ) ........................................
Swift and Co. (Interstate) .............................................................................
Hygrade Food Products Corp. (Interstate) ....................................................
Nabisco, Inc. (Interstate)...............................................................................
John Morrell and Co. (Interstate) ..................................................................
Shirts, pajamas and other cotton garments manufacturers (Interstate).........
Single pants manufacturers (Interstate) .........................................................
Interco-Florsheim Shoe Co. (Interstate) ......................................................

Construction ...........................
Food products .........................
Food products .........................
Food products .........................
Food products .........................
A pparel....................................
A pparel....................................
L eath er....................................

Fafnir Bearing Division of Textron, Inc. (New Britain, ct) .......................
Washington Metal Trades, Inc. (Seattle, wa ) .............................................
ITT Avionics and Defense Communications (Interstate) .............................
Eagle Electric Manufacturing Co., Inc. (Long Island City, ny ) ..................
Sanyo Manufacturing Corp. (Forrest City, ar) ...........................................
Design and Manufacturing Corp. (Connersville, in) ....................................
American Motors Corp. (Milwaukee, wi) ....................................................
General Dynamics Corp., Land Systems Division (Interstate)....................
Sperry Rand Corp. (Great Neck, ny ) ...........................................................

Machinery................................
M achinery................................
Electrical products ..................
Electrical products ..................
Electrical products ..................
Electrical products ..................
Transportation equipment . . . .
Transportation equipment . . . .
Instruments .............................

Auto Workers ................................
Machinists; Boilermakers ..............
Electronic Workers (iue) ..............
Auto Workers ................................
Electronic Workers (iue) ..............
Auto Workers ................................
Auto Workers ................................
Auto Workers ................................
Electronic Workers (iue ) ...............

2,100
1,200
1,050
1,100
2,000
1,200
14,000
5,300
3,800

Duquesne Light Co. (Pennsylvania) .............................................................
Safeway Stores Inc. (Kansas City, mo ) ..............................................................
Food Employers Council, Inc., warehouses (Southern California)..............
Food Employers Council, Inc., office employees (Southern California) . . .
Kroger Co. (Cleveland, oh ) ...........................................................................
Bruno Food Stores (Alabama) ......................................................................
Prudential Insurance Co. (Interstate).............................................................
Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers (Los Angeles, ca ) .............
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, nurses (Boston, ma) ................................

U tilities....................................
Retail trade .............................
Retail trade .............................
Retail trade ..............................
Retail trade ..............................
Retail trade ..............................
Insurance ..................................
Amusements ...........................
Hospitals..................................

Electrical Workers (ibew) ...............
Food and Commercial Workers . . .
Teamsters (Ind.) ...........................
Teamsters (Ind.) ...........................
Food and Commercial Workers . . .
Food and Commercial Workers . . .
Food and Commercial Workers . . .
Office and Professional Employees
Nurses’ Association (Ind.) ...........

2,900
1,100
1,500
1,500
1,250
2,500
16,000
2,300
1,400

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

G o v e r n m e n t a c tiv ity

5,300
1,050
Food and Commercial Workers . . .
Food and Commercial Workers . . .
Bakery and Tobacco Workers . . . .
Food and Commercial Workers . . .
Clothing and Textile Workers . . . .
Clothing and Textile Workers . . . .
Clothing and Textile Workers; Food
and Commercial Workers

L a b o r o r g a n iz a tio n 1

1,500
1,200
1,500
10,000
3,000
12,500
12,500
5,000

N um ber o f
w orkers

California:

Los Angeles Board of Education, teachers .......................
Los Angeles Department of Power and Water,
2 agreements

Education ................................
U tilities....................................

United Teachers of Los Angeles . .
Electrical Workers (ibew) ...............

26,000
6,700

Florida:

Dade County, 5 agreem ents................................................

Multidepartments....................

Fire Fighters; Transport Workers;
Nurses’ Association (Ind.); Police
Benevolent Association (Ind.);
State, County and
Municipal Employees

7,300

Indiana:

Evansville Board of Education, teachers...........................

Education ................................

Education Association ( In d .) .........

1,250

Pennsylvania:

State Turnpike employees ..................................................

Transportation .........................

Teamsters (Ind.)

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

1,500

Washington:

Seattle Community College, faculty ..................................

Education ................................

Teachers .........................................

1,500

'Affiliated with

afl- cio

48

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except where noted as independent (Ind.).

Developments in
Industrial Relations

Auto industry update
In a move to improve the competitive position of Chrysler
Corp.’s Dayton, o h , plant, the company and Local 775 of
the International Union of Electronic Workers negotiated a
5-year agreement that provides for lower pay rates and ben­
efit levels for workers hired after March 28. Union officials
said the employees agreed to the changes because of the
increased competition expected to result from two Japanese
plants that will open in the United States in the near future,
as well as existing competition from a General Motors Corp.
electrical equipment plant in Dayton. The Chrysler plant,
which employs 1,750 members of the union, produces au­
tomotive air conditioners, heating components, oil coolers,
and plastic injection moldings.
The b e s t agreement— Building Employment Security
Together— supplements the parties’ existing 3-year agree­
ment which expires in November 1986. Under the b e s t
agreement, new employees in the most common job clas­
sifications will start at $7 an hour, or about 57 percent of
the top rate for the classification. They will receive periodic
progression increases until they attain the top rate after 10
years of service. Similar starting and progression provisions
apply to new workers in other classifications. The new work­
ers, who will also receive reduced benefits during their first
10 years of employment, are eligible for a new bonus plan
that will pay them 55 cents per hour after they complete 5
years of service and the bonus will continue until they attain
the top rate for their pay classification. The reduced pay
rates do not apply to skilled workers, but the reduced benefit
levels do.
To open up jobs to younger employees, the agreement
provides incentives for employees to quit their job or to
retire if eligible.
Elsewhere in the industry, the Auto Workers and Mazda
Motor Co. signed an initial agreement for a plant in Flat
Rock, m i , that is scheduled to produce 240,000 cars an­
nually, beginning in the spring of 1987. To help persuade
Mazda to open the plant in the United States— rather than
continuing to produce all its vehicles in Japan— the Auto

“ Developments in Industrial Relations” is prepared by George Ruben of
the Division o f Developments in Labor-Management Relations, Bureau of
Labor Statistics, and is largely based on information from secondary sources.


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Workers agreed to give Mazda some labor cost advantages
over the domestic auto manufacturers. A union official said
the agreement represents progress rather than concessions
because, “ We want a minimum of adversarial relationships
with employers” and, “ W e’re doing all these things for a
particular reason, and that is to keep jobs for our people.”
The new plant is expected to have a labor cost advantage
of about $6 an hour. One provision sets pay rates at 85
percent of those prevailing at Ford Motor Co. when the
Mazda plant starts production. The balance of the cost sav­
ing will come from lower benefit levels and broadening of
job classifications to permit the company to utilize workers
in a variety of jobs.
In California, the Auto Workers were in the midst of
negotiations on an initial contract with New United Motor
Manufacturing Inc. for a new plant in Fremont. The Toyota
Motor Corp.-General Motors Corp. joint venture occupies
a plant g m had shut down.
Bruce Lee, u a w ’s Region 6 director, confirmed that the
union was considering a system under which job classifi­
cations would be broadened. In exchange for performing
the greater variety of duties, part of the cost saving would
be allocated to the workers under a “ pay for knowledge”
system.
General Motors also was involved in negotiations with
the u a w on an initial contract for workers at Saturn Corp.,
a subsidiary set up to utilize ‘‘state of the art’’ manufacturing
procedures to produce small cars at prices competitive with
foreign producers. The location of the new facility is not
expected to be announced until g m and the u a w agree on
wages, benefits, and work rules.

Clothing industry contracts
The Ladies’ Garment Workers and several associations
of clothing manufacturers negotiated 3-year contracts ex­
pected to eventually affect about 125,000 members of the
union. The initial accords were with employers in dress,
coat and suit, sportswear, and rainwear manufacturing.
The employees will not receive a wage increase in the
first contract year, but the employers’ financing of benefits
was increased to an amount equal to 3.75 percent of payroll,
from 2.75 percent. A union official said the resulting im­
provements in benefits will vary among contracts because
of varying conditions of the funds, and that most of the
49

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Developments in Industrial Relations
increased funding will be used to help offset rapidly rising
medical costs.
The workers will receive a 6 -percent pay increase in the
second year and a 5-percent increase in the third year. Ac­
cording to the union, pay was about $6 to $6.50 an hour at
the May 31, 1985, expiration date of the prior 3-year con­
tract, which provided for wage increases totaling $ 1.1 0 an
hour.
The employers had initially proposed a 3-year wage freeze,
contending that any substantial labor cost increase would
further erode their ability to compete against foreign pro­
ducers rapidly increasing their sales in the United States.
In another segment of the apparel industry being buffeted
by increased imports, the Clothing Manufacturers Associ­
ation and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers
agreed to take a “ breather” from tough bargaining by ex­
tending their agreement for 4 months. The 1982 agreement
for 53,000 workers in men’s and boys’ apparel manufac­
turing had been scheduled to expire May 31. In the current
talks, the association led off with a demand for a 15-month
pay freeze, linkage of possible future increases to inflation
and market conditions, and an easing of work rules. Under
the 38-month 1982 contract, the workers had received pay
raises totaling $1.05 an hour, bringing their range to $7$8 an hour.

J.P. Stevens settlement provides for job security
In textile manufacturing, J.P. Stevens and Co. and the
Clothing and Textile Workers negotiated a 3-year contract
to succeed their 1983 contract. Prior to their initial settle­
ment in 1980, the parties had engaged in 17 years of bitter
controversy over the union’s efforts to organize all Stevens
plants in North Carolina, South Carolina, and other southern
States.
The new 1985 contract covers about 3,500 workers at 9
plants in Roanoke Rapids and Wallace, n c . According to
Bruce Raynor, the union’s regional director, the union sought
no increase in the average wage of $6.80 an hour because
it was more interested in protecting job security. Raynor
said the improved layoff recall procedures, severance pay,
and training provisions provided by the accord were needed
because “ of the flood of imports destroying American textile
jobs. . . .”
Earlier in the year, the parties had negotiated a 4.6-percent
pay increase under a reopening provision of the 1983 con­
tract. The provision, which was continued in the new con­
tract, permits either party to reopen negotiations on wages
and benefits at not less than 6 -month intervals.

American Tobacco Co. settles early
More than 2,000 employees of American Tobacco Co.
were covered by contracts negotiated 8 Y2 months prior to
the scheduled January 31, 1986, expiration date of the ex­
isting contracts. The new 3-year contracts were effective
June 1, 1985.
50

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Bobbie Green, president of Local 183 of the Bakery,
Confectionery and Tobacco Workers, said the union initi­
ated the early negotiations because of possible job losses
indicated by increasing automation in the plants, several
short workweeks that had occurred, and rumors of layoffs.
The accords, covering operations in Durham and Reidsville, n c , and Richmond, v a , provided for 35 cents an hour
wage increases on January 1, 1986, and June 1 of 1986 and
1987. The provision for automatic quarterly cost-of-living
pay adjustments also was continued. Adjustments are cal­
culated at 1 cent an hour for each 0.3-point movement in
the bls cpi- w (1967= 100).
Under a new Supplemental Unemployment Benefits plan,
laid-off employees will receive payments equal to 1 week’s
salary for each year of service, followed by payment of
$150 a week until they have received payments for a com­
bined total of 26 weeks.
Other terms include increased pensions; an improved union
vision care plan; an additional paid holiday, bringing the
total to 13 a year; lowering of the eligibility for long-term
disability benefits to 1 year of service, from 12 years; and
6 weeks of paid vacation after 25 years of service (formerly
29 years) and 7 weeks after 30 years (formerly 34 years).
There were no indications that early negotiations will be
initiated at other tobacco companies, where agreements are
generally scheduled to expire at various times in 1986.

Gimbels to give pay raises every six months
A new contract between Gimbels Department Stores and
the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union provides
for a $40 a week wage increase over the 3-year contract
term. The $40 increase will be paid in increments of $10,
$ 8 , $7, $9, and $6 a week at 6 -month intervals. The accord
covered 5,000 employees at 10 stores in Connecticut, New
Jersey, and New York.
The $40 increase compared with $45 the union recently
negotiated with Bloomingdales for 4,000 workers, and $65
it negotiated with R.H. Macy and Co. for 6,000 workers.
Other terms at Gimbels included an increase in employer
financing of health and welfare benefits to 9 percent of
payroll, from 8 percent; an increase in the number of paid
sick leave days, subject to approval of the trustees; and an
additional paid holiday to be taken on Martin Luther King,
Jr.’s birthday or on another day of the employee’s choice.

Stock exchange workers settle, avert strike
The New York Stock Exchange settled with 1,300 mem­
bers of the Office and Professional Employees union minutes
before the workers were scheduled to start their first strike
against the exchange since 1948.
The union did not win its demand for lifetime job guar­
antees for employees with at least 17 years of service, but
the 3-year contract does establish a plan to help counter the
loss of 300 jobs expected to result from increased automation

of trading operations. The plan provides for spreading the
available work by converting employees with less than 10
years of service to a 4-day workweek at 80 percent of their
previous weekly pay. To some extent, the loss of jobs could
also be alleviated by a 1-hour increase in the trading day
being considered by the exchange.
Other terms included 5-percent annual pay increases, ret­
roactive to the November 1984 termination date of the pre­
ceding contract, and a 25-percent increase in severance pay.
According to the exchange, pages and reporters average
$560 a week and floor workers with 7 years of experience
earn almost $30,000 a year.

Court rules on mandatory retirement in airlines
In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court limited the
conditions under which an employer can require employees
to retire before age 70. In the decision, written by Justice
John Paul Stevens, the Court rejected Western Airlines’
argument that an employer need only offer a “ rational rea­
son,” such as airline safety, for requiring employees to retire
before age 70.
Instead, the Court said an employer must show that a
particular age is “ reasonably necessary to the normal op­
eration of the particular business” and that “ all or nearly
all employees above an age lack the qualifications.” If un­
able to do so, an employer must demonstrate that it is “ highly
impractical” to test each new employee to prove that after
the designated age each employee remains qualified.
The decision will immediately affect Western and other
airlines that have mandatory retirement policies, and also
will have an impact in other industries. All pilots are re­
quired to retire at age 60 under a Federal Aviation Admin­
istration regulation— which was not changed by the Court
ruling— but some air carriers permit pilots to “ downgrade”
to flight engineer status at age 60 and continue working.
Western and some other carriers did not permit flight en­
gineers to work beyond age 60, which led to the legal
challenge.

Pension fund trustees can see payroll records
The Supreme Court expanded the right of pension fund
trustees to examine the employee records of companies con­
tributing to multiemployer benefit plans. The case originated
in 1979, when some employers rejected a request by trustees
of the Teamsters’ Central States Pension and Health and
Welfare funds for access to payroll records of employees
the employers claimed were not covered by the plans. The


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trustees’ request resulted from their concern that some of
the employers were evading payments to the funds by un­
derreporting the number of covered employees.
Justice Thurgood Marshall, writing for the six-member
Court majority, said the proposed audit “ is entirely rea­
sonable” in light of the provisions of the Employee Re­
tirement Income Security Act of 1974. Continuing, Marshall
said that audits of all employee records are “ a proper means
of verifying that the employer has accurately determined
the class of covered employee,” particularly in view of the
fact that the number of covered employees reduces the em­
ployer’s liability to the funds.
Writing for the three-member minority, Justice John Paul
Stevens agreed with the majority that the law does not pro­
hibit such an audit by trustees, but he contended that the
audit could not be performed because it was not specifically
authorized by the Teamsters’ labor contracts with employers.
The Court’s decision reversed the finding of the Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals that such an audit was unwarranted
because the trustees could rely on the Department of Labor
to regulate employer contributions.

Court rules on employer-sponsored health plans
In a decision with wide significance, the Supreme Court
held that States may require employer-sponsored health in­
surance plans to cover particular ailments. In the case, the
Court upheld a Massachusetts law requiring insurance com­
panies to include mental-health care in employer plans. The
law was challenged by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
and Travelers Insurance Co.
In the unanimous decision, written by Justice Harry A.
Blackmun, the Court found that such laws do not conflict
with Federal laws regulating collective bargaining and em­
ployee benefit plans. The decision ends doubts about the
legality of required-coverage laws enacted by about half the
States and raises the possibility that other States will enact
such laws.
Another possible result will be increased pressure on the
Congress by industry and insurance groups seeking Federal
laws prohibiting States from adopting laws requiring certain
types of health insurance. During the Supreme Court pro­
ceedings, one industry group presented a friend-of-the-court
brief contending that companies operating in a number of
States are hit with unwarranted costs resulting from the need
to vary their insurance plans from State to State. In another
brief, the a f l - cio advocated abolition of such variations
in insurance plans, contending that it makes collective bar­
gaining “ more . . . difficult.”
Q

51

Book Reviews

Hardship and help in the 1930’s
A History o f the American Worker, 1933-1941: A Caring
Society— The New Deal, the Worker, and the Great
Depression. By Irving Bernstein. Boston, Houghton
Mifflin Co., 1985. 338 pp. $22.95.
During the summer of 1932, when I was young and look­
ing for work, I had lunch one day with J. B. S. Hardman,
editor of Advance, the journal of the Amalgamated Clothing
Workers. At one point, I said something to the effect that
the volume of unemployment was so great that a social
explosion was inevitable. Hardman, a wise man, realized
that I was thinking in terms of barricades and banners in
the streets. He replied, “ Don’t forget that at least threefourths of the workers still have jobs.”
We did avoid the barricades during the traumatic 1930’s.
The American economy, even during the Great Depression,
had an underlying vitality. But the price of its survival was
profound institutional and social change, including a large
expansion in trade union organization, changes in the struc­
ture and outlook of the union movement, large and diverse
Federal relief programs, the creation of a body of protective
labor and social legislation, and a long-lasting political re­
alignment.
A Caring Society is the final volume of Professor Irving
Bernstein’s trilogy on the history of the American worker
during the years 1920 to 1941. The Lean Years covered the
period 1920 to 1933 and dealt with labor conditions and
industrial relations law; the decline in trade union organi­
zation during the sharp but short-lived depression following
World War I and its failure, for both internal and external
reasons, to grow during the subsequent years of prosperity;
and the devastating effects of the Great Depression begin­
ning toward the end of 1929. Turbulent Years covered the
tremendous upsurge of labor militancy during the partial
recovery in economic activity between 1933 and 1941; the
emergence through legislation of a national policy on col­
lective bargaining; the extension of trade union organization
to many strategic sectors of the economy; and the split in
the labor movement that was to last for two decades. A
Caring Society also deals with the 1933 to 1941 period. Its
focus is on the temporary measures devised for unemploy­
ment relief; the passage of national social security and labor

52

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standards legislation; and the increased awareness of the
worker in literature and the arts.
When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inau­
gurated in 1933, the unemployment rate had reached about
25 percent. Relief for the poor and jobless far exceeded the
capacity of private agencies and State and local govern­
ments. The problem was attacked by the new Federal ad­
ministration in a series of measures providing for direct relief
payments, increased employment on public works, and,
specifically for young people, employment in an imaginative
project for the conservation of natural resources and on work
programs to enable students from relatively low income
families to further their education. These measures contrib­
uted to the partial recovery in economic activity after 1933,
and served to ease the human tragedy associated with the
Great Depression. But even by 1940, when our defense
program got under way, unemployment exceeded 14 percent
of the labor force.
Added to the New Deal emergency legislation for un­
employment relief were other measures that laid the foun­
dation, as Bernstein notes, of the American version of the
welfare state. These principally were the Social Security
Act (1935), which provided for a measure of protection
against old-age dependency and involuntary unemployment
through social insurance, and for several categorical public
assistance programs, and the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938),
which established minimum wage, maximum hour, and child
labor standards for workers in industries engaged in com­
merce or in the production of goods for commerce.
The third major piece of New Deal legislation affecting
the status of workers, the National Labor Relations Act
(1935), was considered by Bernstein in the second volume
of his trilogy. That act guaranteed workers the right to join
unions of their own choosing and placed a duty upon em­
ployers to bargain collectively. It was designed to minimize
conflict over the issue of union recognition and also to
correct the perceived inequality of power between workers
and employers in the labor market.
There was inevitably a substantial measure of improv­
isation in the development and enactment of the body of
social legislation that marks the New Deal period. There
were conflicts of policy and personalities within the Ad­
ministration, congressional and constituency interests that

required conciliation, and constitutional hurdles to over­
come. Although there is little that is really new in his account
of this complicated process, Bernstein paints a clear and
evocative picture of the development and implementation
of Federal social legislation during this extraordinary period
in our history.
The failure of the economy to recover fully from the Great
Depression until the defense and war period, and particularly
for the sharp slump that occurred in 1937 and 1938, was
due, in Bernstein’s view, to the failure of the Administration
to fully accept Keynesian ideas on fiscal and monetary policy
in relation to output and employment. John Maynard Keynes
did communicate with President Roosevelt, and there was
a personal meeting between them in 1934. But it was not
until 1936 when The General Theory o f Employment, In­
terest, and Money was published that Keynes’ views were
fully elaborated and began to penetrate academic and Fed­
eral Administration circles. Moreover, there are other keys
to the midterm slump, including the rapid rise in labor costs
during 1937.
Approximately one-fourth of A Caring Society is devoted
to the effect of the depression as reflected in literature, art,
photography, and song. There was graphic portrayal in nu­
merous novels, plays of workers and working conditions,
the impact of joblessness, and union organizing struggles.
Bernstein presents brief synopses of many of these works,
some of which have enduring literary merit. Except for a
brief reference to Daniel Aaron’s Writers on the Left, he
does not deal with the idealogical currents in the literary
life of the period. On another level, the folk ballad, which
had deep indigenous roots among workers in some ethnic
groups and in some industries, also flourished during the
1930’s. In painting, a strong tendency toward social realism
developed, and documentary photography, although not new,
expanded during the Great Depression and provided an in­
delible record of its social consequences.
A Caring Society properly focuses attention on the vast
human tragedy of the mass unemployment of the depression
years, and on the Federal legislative response beginning in
1933. It deals only marginally with the experience of the
employed sector of the labor force during this period. But
it was the dimensions of the unemployment problem that
resulted in the rapid creation of the basic institutions of a
welfare state. Had the emergency not occurred, these in­
stitutions, in an increasingly complex and urbanized society,
undoubtedly would have emerged, but more slowly and
perhaps in a somewhat different form.
Professor Bernstein should feel a great sense of accom­
plishment in the completion of this trilogy on the history of
the American worker over two decades as dissimilar as the
1920’s and 1930’s. All of those interested in industrial re­
lations and labor economics should feel indebted to him.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

— H. M.

D

outy

Washington, DC.

A key to labor market research
The National Longitudinal Surveys o f Labor Market Ex­
perience: An Annotated Bibliography o f Research.
By Kezia V. Sproat, Helene Churchill, Carol Sheets.
Lexington, ma , D. C. Heath and Co., Lexington Books,
1985. 429 pp. $40.
This is an annotated bibliography of close to 900 studies
based on data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of
Labor Market Experience. The surveys, initiated in the mid1960’s, and funded primarily by the U.S. Department of
Labor, provide major employment-related information on
nationally representative samples of five cohorts of the pop­
ulation, comprising 33,000 individuals: young men age 14
to 24 in 1966, who were interviewed periodically through
1981; men age 45 to 59, interviewed through 1983: women
age 14 to 24 and 30 to 44, still being interviewed; and young
men and women age 14 to 21 who were first interviewed
in 1979 and continue to be interviewed. The cohorts were
chosen to represent subsets of the population at critical tran­
sition stages of working life, namely, youth who are recent
entrants to the work force, women who are likely to be
reentering the work force, and men in their preretirement
and retirement years.
As seen in the bibliography, the topics examined have
been many and diverse. They include not only the “ ex­
pected” issues for analysis such as long term unemploy­
ment, labor market effects of education and training, and
male-female earnings differentials, but also research sub­
jects such as health, family well-being, fertility, delin­
quency, collective bargaining, and job search.
The indexes in the bibliography include a list of titles and
topic descriptors, as well as a list of studies arranged by
cohort. This makes it convenient for the reader to look up
those subject areas in which he or she has a particular in­
terest. The list of topic descriptors, however, could have
been better chosen. As the authors note in the preface,
“ Because the descriptors were generated by a number of
abstractors working independently of each other, it is ad­
visable to look also at Index b [the list of titles] if one wants
to do a reasonably thorough literature review on any par­
ticular subject.”
On the whole, the summaries of the studies provide clear
descriptions of the purpose of the research and major find­
ings. Still, in some cases, the hypotheses or the findings
are not mentioned, and in some summaries, which describe
the methodology of the research, the descriptions are dif­
ficult for the reader to understand.
Notwithstanding these concerns, this bibliography should
be highly useful to researchers in the employment and train­
ing field. It has been long needed.
— Ellen S ehgal

Office of Employment and
Unemployment Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
53

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Book Reviews

Publications received
A griculture and natural resources
Putterman, Louis and Marie DeGiorgio, “ Choice and Efficiency
in a Model of Democratic Semi-Collective Agriculture,’’ Ox­
fo rd Economic Papers, March 1985, pp. 1-21.
Thomas, Robert J., Citizenship, Gender, and Work: Social Or­
ganization o f Industrial Agriculture. Berkeley, University of
California Press, 1985, 260 pp. $24.95.

Hill, Herbert, Race and Ethnicity in Organized Labor: The H is­
torical Sources o f Resistance to Affirmative Action. Reprinted
from The Journal of Intergroup Relations, Winter 1984, pp. 5 50. Madison, University of Wisconsin, Industrial Relations
Research Institute, 1985. (Reprint No. 261.) $1.50, paper.
Loney, Timothy J ., ‘ ‘The Formal Discussion Requirement in Fed­
eral Labor Relations— A Reassessment,” Review o f Public
Personnel Administration, Spring 1985, pp. 4 9 -5 5 .

E conom ic and social statistics

Martin, James E., “ Employee Characteristics and Representation
Election Outcomes,” Industrial and Labor Relations R eview ,
April 1985, pp. 365-76.

Bouvier, Leon F. and Anthony J. Agresta, “ The Fastest Growing
Minority,” American Demographics, May 1985, beginning
on p. 30.

National Academy Press, Office Workstations in the Home. Wash­
ington, National Academy Press, 1985, 160 pp. $13.95, pa­
per.

Buck, Andrew J., “ An Empirical Note on the Foundations of
Rational Expectations,” Journal o f Keynesian Economics,
Spring 1985, pp. 3 11-23.

Reisman, Barbara and Lance Compa, “ The Case for Adversarial
Unions,” Harvard Business Review, May-June 1985, be­
ginning on p. 22.

Kasprzyk, Daniel and Delma Frankel, comps., Survey o f Income
and Program Participation and Related Longitudinal Sur­
veys: 1984. (Selected Papers Given at the 1984 Annual Meet­
ing o f the A m erican Statistical A sso cia tio n , H eld in
Philadelphia, p a , Aug. 13-16, 1984.) Washington, U.S. De­
partment of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Population
Division, 1985, 201 pp.

Saltzman, Gregory M ., “ Bargaining Laws as a Cause and Con­
sequence of the Growth of Teacher Unionism,” Industrial
and Labor Relations R eview , April 1985, pp. 3 35-51.

Kodde, David A. and Jozef M. M. Ritzen, “ Integrating Con­
sumption and Investment Motives in a Neoclassical Model
of Demand for Education,” Kyklos, Vol. 37, 1984, Fasc. 4,
pp. 598-608.
Quandt, Richard E., Is There Chronic Excess Supply o f Labor?:
Designing a Statistical Test. Cambridge, m a , National Bureau
of Economic Research, Inc., 1985, 11 pp. ( n b e r Technical
Working Paper Series, 46.) $2, paper.
Robey, Bryant, “ America’s Asians,” American Demographics,
May 1985, pp. 2 2 -2 9 .

Zack, Arnold M ., Public Sector Mediation. Washington, The Bu­
reau of National Affairs, Inc., 1985, 199 pp. $20, paper.

Industry and governm ent organization
Adkins, Lynn, “ After Deregulation: Railroads Learn to Com­
pete,” Dun’s Business Month, May 1985, pp. 7 8 -8 1.
Dyack, Brenda J., Western Canada’s Coal Industry: Status and
Potential. Ottawa, Ontario, Economic Council o f Canada,
1985, 91 pp. (Discussion Paper, 278).
National Center for Employee Ownership, Employee Ownership
and Corporate Growth in High Technology. Arlington, v a ,
National Center for Employee Ownership, 1985, 25 pp. $5,
members; $8, nonmembers, paper.

International econom ics
Econom ic grow th and developm ent
Brockway, George P., Economics: What Went Wrong, and Why,
and Some Things to Do About It. New York, Harper & Row,
Publishers, Inc., 1985, 224 pp. $18.50.
Johnson, Omotunde E. G ., “ On Growth and Inflation in Devel­
oping Countries, ’ ’ International Monetary Fund Staff Papers,
December 1984, pp. 6 36-60.
Tarascio, Vincent J., “ Keynes, Population, and Equity Prices,”
Journal o f Post Keynesian Economics, Spring 1985, pp. 3 0 3 -

10.
Veeman, Terrence S., Water and Economic Growth in Western
Canada. Ottawa, Ontario, Economic Council of Canada, 1985,
95 pp. (Discussion Paper, 279.).

Industrial relations
Aronson, Robert L., “ Unionism Among Professional Employees
in the Private Sector,” Industrial and Labor Relations Re­
view, April 1985, pp. 352-64.

Baldwin, John R. and Paul K. Górecki, The Determinants o f the
Canadian Tariff Structure Before and After the Kennedy Round:
1966, 1970. Ottawa, Ontario, Economic Council of Canada,
1985, 69 pp. (Discussion Paper, 280.)
Boughton, James M ., “ Exchange Rate Movements and Adjust­
ments in Financial Markets: Quarterly Estimates for Major
Currencies, ’ ’ International Monetary Fund Staff Papers, Sep­
tember 1984, pp. 4 4 5 -6 8 .
Eken, Sena, “ Integration of Domestic and International Financial
Markets: The Japanese Experience,” International Monetary
Fund Staff Papers, September 1984, pp. 499-548.
Kirmani, Naheed, Pierluigi Molajoni, Thomas Mayer, “ Effects
of Increased Market Access of Exports on Developing Coun­
tries,” International Monetary Fund Staff Papers, December
1984, pp. 6 61-84.
Kohli, Ulrich, “ Terms o f Trade and Welfare: Estimates,” Kyklos,
Vol. 37, 1984, Fasc 4, pp. 5 77-97.

Brown, Clair, “ An Institutional Model of W ives’ Work D eci­
sions,” Industrial Relations, Spring 1985, pp. 182-204.

Kotlikoff, Laurence J., “ Economic Impact of Deficit Financing,”
International Monetary Fund Staff Papers, September 1984,
pp. 5 49-82.

Dickens, William T. and Jonathan S. Leonard, “ Accounting for
the Decline in Union Membership, 1 9 5 0 -1980,” Industrial
and Labor Relations Review, April 1985, pp. 3 23-34.

Kumar, Manmohan S ., “ International Trade and Industrial Con­
centration,” Oxford Economic Papers, March 1985, pp. 125—
33.

Feuille, Peter, John Thomas Delaney, Wallace Hendricks, “ The
Impact of Interest Arbitration on Police Contracts, ’ ’ Industrial
Relations, Spring 1985, pp. 161-81.

Lipschitz, Leslie, “ Domestic Credit and Exchange Rates in De­
veloping Countries,” International Monetary Fund Staff P a­
pers, December 1984, pp. 595-635.

54

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Montiel, Peter, “ Credit and Fiscal Policies on a ‘Global Mone­
tarist’ Model o f the Balance of Payments,’’ International
Monetary Fund Staff Papers, December 1984, pp. 685-708.
Spencer, Grant H ., “ The World Trade Model: Revised Esti­
mates,” International Monetary Fund Staff Papers, Septem­
ber 1984, pp. 46 9 -9 8 .
Stockman, Alan C. and Lars E. O. Svensson, Capital Flows,
Investment, and Exchange Rates. Cambridge, m a , National
Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1985, 48 pp. ( nb er
Working Paper Series, 1598.) $2, paper.
Webber, Alan M ., “ Globalization and Its Discontents,” Harvard
Business Review, May—June 1985, beginning on p.38.

Michelson, William, From Sun to Sun: Daily Obligations and
Community Structure in the Lives o f Employed Women and
Their Families. Totowa, n j , Rowman & Allanheld, Publish­
ers, 1985, 208 pp. $28.95.
National Commission for Employment Policy, Older Worker Em­
ployment Comes o f Age: Practice and Potential. Washington,
National Commission for Employment Policy, 1985, 94 pp.
Schill, William J., Rosemarie McCartin, Katrina Meyer, “ Youth
Employment: Its Relationship to Academic and Family Var­
iables,” Journal of Vocational Behavior, April 1985, pp. 15563.

L abor and econom ic history

U .S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Geographic Profile o f Employ­
ment and Unemployment, 1984. Washington, 1985, 149 pp.
(Bulletin 2234.) Stock No. 0 2 9 -0 0 1 -0 2 8 4 7 -4 . $6, Super­
intendent of Documents, Washington 20402.

Bernstein, Irving, A History o f the American Worker, 1933-1941:
A Caring Society— The New Deal, the Worker, and the Great
Depression. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1985, 338 pp.
$22.95.

W eiss, Andrew, High School Graduation, Performance and
Earnings. Cambridge, m a , National Bureau of Economic Re­
search, Inc., 1985, 50 pp. ( nber Working Paper Series, 1598.)
$2, paper.

Lerab, Daniel J ., ed ., The Labor History Reader. Champaign, il ,
University of Illinois Press, 1985, 470 pp. $29.95, cloth;
$12.50, paper.

Yamada, Tadashi and Tetsuji Yamada, Part-Time Work Vj : FullTime Work o f M arried Women in Japan. Cambridge, m a ,
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1985, 21 pp.
( n b e r Working Paper Series, 1608.) $2, paper.

Ross, Steven J ., Workers on the Edge: Work, Leisure, and Politics
in Industrializing Cincinnati, 1788-1890. New York, Co­
lumbia University Press, 1985, 406 pp., bibliography. $35.
“ South America, 1985,” Current History, February 1985, pp. 4 9 80.
“ Southeast A sia,” Current History, December 1984, pp. 4 0 1 38.
“ The People’s Republic of China, 1984,” Current H istory, Sep­
tember 1984, pp. 241-71.

Yanowitch, Murray, Work in the Soviet Union: Attitudes and Is­
sues. Armonk, n y , M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 1985, 196 pp., bib­
liography. $25.

M anagem ent and organization theory
Dickinson, Daniel, It’s Their Business Too: A M anager’s Guide
to Employee Awareness. New York, American Management
Association, 1985, 88 pp. $7.50, members; $10, nonmem­
bers, paper.

L abor force

Drucker, Peter F., “ The Discipline of Innovation,” Harvard
Business Review, May-June 1985, pp. 6 1 -1 2 .

Bolle, Michael and Christoph F. Büchtmann, “ Young People
Without a Future? Employment Prospects for Young People
in the European Community,” Vocational Training, Decem­
ber 1984, pp. 1 -7.

Eppen, G. D. and F. J. Gould, Quantitative Concepts fo r Man­
agement: Decision Making Without Algorithms. 2d ed. En­
glewood Cliffs, n j , Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1985, 694 pp. $31.95.

Biitchtmann, Christoph F. and Ulrich Brasche, Recurrent Un­
employment Longitudinal Evidence fo r the Federal Republic
o f Germany. West Berlin, Germany, Deutsches Institut Für
Wirtschaftsforschung, 1985, 75 pp.

M onetary and fiscal policy

Duggan, Paula and Virginia Mayer, The New American Unem­
ployment: Appropriate Government Responses to Structural
Dislocation. Washington, Northeast-Midwest Institute, The
Center for Regional Policy, 1985, 60 pp. $7.50, paper.

Prescott, James and Tim R. Smith, “ The Use o f Severance Taxes
in Tenth District Sales,” Economic Review, Federal Reserve
Bank of Kansas City, April 1985, pp. 3 -1 6 .

Economic Council o f Canada, Towards Equity: Proceedings o f a
Colloquium on the Economic Status o f Women in the Labour
Market, November 1984. Ottawa, Economic Council of Can­
ada, 1985, 196 pp. $9.95, Canada; $11.95, other countries.

Prices and living conditions

Great Britain, Department o f Employment, “ Employment— the
Challenge for the Nation,” Employment Gazette, April 1985,
pp. 137-42.

DeVries, Peter and Andrew Baldwin, ‘‘Impact of Different Homeownership Methodologies on Consumer Price Index Behav­
iour Between Canada and the United States,” Canadian
Statistical Review, April 1985, pp. V I-X V .

Hashan, Abrar and Patrice de Broucher, Unemployment, Em­
ployment, and Non-Participation in Canadian Labour M ar­
kets. Ottawa, Ontario, Economic Council of Canada, 1985,
116 pp., bibliography. $8.95, Canada; $10.75, other coun­
tries, paper.
Lewin-Epstein, Noah, “ Neighborhoods, Local Labor Markets,
and Employment Opportunities for White and Nonwhite
Youth,” Social Science Quarterly, March 1985, pp. 163—
71.


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Aaron, Henry J. and Harvey Galper, Assessing Tax Reform.
Washington, The Brookings Institution, 1985, 145 pp. $22.95,
cloth; $8.95, paper.

Cukierman, Alex, Inflation, Stagflation, Relative Prices, and Im­
perfect Information. New York, Cambridge University Press,
1984, 202 pp. $32.50.

Lindberg, Leon N. and Charles S. Maier, eds., The Politics of
Inflation and Economic Stagnation: Theoretical Approaches
and International Case Studies. Washington, The Brookings
Institution, 1985, 612 pp. $38.95, cloth; $18.95, paper.

W ages and com pensation
Bell, Linda A. and Richard B. Freeman, Does a Flexible Industry
Wage Structure Increase Employment?: The U.S. Experience.
55

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Book Reviews
Cambridge, m a , National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.,
1985, 34 pp. (n b e r Working Paper Series, 1604.) $2, paper.
Buchele, Robert and Mark Aldrich, “ How Much Difference Would
Comparable Worth Make?” Industrial Relations, Spring 1985
pp. 222-33.
Employee Benefit Research Institute, “ ebri Survey on Flexible
Benefit Plans,” e b r i Issue Brief, June 1985, 11 pp. Wash­
ington, 1985. $10, paper.
Filer, Randall K ., “ Male-Female Wage Differences: The Im­
portance o f Compensating Differentials,” Industrial and La­
bor Relations R eview , April 1985, pp. 42 6 -3 7 .
Great Britain, Department of Employment, Pay and Employment
in Four Retail Trades. By Christine Craig and Frank Wilk­
inson. London, Department of Employment, 1985, 104 pp.
(Research Paper 51.)

Larson. Washington, 1985, 78 pp. (Bulletin 2227.) Stock No.
0 2 9 -0 0 1 -0 2 8 4 0 -7 . $3.25, Superintendent o f Documents,
Washington 20402.

W elfare program s and social insurance
Feldstein, Martin, Should Private Pensions Be Indexed? Reprinted
from Financial Aspects o f the U.S. Pension System, edited
by Zvi Bodie and John B. Shoven, pp. 21 1 -3 0 . Cambridge,
m a , National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1985. ( n b er
Reprint Series, 592.) $2, paper.
Maxwell, Nan L., “ The Retirement Experience: Psychological
and Financial Linkages to the Labor Market,” Social Science
Quarterly, March 1985, pp. 2 2 -3 3 .

Gustman, Alan L. and Thomas L. Steinmeier, “ The Effect of
Partial Retirement on the Wage Profiles of Older Workers,”
Industrial Relations, Spring 1985, pp. 257-65.

Mesa—Lago, Carmelo, ed., The Crisis o f Social Security and Health
Care: Latin American Experiences and Lessons. Pittsburgh,
p a , University of Pittsburgh, Center for Latin American Stud­
ies, University Center for International Studies, 1985, 365 pp.
$9.50, paper.

Hartmann, Heidi I., ed., Comparable Worth: New Directions fo r
Research. Washington, National Academy Press, 1985,178 pp.
$14.50, U .S ., Canada, and Mexico; $17.50, export.

Wolfe, Barbara L. and others, “ Income Transfers and Work Ef­
fort: The Netherlands and the United States in the 1970s,”
Kyklos, Vol. 37, 1984, Fasc. 4, pp. 6 09-37.

Hendricks, Wallace E. and Lawrence M. Kahn, Wage Indexation
in the United States: Cola or Uncola. Cambridge, m a , Bal­
linger Publishing C o., 1985, 254 pp.
Mitchell, Daniel J. B ., “ Wage Flexibility: Then and N o w ,” In­
dustrial Relations, Spring 1985, pp. 2 66-79.
Ralston, David A. and Michael F. Flanagan, “ The Effect of Flex­
itime on Absenteeism and Turnover for Male and Female
Employees,” Journal o f Vocational Behavior, April 1985,
pp. 206-17.
Sape, George P., “ Coping with Comparable Worth,” Harvard
Business Review, May-June 1985, pp. 145-52.
U .S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Industry Wage Survey: Hotels
and Motels, July—September 1983. Prepared by David G.

56

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W orker training and developm ent
Ford, J. Kevin and Steven P. Wroten, “ Introducing New Methods
for Conducting Training Evaluation and for Linking Training
Evaluation to Program Redesign,” Personnel Psychology,
Winter 1984, pp. 65 1 -6 5 .
Lester, Brenda, A Practitioner’s Guide fo r Training Older Work­
ers. Washington, National Commission for Employment Pol­
icy, 1985, 213 pp.
U.S. Bureau o f Labor Statistics, How Workers Get Their Train­
ing. Prepared by Max Carey and Alan Eck. Washington,
1985, 59 pp. (Stock No. 0 2 9 -0 0 1 -0 2 8 3 4 -2 ). $2.75. Su­
perintendent o f Documents, Washington 20402.

Current
Labor Statistics
Notes on Current Labor Statistics......................................................................................................................................................

58

Schedule of release dates for major BLS statistical series ...........................................................................................

58

Employment data from household survey. Definitions and notes

59

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Employment status of the noninstitutional population, 16 years and over, selected years, 1950-84 ................................
Employment status of the population, including Armed Forces in the United States, by sex, seasonally adjusted . . . .
Employment status of the civilian population, by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, seasonally adjusted ..................
Selected employment indicators, seasonally ad ju sted ......................................................................................................................
Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally ad ju sted ..................................................................................................................
Unemployment rates, by sex and age, seasonally adjusted ...........................................................................................................
Unemployed persons, by reason for unemployment, seasonally a d ju sted ..................................................................................
Duration of unemployment, seasonally ad ju sted ...............................................................................................................................

Employment, hours, and earnings data from establishment surveys. Definitions and notes

59
60
61
62
62
63
63
63

...
Employment, by industry, selected years, 1950-84 ........................................................................................................................
Employment, by State .............................................................................................................................................................................
Employment, by industry, seasonally a d ju sted ..................................................................................................................................
Average hours and earnings, by industry, 1968-84 ........................................................................................................................
Average weekly hours, by industry, seasonally adjusted ...............................................................................................................
Average hourly earnings, by industry .................................................................................................................................................
Hourly Earnings Index, by industry......................................................................................................................................................
Average weekly earnings, by industry.................................................................................................................................................
Indexes of diffusion: industries in which employment increased, seasonally a d ju sted ...........................................................

64
65
65
66
67
68
69
69
70
70

Unemployment insurance data. Definitions.................................................................................
....................................................................................................

71
71

........................................................................................................................................................
Consumer Price Index, 1967-84 ...........................................................................................................................................................
Consumer Price Index, U .S. city average, general summary and selected i t e m s ....................................................................
Consumer Price Index, cross-classification of region and population size c l a s s .......................................................................
Consumer Price Index, selected areas ..................................................................................................................................................
Producer Price Indexes, by stage of processing ...............................................................................................................................
Producer Price Indexes, by commodity groupings ...........................................................................................................................
Producer Price Indexes, by special commodity gro u p in g s.............................................................................................................
Producer Price Indexes, by durability of product .............................................................................................................................
Producer Price Indexes for the output of selected SIC industries ................................................................................................

72
73
73
79
80
81
82
84
84
85

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.

18. Unemployment insurance and employment service operations

Price data. Definitions and notes
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.

Productivity data. Definitions and notes
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.

......................................................................................................................................
Annual indexes of multifactor productivity and related measures, selected years, 1950-83 .................................................
Annual indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices,selected years, 1950-84 ............................
Annual changes in productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices, 1974-84 ....................................................
Quarterly indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices, seasonally adjusted ..............................
Percent change from preceding quarter and year in productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs,and p r ic e s..............

Wage and compensation data. Definitions and notes
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.

......................................................................................................
Employment Cost Index, by occupation and industry group .........................................................................................................
Employment Cost Index, wages and salaries, by occupation and industry group ..................................................................
Employment Cost Index, private nonfarm workers, by bargaining status, region, and area size .......................................
Wage and compensation change, major collective bargaining settlements, 1980 to d a te .......................................................
Effective wage adjustments in collective bargaining units covering 1,000 workers or more, 1980to date ....................

Work stoppage data. Definition

...........................................................................................................................................................
38. Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more, 1947 to date ...............................................................................................


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86
87
87
88
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
94
95
95

NOTES ON CURRENT LABOR STATISTICS

This section of the Review presents the principal statistical series
collected and calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A brief
introduction to each group of tables provides definitions, notes on
the data, sources, and other material usually found in footnotes.
Readers who need additional information are invited to consult
the bls regional offices listed on the inside front cover of this issue
of the Review. Some general notes applicable to several series are
given below.
S ea so n a l a d ju stm e n t. Certain monthly and quarterly data are adjusted to
eliminate the effect o f such factors as climatic conditions, industry pro­
duction schedules, opening and closing of schools, holiday buying periods,
and vacation practices, which might otherwise mask short-term movements
o f the statistical series. Tables containing these data are identified as “ sea­
sonally adjusted.” Seasonal effects are estimated on the basis of past
experience. When new seasonal factors are computed each year, revisions
may affect seasonally adjusted data for several preceding years.
Seasonally adjusted labor force data in tables 3 - 8 were revised in the
February 1985 issue o f the Review, to reflect experience through 1984.
Beginning in January 1980, the b ls introduced two major modifications
in the seasonal adjustment methodology for labor force data. First, the
data are being seasonally adjusted with a new procedure called X —11/
a r i m a , which was developed at Statistics Canada as an extension of the
standard X - l l method. A detailed description of the procedure appears
in The X - l l a r im a Seasonal Adjustment Method by Estela Bee Dagum
(Statistics Canada Catalogue No. 12-564E , January 1983). The second
change is that seasonal factors are now being calculated for use during the
first 6 months o f the year, rather than for the entire year, and then are
calculated at mid-year for the July-Decem ber period. Revisions of his­
torical data continue to be made only at the end of each calendar year.
Annual revision o f the seasonally adjusted payroll data shown in tables
11, 13, 15, and 17 were made in July 1985 using the X - l l a r im a seasonal
adjustment methodology. New seasonal factors for productivity data in
tables 29 and 30 are usually introduced in the September issue. Seasonally
adjusted indexes and percent changes from month to month and from
quarter to quarter are published for numerous Consumer and Producer

Price Index series. However, seasonally adjusted indexes are not published
for the U.S. average All Items c p i . Only seasonally adjusted percent changes
are available for this series.
A d ju stm en ts for p rice ch a n g e s. Some data are adjusted to eliminate the
effect of changes in price. These adjustments are made by dividing current
dollar values by the Consumer Price Index or the appropriate component
of the index, then multiplying by 100. For example, given a current hourly
wage rate of $3 and a current price index number of 150, where 1967 = 100,
the hourly rate expressed in 1967 dollars is $2 ($3/150 X 100 = $2). The
resulting values are described as “ real,” “ constant,” or “ 1967” dollars.
A v a ila b ility o f in fo r m a tio n . Data that supplement the tables in this section

are published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in a variety o f sources.
Press releases provide the latest statistical information published by the
Bureau; the major recurring releases are published according to the schedule
given below. More information from household and establishment surveys
is provided in Employment and Earnings, a monthly publication o f the
Bureau. Comparable household information is published in a two-volume
data book— Labor Force Statistics D erived From the Current Population
Survey, Bulletin 2096. Comparable establishment information appears in
two data books— Employment, Hours, and Earnings, United States, and
Employment, Hours, and Earnings, States and Areas, and their annual
supplements. More detailed information on wages and other aspects of
collective bargaining appears in the monthly periodical, Current Wage
Developments. More detailed price information is published each month
in the periodicals, the c p i D etailed Report and Producer P rices and Price
Indexes.

Symbols
p = preliminary. To improve the timeliness of some series, pre­
liminary figures are issued based on representative but in­
complete returns.
r = revised. Generally, this revision reflects the availability of
later data but may also reflect other adjustments,
n.e.c. = not elsewhere classified.

Schedule of release dates for BLS statistical series
R elease
date

Period
covered

Export and Import Price Indexes ...........

August 1

2nd quarter

R elease
date

Period
covered

R elease
date

Period
covered

October 4

September

1-11

M LR table
num ber

Employment situation .......................

August 2

July

September 6

August

Producer Price Index .......................

August 9

July

September 13

August

October 11

September

23-27

Consumer Price Index.......................

August 22

July

September 24

August

October 23

September

19-22

Real earnings.................................

August 22

July

September 24

August

October 23

September

12-16

Productivity and costs:
Nonfinancial corporations.................

August 27

2nd quarter
October 28

3rd quarter

29-32

October 29

3rd quarter

33-35

Nonfarmbusiness and manufacturing . . .
Major collective bargaining settlements . . . .
Employment Cost Index.....................

58

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EMPLOYMENT DATA FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY

d a t a in this section are obtained from the Current
Population Survey, a program of personal interviews conducted
monthly by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau o f Labor
Statistics. The sample consists of about 59,500 households selected
to represent the U.S population 16 years of age and older. House­
holds are interviewed on a rotating basis, so that three-fourths of
the sample is the same for any 2 consecutive months.

Em ploym ent

Definitions
E m p lo y ed p erso n s include (1) all civilians who worked for pay any
time during the week which includes the 12th day of the month or who
worked unpaid for 15 hours or more in a family-operated enterprise and
(2) those who were temporarily absent from their regular jobs because of
illness, vacation, industrial dispute, or similar reasons. Members of the
Armed Forces stationed in the United States are also included in the em­
ployed total. A person working at more than one job is counted only in
the job at which he or she worked the greatest number of hours.
U n em p lo y e d p erso n s are those who did not work during the survey

week, but were available for work except for temporary illness and had
looked for jobs within the preceding 4 weeks. Persons who did not look
for work because they were on layolf or waiting to start new jobs within
the next 30 days are also counted among the unemployed. The overall
u n e m p lo y m e n t rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of
the labor force, including the resident Armed Forces. The u n em p lo y m en t

1.

rate for all civilian workers represents the number unemployed as a percent
of the civilian labor force.
The la b o r fo rce consists of all employed or unemployed civilians plus
members of the Armed Forces stationed in the United States. Persons not
in th e lab or force are those not classified as employed or unemployed;
this group includes persons who are retired, those engaged in their own
housework, those not working while attending school, those unable to
work because of long-term illness, those discouraged from seeking work
because of personal or job market factors, and those who are voluntarily
idle. The n o n in stitu tio n a l p op u la tio n comprises all persons 16 years of
age and older who are not inmates of penal or mental institutions, sani­
tariums, or homes for the aged, infirm, or needy, and members o f the
Armed Forces stationed in the United States. The la b o r force p a rticip ation
rate is the proportion of the noninstitutional population that is in the labor
force. The em p lo y m en t-p o p u la tio n ratio is total employment (including
the resident Armed Forces) as a percent of the noninstitutional population.

Notes on the data
From time to time, and especially after a decennial census, adjustments
are made in the Current Population Survey figures to correct for estimating
errors during the preceding years. These adjustments affect the compara­
bility of historical data presented in table 1. A description of these ad­
justments and their effect on the various data series appear in the Explanatory
Notes of E m p lo y m e n t a n d E a r n in g s .
Data in tables 2 - 8 are seasonally adjusted, based on the seasonal ex­
perience through December 1984.

Employment status of the noninstitutional population, 16 years and over, selected years, 1950-84

[Numbers in thousands]
Labor force
Em ployed
Year

1950
1955
1960
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984

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

N oninsti­
tutional
population

106,164
111,747
119,106
128,459
130,180
132,092
134,281
136,573
139,203
142,189
145,939
148,870
151,841
154,831
157,818
160,689
163,541
166,460
169,349
171,775
173,939
175,891
178,080


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Num ber

63,377
67,087
71,489
76,401
77,892
79,565
80,990
82,972
84,889
86,355
88,847
91,203
93,670
95,453
97,826
100,665
103,882
106,559
108,544
110,315
111,872
113,226
115,241

P ercent ot
population

59.7
60.0
60.0
59.5
59.8
60.2
60.3
60.8
61.0
60.7
60.9
61.3
61.7
61.6
62.0
62.6
63.5
64.0
64.1
64.2
64.3
64.4
64.7

Unem ployed
C ivilian

Total

60,087
64,234
67,639
73,034
75,017
76,590
78,173
80,140
80,796
81,340
83,966
86,838
88,515
87,524
90,420
93,673
97,679
100,421
100,907
102,042
101,194
102,510
106,702

P ercent of
population

R esident
Arm ed
Forces

Total

56.6
57.5
56.8
56.9
57.6
58.0
58.2
58.7
58.0
57.2
57.5
58.3
58.3
56.5
57.3
58.3
59.7
60.3
59.6
59.4
58.2
58.3
59.9

1,169
2,064
1,861
1,946
2,122
2,218
2,253
2,238
2,118
1,973
1,813
1,774
1,721
1,678
1,668
1,656
1,631
1,597
1,604
1,645
1,668
1,676
1,697

58,918
62,170
65,778
71,088
72,895
74,372
75,920
77,902
78,678
79,367
82,153
85,064
86,794
85,845
88,752
92,017
96,048
98,824
99,303
100,397
99,526
100,834
105,005

Num ber

Ag riculture

N onagricultural
industries

P ercent of
labor
force

7,160
6,450
5,458
4,361
3,979
3,844
3,817
3,606
3,463
3,394
3,484
3,470
3,515
3,408
3,331
3,283
3,387
3,347
3,364
3,368
3,401
3,383
3,321

51,758
55,722
60,318
66,726
68,915
70,527
72,103
74,296
75,215
75,972
78,669
81,594
83,279
82,438
85,421
88,734
92,661
95,477
95,938
97,030
96,125
97,450
101,685

3,288
2,852
3,852
3,366
2,875
2,975
2,817
2,832
4,093
5,016
4,882
4,355
5,156
7,929
7,406
6,991
6,202
6,137
7,637
8,273
10,578
10,717
8,539

5.2
4.3
5.4
4.4
3.7
3.7
3.5
3.4
4.8
5.8
5.5
4.8
5.5
8.3
7.6
6.9
6.0
5.8
7.0
7.5
9.5
9.5
7.4

Not in
lab or force

42,787
44,660
46,617
52,058
52,288
52,527
53,291
53,602
54,315
55,834
57,091
57,667
58,171
59,377
59,991
60,025
59,659
59,900
60,806
61,460
62,067
62,665
62,839

59

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
2.

Household Data

Employment status of the population, including Armed Forces in the United States, by sex, seasonally adjusted

[Numbers in thousands]
Annual average

1984

Em p loym ent status and sex
1983

1984

Ju n e

J u ly

Aug.

Sept.

1985
Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

June

TO TA L

Nonlnstitutional population1’2 ...............
Labor force2 ...............................
Participation rate3 .................
Total employed2 ...........................
Employment-population rate4 . . . .
Resident Armed Forces1 .............
Civilian employed.....................
Agriculture .........................
Nonagricultural industries..........
Unemployed.............................
Unemployment rate5 ...............
Not in labor force .........................

175,891
113,226
64.4
102,510
58.3
1,676
100,834
3,383
97,450
10,717
9.5
62,665

178,080
115,241
64.7
106,702
59.9
1,697
105,005
3,321
101,685
8,539
7.4
62,839

177,974
115,309
64.8
107,081
60.2
1,690
105,391
3,368
102,023
8,228
7.1
62,665

178,138
115,566
64.9
107,075
60.1
1,698
105,377
3,333
102,044
8,491
7.3
62,572

178,295
115,341
64.7
106,860
59.9
1,712
105,148
3,264
101,884
8,481
7.4
62,954

178,483
115,484
64.7
107,114
60.0
1,720
105,394
3,319
102,075
8,370
7.2
62,999

178,661
115,721
64.8
107,354
60.1
1,705
105,649
3,169
102,480
8,367
7.2
62,940

178,834
115,773
64.7
107,631
60.2
1,699
105,932
3,334
102,598
8,142
7.0
63,061

179,004
116,162
64.9
107,971
60.3
1,698
106,273
3,385
102,888
8,191
7.1
62,842

179,081
116,572
65.1
108,088
60.4
1,697
106,391
3,320
103,071
8,484
7.3
62,509

179,219
116,787
65.2
108,388
60.5
1,703
106,685
3,340
103,345
8,399
7.2
62,432

179,368
117,215
65.3
108,820
60.7
1,701
107,119
3,362
103,757
8,396
7.2
62,153

179,501
117,073
65.2
108,647
60.5
1,702
106,945
3,428
103,517
8,426
7.2
62,428

179,649
117,078
65.2
108,665
60.5
1,705
106,960
3,312
103,648
8,413
7.2
62,571

179,798
116,485
64.8
108,072
60.1
1,702
106,370
3,138
103,232
8,413
7.2
63,313

84,064
64,580
76.8
58,320
69.4
1,533
56,787
6,260
9.7

85,156
65,386
76.8
60,642
71.2
1,551
59,091
4,744
7.3

85,101
65,348
76.8
60,758
71.4
1,545
59,213
4,590
7.0

85,179
65,412
76.8
60,687
71.2
1,551
59,136
4,725
7.2

85,257
65,357
76.7
60,766
71.3
1,563
59,203
4,591
7.0

85,352
65,589
76.8
60,959
71.4
1,571
59,388
4,630
7.1

85,439
65,558
76.7
61,018
71.4
1,557
59,461
4,540
6.9

85,523
65,657
76.8
61,155
71.5
1,552
59,603
4,502
6.9

85,607
65,814
76.9
61,252
71.6
1,550
59,702
4,562
6.9

85,629
65,822
76.9
61,213
71.5
1,549
59,664
4,609
7.0

85,692
65,818
76.8
61,226
71.4
1,554
59,672
4,592
7.0

85,764
65,923
76.9
61,427
71.6
1,553
59,874
4,495
6.8

85,827
65,986
76.9
61,405
71.5
1,553
59,852
4,582
6.9

85,898
66,032
76.9
61,553
71.7
1,556
59,997
4,479
6.8

85,970
65,608
76.3
60,959
70.9
1,552
59,407
4,649
7.1

91,827
48,646
53.0
44,190
48.1
143
44,047
4,457
9.2

92,924
49,855
53.7
46,061
49.6
146
45,915
3,794
7.6

92,873
49,961
53.8
46,323
49.9
145
46,178
3,638
7.3

92,958
50,154
54.0
46,388
49.9
147
46,241
3,766
7.5

93,039
49,984
53.7
46,094
49.5
149
45,945
3,890
7.8

93,132
49,895
53.6
46,155
49.6
149
46,006
3,740
7.5

93,222
50,163
53.8
46,336
49.7
148
46,188
3,827
7.6

93,311
50,116
53.7
46,476
49.8
147
46,329
3,640
7.3

93,397
50,348
53.9
46,719
50.0
148
46,571
3,629
7.2

93,452
50,750
54.3
46,875
50.2
148
46,727
3,875
7.6

93,527
50,970
54.5
47,162
50.4
149
47,013
3,807
7.5

93,603
51,293
54.8
47,392
50.6
148
47,244
3,900
7.6

93,674
51,086
54.5
47,242
50.4
149
47,093
3,844
7.5

93,751
51,047
54.4
47,113
50.3
149
46,964
3,934
7.7

93,828
50,877
54.2
47,113
50.2
150
46,963
3,764
7.4

M en, 16 ye a rs and over

Noninstitutional population1’2 ...............
Labor force2 ...............................
Participation rate3 .................
Total employed2 .........................
Employment-population rate4 . . . .
Resident Armed Forces1 .............
Civilian employed.....................
Unemployed.............................
Unemployment rate5 ...............
W om en, 16 y e a rs and over

Noninstitutional population1'2 ...............
Labor force2 ...............................
Participation rate3 .................
Total employed2 .........................
Employment-population rate4 . . . .
Resident Armed Forces1 .............
Civilian employed.....................
Unemployed.....................
Unemployment rate5 ...............

1The population and Armed Forces figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation.
2Includes members of the Armed Forces stationed in the United States.
3Labor force as apercent of the noninstitutlonal population.

60

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

4Total employed as apercent of the nonlnstitutional population.
5Unemployment as apercent of the labor force (including the resident Armed Forces).

3.

Employment status of the civilian population by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, seasonally adjusted

[Numbers in thousands]
1984

Annual average

1985

Em p loym ent status
1983

1984

June

Ju ly

Aug.

Oct.

Sept.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

June

T O TA L

Civilian nonlnstitutlonal population1 ..........
Civilian labor force.........................
Participation rate...................
Employed ...............................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
Unemployed.............................
Unemployment rate ...............
Not In labor force .........................

174,215 176,383 176,284 176,440 176,583 176,763 176,956 177,135 177,306 177,384 177,516 177,667 177,799 177,944 178,096
111,550 113,544 113,619 113,868 113,629 113,764 114,016 114,074 114,464 114,875 115,084 115,514 115,371 115,373 114,783
64.5
64.4
64.9
64.8
64.4
64.4
64.6
64.8
64.8
65.0
64.4
64.5
64.3
64.0
64.5
100,834 105,005 105,391 105,377 105,148 105,394 105,649 105,932 106,273 106,391 106,685 107,119 106,945 106,960 106,370
59.7
60.1
60.1
59.6
59.7
59.8
59.9
60.0
60.1
60.3
59.7
59.5
57.9
59.5
59.8
8,484 8,399 8,396
8,426 8,413 8,413
8,481
8,370 8,367 8,142 8,191
10,717 8,539 8,228
8,491
7.3
7.1
7.2
7.4
7.3
7.3
7.3
7.4
7.3
7.3
7.2
7.5
7.5
9.6
7.5
62,665 62,839 62,665 62,572 62,954 62,999 62,940 63,061 62,842 62,509 62,432 62,153 62,428 62,571 63,313

M en, 20 ye a rs and over

Civilian noninstltutional population1 ..........
Civilian labor force.........................
Participation rate...................
Employed ...............................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
Agriculture.............................
Nonagrlcultural Industries ...........
Unemployed.............................
Unemployment rate ...............

74,872
58,744
78.5
53,487
71.4
2,429
51,058
5,257
8.9

76,219
59,701
78.3
55,769
73.2
2,418
53,351
3,932
6.6

76,176
59,668
78.3
55,861
73.3
2,448
53,413
3,807
6.4

76,269
59,730
78.3
55,846
73.2
2,444
53,402
3,884
6.5

76,350
59,771
78.3
55,935
73.3
2,406
53,529
3,836
6.4

76,451
59,892
78.3
56,075
78.3
2,414
53,661
3,817
6.4

76,565
59,913
78.3
56,182
73.4
2,334
53,848
3,731
6.2

76,663
59,994
78.3
56,269
73.4
2,434
53,835
3,725
6.2

76,753
60,131
78.3
56,372
73.4
2,494
53,878
3,759
6.3

76,760
60,033
78.2
56,234
73.3
2,417
53,817
3,798
6.3

76,829
60,061
78.2
56,287
73.3
2,362
53,926
3,774
6.3

76,904
60,152
78.2
56,421
73.4
2,326
54,095
3,731
6.2

76,988
60,177
78.2
56,370
73.2
2,390
53,980
3,807
6.3

77,068
60,214
78.1
56,563
73.4
2,370
54,193
3,651
6.1

77,135
60,100
77.9
56,209
72.9
2,266
53,944
3,891
6.5

84,069
44,636
53.1
41,004
48.8
620
40,384
3,632
8.1

85,429
45,900
53.7
42,793
50.1
595
42,198
3,107
6.8

85,380
45,958
53.8
42,986
50.3
611
42,375
2,972
6.5

85,488
46,131
54.0
43,001
50.3
580
42,421
3,130
6.8

85,581
46,092
53.9
42,878
50.1
573
42,305
3,214
7.0

85,688
45,950
53.6
42,906
50.1
590
42,316
3,044
6.6

85,793
46,264
53.9
43,091
50.2
569
42,522
3,173
6.9

85,897
46,279
53.9
43,252
50.4
580
42,672
3,027
6.5

85,995
46,463
54.0
43,511
50.6
595
42,916
2,952
6.4

86,015
46,771
54.4
43,610
50.7
592
43,018
3,161
6.8

86,086
46,894
54.5
43,768
50.8
614
43,153
3,126
6.7

86,181
47,193
54.8
44,014
51.1
659
43,355
3,179
6.7

86,274
47,155
54.7
43,958
51.0
651
43,307
3,197
6.8

86,380
47,077
54.5
43,846
50.8
597
43,249
3,231
6.9

86,477
47,180
54.6
44,032
50.9
558
43,474
3,148
6.7

15,274
8,171
53.5
6,342
41.5
334
6,008
1,829
22.4

14,735
7,943
53.9
6,444
43.7
309
6,135
1,499
18.9

14,728
7,993
54.3
6,544
44.4
309
6,235
1,449
18.1

14,683
8,007
54.5
6,530
44.5
309
6,221
1,477
18.4

14,653
7,766
53.0
6,335
43.2
285
6,050
1,431
18.4

14,624
7,922
54.2
6,413
43.9
315
6,098
1,509
19.0

14,598
7,839
53.7
6,376
43.7
266
6,110
1,463
18.7

14,575
7,801
53.5
6,411
44.0
320
6,091
1,390
17.8

14,557
7,870
54.1
6,390
43.9
296
6,094
1,480
18.8

14,610
8,072
55.2
6,547
44.8
311
6,236
1,525
18.9

14,600
8,129
55.7
6,630
45.4
364
6,266
1,499
18.4

14,582
8,169
56.0
6,684
45.8
377
6,307
1,485
18.2

14,538
8,039
55.3
6,617
45.5
387
6,230
1,422
17.7

14,496
8,082
55.8
6,551
45.2
345
6,206
1,531
18.9

14,483
7,502
51.8
6,128
42.3
313
5,815
1,374
18.3

W om en, 20 ye a rs and over

Civilian noninstltutional population1 ..........
Civilian labor force.........................
Participation rate...................
Employed ...............................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
Agriculture.............................
Nonagrlcultural industries ...........
Unemployed.............................
Unemployment rate ...............
Both sexe s, 16 to 19 years

Civilian nonlnstitutlonal population1 ..........
Civilian labor force.........................
Participation rate...................
Employed ...............................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
Agriculture.............................
Nonagricultural industries ...........
Unemployed.............................
Unemployment rate ...............
W hite

Civilian nonlnstitutlonal population1 ..........
Civilian labor force.........................
Participation rate...................
Employed ...............................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
Unemployed.............................
Unemployment rate ...............

150,805 152,347 152,295 152,286 152,402 152,471 152,605 152,659 152,734 153,103 153,191 153,296 153,388 153,489 153,597
97,021 98,492 98,690 98,627 98,223 98,426 98,631 98,630 99,005 99,496 99,711 100,035 99,805 99,768 99,441
64.7
65.1
65.0
64.4
64.6
64.6
64.6
64.8
65.0
65.1
65.3
64.6
64.8
64.8
64.3
88,893 92,120 92,516 92,389 91,951 92,177 92,407 92,587 92,884 93,124 93,552 93,785 93,544 93,539 92,990
60.5
60.6
60.8
60.8
6
1
.1
61.2
61.0
60.9
60.7
60.7
60.3
60.5
60.6
58.9
60.5
6,451
6,230
6,249 6,224
6,043 6,121
6,372 6,159
6,250 6,262
6,238 6,272
8,128 6,372 6,174
6.2
6.5
6.4
6.1
6.2
6.4
6.2
6.2
6.3
6.3
6.3
6.3
8.4
6.5
6.3

Black

Civilian noninstltutional population1 ..........
Civilian labor force.........................
Participation rate...................
Employed ...............................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
Unemployed.............................
Unemployment rate ...............

18,925
11,647
61.5
9,375
49.5
2,272
19.5

19,348
12,033
62.2
10,119
52.3
1,914
15.9

19,330
11,959
61.9
10,138
52.4
1,821
15.2

19,360
12,083
62.4
10,079
52.1
2,004
16.6

19,386
12,142
62.6
10,222
52.7
1,920
15.8

19,416
12,082
62.2
10,260
52.8
1,822
15.1

19,449
12,208
62.8
10,340
53.2
1,868
15.3

19,481
12,276
63.0
10,426
53.5
1,850
15.1

19,513
12,306
63.1
10,462
53.6
1,844
15.0

19,518
12,315
63.1
10,475
53.7
1,840
14.9

19,542
12,309
63.0
10,301
52.7
2,008
16.3

19,569
12,280
62.8
10,412
53.2
1,869
15.2

19,594
12,403
63.3
10,508
53.6
1,894
15.3

19,620
12,370
63.0
10,438
53.2
1,932
15.6

19,646
12,269
62.5
10,551
53.7
1,718
14.0

10,795
6,884
63.8
5,943
55.1
940
13.7

11,164
7,247
64.9
6,469
57.9
778
10.7

11,148
7,267
65.2
6,519
58.5
748
10.3

11,180
7,264
65.0
6,503
58.2
761
10.5

11,209
7,299
65.1
6,521
58.2
778
10.7

11,240
7,353
65.4
6,573
58.5
780
10.6

11,270
7,384
65.5
6,574
58.3
810
11.0

11,301
7,394
65.4
6,636
58.7
758
10.3

11,332
7,472
65.9
6,698
59.1
774
10.4

11,363
7,255
63.8
6,487
57.1
768
10.6

11,394
7,330
64.3
6,621
58.1
709
9.7

11,425
7,365
64.5
6,615
57.9
750
10.2

11,457
7,336
64.0
6,577
57.4
759
10.3

11,485
7,330
63.8
6,546
57.0
784
10.7

11,514
7,416
64.4
6,629
57.6
787
10.6

Hisp anic origin

Civilian nonlnstitutlonal population1 .........
Civilian labor force.........................
Participation rate...................
Employed ...............................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
Unemployed.............................
Unemployment rate ...............

1The population figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Civilian employment as a percent of the civilian noninstltutional population.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hlspanic-orlgln groups will not sumto totals because data for
the “other races” groups are not presented and Hlspanics are included in both the white and black
population groups.

61

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
4.

Household Data

Selected employment indicators, seasonally adjusted

[In thousands]
Annual average

1984

1985

Selected categories
1983

1984

June

J u ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

June

105,377
59,136
46,241
39,123
25,719
5,626

105,148
59,203
45,945
39,073
25,772
5,496

105,394
59,388
46,006
39,071
25,715
5,429

105,649
59,461
46,188
39,054
25,897
5,378

105,932
59,603
46,329
39,337
25,995
5,396

106,273
59,702
46,571
39,443
26,122
5,396

106,391
59,644
46,727
39,441
25,912
5,584

106,685
59,672
47,013
39,357
26,108
5,525

107,119
59,874
47,244
39,531
26,195
5,631

106,945
59,852
47,093
39,434
26,058
5,622

106,960
59,997
46,964
39,244
25,951
5,683

106,370
59,407
46,963
38,897
26,130
5,696

1,519
1,557
220

1,453
1,562
209

1,565
1,555
195

1,511
1,487
187

1,593
1,555
204

1,733
1,485
212

1,596
1,531
227

1,611
1,503
242

1,610
1,502
263

1,705
1,491
231

1,611
1,507
196

1,538
1,446
154

94,725
15,858
78,867
1,257
77,610
7,786
357

95,068
15,738
79,330
1,374
77,956
7,783
343

C H A R A C TER IS TIC

Civilian employed, 16 years and over .............
Men............................................
Women.........................................
Married men, spouse present.................
Married women, spo.use present.............
Women who maintain families ...............

100,834 105,005 105,391
56,787 59,091 59,213
44,047 45,915 46,178
37,967 39,056 39,060
24,603 25,636 25,734
5,091
5,465
5,622

M AJO R IN D U S TR Y AND CLASS O F W OR KER

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

1,579
1,565
240

1,555
1,553
213

89,500
15,537
73,963
1,247
72,716
7,575
376

93,565
15,770
77,794
1,238
76,556
7,785
335

93,845 93,768 93,680 94,140 94,415
15,713 15,639 15,758 15,881 15,997
78,132 78,129 77,922 78,259 78,418
1,297 1,238 1,199 1,198 1,213
76,835 76,891 76,723 77,061 77,205
7,815 7,744 7,807 7,752 7,782
347
318
321
318
314

94,442
15,785
78,657
1,228
77,429
7,731
357

6,266
2,833
3,099
12,911

5,744
2,430
2,948
13,169

5,831
2,326
2,984
13,090

5,759
2,373
2,832
13,248

5,582 5,690
2,371 2,461
2,743 2,943
13,210 13,144

5,710
2,514
2,879
13,126

5,623 5,814 5,628
2,449 2,596 2,431
2,855 2,873 2,848
13,142 13,239 13,355

5,997
2,684
2,993
12,417

5,512
2,291
2,866
12,704

5,549
2,160
2,911
12,621

5,482
2,214
2,756
12,786

5,384
2,254
2,675
12,747

5,483 5,413 5,596
2,364 2,319 2,473
2,821 2,782 2,793
12,679 12,670 12,778

1,578
1,566
211

95,348 95,756 95,617 95,772 95,229
16,009 16,004 15,968 15,905 15,988
79,339 79,752 79,649 79,866 79,242
1,304 1,210 1,208 1,259 1,204
78,035 78,542 78,441 78,607 78,038
7,673 7,809 7,696 7,665 7,694
340
320
304
283
292

PERSO NS A T W O R K P A R T T IM E 1

All industries:
Part time for economic reasons.................
Slack work.....................................
Could only find part-time work...............
Voluntary part time...............................
Nonagricultural industries:
Part time for economic reasons.................
Slack work.....................................
Could only find part-time work ...............
Voluntary part time...............................

5,449
2,306
2,847
12,669

5,335
2,212
2,835
13,647

5,664 5,664
2,599 2,580
2,744 2,755
13,624 13,278

5,912
2,658
2,888
12,905

5,533
2,543
2,706
13,398

5,389
2,287
2,749
12,861

5,077
2,040
2,751
13,157

5,400 5,374
2,405 2,390
2,649 2,668
13,137 12,834

5,617
2,457
2,803
12,483

5,257
2,341
2,646
12,970

1Excludes persons “with ajob but not at work" during the survey period for such reasons as vacation, illness, or Industrial disputes.

5.

Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally adjusted

[Unemployment rates]
Annual average

1984

1985

Selected categories
1983

1984

Ju n e

J u ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

Ju n e

9.6
22.4
8.9
8.1
8.4
19.3
20.2
18.3
7.9
6.9
19.5
48.5
48.8
48.2
18.1
16.5
13.7
6.5
7.0
12.2
9.5
10.4
3.8
10.9

7.5
18.9
6.6
6.8
6.5
16.0
16.8
15.2
5.7
5.8
15.9
42.7
42.7
42.6
14.3
13.5
10.7
4.6
5.7
10.3
7.2
9.3
2.4
8.6

7.2
18.1
6.4
6.5
6.3
15.8
16.6
15.1
5.4
5.6
15.2
37.1
38.2
35.8
14.6
12.6
10.5
4.6
5.7
9.8
6.7
10.0
2.3
8.4

7.5
18.4
6.5
6.8
6.3
15.2
17.4
12.9
5.5
5.8
16.6
42.3
42.3
42.2
15.5
13.8
10.7
4.5
5.8
9.8
7.2
9.6
2.3
8.5

7.5
18.4
6.4
7.0
6.4
16.0
16.7
15.4
5.5
5.9
15.8
41.3
40.5
42.2
14.1
13.8

7.3
18.7
6.2
6.9
6.3
15.9
16.6
15.2
5.4
5.8
15.3
40.2
43.8
36.2
13.4
13.4
10.3
4.5
5.7
10.4
7.1
9.1
2.2
8.4

7.1
17.8
6.2
6.5
6.1
15.1
16.2
13.9
5.4
5.5
15.1
41.2
42.0
40.2
12.8
13.5
10.4
4.4
5.4
10.8
6.9
8.6
2.1
8.2

7.2
18.8
6.3
6.4
6.2
15.9
16.2
15.5
5.4
5.5
15.0
42.1
43.8
40.1
13.3
12.7

10.6
4.5
5.8
10.3
7.1
9.6
2.3
8.5

7.4
19.0
6.4
6.6
6.3
16.3
17.0
15.5
5.5
5.7
15.1
41.9
41.0
43.0
13.5
12.6
11.0
4.6
5.7
10.1
7.1
9.3
2.3
8.5

10.6
4.4
5.4
9.6
6.9
8.8
2.1
8.3

7.4
18.9
6.3
6.8
6.4
15.8
15.9
15.8
5.5
5.9
14.9
42.1
45.3
38.5
12.7
12.8
9.7
4.6
5.7
10.0
7.1
9.3
2.0
8.2

7.3
18.4
6.3
6.7
6.2
15.2
17.0
13.4
5.4
5.6
16.3
43.1
41.1
45.3
14.4
13.9
9.7
4.4
5.4
11.0
7.1
8.7
2.1
8.2

7.3
18.2
6.2
6.7
6.2
15.1
15.2
14.9
5.4
5.9
15.2
41.9
40.9
43.1
13.3
12.9
10.2
4.2
5.9
10.2
6.9
9.6
2.1
8.2

7.3
17.7
6.3
6.8
6.3
14.9
15.3
14.3
5.5
5.8
15.3
39.0
38.5
39.5
13.6
13.2
10.3
4.3
5.9
10.8
6.9
9.7
2.1
8.2

7.3
18.9
6.1
6.9
6.2
16.1
16.8
15.3
5.2
5.9
15.6
40.4
38.4
42.5
13.6
13.7
10.7
4.0
5.8
10.9
6.8
10.3
1.9
8.3

7.3
18.3
6.5
6.7
6.5
15.9
16.7
15.1
5.8
5.8
14.0
38.1
40.7
35.2
12.2
12.3
10.6
4.6
5.9
9.8
6.8
9.9
2.0
8.2

9.9
17.0
18.4
11.2
12.1
10.0
7.4
10.0
7.2
5.3
16.0

7.4
10.0
14.3
7.5
7.2
7.8
5.5
8.0
5.9
4.5
13.5

7.0
7.5
14.6
7.3
7.2
7.5
5.3
7.3
5.5
4.2
12.3

7.4
7.7
14.6
7.5
6.9
8.5
5.9
7.8
5.9
4.5
14.3

7.4
10.2
14.1
7.4
6.9
8.1
5.9
7.7
6.0
4.4
13.1

7.3
8.6
13.9
7.4
6.9
8.1
5.9
8.0
5.6
4.5
14.7

7.2
10.5
13.7
7.3
6.9
7.8
5.3
7.9
5.7
4.4
13.7

7.2
11.7
14.2
7.2
7.0
7.4
5.2
7.6
5.8
4.3
11.2

7.2
10.7
13.7
7.2
7.1
7.2
5.0
7.5
5.9
4.4
12.2

7.3
10.1
13.4
7.6
7.2
8.1
4.9
7.7
5.9
4.1
15.5

7.3
10.9
13.4
7.5
7.1
8.2
5.5
7.7
5.7
3.9
13.6

7.2
11.0
13.3
7.7
7.4
8.1
4.6
7.5
5.7
3.9
12.2

7.3
10.9
13.3
8.0
7.8
8.3
5.4
7.3
5.7
3.7
13.1

7.2
7.3
10.2
7.8
7.8
7.7
5.2
7.9
6.2
3.9
11.5

7.4
11.1
13.7
7.7
8.0
7.4
5.3
7.7
5.8
3.8
12.1

C H A R A C TER IS TIC

Total, all civilian workers...........................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years...................
Men, 20 years and over.......................
Women, 20 years and over...................
White, total.....................................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years .............
Men, 16 to 19 years ...............
Women, 16 to 19 years ...........
Men, 20 years and over.................
Women, 20 years and over .............
Black, total.....................................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years .............
Men, 16 to 19 years ...............
Women, 16 to 19 years ...........
Men, 20 years and over.................
Women, 20 years and over .............
Hispanic origin, total...........................
Married men, spouse present.................
Married women, spouse present.............
Women who maintain families ...............
Full-time workers...............................
Part-time workers .............................
Unemployed 15 weeks and over .............
Labor force time lost1 .........................
IN D U S TR Y

Nonagricultural private wage and salary workers . .
Mining .........................................
Construction ...................................
Manufacturing .................................
Durable goods ...........................
Nondurable goods .......................
Transportation and public utilities.............
Wholesale and retail trade.....................
Finance and service Industries ...............
Government workers ...............................
Agricultural wage and salary workers .............

Aggregate hours lost by the unemployed and persons on part time for economic reasons as apercent of potentially available labor force hours.

62


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

6.

Unemployment rates by sex and age, seasonally adjusted

[Civilian workers]
1984

Annual average

1985

S ex and age
1983

1984

June

J u ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oci.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

M ar.

Apr.

M ay

June

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

9.6
17.2
22.4
24.5
21.1
14.5
7.5
8.0
5.3

7.5
13.9
18.9
21.2
17.4
11.5
5.8
6.1
4.5

7.2
13.2
18.1
20.1
16.8
10.8
5.7
5.8
4.5

7.5
13.6
18.4
20.7
16.7
11.2
5.8
6.1
4.5

7.5
13.9
18.4
21.2
16.7
11.7
5.7
6.0
4.5

7.4
13.9
19.0
20.9
17.7
11.4
5.6
5.9
4.5

7.3
13.5
18.7
20.2
17.8
11.0
5.7
5.9
4.7

7.1
13.2
17.8
20.0
16.8
10.9
5.5
5.8
4.4

7.2
13.5
18.8
21.0
17.7
10.9
5.5
5.8
4.1

7.4
13.6
18.9
21.2
17.4
10.9
5.8
6.1
4.2

7.3
13.7
18.4
20.0
17.4
11.2
5.6
5.9
3.9

7.3
13.5
18.2
20.9
16.5
11.1
5.6
5.9
4.0

7.3
13.3
17.7
20.7
15.8
11.0
5.7
6.1
4.0

7.3
14.2
18.9
21.1
17.3
11.8
5.5
5.8
4.3

7.3
13.5
18.3
21.2
16.2
11.2
5.8
6.0
4.2

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

9.9
18.4
23.3
25.2
22.2
15.9
7.8
8.2
5.6

7.4
14.4
19.6
21.9
18.3
11.9
5.7
5.9
4.6

7.2
13.9
18.9
22.4
17.0
11.5
5.5
5.7
4.5

7.4
14.5
20.4
22.6
18.5
11.6
5.6
5.8
4.6

7.2
14.3
18.8
22.2
16.6
12.1
5.5
5.7
4.6

7.2
14.6
19.7
21.0
18.7
12.2
5.5
5.6
4.8

7.1
13.8
19.8
21.3
18.9
10.9
5.4
5.6
4.7

7.0
13.7
18.9
20.3
18.3
11.2
5.4
5.6
4.7

7.1
14.1
19.4
19.8
19.3
11.5
5.4
5.6
4.4

7.2
13.8
19.1
21.2
18.0
11.2
5.5
5.8
4.3

7.1
14.4
19.5
20.7
18.6
11.8
5.4
5.6
4.0

7.0
13.9
18.1
22.2
15.7
11.7
5.3
5.6
3.8

7.1
13.6
18.2
21.5
16.2
11.3
5.5
5.8
3.9

6.9
14.8
19.4
22.2
17.4
12.5
5.0
5.2
4.1

7.3
14.3
19.2
24.0
16.1
11.9
5.6
5.8
4.5

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

9.2
15.8
21.3
23.7
19.9
12.9
7.2
7.7
4.7

7.6
13.3
18.0
20.4
16.6
10.9
6.0
6.3
4.2

7.3
12.5
17.3
17.6
16.5
10.0
5.9
6.0
4.5

7.5
12.7
16.4
18.7
14.7
10.8
6.0
6.4
4.2

7.8
13.5
18.1
20.3
16.7
11.1
6.1
6.5
4.3

7.5
13.2
18.3
20.9
16.6
10.5
5.9
6.2
4.0

7.7
13.2
17.4
19.0
16.5
11.1
6.0
6.2
4.8

7.3
12.6
16.6
19.7
15.1
10.7
5.7
6.1
3.9

7.2
12.8
18.1
22.3
16.0
10.2
5.6
6.0
3.7

7.7
13.3
18.6
21.2
16.7
10.5
6.1
6.4
4.2

7.5
12.9
17.3
19.4
16.2
10.6
5.9
6.3
3.8

7.6
13.2
18.2
19.5
17.4
10.5
6.0
6.4
4.2

7.5
12.9
17.1
19.8
15.5
10.7
6.0
6.3
4.2

7.7
13.5
18.4
19.9
17.3
10.9
6.1
6.5
4.6

7.4
12.7
17.4
18.0
16.3
10.4
6.1
6.3
3.9

7.

Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment, seasonally adjusted

[Numbers in thousands]
1984

Annual average

1985

Reason tor unem p loym ent

Job 'osers ...........................................
On layoff .......................................
Other job losers ...............................
Job leavers...........................................
Reentrants...........................................
Newentrants.........................................

1983

1984

June

J u ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

June

6,258
1,780
4,478
830
2,412
1,216

4,421
1,171
3,250
823
2,184
1,110

4,271
1,162
3,109
809
1,989
1,134

4,475
1,165
3,310
850
2,111
1,092

4,227
1,146
3,081
833
2,294
1,088

4,188
1,110
3,078
841
2,254
1,057

4,261
1,151
3,110
829
2,150
1,060

4,141
1,068
3,073
869
2,161
1,024

4,176
1,070
3,106
858
2,218
1,011

4,313
1,229
3,084
884
2,244
1,049

4,251
1,240
3,011
865
2,233
1,035

4,158
1,163
2,995
848
2,341
1,090

4,228
1,208
3,019
838
2,312
1,072

3,935
1,059
2,876
868
2,428
1,159

4,128
1,124
3,004
1,001
2,219
1,017

100.0
58.4
16.6
41.8
7.7
22.5
11.3

100.0
51.8
13.7
38.1
9.6
25.6
13.0

100.0
52.1
14.2
37.9
9.9
24.2
13.8

100.0
52.5
13.7
38.8
10.0
24.8
12.8

100.0
50.1
13 6
36.5
9.9
27.2
12.9

100.0
50.2
13.3
36.9
10.1
27.0
12.7

100.0
51.3
13.9
37.5
10.0
25.9
12.8

100.0
50.5
13.0
37.5
10.6
26.4
12.5

100.0
50.5
12.9
37.6
10.4
26.8
12.2

100.0
50.8
14.5
36.3
10.4
26.4
12.4

100.0
50.7
14.8
35.9
10.3
26.6
12.3

100.0
49.3
13.8
35.5
10.0
27.7
12.9

100.0
50.0
14.3
35.7
9.9
27.4
12.7

100.0
46.9
12.6
34.3
10.3
28.9
13.8

100.0
49.3
13.4
35.9
12.0
26.5
12.2

5.6
.7
2.2
1.1

3.9
.7
1.9
1.0

3.8
.7
1.8
1.0

3.9
.7
1.9
1.0

3.7
.7
2.0
1.0

3.7
.7
2.0
.9

3.7
.7
1.9
.9

3.6
.8
1.9
.9

3.6
.7
1.9
.9

3.8
.8
2.0
.9

3.7
.8
1.9
.9

3.6
.7
2.0
.9

3.7
.7
2.0
.9

3.4
.8
2.1
1.0

3.6
.9
1.9
.9

P ER C EN T D IS TR IB U TIO N

Total unemployed ...................................
Job losers ...........................................
On layoff .......................................
Other job losers ...............................
Job leavers...........................................
Reentrants...........................................
Newentrants.........................................
P ER C EN T OF
C IVILIA N LAB O R FORCE

Job losers ...........................................
Job leavers...........................................
Reentrants...........................................
Newentrants.........................................

8.

Duration of unemployment, seasonally adjusted

[Numbers in thousands]
1984

Annual average

1985

W eeks of unem p loym ent

Less than 5 weeks ...................................
5to 14 weeks.......................................
15 weeks and over .................................
15to 26 weeks.................................
27 weeks and over.............................
Mean duration in weeks.............................
Median duration Inweeks...........................


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1983

1984

June

Ju ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

Ju n e

3,570
2,937
4,210
1,652
2,559
20.0
10.1

3,350
2,451
2,737
1,104
1,634
18.2
7.9

3,229
2,303
2,630
1,012
1,618
18.1
7.5

3,409
2,449
2,672
1,088
1,584
18.0
7.6

3,513
2,406
2,621
1,116
1,505
17.6
7.6

3,313
2,533
2,605
1,106
1,499
17.3
7.6

3,395
2,406
2,527
1,092
1,435
16.7
7.3

3,352
2,324
2,428
990
1,438
17.4
7.3

3,282
2,516
2,374
972
1,402
17.3
7.4

3,662
2,552
2,243
941
1,302
15.3
6.7

3,524
2,469
2,416
1,076
1,340
15.9
7.2

3,590
2,478
2,400
1,065
1,335
15.9
7.1

3,558
2,525
2,377
1,022
1,354
16.1
6.7

3,659
2,635
2,247
1,040
1,207
14.9
6.2

3,458
2,547
2,317
1,011
1,306
15.4
6.6

63

EM PLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS DATA FROM ESTABLISHMENT SURVEYS

E m p l o y m e n t , h o u r s , a n d e a r n in g s d a t a in this section are
compiled from payroll records reported monthly on a voluntary
basis to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and its cooperating State
agencies by over 200,000 establishments representing all industries
except agriculture. In most industries, the sampling probabilities
are based on the size of the establishment; most large establish­
ments are therefore in the sample. (An establishment is not nec­
essarily a firm; it may be a branch plant, for example, or warehouse.)
Self-employed persons and others not on a regular civilian payroll
are outside the scope of the survey because they are excluded from
establishment records. This largely accounts for the difference in
employment figures between the household and establishment
surveys.

Definitions
E m p lo y ed p e rso n s are all persons who received pay (including holiday
and sick pay) for any part of the payroll period including the 12th of the
month. Persons holding more than one job (about 5 percent of all persons
in the labor force) are counted in each establishment which reports them.
P ro d u c tio n w o rk ers in manufacturing include blue-collar worker su­
pervisors and all nonsupervisory workers closely associated with produc­
tion operations. Those workers mentioned in tables 12-16 include production
workers in manufacturing and mining; construction workers in construc­
tion; and nonsupervisory workers in transportation and public utilities; in
wholesale and retail trade; in finance, insurance, and real estate; and in
services industries. These groups account for about four-fifths of the total
employment on private nonagricultural payrolls.
E a r n in g s are the payments production or nonsupervisory workers re­
ceive during the survey period, including premium pay for overtime or
late-shift work but excluding irregular bonuses and other special payments.
R eal ea rn in g s are earnings adjusted to reflect the effects of changes in
consumer prices. The deflator for this series is derived from the Consumer
Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers ( c p i - w ). The
H o u rly E a r n in g s In d ex is calculated from average hourly earnings data
adjusted to exclude the effects of two types of changes that are unrelated

64

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

to underlying wage-rate developments: fluctuations in overtime premiums
in manufacturing (the only sector for which overtime data are available)
and the effects of changes and seasonal factors in the proportion o f workers
in high-wage and low-wage industries.
H o u rs represent the average weekly hours of production or nonsuper­
visory workers for which pay was received and are different from standard
or scheduled hours. O v ertim e h ou rs represent the portion of gross average
weekly hours which were in excess of regular hours and for which overtime
premiums were paid.
T h e D iffu sion In d ex , introduced in table 17 of the May 1983 issue,
represents the percent of 185 nonagricultural industries in which employ­
ment was rising over the indicated period. One-half of the industries with
unchanged employment are counted as rising. In line with Bureau practice,
data for the 3-, 6-, and 9-month spans are seasonally adjusted, while that
for the 12-month span is unadjusted. The diffusion index is useful for
measuring the dispersion of economic gains or losses and is also an eco­
nomic indicator.

Notes on the data
Establishment data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are pe­
riodically adjusted to com prehensive counts o f em ploym ent (called
“ benchmarks” ). The latest complete adjustment was made with the release
of May 1985 data, published in the July 1985 issue of the Review. Con­
sequently, data published in the Review prior to that issue are not necessarily
comparable to current data. Unadjusted data have been revised back to
April 1983; seasonally adjusted data have been revised back to January
1980. Unadjusted data from April 1984 forward, and seasonally adjusted
data from January 1981 forward are subject to revision in future bench­
marks. Earlier comparable unadjusted and seasonally adjusted data are
published in Employment, Hours, and Earnings, United States, 19 0 9 -8 4 ,
b ls Bulletin 1312-12.
A comprehensive discussion of the differences between household and
establishment data on employment appears in Gloria P. Green, “ Com­
paring employment estimates from household and payroll surveys,” Monthly
Labor Review, December 1969, pp. 9 -2 0 . See also b ls Handbook o f
Methods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982).

9.

Employment, by industry, selected years, 1950-84

[Nonagricultural payroll data, inthousands]
Service -producing

Goods-producing

Total

Year

P rivate
sector

Total

M ining

C onstruc­
tion

M anufac­
turing

Total

T ra n sp o r­
tation
and
public
utilities

W h o le ­
sale
trade

Retail
trade

Finance,
insurance,
and real
estate

G overnm ent
S ervice s
Total

Federal

State

Local

1950 .....................
1955 .....................
I9602 ...................
1964 .....................
1965 .....................

45,197
50,641
54,189
58,283
60,765

39,170
43,727
45,836
48,686
50,689

18,506
20,513
20,434
21,005
21,926

901
792
712
634
632

2,364
2,839
2,926
3,097
3,232

15,241
16,882
16,796
17,274
18,062

26,691
30,128
33,755
37,278
38,839

4,034
4,141
4,004
3,951
4,036

2,635
2,926
3,143
3,337
3,466

6,751
7,610
8,248
8,823
9,250

1,888
2,298
2,629
2,911
2,977

5,357
6,240
7,378
8,660
9,036

6,026
6,914
8,353
9,596
10,074

1,928
2,187
2,270
2,348
2,378

(1)
1,168
1,536
1,856
1,996

(1)
3,558
4,547
5,392
5,700

1966 .....................
1967 .....................
1968 .....................
1969 .....................
1970 .....................

63,901
65,803
67,897
70,384
70,880

53,116
54,413
56,058
58,189
58,325

23,158
23,308
23,737
24,361
23,578

627
613
606
619
623

3,317
3,248
3,350
3,575
3,588

19,214
19,447
19,781
20,167
19,367

40,743
42,495
44,160
46,023
47,302

4,158
4,268
4,318
4,442
4,515

3,597
3,689
3,779
3,907
3,993

9,648
9,917
10,320
10,798
11,047

3,058
3,185
3,337
3,512
3,645

9,498
10,045
10,567
11,169
11,548

10,784
11,391
11,839
12,195
12,554

2,564
2,719
2,737
2,758
2,731

2,141
2,302
2,442
2,533
2,664

6,080
6,371
6,660
6,904
7,158

1971.....................
1972 .....................
1973 .....................
1974 .....................
1975 .....................

71,214
73,675
76,790
78,265
76,945

58,331
60,341
63,058
64,095
62,259

22,935
23,668
24,893
24,794
22,600

609
628
642
697
752

3,704
3,889
4,097
4,020
3,525

18,623
19,151
20,154
20,077
18,323

48,278
50,007
51,897
53,471
54,345

4,476
4,541
4,656
4,725
4,542

4,001
4,113
4,277
4,433
4,415

11,351
11,836
12,329
12,554
12,645

3,772
3,908
4,046
4,148
4,165

11,797
12,276
12,857
13,441
13,892

12,881
13,334
13,732
14,170
14,686

2,696
2,684
2,663
2,724
2,748

2,747
2,859
2,923
3,039
3,179

7,437
7,790
8,146
8,407
8,758

1976 .....................
1977 .....................
1978 .....................
1979 .....................
1980 .....................

79,382
82,471
86,697
89,823
90,406

64,511
67,344
71,026
73,876
74,166

23,352
24,346
25,585
26,461
25,658

779
813
851
958
1,027

3,576
3,851
4,229
4,463
4,346

18,997
19,682
20,505
21,040
20,285

56,030
58,125
61,113
63,363
64,748

4,582
4,713
4,923
5,136
5,146

4,546
4,708
4,969
5,204
5,275

13,209
13,808
14,573
14,989
15,035

4,271
4,467
4,724
4,975
5,160

14,551
15,303
16,252
17,112
17,890

14,871
15,127
15,672
15,947
16,241

2,733
2,727
2,753
2,773
2,866

3,273
3,377
3,474
3,541
3,610

8,865
9,023
9,446
9,633
9,765

1981.....................
1982 .....................
1983 .....................
1984 .....................

91,156
89,566
90,196
94,461

75,126
73,729
74,330
78,477

25,497
23,813
23,334
24,730

1,139
1,128
952
974

4,188
3,905
3,948
4,345

20,170
18,781
18,434
19,412

65,659
65,753
66,862
69,731

5,165
5,082
4,954
5,171

5,358
5,278
5,268
5,550

15,189
15,179
15,613
16,584

5,298
5,341
5,468
5,682

18,619
19,036
19,694
20,761

16,031
15,837
15,869
15,984

2,772
2,739
2,774
2,807

3,640
3,640
3,662
3,712

9,619
9,458
9,434
9,465

1Not available.
2Data include Alaska and Hawaii beginning in 1959.

10.

NOTE: See “Notes on the data” for a description of the most recent benchmark revision.

Employment, by State

[Nonagricultural payroll data, In thousands]
State

M ay 1984

Ap ril 1985

M ay1985P

State

M ay 1984

Ap ril 1985

M ay 1985P

Alabama...........................................
Alaska.............................................
Arizona ...........................................
Arkansas .........................................
California .........................................

1,385.8
226.7
1,180.1
785.6
10,536.2

1,399.6
225.2
1,262.7
793.1
10,803.7

1,400.8
230.7
1,263.3
797.1
10,845.3

Montana...........................................
Nebraska .........................................
Nevada ...........................................
New Hampshire..................................
NewJersey......................................

283.0
631.0
427.3
433.2
3,344.2

282.1
641.2
444.6
460.4
3,406.6

286.4
648.5
448.2
463.6
3,437.3

Colorado .........................................
Connecticut.......................................
Delaware .........................................
District of Columbia ...........................
Florida.............................................

1,381.8
1,523.5
281.1
609.0
4,191.6

1,406.3
1,556.6
288.0
618.7
4,426.2

1,408.6
1,563.2
290.7
622.0
4,415.1

New Mexico.......................................
NewYork.........................................
North Carolina ..................................
North Dakota....................................
Ohio...............................................

502.3
7,567.0
2,560.4
254.7
4,262.5

513.8
7,636.8
2,615.4
250.6
4,320.2

517.3
7,697.9
2,618.4
254.7
4,367.9

Georgia...........................................
Hawaii.............................................
Idaho .............................................
Illinois.............................................

2,432.9
417.4
325.4
4,637.3
2,140.5

2,578.8
420.5
328.3
4,665.7
2,183.6

2,589.6
421.6
332.7
4,701.6
2,209.3

Oklahoma.........................................
Oregon ...........................................
Pennsylvania ....................................
Rhode Island ....................................
South Carolina ..................................

1,188.0
1,004.2
4,658.2
413.9
1,266.6

1,188.9
1,015.2
4,689.0
414.2
1,325.1

1,193.8
1,024.6
4,728.7
417.6
1,331.8

Iowa................................................
Kansas ...........................................
Kentucky .........................................
Louisiana .........................................
Maine.............................................

1,073.1
967.2
1,214.4
1,604.8
442.4

1,062.0
981.2
1,238.4
1,587.4
443.3

1,071.1
990.2
1,241.4
1,590.1
450.0

South Dakota....................................
Tennessee .........................................
Texas .............................................
Utah................................................
Vermont...........................................

248.7
1,810.8
6,438.6
597.8
211.4

242.4
1,847.4
6,561.5
620.4
217.9

248.9
1,854.9
6,580.4
622.4
219.9

Maryland .........................................
Massachusetts ..................................
Michigan .........................................
Minnesota .........................................
Mississippi .......................................
Missouri...........................................

1,800.8
2,849.8
3,342.6
1,829.3
823.6
2,027.2

1,861.4
2,952.3
3,403.9
1,864.4
844.0
2,040.3

1,885.4
2,983.1
3,455.4
1,893.5
845.3
2,056.0

Virginia ...........................................
Washington......................................
West Virginia....................................
Wisconsin.........................................
Wyoming .........................................

2,327.3
1,643.1
597.6
1,934.1
198.4

2,396.0
1,671.8
589.3
1,962.1
(1)

2,416.9
1,682.7
594.6
1,994.0
(1)

Virgin Islands....................................

36.2

36.6

36.3

1Not available.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

p = preliminary.

65

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
11.

Establishment Data

Employment, by industry, seasonally adjusted

[Nonagricultural payroll data, In thousands]
Annual average

1984

1985

Industry d ivision and group

TO TA L

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

P R IV A T E S E C T O R .......................................................
GO O D S-PR O D UC IN G
M ining

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

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

Oil and gas extraction.........................
C onstruction

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

General building contractors...................
M a n u fa c tu r in g ..................................................................

Production workers ...........................
D urable goods

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

Production workers ...........................
Lumber and wood products ...................
Furniture and fixtures...........................
Stone, clay, and glass products ...............
Primary metal Industries .......................
Blast furnaces and basic steel products . . . .
Fabricated metal products.......................
Machinery, except electrical ...................
Electrical and electronic equipment.............
Transportation equipment.......................
Motor vehicles and equipment ...............
Instruments and related products .............
Miscellaneous manufacturing...................
N ondurable goods

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

Production workers ...........................
Food and kindred products.....................
Tobacco manufactures .........................
Textile mill products.............................
Apparel and other textile products.............
Paper and allied products.......................
Printing and publishing.........................
Chemicals and allied products .................
Petroleumand coal products...................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products . .
Leather and leather products...................
S ER VIC E-P R O D U C IN G
Transp ortation and public u t i l i t i e s ............................

Transportation...................................
Communication and public utilities.............
W holesale t r a d e ..............................................................

Durable goods1 .................................
Nondurable goods1 .............................
Retail trade

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

General merchandise stores ...................
Food stores .....................................
Automotive dealers and service stations........
Eating and drinking places .....................
Finance, insurance, and real e s t a t e ........................

Finance...........................................
Insurance .......................................
Real estate.......................................
S ervice s

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

Business services...............................
Health services .................................
G overnm ent

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

Federal...........................................
State ............................................
Local...........................................
p - preliminary.

66

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1983

1984

90,196
74,330
23,334
952
598
3,948
1,020
18,434
12,530
10,732
7,117
657
448
570
832
341
1,370
2,033
2,013
1,747
754
692
371
7,702
5,413
1,615
68
741
1,163
661
1,299
1,043
196
711
205
66,862
4,954
2,745
2,209
5,268
3,070
2,197
15,613
2,165
2,556
1,674
5,042
5,468
2,741
1,720
1,007
19,694
3,562
5,988
15,869
2,774
3,662
9,434

94,461
78,477
24,730
974
613
4,345
1,158
19,412
13,310
11,522
7,749
707
487
595
858
334
1,464
2,197
2,208
1,906
860
714
384
7,890
5,561
1,619
65
746
1,197
681
1,372
1,048
189
782
192
69,731
5,171
2,929
2,242
5,550
3,272
2,278
16,584
2,278
2,655
1,802
5,403
5,682
2,855
1,753
1,074
20,761
4,076
6,104
15,984
2,807
3,712
9,465

June

Ju ly

Aug.

Sept.

94,317 94,615 94,893 95,238
78,384 78,655 78,885 79,154
24,767 24,842 24,889 24,851
978
979
984
985
610
613
618
622
4,344 4,354 4,366 4,386
1,163 1,162 1,163 1,171
19,445 19,509 19,539 19,480
13,341 13,391 13,396 13,341
11,538 11,589 11,638 11,611
7,763 7,802 7,832 7,806
710
708
707
705
488
489
489
486
596
597
595
596
868
865
863
852
342
339
331
324
1,465 1,475 1,478 1,476
2,205 2,220 2,232 2,225
2,210 2,224 2,237 2,241
1,900 1,911 1,934 1,927
853
857
880
866
714
716
717
718
382
384
386
385
7,907 7,920 7,901 7,869
5,578 5,589 5,564 5,535
1,618 1,625 1,617 1,610
65
64
65
66
752
748
744
738
1,202 1,201 1,196 1,181
684
684
684
680
1,372 1,379 1,382 1,387
1,048 1,050 1,051 1,050
189
188
188
187
783
786
786
784
194
194
189
186
69,550 69,773 70,004 70,387
5,164 5,174 5,194 5,210
2,921 2,932 2,953 2,970
2,243 2,242 2,241 2,240
5,532 5,557 5,573 5,610
3,268 3,286 3,296 3,311
2,264 2,271 2,277 2,299
16,534 16,623 16,673 16,750
2,271 2,279 2,285 2,298
2,630 2,649 2,661 2,679
1,793 1,807 1,815 1,824
5,396 5,447 5,454 5,472
5,680 5,693 5,707 5,719
2,853 2,858 2,866 2,874
1,748 1,755 1,758 1,763
1,079 1,080 1,083 1,082
20,707 20,766 20,849 21,014
4,058 4,102 4,152 4,183
6,096 6,111 6,070 6,117
15,933 15,960 16,008 16,084
2,802 2,805 2,812 2,827
3,712 3,712 3,723 3,733
9,419 9,443 9,473 9,524

Oct.

95,573
79,460
24,918
979
623
4,403
1,171
19,536
13,380
11,652
7,835
708
491
597
851
320
1,483
2,233
2,247
1,935
869
720
387
7,884
5,545
1,617
66
730
1,181
683
1,392
1,051
188
792
184
70,655
5,223
2,983
2,240
5,636
3,321
2,315
16,859
2,311
2,706
1,839
5,493
5,737
2,883
1,770
1,084
21,087
4,205
6,125
16,113
2,823
3,727
9,563

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

95,882 96,092 96,419
79,764 80,010 80,319
24,955 25,045 25,112
978
973
974
626
624
621
4,424 4,469 4,534
1,179 1,190 1,219
19,553 19,603 19,604
13,376 13,409 13,399
11,666 11,701 11,702
7,832 7,855 7,843
709
711
709
495
497
499
598
601
602
848
844
844
318
316
315
1,486 1,489 1,486
2,232 2,232 2,228
2,250 2,253 2,252
1,940 1,965 1,974
873
888
891
722
723
723
386
386
385
7,887 7,902 7,902
5,544 5,554 5,556
1,620 1,630 1,633
65
66
67
726
722
720
1,180 1,184 1,182
682
683
683
1,397 1,397 1,403
1,052 1,054 1,052
187
186
185
796
799
798
182
181
179
70,927 71,047 71,307
5,229 5,246 5,259
2,993 3,009 3,015
2,236 2,237 2,244
5,647 5,665 5,686
3,334 3,347 3,358
2,313 2,318 2,328
16,994 17,026 17,090
2,357 2,323 2,341
2,728 2,745 2,753
1,848 1,851 1,855
5,512 5,535 5,559
5,755 5,776 5,790
2,891 2,902 2,910
1,774 1,780 1,783
1,090 1,094 1,097
21,184 21,252 21,382
4,234 4,259 4,295
6,139 6,154 6,169
16,118 16,082 16,100
2,831 2,836 2,836
3,732 3,722 3,730
9,555 9,524 9,534

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

MayP

Ju n eF

96,591
80,480
25,062
976
620
4,525
1,214
19,561
13,347
11,675
7,806
704
498
600
840
313
1,483
2,224
2,248
1,972
876
725
381
7,886
5,541
1,633
66
712
1,175
682
1,406
1,052
184
799
177
71,529
5,272
3,029
2,243
5,697
3,367
2,330
17,160
2,343
2,773
1,865
5,588
5,809
2,919
1,789
1,101
21,480
4,324
6,186
16,111
2,834
3,733
9,544

96,910
80,767
25,056
977
618
4,553
1,223
19,526
13,30911,651
7,776
701
499
601
832
311
1,480
2,220
2,243
1,969
867
727
379
7,875
5,533
1,638
66
706
1,167
682
1,407
1,052
183
798
176
71,854
5,269
3,028
2,241
5,714
3,377
2,337
17,249
2,349
2,790
1,873
5,615
5,835
2,933
1,792
1,110
21,644
4,377
6,204
16,143
2,850
3,744
9,549

97,120
80,962
25,090
982
623
4,641
1,233
19,467
13,249

97,386
81,203
25,063
981
623
4,655
1,234
19,427
13,211
11,590
7,712
696
494
598
819
305
1,478
2,205
2,216
1,982
874
724
378
7,837
5,499
1,633
66
701
1,152
681
1,415
1,043
181
791
174
72,323
5,305
3,060
2,245
5,744
3,401
2,343
17,393
2,370
2,822
1,890
5,659
5,890
2,958
1,808
1,124
21,808
4,431
6,242
16,183
2,848
3,751
9,584

97,466
81,326
25,007
976
619
4,649
1,226
19,382
13,190
11546
7,682
694
493
598
815
303
1,474
2,191
2,197
1,984
872
723
377
7,836
5,508
1,641
66
699
1,144
684
1,419
1,040
181
790
172
72,459
5,318
3,064
2,254
5,766
3,417
2,349
17,435
2,356
2,830
1,895
5,704
5,909
2,970
1,813
1,126
21,891
4,443
6,254
16,140
2,846
3,749
9,545

11,608
7,730
694
497
600
823
306
1,479
2,207
2,223
1,982
876
726
377
7,859
5,519
1,630
66
707
1,164
681
1,411
1,049
182
795
174
72,030
5,278
3,037
2,241
5,733
3,388
2,345
17,280
2,348
2,794
1,884
5,642
5,858
2,941
1,799
1,118
21,723
4,402
6,218
16,158
2,859
3,749
9,550

NOTE: See “Notes on the data” for adescription of the most recent benchmark revision.

12.

Average hours and earnings, by industry, 1968-84

[Production or nonsupervisory workers on nonagricultural payrolls]
Year

A verage
w ee kly
hours

A verage
hourly
earnings

A verage
w ee kly
earnings

A verage
w ee kly
hours

Average
hourly
earnings

A verage
w ee kly
earnings

A verage
w ee kly
hours

A verage
w e e kly
earnings

Construction

M ining

Private sector

A verage
hourly
earnings

1968 .............................................
1969 .............................................
1970 .............................................

37.8
37.7
37.1

S2.85
3.04
3.23

$107.73
114.61
119.83

42.6
43.0
42.7

$3.35
3.60
3.85

$142.71
154.80
164.40

37.3
37.9
37.3

$4.41
4.79
5.24

$164.49
181.54
195.45

1971.............................................
1972 .............................................
1973 .............................................
1974 ............................................
1975 .............................................

36.9
37.0
36.9
36.5
36.1

3.45
3.70
3.94
4.24
4.53

127.31
136.90
145.39
154.76
163.53

42.4
42.6
42.4
41.9
41.9

4.06
4.44
4.75
5.23
5.95

172.14
189.14
201.40
219.14
249.31

37.2
36.5
36.8
36.6
36.4

5.69
6.06
6.41
6.81
7.31

211.67
221.19
235.89
249.25
266.08

1976 .............................................
1977 ............................................
1978
...............................
1979 .............................................
1980 .............................................

36.1
36.0
35.8
35.7
35.3

4.86
5.25
5.69
6.16
6.66

175.45
189.00
203.70
219.91
235.10

42.4
43.4
43.4
43.0
43.3

6.46
6.94
7.67
8.49
9.17

273.90
301.20
332.88
365.07
397.06

36.8
36.5
36.8
37.0
37.0

7.71
8.10
8.66
9.27
9.94

283.73
295.65
318.69
342.99
367.78

1981.............................................
1982 .............................................
1983 .............................................
1984 ............................................

35.2
34.8
35.0
35.3

7.25
7.68
8.02
8.33

255.20
267.26
280.70
294.05

43.7
42.7
42.5
43.3

10.04
10.77
11.28
11.63

438.75
459.88
479.40
503.58

36.9
36.7
37.1
37.7

10.82
11.63
11.94
12.12

399.26
426.82
442.97
456.92

W h o lesa le trade

Transp ortation and public utilities

M anufacturing

1968 .............................................
1969 ............................................
1970 .............................................

40.7
40.6
39.8

S3.01
3.19
3.35

$122.51
129.51
133.33

40.6
40.7
40.5

$3.42
3.63
3.85

$138.85
147.74
155.93

40.1
40.2
39.9

$3.05
3.23
3.44

$122.31
129.85
137.26

1971.............................................
1972 .............................................
1973 .............................................
1974 ............................................
1975 .............................................

39.9
40.5
40.7
40.0
39.5

3.57
3.82
4.09
4.42
4.83

142.44
154.71
166.46
176.80
190.79

40.1
40.4
40.5
40.2
39.7

4.21
4.65
5.02
5.41
5.88

168.82
187.86
203.31
217.48
233.44

39.5
39.4
39.3
38.8
38.7

3.65
3.85
4.08
4.39
4.73

129.85
144.18
151.69
160.34
183.05

1976 .............................................
1977 .............................................
1978 .............................................
1979 ............................................
1980 ............................................

40.1
40.3
40.4
40.2
39.7

5.22
5.68
6.17
6.70
7.27

209.32
228.90
249.27
269.34
288.62

39.8
39.9
40.0
39.9
39.6

6.45
6.99
7.57
8.16
8.87

256.71
278.90
302.80
325.58
351.25

38.7
38.8
38.8
38.8
38.5

5.03
5.39
5.88
6.39
6.96

194.66
209.13
228.14
247.93
267.96

1981
.....................................
1982
.....................................
1983 .........................................
1984 ............................................

39.8
38.9
40.1
40.7

7.99
8.49
8.83
9.18

318.00
330.26
354.08
373.63

39.4
39.0
39.0
39.4

9.70
10.32
10.79
11.11

382.18
402.48
420.81
437.73

38.5
38.3
38.5
38.6

7.56
8.09
8.55
8.96

291.06
309.85
329.18
345.86

S ervice s

Finance, insurance, and real estate

Retail trade

1968 .........................................
1969
.......................................
1970 .............................................

34.7
34.2
33.8

$2.16
2.30
2.44

$74.95
78.66
82.47

37.0
37.1
36.7

$2.75
2.93
3.07

$101.75
108.70
112.67

34.7
34.7
34.4

$2.42
2.61
2.81

$83.97
90.57
96.66

1971
.....................................
1972 .........................................
1973 .............................................
1974 .........................................
1975 .............................................

33.7
33.4
33.1
32.7
32.4

2.60
2.75
2.91
3.14
3.36

87.62
91.85
96.32
102.68
108.86

36.6
36.6
36.6
36.5
36.5

3.22
3.36
3.53
3.77
4.06

117.85
122.98
129.20
137.61
148.19

33.9
33.9
33.8
33.6
33.5

3.04
3.27
3.47
3.75
4.02

103.06
110.85
117.29
126.00
134.67

1976 .............................................
1977 .........................................
1978 .........................................
1979 ...........................................
1980 ...........................................

32.1
31.6
31.0
30.6
30.2

3.57
3.85
4.20
4.53
4.88

114.60
121.66
130.20
138.62
147.38

36.4
36.4
36.4
36.2
36.2

4.27
4.54
4.89
5.27
5.79

155.43
165.26
178.00
190.77
209.60

33.3
33.0
32.8
32.7
32.6

4.31
4.65
4.99
5.36
5.85

143.52
153.45
163.67
175.27
190.71

1981
1982
1983
1984

30.1
29.9
29.8
30.0

5.25
5.48
5.74
5.88

158.03
163.85
171.05
176.40

36.3
36.2
36.2
36.5

6.31
6.78
7.29
7.62

229.05
245.44
263.90
278.13

32.6
32.6
32.7
32.8

6.41
6.92
7.31
7.64

208.97
225.59
239.04
250.59

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

NOTE: See “Notes on the data” for adescription of the most recent benchmark revision.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

67

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
13.

Establishment Data

Average weekly hours, by industry, seasonally adjusted

[Production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls]
1984

Annual average

Industry

1983

1984

June

Ju ly

Aug.

Sept.

1985
Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

MayP

June?

35.0

35.3

35.3

35.3

35.2

35.3

35.2

35.2

35.2

35.1

35.1

35.2

35.0

35.1

35.2

C O N S TR U C TIO N

37.1

37.7

37.8

37.5

37.6

37.9

37.7

38.0

37.8

37.7

37.8

38.1

38.0

37.6

37.2

M AN U FA C TU R IN G

40.1
3.0

40.7
3.4

40.6
3.4

40.5
3.3

40.5
3.3

40.6
3.3

40.5
3.3

40.5
3.4

40.6
3.4

40.6
3.4

40.1
3.3

40.4
3.2

40.2
3.4

40.3
3.1

40.4
3.2

40.7
3.0

41.4
3.6

41.3
3.5

41.3
3.5

41.3
3.5

41.4
3.5

41.3
3.5

41.2
3.6

41.3
3.6

41.3
3.6

40.7
3.5

41.1
3.5

40.9
3.6

41.0
3.2

41.2
3.3

Lumber and wood products.............
Furniture and fixtures .........................
Stone, clay, and glass products .........
Primary metal industries.......................
Blast furnaces and basic steel products . . . .
Fabricated metal products.....................

40.1
39.4
41.5
40.5
39.5
40.6

39.9
39.7
42.0
41.7
40.6
41.4

39.6
39.3
41.9
41.7
40.9
41.3

39.5
39.8
41.9
41.5
40.1
41.3

39.6
39.3
41.8
41.2
39.8
41.2

40.1
39.8
41.9
41.3
40.1
41.4

39.7
39.6
41.9
41.3
40.1
41.3

39.6
39.7
41.8
41.5
40.9
41.1

39.8
39.6
41.8
41.2
39.8
41.4

39.7
40.4
41.7
41.0
39.9
41.4

38.9
39.5
41.6
40.9
40.5
40.9

39.6
39.5
42.0
41.1
40.5
41.1

39.5
39.3
42.0
41.0
40.2
41.1

39.7
38.8
42.0
41.2
40.6
41.1

40.1
38.8
41 9
41 7
41 9
41.2

Machinery, except electrical...................
Electrical and electronic equipment...........
Transportation equipment...............
Motor vehicles and equipment.............
Instruments and related products.............
Miscellaneous manufacturing...............

40.5
40.5
42.1
43.3
40.4
39.1

41.9
41.0
42.7
43.8
41.3
39.4

42.0
40.9
42.5
43.4
41.3
39.3

41.9
40.9
42.3
42.9
41.3
39.3

42.0
41.0
42.6
43.5
41.2
39.2

42.0
41.1
42.8
43.7
41.5
39.4

41.9
40.9
42.6
43.5
41.3
39.3

41.8
40.9
42.4
43.5
41.4
39.3

41.7
41.0
42.8
44.0
41.8
39.3

41.7
40.8
43.1
44.3
41.2
39.2

41.1
40.2
41.9
42.4
40.7
39.0

41.6
40.7
42.5
43.2
41.0
39.1

41.2
40.2
42.3
43.3
40.7
39.0

41 4
40.3
42.7
43.6
40.9
39.2

41 8
40.3
42.6
43.0
41.0
39.3

Overtime hours.....................

39 4
3.0

39.6
3.1

39.6
3.2

39.5
3.1

39.5
3.1

39.5
3.0

39.4
3.0

39.5
3.1

39.6
3.0

39.5
3.0

39.3
2.9

39.4
2.9

39.1
3.0

39.4
2.9

39.3
3.0

Food and kindred products ...................
Tobacco manufactures...............
Textile mill products.................
Apparel and other textile products ............
Paper and allied products.................

39.5
37.4
40.4
36.2
42.6

39.8
38.9
39.9
36.4
43.1

39.8
39.4
40.0
36.4
43.0

39.7
38.3
39.8
36.1
43.2

39.7
38.9
39.5
36.1
43.0

39.7
38.3
39.3
36.1
43.1

39.7
38.7
38.8
36.0
43.0

39.7
39.0
39.1
36.1
43.1

40.1
38.8
39.2
36.3
43.1

39.8
38.3
39.2
36.2
43.0

39.7
39.2
38.8
35.9
42.9

39.8
38.9
39.1
36.1
42.9

39.6
35.4
38.8
35.6
43.0

40.1
37.1
38.9
36.2
43.0

39.7
36.2
39 2
36 2
42.9

Printing and publishing .......................
Chemicals and allied products...........
Petroleumand coal products .................
Leather and leather products ...............

37.6
41.6
43.9
36.8

37.9
41.9
43.7
36.8

37.8
41.9
43.4
36.7

37.8
41.9
43.5
36.9

37.8
41.9
43.9
36.2

37.9
41.8
43.4
36.5

37.8
41.7
43.6
36.6

37.8
41.8
43.4
36.6

37.7
41.9
43.0
36.9

37.8
42.0
43.2
36.8

37.7
41.9
43.1
36.4

37.6
42.1
43.3
37.1

37.6
41.9
42.0
37.0

37 4
41.9
41 6
36.9

37 6
42.0
41.8
36.7

39.4

39.5

39.4

39.4

39.6

P R IV A T E S EC TO R

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

Overtime hours.........................
D urable goods

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

Overtime hours.................

N ondurable goods

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

39.0

39.4

39.6

39.7

39.4

39.8

39.2

39.4

39.3

39.3

W H O LE S A L E TR A D E

38.5

38.6

38.6

38.6

38.7

38.7

38.6

38.6

38.6

38.6

38.6

38.7

38.6

38.8

38.9

R E TA IL TR A D E

29.8

30.0

30.1

30.0

29.9

29.9

29.8

29.9

29.9

29.8

29.8

29.8

29.7

29.9

29.9

SER VIC ES

32.7

32.8

32.8

32.8

32.7

32.8

32.8

32.8

32.9

32.7

32.8

32.8

32.7

32.8

32.9

T R A N S P O R T A T IO N AND PU BLIC U T IL ITIE S

p

preliminary.

68

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

...

NOTE: See “Notes on the data" for a description of the most recent benchmark revision.

14.

Average hourly earnings, by industry

[Production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls]
1984

Annual average

1985

Industry
1983

1984

June

J u ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

MayP

JuneP

$8.02
(1)

$8.33
(1)

$8.30
8.32

$8.32
8.35

$8.30
8.35

$8.43
8.40

$8.40
8.38

$8.43
8.42

$8.46
8.47

$8.50
8.44

$8.52
8.49

$8.52
c8.52

$8.54
8.54

$8.54
8.55

$8.55
8.57

M INING

11.28

11.63

11.62

11.63

11.62

11.72

11.58

11.63

11.70

11.86

11.90

11.91

11.93

11.87

11.92

C O N S T R U C T IO N ..................................................................

11.94

12.12

12.03

12.06

12.10

12.24

12.23

12.10

12.26

12.30

12.33

12.22

12.21

12.23

12.19

8.83

9.18

9.15

9.19

9.15

9.24

9.24

9.31

9.40

9.43

9.43

9.45

9.48

9.48

9.50

Lumber and wood products.............
Furniture and fixtures.....................
Stone, clay, and glass products..........
Primary metal industries.................
Blast furnaces and basic steel products . .
Fabricated metal products...............

9.39
7.80
6.62
9.28
11.35
12.89
9.12

9.74
8.03
6.85
9.57
11.47
12.99
9.38

9.72
8.08
6.82
9.58
11.50
13.02
9.35

9.73
8.07
6.87
9.64
11.49
13.03
9.35

9.70
8.10
6.88
9.63
11.38
12.90
9.33

9.79
8.20
6.94
9.65
11.43
13.01
9.43

9.78
8.11
6.93
9.64
11.36
12.86
9.40

9.85
8.06
6.95
9.67
11.49
12.99
9.44

9.96
8.09
6.99
9.68
11.49
12.95
9.58

9.99
8.10
7.01
9.70
11.55
13.07
9.59

9.99
8.09
7.01
9.73
11.69
13.42
9.59

10.01
8.06
7.07
9.71
11.66
13.27
9.62

10.03
8.04
7.08
9.80
11.64
13.32
9.64

10.05
8.12
7.11
9.79
11.63
13.30
9.62

10.08
8.27
7.17
9.83
11.73
13.39
9.65

Machinery, except electrical.............
Electrical and electronic equipment . . . .
Transportation equipment ...............
Motor vehicles and equipment.........
Instruments and related products........
Miscellaneous manufacturing ...........

9.55 • 9.96
9.04
8.67
11.67
12.22
12.14
12.74
8.48
8.85
7.04
6.81

9.93
8.97
12.17
12.72
8.82
7.03

9.96
9.00
12.16
12.66
8.88
7.07

9.93
9.05
12.16
12.64
8.89
7.01

10.02
9.13
12.26
12.74
8.96
7.05

10.02
9.15
12.32
12.86
8.93
7.05

10.07
9.20
12.45
13.02
8.95
7.06

10.16
9.32
12.62
13.27
9.03
7.16

10.13
9.33
12.67
13.41
9.00
7.23

10.14
9.33
12.63
13.35
9.11
7.19

10.15
9.39
12.59
13.29
9.10
7.20

10.17
9.40
12.63
13.40
9.11
7.22

10.21
9.41
12.63
13.39
9.12
7.28

10.22
9.47
12.64
13.35
9.13
7.29

8.08
8.19
10.38
6.18
5.38
9.93

8.37
8.38
11.27
6.46
5.55
10.41

8.33
8.42
12.00
6.44
5.53
10.38

8.41
8.39
11.77
6.44
5.53
10.52

8.37
8.33
10.92
6.47
5.55
10.47

8.44
8.35
10.52
6.50
5.63
10.51

8.44
8.31
10.60
6.49
5.61
10.52

8.52
8.43
11.93
6.55
5.61
10.64

8.55
8.45
11.17
6.57
5.68
10.66

8.59
8.48
11.39
6.59
5.73
10.63

8.60
8.51
11.80
6.60
5.70
10.64

8.61
8.53
12.00
6.64
5.73
10.64

8.67
8.59
12.16
6.70
5.74
10.72

8.64
8.59
12.68
6.69
5.69
10.74

8.65
8.56
12.88
6.69
5.70
10.75

9.11
10.58
13.28

9.40
11.08
13.43

9.31
11.00
13.32

9.38
11.09
13.25

9.44
11.09
13.30

9.53
11.20
13.52

9.50
11.29
13.51

9.56
11.31
13.66

9.57
11.34
13.62

9.58
11.39
13.96

9.60
11.39
13.99

9.61
11.37
14.06

9.60
11.48
14.18

9.60
11.46
14.02

9.61
11.51
14.03

8.00
5.54

8.29
5.70

8.24
5.67

8.31
5.71

8.29
5.68

8.32
5.73

8.32
5.72

8.40
5.76

8.44
5.80

8.49
5.72

8.48
5.79

8.46
5.82

8.48
5.84

8.46
5.84

8.49
5.83

10.79

11.11

11.03

11.14

11.13

11.22

11.18

11.25

11.28

C11.26

11.27

C11.24

11.27

11.24

11.28

8.55

8.96

8.91

8.98

8.96

9.06

9.00

9.08

9.19

9.16

9.22

9.19

9.24

9.24

9.27

P R IV A T E SEC TO R

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

Seasonally adjusted.......................

M AN U FA C TU R IN G
D urable g o o d s ...........................................................

N ondurable g o o d s ....................................................

Food and kindred products .............
Tobacco manufactures...................
Textile mill products .....................
Apparel and other textile products........
Paper and allied products ...............
Printing and publishing...................
Chemicals and allied products...........
Petroleumand coal products ...........
Rubber and miscellaneous
plastics products.......................
Leather and leather products ...........
T R A N S P O R T A T IO N AN D PU BLIC U T IL ITIE S
W H O LE S A L E TR A D E
R E TA IL T R A D E .....................................................................

5.74

5.88

5.87

5.86

5.82

5.88

5.88

5.93

5.89

5.97

5.99

5.97

5.96

5.97

5.94

FIN AN C E, IN SU RA N C E, AN D R EAL ES TA TE

7.29

7.62

7.58

7.60

7.57

7.76

7.67

7.71

7.78

7.77

7.87

7.87

7.85

7.84

7.91

SER VIC ES

7.31

7.64

7.56

7.59

7.56

7.72

7.71

7.77

7.84

7.84

7.87

7.87

7.89

7 88

7.89

1Not available.

p= preliminary

c = corrected.

NOTE: See “Notes on the data" for a description of the most recent benchmark revision.

15.

The Hourly Earnings Index, by industry

[Production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls; 1977= 100]
Seasonally adjusted

Not se asonally adjusted

Percent
change
from :
M ay 1985
to
Ju n e 1985

June
1984

Apr.
1985

May
1985P

June
1985P

Percent
change
from :
June 1984
to
Ju n e 1985

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

160.1

164.7

164.9

165.0

3.1

160.5

164.0

164.4

164.8

165.0

165.4

0.3

Mining ...........................................
Construction....................................
Manufacturing..................................
Transportation and public utilities ..............
Wholesale trade................................................
Retail trade.......................................
Finance, insurance, and real estate.........
Services .........................................

173.6
147.3
162.4
160.4
164.9
154.1
164.9
161.7

178.6
149.2
167.9
164.5
170.7
156.1
170.0
168.0

177.9
149.8
168.2
164.2
170.8
156.5
169.9
168.0

178.0
149.9
168.5
164.1
170.7
156.4
170.7
168.0

2.6
1.7
3.7
2.3
3.5
1.5
3.5
3.9

(1)
148.1
162.5
161.9
(1)
153.9

(1)
149.9
167.4
165.4
(1)
155.5

(1)
150.4
167.9
165.0
(1)
155.6

(1)
150.6
168.5
165.1

(1)
150.8
168.6
165.6

(1)
.1
.1
.3

162.7

(1)
150.8
166.9
164.2
(1)
155.4
(1)
166.2

167.2

167.8

167.8

169.0

.7

94.9

94.4

94.2

(2)

(2)

95.2

94.7

94.5

94.4

94.3

(2)

(2)

Industry

P R IV A T E S EC TO R (in current d ollars)

P R IV A T E SEC TO R (in constant dollars)

"•This series is not seasonally adjusted becausethe seasonal component is small relativeto the trendcycle, irregular components, or both, and consequently cannot be separated with sufficient precision.
2Not available.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

June
1984

Feb.
1985

Mar.
1985

Apr.
1985

M ay.
1985P

Ju n e
1985P

(1)

p - preliminary,
^
^

(1)

(1)

(1)
155.9

(1)

0)

i1)

156.2

.2

(1)

(1)

^ ^ data„ ^ gdescription Qfthe most recent benchmark revision.

69

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
16.

Establishment Data

Average weekly earnings, by industry

[Production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls]
Annual average

1984

1985

Industry
1984

1983

June

J u ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

MayP

JuneP

P R IV A T E SEC TO R

Current dollars.................................
Seasonally adjusted.........................
Constant (1977) dollars.......................

$280.70 $294.05 $294.65 $296.19 $294.65 $298.42 $294.84 $295.89 $300.33 $294.95 $294.79 $298.20 $298.05 $299.75 $302.67
293.70 294.76 293.92 296.52 294.98 296.38 298.14 296.24 298.00 c299.90 298.90 300.11 301.66
(1)
(1)
171.37 173.48 174.66 174.85 172.31 173.50 171.42 172.23 174.61 171.28 170.50 171.68 170.80 171.19
<1)

M IN IN G ................................................................................

479.40

503.58

507.79 500.09

505.47 515.68 500.26 505.91

C O N S TR U C TIO N

442.97

456.92

464.36 464.31

464.64 471.24 464.74 451.33 460.98 447.72 451.28 460.69 461.54 465.96

354.08
216.17

373.63
220.43

373.32 370.36 369.66 376.07 374.22 378.92 387.28 380.03 374.37 381.78 380.15
221.29 218.63 216.18 218.65 217.57 220.56 225.16 220.69 216.52 219.79 217.85

382.04 385.70
218.18
(1) ■

Lumber and wood products ...................
Furniture and fixtures...........................
Stone, clay, and glass products ...............
Primary metal industries .......................
Blast furnaces and basic steel products.......
Fabricated metal products.......................

382.17
312.78
260.83
385.12
459.68
509.16
370.27

403.24
320.40
271.95
401.94
478.30
527.39
388.33

403.38
325.62
270.07
407.15
481.85
536.42
388.96

397.96
318.77
269.30
406.81
474.54
525.11
381.48

397.70
324.00
272.45
406.39
464.30
506.97
382.53

406.29
332.10
278.29
409.16
474.35
524.30
390.40

403.91
322.78
278.59
406.81
464.62
506.68
388.22

407.79
315.95
278.70
406.14
475.69
524.80
389.87

419.32
321.98
283.79
404.62
477.98
516.71
405.23

410.59
315.90
276.19
392.85
473.55
517.57
395.11

403.60
309.85
270.59
393.09
478.12
544.85
387.44

412.41
317.56
277.85
404.91
481.56
540.09
396.34

410.23
317.58
276.83
411.60
480.73
547.45
395.24

412.05
324.80
274.45
414.12
479.16
541.31
395.38

$417.31
337.42
280.35
417.78
491.49
566.40
399.51

Machinery except electrical.....................
Electrical and electronic equipment.............
Transportation equipment.......................
Motor vehicles and equipment...............
Instruments and related products .............
Miscellaneous manufacturing...................

386.78
351.14
491.31
525.66
342.59
266.27

417.32
370.64
521.79
558.01
365.51
277.38

417.06
367.77
520.88
559.68
364.27
275.58

412.34
363.60
509.50
539.32
363.19
275.02

412.10
368.34
507.07
534.67
364.49
274.09

420.84
376.16
519.82
550.37
373.63
279.18

417.83
374.24
523.60
556.84
367.92
279.89

422.94
379.04
531.62
565.07
373.22
280.99

434.85
389.58
554.02
597.15
382.87
285.68

422.42
379.73
546.08
594.06
369.90
279.08

415.74
373.20
524.15
559.37
369.87
276.82

424.27
383.11
537.59
576.79
374.01
282.24

417.99
376.00
538.04
586.92
368.96
280.86

420.65
377.34
540.56
589.16
372.10
284.65

427.20
382.59
542.26
582.06
374.33
285.77

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

318.35
323.51
388.21
249.67
194.76
423.02

331.45
333.52
438.40
257.75
202.02
448.67

331.53
336.80
487.20
260.18
203.50
447.38

331.35
333.08
441.38
253.09
199.08
453.41

331.45
334.03
428.06
256.86
201.47
449.16

335.07
336.51
416.59
256.10
203.24
456.13

332.54
330.74
420.82
253.11
203.08
453.41

337.39
337.20
480.78
257.42
203.08
460.71

342.00
342.23
433.40
258.86
206.75
466.91

336.73 333.68 338.37 337.26
334.96 331.89 335.23 336.73
424.85 442.50 452.40 424.38
257.01 254.10 258.96 257.28
205.13 202.35 206.85 203.20
456.03 451.14 454.33 458.82

342.54
440.13
582.99

356.26
464.25
586.89

350.06 352.69 357.78 363.09 359.10 364.24 366.53 359.25 358.08 362.30 360.00 358.08 359.41
462.00 462.45 462.45 470.40 469.66 473.89 480.82 477.24 476.10 478.68 481.01 480.17 484.57
580.75 580.35 583.87 597.58 590.39 596.94 584.30 597.49 594.58 601.77 595.56 583.23 587.86

329.60
203.87

345.69
209.76

345.26 342.37 343.21 345.28 345.28
213.76 212.98 206.75 208.57 207.64

T R A N S P O R T A T IO N AN D PU BLIC U T IL ITIE S

420.81

437.73

438.99 445.60 441.86 447.68 438.26 444.38 445.56 c438.01

440.61

448.94

W H O LE S A L E TR A D E

329.18

345.86

344.82

348.42 347.65 351.53 348.30 351.40 357.49 351.74 352.20 353.82 354.82 358.51

361.53

179.90

515.97 508.79 514.08 519.28

516.57

515.16 $513.75
464.44

M AN U FA C TU R IN G

Current dollars.................................
Constant (1977) dollars.......................
D urable goods

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

N ondurable goods

Food and kindred products.....................
Tobacco manufactures .........................
Textile mill products.............................
Apparel and other textile products.............
Paper and allied products.......................
Printing and publishing.........................
Chemicals and allied products .................
Petroleumand coat products...................
Rubber and miscellaneous
plastics products.............................
Leather and leather products...................

349.44 355.32 352.34 343.44 347.71 346.83 345.17 348.94
210.82 215.18 207.64 207.28 212.43 215.50 217.25 219.79

R E TA IL TR A D E

171.05

176.40

178.45

FIN ANC E, IN SU RA N C E, AND R EA L ES TA TE

263.90

278.13

275.15 278.92 275.55 284.02 279.96 280.64

S E R V IC E S ............................................................................

239.04

250.59

248.72 251.99 249.48 253.22

178.09 176.40

339.55 342.54
343.60 341.54
471.70 480.42
260.91 265.59
205.98 208.62
459.67 462.25

174.64 176.12

440.66 c441.73 441.78

179.65 173.73 174.31
285.53 282.83

252.12 254.08 257.94

175.52 175.22

177.91

179.39

286.47 286.47 285.74

284.59

290.30

257.68

261.16

254.80 256.56

256.56 257.21

1Not available.

p = preliminary.

c = corrected.

NOTE: See “Notes onthe data” for adescription of the most recent benchmark revision.

17.

Indexes of diffusion: industries in which employment increased, seasonally adjusted

[In percent]
T im e
span

Over
1-month
span
Over
3-month
span
Over
6-month
span
Over
12-month
span

Year

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

Ju ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

1983 . . . .
1984 . . . .
1985 . . . .

52.2
67.3
57.6

45.9
72.7
50.3

59.7
66.8
55.9

70.0
67.3
44.6

68.9
60.5
P50.3

63.0
64.3
P48.4

72.7
65.7

69.5
58.1

73.2
48.4

74.1
66.5

66.8
55.1

68.9
63.5

1983 . . . .
1984 . . . .
1985 . . . .

46.2
78.1
58.6

53.2
75.9
54.1

63.0
77.6
46.8

73.5
68.9
P45.4

71.9
69.7
P46.2

73.8
67.0

72.7
65.4

80.3
60.3

80.8
60.0

78.6
56.5

74.6
67.0

74.3
60.0

1983 . . . .
1984 . . . .
1985 . . . .

50.0
79.2
P52.2

62.4
77.8
P48.1

65.7
77.3
P44.6

67.8
75.4

74.3
69.2

78.4
64.9

79.7
63.2

79.5
64.1

78.9
67.0

79.2
59.7

79.7
57.6

78.4
60.3

1983 . . . .
1984 . . . .

48.6
81.9

55.1
78.4

61.4
76.8

68.6
75.1

72.4
72.7

75.1
73.0

77.0
70.0

79.7
65.7

78.4
63.5

80.8
60.5

81.6
P55.4

81.1
P51.6

p = preliminary.
NOTE: Figuresarethepercent of industrieswithemployment rising. (Half of theunchangedcomponents

70

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are counted as rising.) Dataare centered within the spans. Seethe “Definitions” in this section.
See “Notes on the data” for adescription of the most recent benchmark revision.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DATA
excluded from the scope of the survey. In itial cla im s are notices filed by
persons in unemployment insurance programs to indicate they are out of
work and wish to begin receiving compensation. A claimant who continued
to be unemployed a full week is then counted in the insured unemployment
figure. The rate o f in su red u n em p lo y m en t expresses the number of in­
sured unemployed as a percent of the average insured employment in a

u n em plo ym en t insurance d a t a are compiled monthly
by the Employment and Training Administration o f the U .S. De­
partment of Labor from monthly reports of unemployment insur­
ance activity prepared by State agencies. Railroad unemployment
insurance data are prepared by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.

N a t io n a l

12-month

period.
Average weekly seasonally adjusted insured unemployment data are
computed by bls’ Weekly Seasonal Adjustment program. This procedure
incorporated the X—11 Variant of the Census Method II Seasonal Adjust­

Definitions
Data for all p ro g ra m s represent an unduplicated count of insured un­
employment under State programs, Unemployment Compensation for ExServicemen, and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees,
and the Railroad Insurance Act. The total may include persons receiving
Federal-State Extended Benefits.
Under both State and Federal unemployment insurance programs for
civilian em ployees, insured workers must report the completion of at least
1 week o f unemployment before they are defined as unemployed. Persons
not covered by unemployment insurance (about 10 percent of the labor
force) and those who have exhausted or not yet earned benefit rights are

18.

ment program.
An a p p lica tio n for benefits is filed by a railroad worker at the beginning
of his first period of unemployment in a benefit year; no application is
required for subsequent periods in the same year. N u m b e r o f p aym e n ts
are payments made in 14-day registration periods. The a v era g e am o u n t
o f b en efit p a y m e n t is an average for all compensable periods, not adjusted
for recovery of overpayments or settlement of underpayments. However,
to ta l b en efits paid have been adjusted.

Unemployment insurance and employment service operations

[All items except average benefits amounts are Inthousands]
1985

1984
Item

All programs:
Insured unemployment....................
State unemployment insurance program:1
Initial claims2 ................................
Insured unemployment (average
weekly volume)...........................
Rate of insured unemployment...........
Weeks of unemployment compensated . .
Average weekly benefit amount
for total unemployment ................
Total benefits paid .........................
State unemployment Insurance program:1
(Seasonally adjusted data)
Initial claims2 ................................
Insured unemployment (average
weekly volume)...........................
Rate of insured unemployment...........
Unemployment compensation for exservicemen:3
Initial claims1 ................................
Insured unemployment (average
weekly volume)...........................
Weeks of unemployment compensated . .
Total benefits paid .........................
Unemployment compensation for
Federal civilian employees:4
Initial claims..................................
Insured unemployment (average
weekly volume)...........................
Weeks of unemployment compensated . .
Total benefits paid .........................
Railroad unemployment Insurance:
Applications..................................
Insured unemployment (average
weekly volume)...........................
Number of payments.......................
Average amount of benefit payment . . .
Total benefits paid .........................
Employment service:5
Newapplications and renewals...........
Nonfarm placements .......................

2,290

2,166

2,327

2,184

2,149

MayP

Apr.P

2,441

2,778

3,361

3,339

3,113

2,766

2,610

1,662

1,507

1,633

3,264
3.7
12,382

3,239
3.6
11,759

3,016
3.4
11,680

2,680
3.0
10,914

1,368

1,387

1,767

1,459

1,260

1,758

1,825

2,074

2,215
2.6
9,304

2,111
2.5
8,053

2,270
2.6
8,380

2,129
2.5
8,716

2,023
2.3
7,209

2,072
2.4
8,092

2,355
2.7
8,421

2,691
3.1
9,211

$123.69 $121.96 $119.83 $120.24 $122.49 $123.19 $123.95 $125.36 $126.68 $127.28 $128.98 $127.58
$1,109,268 $948,381 $974,135 $1,017,804 $853,424 $962,856 $1,005,727 $1,114,781 $1,505,278 $1,450,239 $1,423,315 $1,347,878

1,559

1,661

1,618

1,707

1,746

1,765

1,602

1,766

1,814

1,709

1,714

2,300
2.7

2,356
2.7

2,457
2.8

2,355
2.7

2,567
3.0

2,461
2.8

2,551
2.9

2,541
2.9

■2,532
2.8

2,585
2.9

2,614
2.9

2,648
2.9

12

12

13

14

13

15

13

12

14

12

12

10

22
87
$11,984

23
88
$11,930

24
102
$13,901

22
86
$11,720

21
82
$11,193

19
76
$10,510

1,614

18
79
$10,577

18
71
$9,467

18
71
$9,573

19
79
$10,715

20
72
$9,820

21
86
$11,766

9

11

12

10

9

15

12

11

14

9

8

9

20
88
$10,529

19
76
$8,994

20
80
$9,489

19
83
$9,776

19
69
$8,198

21
85
$10,088

23
89
$10,830

24
94
$11,386

27
113
$14,017

26
101
$12,847

24
101
$12,786

20
88
$11,169

2

11

25

7

6

9

10

11

13

4

3

3

3

19
54
$188.45
$10,233

16
38
$187.37
$7,039

16
35
$189.06
$6,691

17
37
$197.85
$6,695

18
34
$196.15
$6,349

21
46
$195.20
$8,596

26
52
$198.85

29
61
$205.26

31
94
$206.99

34
74
$209.76

34
75
$209.66

23
64
$198.24

16
43
$190.11

9,517
1,810

11nitial claims and State insured unemployment Include data under the program for Puerto Rican
sugarcane workers.
2Excludes transition claims under State programs.
Excludes data on claims and payments madejointly with other programs.
Excludes data or claims and payments madejointly with State programs.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

2,083

M ar.

Feb.

Jan.

Dec.

Nov.

Oct.

Sept.

Aug.

J u ly

June

May

6,728
1,577

r4,803
r1,182

P10,099
P2.238

Cumulative total for fiscal year (October 1-September 30). Data computed quarterly.
r= revised,
p= preliminary.
NOTE: Datafor Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Included. Dashes Indicate data not available.

71

PRICE DATA

Price d a t a are gathered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from
retail and primary markets in the United States. Price indexes are
given in relation to a base period (1967 = 100, unless otherwise
noted).

Definitions
The Consumer Price Index is a monthly statistical measure o f the average
change in prices in a fixed market basket of goods and services. Effective
with the January 1978 index, the Bureau of Labor Statistics began pub­
lishing cpi’ s for two groups of the population. It introduced a CPI for All
Urban Consumers, covering 80 percent of the total noninstitutional pop­
ulation, and revised the cpi for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers,
covering about half the new index population. The All Urban Consumers
index covers in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, professional,
managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers,
the unemployed, retirees, and others not in the labor force.
The cpi is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, fuel, drugs, trans­
portation fares, doctors’ and dentists’ fees, and other goods and serv­
ices that people buy for day-to-day living. The quantity and quality of
these items is kept essentially unchanged between major revisions so that
only price changes will be measured. Data are collected from more than
24,000 retail establishments and 24,000 tenants in 85 urban areas across
the country. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of
items are included in the index. Because the cpi’ s are based on the ex­
penditures o f two population groups in 1972-73, they may not accurately
reflect the experience o f individual families and single persons with dif­
ferent buying habits.
Though the cpi is often called the “ Cost-of-Living Index,” it measures
only price change, which is just one of several important factors affecting
living costs. Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices
among cities. They only measure the average change in prices for each
area since the base period.
P ro d u c er P rice In d ex es measure average changes in prices received in
primary markets o f the United States by producers of commodities in all
stages o f processing. The sample used for calculating these indexes contains
about 2,800 commodities and about 10,000 quotations per month selected
to represent the movement of prices of all commodities produced in the
manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, gas and electricity,
and public utilities sectors. The universe includes all commodities produced
or imported for sale in commercial transactions in primary markets in the
United States.
Producer Price Indexes can be organized by stage of processing or by
commodity. The stage o f processing structure organizes products by degree
o f fabrication (that is, finished goods, intermediate or semifinished goods,
and crude materials). The commodity structure organizes products by sim­
ilarity o f end-use or material composition.

72


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

To the extent possible, prices used in calculating Producer Price Indexes
apply to the first significant commercial transaction in the United States,
from the production or central marketing point. Price data are generally
collected monthly, primarily by mail questionnaire. Most prices are ob­
tained directly from producing companies on a voluntary and confidential
basis. Prices generally are reported for the Tuesday of the week containing
the 13th day of the month.
In calculating Producer Price Indexes, price changes for the various
commodities are averaged together with implicit quantity weights repre­
senting their importance in the total net selling value of all commodities
as of 1972. The detailed data are aggregated to obtain indexes for stage
of processing groupings, commodity groupings, durability of product
groupings, and a number of special composite groupings.
P rice in d ex es for the ou tp u t o f se lecte d s ic in d u stries measure average
price changes in commodities produced by particular industries, as defined
in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual 1972 (Washington, U.S.
Office of Management and Budget, 1972). These indexes are derived from
several price series, combined to match the economic activity of the spec­
ified industry and weighted by the value of shipments in the industry. They
use data from comprehensive industrial censuses conducted by the U.S.
Bureau of the Census and the U .S. Department of Agriculture.

Notes on the data
Regional cpi’ s cross classified by population size were introduced in the
May 1978 Review. These indexes enable users in local areas for which an
index is not published to get a better approximation of the cpi for their
area by using the appropriate population size class measure for their region.
The cross-classified indexes are published bimonthly. (See table 20.)
For details concerning the 1978 revision of the cpi, see The Consumer
Price Index: Concepts and Content O ver the Years, Report 517, revised
edition (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 1978).
As of January 1976, the Producer Price Index incorporated a revised
weighting structure reflecting 1972 values of shipments.
Additional data and analyses of price changes are provided in the c p i
D etailed Report and Producer P rices and Price Indexes, both monthly
publications of the Bureau.
For a discussion of the general method of computing producer, and
industry price indexes, see b l s Handbook o f Methods, Bulletin 2 134-1
(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 7. For consumer prices, see
b l s Handbook o f M ethods f o r Surveys and Studies (1976), chapter 13. See
also John F. Early, ‘‘Improving the measurement of producer price change,”
Monthly Labor Review, April 1978. For industry prices, see also Bennett
R. M oss, “ Industry and Sector Price Indexes,” Monthly Labor Review,
August 1965.

19.

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, annual averages and changes, 1967- 84

[1967 = 100]
Food and
beverages

All item s

Apparel and
upkeep

H ousing

Transportation

Year
Index

Percent
change

Index

Percent
change

Index

Percent
change

Index

Percent
change

Index

M edical care

Percent
change

Percent
change

Index

O ther goods
and se rvic e s

Entertainm ent

Index

Percent
change

Index

P ercent
change

1967
1968
1969
1970

100.0
104.2
109.8
116.3

4.2
5.4
5.9

100.0
103.6
108.8
114.7

3.6
5.0
5.4

100.0
104.0
110.4
118.2

4.0
6.2
7.1

100.0
105.4
111.5
116.1

5.4
5.8
4.1

100.0
103.2
107.2
112.7

3.2
3.9
5.1

100.0
106.1
113.4
120.6

6.1
6.9
6.3

100.0
105.7
111.0
116.7

5.7
5.0
5.1

100.0
105.2
110.4
115.8

5.2
4.9
5.8

1971
1972
1973
1974
1975

121.3
125.3
133.1
147.7
161.2

4.3
3.3
6.2
11.0
9.1

118.3
123.2
139.5
158.7
172.1

3.1
4.1
13.2
13.8
8.4

123.4
128.1
133.7
148.8
164.5

4.4
3.8
4.4
11.3
10.6

119.8
122.3
126.8
136.2
142.3

3.3
2.1
3.7
7.4
4.5

118.6
119.9
123.8
137.7
150.6

5.2
1.1
3.3
11.2
9.4

128.4
132.5
137.7
150.5
168.6

6.5
3.2
3.9
9.3
12.0

122.9
126.5
130.0
139.8
152.2

5.3
2.9
2.8
7.5
8.9

122.4
127.5
132.5
142.0
153.9

4.8
4.2
3.9
7.2
8.4

1976
1977
1978
1979
1980

170.5
181.5
195.3
217.7
247.0

5.8
6.5
7.6
11.5
13.5

177.4
188.0
206.2
228.7
248.7

3.1
8.0
9.7
10.9
8.7

174.6
186.5
202.6
227.5
263.2

6.1
6.8
8.6
12.3
15.7

147.6
154.2
159.5
166.4
177.4

3.7
4.5
3.4
4.3
6.6

165.5
177.2
185.8
212.8
250.5

9.9
7.1
4.9
14.5
17.7

184.7
202.4
219.4
240.1
287.2

9.5
9.6
8.4
9.4
11.3

159.8
167.7
176.2
187.6
203.7

5.0
4.9
5.1
6.5
8.5

162.7
172.2
183.2
196.3
213.6

5.7
5.8
6.4
7.2
8.8

1981
1982
1983
1984

272.3
288.6
297.4
307.6

10.2
6.0
3.0
3.4

267.8
278.5
284.7
295.2

7.7
4.0
2.2
3.7

293.2
314.7
322.0
329.2

11.4
7.3
2.3
2.2

186.6
190.9
195.6
199.1

5.2
2.3
2.5
1.8

281.3
293.1
300.0
313.9

12.3
4.2
2.4
4.6

295.1
326.9
355.1
377.7

10.4
10.8
8.6
6.4

219.0
232.4
242.4
251.2

7.5
6.1
4.3
3.6

233.3
257.0
286.3
304.9

9.2
10.2
11.4
6.5

20. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers and revised CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers,
U.S. city average— general summary and groups, subgroups, and selected items

[1967= 100 unless otherwise specified]
All Urban Consum ers
1984

General sum m ary

Urban W age Earners and C lerical W o rk ers
1984

1985

1985

M ay

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

May

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

A ll i t e m s .............................................................................................................................

309.7

315.5

316.1

317.4

318.8

320.1

321.3

305.4

312.2

312.6

313.9

315.3

316.7

317.8

Food and beverages ..........................................................
Housing ......................................................................
Apparel and upkeep..........................................................
Transportation................................................................
Medical care..................................................................
Entertainment ................................................................
Other goods and services....................................................

293.6
334.6
198.9
312.2
376.8
253.5
303.2

297.2
341.2
203.2
315.8
388.5
260.1
316.7

299.3
342.0
199.8
314.7
391.1
261.0
319.1

301.4
343.3
201.8
314.3
393.8
261.3
320.5

301.6
344.7
205.3
316.7
396.5
262.2
321.1

301.6
345.9
205.9
320.0
398.0
263.3
321.8

301.0
348.5
205.3
321.4
399.5
263.6
322.3

293.7
325.2
197.7
314.6
375.0
249.6
300.8

297.1
335.0
202.1
317.9
386.7
255.8
312.8

299.1
335.7
198.5
316.7
389.3
256.6
315.6

301.2
337.2
200.7
316.3
392.0
256.9
317.1

301.6
338.2
204.2
318.7
394.6
257.3
317.6

301.2
339.5
204.9
322.0
396.1
258.6
318.3

300.8
342.1
204.2
323.3
397.7
258.8
318.8

Commodities..................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages.................................
Nondurables less food and beverages...............................
Durables..............................................................

280.4
269.7
276.1
267.0

282.8
271.4
277.0
269.8

282.7
270.0
274.4
270.2

284.0
270.7
274.7
271.4

285.3
272.8
277.9
271.9

286.8
275.1
281.5
272.6

287.0
275.6
283.1
271.6

279.5
268.7
277.8
259.8

282.7
271.8
278.7
264.6

282.5
270.3
275.8
264.9

283.5
271.1
276.2
266.2

285.2
273.1
279.4
266.7

286.7
275.5
283.2
267.3

286.8
276.0
284.9
266.3

Services ......................................................................
Rent, residential ........................................................
Household services less rent of shelter (12/82 = 100)...............
Transportation services ................................................
Medical care services ..................................................
Other services ..........................................................

359.9
247.2
107.4
317.7
407.1
292.3

370.6
256.1
108.5
330.1
419.3
306.1

372.1
257.1
108.9
331.8
422.4
307.1

373.5
258.4
108.9
332.2
425.3
307.8

375.0
259.2
111.5
333.2
428.1
308.6

376.2
260.4
109.8
334.1
429.4
309.9

378.9
262.6
110.9
334.5
403.9
310.7

353.4
246.5

366.8
255.3

313.9
404.7
289.4

326.1
417.0
302.3

368.3
256.3
100.4
327.7
420.1
303.5

369.6
257.5
100.4
328.1
423.1
304.2

371.0
258.4
101.1
328.8
425.7
304.9

372.2
259.6
101.2
329.6
427.1
306.2

374.9
261.8
102.2
329.9
428.7
307.2

310.0
105.9

316.2
107.6

316.3
107.8

317.4
108.2

319.1
108.7

320.8
109.2

322.4
109.5

305.2

312.7

312.7

313.7

315.4

317.2

318.7

Special indexes:

All items less food............................................................
All items less homeowners’ costs ...........................................
All items less mortgage interest costs.......................................
Commodities less food ......................................................
Nondurables less food ......................................................
Nondurables less food and apparel...........................................
Nondurables..................................................................
Services less rent of shelter (12/82 = 100).................................
Services less medical care ..................................................
Domestically produced farmfoods...........................................
Selected beef cuts............................................................
Energy ........................................................................
Energy commodities ......................................................
All items less energy ........................................................
All Items less food and energy............................................
Commodities less food and energy.....................................
Services less energy..........................................................
Purchasing power of the consumer dollar, 1967 = $1 .....................


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

298.3
267.4 269.2 267.8 268.6 270.6 272.8 273.4 266.6 269.6 268.2 269.0 271.0 273.3 273.8
271.1 272.2 269.7 270.2 273.2 276.5 278.0 273.0 273.9 271.2 271.7 274.7 278.2 279.8
313.0 312.8 310.9 310.8 313.5 318.1 320.7 314.3 313.8 311.8 311.5 314.4 319.1 321.8
286.1 288.3 288.0 289.6 291.0 292.7 293.3 286.9 289.0 288.6 239.8 291.6 293.4 294.0
100.5 100.7 101.2 101.4 101.9
107.5 110.6 111.1 111.3 111.9 112.2 112.8
352.5 363.0 364.3 365.5 366.9 368.1 370.9 345.8 359.2 360.4 361.6 362.8 364.1 366.8
277.4 279.9 282.1 284.8 284.2 283.3 281.9 276.0 278.2 280.4 282.9 282.5 281.6 280.1
278.1 276.0 276.2 275.2 275.0 273.3 268.6 279.3 277.4 277.5 276.5 276.6 274.8 270.1
426.1 418.9 414.5 411.4 416.6 424.4 431.7 426.0 418.5 413.8 410.6 416.0 424.2 431.3
416.3 404.1 395.7 391.3 398.3 410.8 417.0 416.9 404.7 396.2 391.8 399.0 411.6 418.0
301.1 308.2 309.2 310.9 312.0 312.7 313.3 295.7 303.8 304.7 306.4 307.4 308.1 308.6
299.3 307.3 307.9 309.5 310.8 311.8 312.8 293.0 302.1 302.7 304.3 305.5 306.4 307.3
252.5 256.7 256.5 258.1 259.3 260.0 259.6 249.1 254.0 253.8 255.5 256.6 257.2 256.8
353.3 365.0 366.4 368.0 369.4 370.7 372.9 346.1 360.7 362.0 363.6 364.9 366.2 368.4
$0,323 $0,317 $0,316 $0,315 $0,314 $0,312 $0,311 $0,327 $0,320 $0,320 $0,319 $0,317 $0,316 $0,315

73

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:

Consumer Prices

20. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers and revised CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers,
U.S. city average— general summary and groups, subgroups, and selected items

[1967= 100 unless otherwise specified]
All Urban Consum ers
G eneral sum m ary

1984
M ay

Urban W age Earners and C lerical W ork ers

1985
Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

1984
Apr.

May

M ay

1985
Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

FOOD AN D B EVER AGES

293.6

297.2

299.3

301.4

301.6

301.6

301.0

293.7

297.1

299.1

301.2

301.6

301.4

300.8

Food

301.4

305.1

307.3

309.5

309.7

309.6

308.9

301.2

304.7

306.9

309.0

309.3

309.2

308.4

Food at home ................................................................
Cereals and bakery products ...........................................
Cereals and cereal products (12/77 = 100) .....................
Flour and prepared flour mixes (12/77 = 100).............
Cereal (12/77 = 100) .......................................
Rice, pasta, and cornmeal (12/77 = 100) .................
Bakery products (12/77 = 100)...................................
White bread..................................................
Other breads (12/77 = 100).................................
Fresh biscuits, rolls, and muffins (12/77 = 100) ..........
Fresh cakes and cupcakes (12/77 = 100) .................
Cookies (12/77 = 100) .....................................
Crackers, bread, and cracker products (12/77 = 100) . . .
Fresh sweetrolls, coffeecake, and donuts (12/77 = 100) . .
Frozen and refrigerated bakery products and
fresh pies, tarts, and turnovers (12/77 = 100) .........

290.7
303.5
163.4
144.6
185.1
150.0
159.6
260.4
154.3
158.5
160.6
163.9
155.4
161.5

293.2
310.7
164.2
143.4
187.6
149.9
164.5
265.4
156.2
161.9
169.6
170.9
164.3
164.1

296.1
312.4
165.6
146.6
189.4
149.3
165.2
267.2
156.0
161.8
169.6
171.3
166.3
164.9

298.6
313.7
167.0
148.2
191.9
149.0
165.6
267.1
158.1
164.1
168.9
171.5
167.9
165.0

298.4
314.4
168.1
148.9
193.0
150.5
165.7
266.8
158.6
163.3
169.4
171.9
168.6
163.8

297.7
314.8
168.2
147.5
193.9
150.7
166.0
266.2
160.2
161.4
169.9
172.2
170.3
165.0

296.2
315.9
169.4
150.7
194.6
150.7
166.4
265.2
159.9
162.1
171.2
173.2
172.0
165.4

289.4
301.9
164.1
144.8
187.3
151.1
158.4
256.1
156.6
154.3
158.7
164.7
156.6
164.2

291.7
309.0
164.7
143.6
189.8
151.0
163.1
261.0
158.4
157.5
167.3
171.9
166.0
166.9

294.5
310.7
166.2
146.8
191.7
150.3
163.8
263.0
158.1
157.6
167.3
172.3
167.8
167.7

297.0
311.9
167.5
148.4
194.1
150.2
164.2
262.8
160.5
159.7
166.8
172.5
169.2
167.7

296.9
312.7
168.7
149.1
195.2
151.7
164.4
262.5
161.0
158.8
167.4
172.9
170.2
166.9

296.1
313.1
168.8
147.8
196.2
151.9
164.7
261.9
162.7
157.3
168.0
173.2
171.9
167.9

294.6
314.1
169.9
150.9
197.0
151.8
165.0
260.8
162.3
157.8
169.0
174.2
173.6
168.3

164.9

171.7

172.9

172.4

174.2

174.8

175.7

158.1

164.3

165.5

164.9

166.8

167.2

168.3

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs .........................................
Meats, poultry, and fish...........................................
Meats ........................................................
Beef and veal..............................................
Ground beef other than canned.........................
Chuck roast ............................................
Round roast............................................
Round steak............................................
Sirloin steak............................................
Other beef and veal (12/77 = 100) ...................
Pork........................................................
Bacon ..................................................
Chops ..................................................
Hamother than canned (12/77 = 100)...............
Sausage ................................................
Canned ham............................................
Other pork (12/77 = 100) .............................
Other meats ..............................................
Frankfurters ............................................
Bologna, liverwurst, and salami (12/77 = 100) . . . .
Other lunchmeats (12/77 = 100) .....................
Lamb and organ meats (12/77 = 100) ...............
Poultry..............................................................
Fresh whole chicken.....................................
Fresh and frozen chicken parts (12/77 = 100)........
Other poultry (12/77 = 100)...........................
Fish and seafood ............................................
Canned fish and seafood ...............................
Fresh and frozen fish and seafood (12/77 = 100) . . .
Eggs................................................................

266.7
270.9
267.9
278.3
259.7
281.0
246.5
261.3
280.0
172.0
248.0
262.5
227.3
110.2
318.7
249.7
137.1
265.7
264.8
153.6
135.9
138.5
218.0
223.2
145.9
130.3
380.8
132.3
152.6
218.9

265.9
272.5
269.6
276.2
257.2
286.1
239.0
255.7
276.2
171.2
254.6
270.5
234.1
120.9
316.6
248.8
137.3
270.2
266.6
156.2
139.2
140.8
213.8
210.4
140.4
138.9
392.2
133.4
158.9
185.7

266.6
275.0
270.8
276.4
256.0
281.5
240.7
258.8
272.7
172.6
258.5
276.9
236.3
120.0
324.5
255.3
140.4
269.8
267.6
155.6
138.2
141.5
217.4
214.3
141.7
142.4
406.1
134.4
166.7
161.3

267.0
274.8
270.6
275.6
256.5
284.7
239.2
258.4
272.6
170.9
258.9
278.9
240.5
118.0
321.9
258.2
139.8
270.5
269.2
156.8
138.2
141.1
219.5
216.5
143.3
143.2
401.4
133.5
164.3
169.7

266.1
273.7
269.5
275.3
256.4
280.0
240.2
257.1
274.7
171.1
256.5
278.6
233.7
119.5
320.2
257.4
137.3
268.6
266.9
156.4
137.0
140.2
217.3
215.7
140.9
141.6
403.3
133.7
165.4
172.1

263.6
271.2
266.4
273.7
256.1
275.1
238.8
255.4
273.5
170.2
249.0
277.8
226.1
108.2
316.2
250.2
135.9
269.1
267.8
158.2
136.4
140.1
216.7
215.0
140.3
141.6
402.8
133.0
165.5
169.9

259.8
267.8
263.4
269.0
249.1
266.2
232.9
251.4
272.8
169.0
247.8
274.8
223.1
109.5
318.4
252.8
133.2
268.3
264.9
157.5
136.9
139.6
213.6
209.2
139.7
140.5
393.8
134.0
160.7
159.9

266.1
270.1
267.2
278.8
260.6
289.5
250.2
258.7
281.7
170.7
247.4
266.3
225.2
107.4
319.2
254.8
136.4
265.1
263.4
153.4
134.0
141.7
216.0
221.0
143.9
129.6
380.0
131.9
152.7
220.0

265.3
271.7
268.9
276.9
258.2
294.7
242.3
253.6
279.1
170.0
253.7
274.1
232.1
117.7
316.7
253.9
136.7
269.4
265.1
156.1
137.3
143.4
211.3
208.0
138.2
138.0
391.4
132.9
159.1
186.5

266.0
274.2
270.2
277.0
257.0
290.6
244.3
256.3
274.5
171.2
257.6
280.9
234.2
116.7
325.0
259.2
139.8
269.2
266.6
155.6
136.2
144.4
215.1
212.0
139.5
141.8
405.3
134.0
166.9
162.0

266.3
274.0
270.0
276.2
257.7
293.9
242.2
256.4
273.7
169.5
258.0
282.6
238.5
114.9
322.1
262.9
139.1
269.6
268.0
156.6
136.2
143.6
217.0
214.0
141.3
142.3
401.2
133.2
164.9
170.2

265.6
273.0
268.9
276.2
257.7
288.9
244.2
254.5
276.3
170.0
255.8
282.2
232.1
116.5
320.3
261.9
136.6
267.8
265.7
156.4
134.9
142.7
214.8
213.2
138.8
140.7
403.1
133.3
166.0
172.7

262.9
270.3
265.7
274.4
257.4
283.6
242.5
252.1
274.5
169.1
248.2
281.8
224.5
105.5
315.9
254.3
135.2
268.2
266.0
158.2
134.4
142.4
214.4
212.7
138.3
140.8
401.9
132.8
165.6
170.6

259.2
267.1
262.9
269.8
250.4
274.2
236.4
249.0
276.0
167.9
246.9
278.7
221.0
106.7
318.1
257.3
132.5
267.6
263.1
157.5
135.0
142.6
211.1
207.0
137.6
139.3
394.9
133.7
160.7
160.5

Dairy products..........................................................
Fresh milk and cream(12/77 = 100).............................
Fresh whole milk .............................................
Other fresh milk and cream(12/77 = 100).................
Processed dairy products .........................................
Butter ........................................................
Cheese (12/77 = 100).......................................
Ice creamand related products (12/77 = 100).............
Other dairy products (12/77 = 100) .......................

251.0
136.5
223.0
137.3
149.4
254.2
146.2
156.6
146.8

258.4
140.4
229.6
140.7
154.1
269.4
150.1
160.1
152.5

258.8
140.4
229.6
141.0
154.5
266.4
150.3
162.3
153.0

259.2
140.7
229.8
141.5
154.8
264.9
150.8
162.6
153.0

258.9
140.6
229.7
141.2
154.4
263.9
150.5
162.1
152.8

258.3
140.2
229.1
140.8
154.2
259.2
149.9
162.4
154.7

258.4
139.8
228.7
140.1
154.9
262.6
150.7
162.9
155.0

250.1
135.9
222.0
136.6
149.7
256.8
146.5
155.5
147.3

257.3
139.6
228.4
139.9
154.4
272.3
150.5
159.0
152.8

257.8
139.7
228.4
140.3
154.8
269.1
150.6
161.3
153.3

258.3
140.0
228.7
140.8
155.1
267.6
151.3
161.7
153.4

257.8
139.8
228.5
140.5
154.7
266.6
150.9
161.1
153.2

257.2
139.4
227.9
140.1
154.4
262.0
150.3
161.4
155.0

257.3
139.1
227.4
139.4
155.2
265.1
151.1
161.9
155.4

Fruits and vegetables ..................................................
Fresh fruits and vegetables .......................................
Fresh fruits ..................................................
Apples ..................................................
Bananas ................................................
Oranges ................................................
Other fresh fruits (12/77 = 100).......................
Fresh vegetables ............................................
Potatoes................................................
Lettuce..................................................
Tomatoes ..............................................
Other fresh vegetables (12/77 = 100).................

310.2
316.0
315.2
298.8
251.1
344.8
169.9
316.8
372.1
234.1
252.8
187.4

309.7
312.6
331.6
297.5
225.2
428.0
174.3
294.8
327.3
276.0
232.4
167.4

320.8
332.7
341.5
304.1
248.6
429.7
180.0
324.5
331.5
385.6
238.0
177.3

333.0
354.1
362.6
318.5
268.9
448.6
193.0
346.3
335.7
339.7
282.4
205.0

332.1
352.1
362.9
321.4
281.6
437.4
193.2
342.0
338.3
306.7
322.4
199.5

333.2
353.5
367.2
328.8
301.2
444.3
191.7
340.8
342.9
263.5
410.0
191.5

330.3
346.9
381.9
333.9
277.0
484.8
201.9
314.3
369.4
295.5
232.9
175.0

305.6
309.5
303.2
299.5
248.8
313.9
163.2
315.4
366.0
236.4
257.6
186.3

303.9
303.9
317.6
299.3
224.0
390.2
167.0
291.6
320.4
274.4
236.0
165.2

314.9
323.6
326.1
304.9
246.7
388.9
172.0
321.5
323.5
386.6
240.6
175.2

327.1
344.9
347.0
319.5
267.9
408.7
184.6
343.2
327.5
341.7
285.6
202.8

326.8
344.2
348.3
322.4
281.0
399.0
185.4
340.7
331.0
311.9
326.0
198.0

328.1
346.1
353.7
329.7
300.1
407.4
184.8
339.5
335.8
266.9
413.5
190.5

324.8
338.7
367.1
336.4
276.0
442.6
194.6
313.2
362.3
301.6
234.7
174.1

Processed fruits and vegetables...................................
Processed fruits (12/77 = 100).............................
Frozen fruit and fruit juices (12/77 = 100)...........
Fruit juices other than frozen (12/77 = 100) .........
Canned and dried fruits (12/77 = 100)...............

306.5
162.1
163.8
164.1
158.6

309.3
164.5
166.6
168.3
158.7

310.6
165.2
167.4
168.1
160.3

312.7
166.9
170.0
170.1
160.9

313.0
167.6
172.3
169.9
161.3

313.8
168.5
173.3
171.1
161.6

315.0
168.7
174.4
170.6
161.7

303.8
162.7
164.1
164.3
159.9

306.5
164.0
166.0
167.3
158.7

307.9
164.7
166.7
167.1
160.5

309.9
166.4
169.3
169.1
161.1

310.0
166.9
171.4
168.7
161.3

310.5
167.9
172.6
170.1
161.7

312.0
168.1
173.7
169.6
161.9

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

74

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

20.

Continued— Consumer Price Index— U.S. city average

[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
Urban W age Earne rs and C lerical W o rk ers

All Urban C onsum ers

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

147.1 148.1
160.0 161.0
149.7 150.6
139.2 140.2
360.8 361.3
396.1 397.6
164.2 164.5
169.3 170.1
162.7 164.0
294.0 294.0
297.0 298.8
160.0 159.6
151.6 151.2
454.0 454.1
325.5 324.9
150.3 151.2
378.9 379.9
378.9 380.0
153.8 153.1
292.8 293.4
150.7 151.4
165.8 164.7
169.3 170.3
167.9 168.5
162.6 163.5
159.7 160.6
153.9 153.7

144.8
157.1
146.6
138.0
351.3
389.4
159.2
173.6
156.2
282.4
280.3
151.5
147.3
443.1
313.5
148.5
363.4
362.1
146.4
285.4
146.5
157.3
166.9
161.7
159.6
156.0
152.4

145.3
158.7
148.0
137.4
354.9
391.4
162.2
170.7
156.7
293.1
292 6
156.6
152.8
444.7
313.9
144.3
370.3
372.9
150.1
289.1
150.4
160.9
168.7
164.8
161.8
155.4
153.8

146.0
160.9
148.0
137.8
358.3
394.0
162.6
173.2
157.5
295.3
295.5
158.1
153.6
450.9
321.6
145.4
369.9
372.9
151.5
290.9
151.6
162.2
169.9
166.6
162.8
156.3
154.0

146.4
161.6
147.4
138.5
360.2
394.4
162.7
172.8
158.4
294.7
294.0
157.6
153.5
454.2
323.2
147.4
373.3
374.5
152.7
292.9
152.5
164.0
172.0
167.1
162.9
157.1
154.9

146.0
160.9
147.5
138.1
361.0
394.2
163.2
172.0
158.1
294.3
294.5
157.7
153.0
455.5
323.6
147.4
375.2
375.6
154.0
293.7
151.7
164.4
171.9
167.1
163.4
159.7
154.9

145.9 146.9
162.0 163.1
147.1 147.9
137.6 138.6
361.3 361.6
395.5 396.9
164.1 164.3
170.6 171.3
160.3 161.4
293.7 293.6
294.4 296.0
158.1 157.8
152.3 151.9
455.6 455.4
322.7 322.0
148.3 149.0
372.8 373.9
378.0 378.9
154.1 153.4
294.2 294.9
152.6 153.1
164.8 163.5
171.8 172.8
166.8 167.4
164.3 165.3
159.8 160.5
155.1 155.0

343.9
165.9
166.1
169.7

345.1
166.4
166.6
170.4

335.9
162.0
162.0
165.3

342.3
165.3
165.4
167.8

343.0
165.8
165.6
168.0

344.6
166.5
166.6
168.6

345.8
167.0
167.2
169.3

347.1
167.4
168.0
170.1

348.4
168.0
168.5
170.8

226.7

227.7

224.8

227.2

227.6

229.1

229.9

229.9

230.8

146.9
234.2
154.6
242.6
124.4
162.7

147.4
234.5
155.5
244.4
124.8
163.8

147.1 147.5
158.9 159.6
150.7 150.0
139.3 140.1
358.0 359.8
394.5 394.8
162.8 162.9
171.9 171.5
160.0 160.9
295.9 295.1
298.2 296.8
160.2 159.7
153.1 152.8
449.4 452.7
324.3 325.9
147.9 149.8
376.2 379.5
373.7 375.5
151.3 152.4
289.6 291.5
149.9 150.7
163.6 165.3
167.6 169.5
167.6 168.1
160.9 161.1
156.3 157.1
152.8 153.6

147.1
159.0
150.2
139.6
360.5
394.8
163.4
170.8
160.6
294.9
297.6
159.9
152.3
454.0
326.4
149.7
381.4
376.5
153.6
292.2
149.8
165.7
169.5
168.0
161.6
159.6
153.6

339.9
164.4
163.8
167.5

341.4
164.9
164.7
168.1

342.6
165.5
165.3
168.8

224.3

225.8

226.5

Jan.

Fruits and vegetables—Continued
Processed vegetables (12/77 = 100).......................
Frozen vegetables (12/77 - 100) .....................
Cut corn and canned beans except lima (12/77 = 100). . .
Other canned and dried vegetables (12/77 = 100) . . . .
Other foods at home....................................................
Sugar and sweets ................................................
Candy and chewing gum(12/77 = 100) ...................
Sugar and artificial sweeteners (12/77 = 100).............
Other sweets (12/77 = 100).................................
Fats and oils (12/77 - 100) .....................................
Margarine....................................................
Nondairy substitutes and peanut butter (12/77 = 100) . . .
Other fats, oils, and salad dressings (12/77 = 100)........
Nonalcoholic beverages ..........................................
Cola drinks, excluding diet cola .............................
Carbonated drinks, Including diet cola (12/77 = 100) . . . .
Roasted coffee ..............................................
Freeze dried and instant coffee...............................
Other noncarbonated drinks (12/77 = 100) ...............
Other prepared foods ..............................................
Canned and packaged soup (12/77 = 100).................
Frozen prepared foods (12/77 - 100) .....................
Snacks (12/77 - 100).......................................
Seasonings, olives, pickles, and relish (12/77 = 100) . . .
Other condiments (12/77 = 100)...........................
Miscellaneous prepared foods (12/77 = 100) .............
Other canned and packaged preparedfoods (12/77 = 100) . .

146.0
155.4
149.3
139.6
350.8
390.0
159.4
172.4
158.5
282.9
282.7
153.3
146.9
441.7
316.2
150.9
368.8
362.8
146.0
283.9
144.6
158.3
164.7
162.7
157.8
156.0
151.3

146.5
156.9
150.8
139.0
354.6
391.7
162.3
169.4
159.1
293.7
295.6
158.7
152.1
443.4
316.4
146.8
376.7
373.8
149.7
287.7
148.7
162.2
166.4
165.9
159.9
155.4
152.7

Food away from home ......................................................
Lunch (12/77 - 100)..................................................
Dinner (12/77 - 100)..................................................
Other meals and snacks (12/77 - 100)...............................

332.6
160.5
160.2
164.8

339.2
163.8
163.6
167.3

A lco h o lic b everag es

221.5

223.9

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

Dec.

Apr.

Dec.

Feb.

M ay

M ay

Mar.

M ay

1985

1984

1985

1984

G eneral sum m ary

May

145.2
235.7
155.6
236.5
125.1
162.8

144.6
229.7
153.7
239.3
122.3
155.3

145.4
231.6
154.1
239.7
122.5
159.8

145.7
232.0
154.1
241.0
122.9
159.9

146.5
233.4
154.7
242.0
123.7
161.5

147.1
234.7
154.9
241.8
124.2
161.8

345.9

348.5

325.2

335.0

335.7

337.2

338.2

339.5

342.1

375.9

379.5

113.5
260.4
390.9
111.3
111.3
111.4
368.0
418.2
270.4

119.5
267.6
396.5
112.4
112.5
112.0
366.2
416.0
264.2

Shelter (CPI W ) ...............................................................................................................

344.2

359.0

360.0

362.0

363.0

364.7

368.1

Rent, residential..............................................................

246.5

255.3

256.3

257.5

258.4

259.6

261.8

Other renters’ costs ..........................................................
Lodging while out of town..............................................
Tenants'insurance (12/77 = 100).....................................
Homeownershlp..............................................................
Home purchase ........................................................
Financing, taxes, and Insurance.........................................
Property Insurance................................................
Property taxes ....................................................
Contracted mortgage interest costs...............................
Mortgage Interest rates.......................................
Maintenance and repairs................................................
Maintenance and repair services...................................
Maintenance and repair commodities...................................
Paint and wallpaper, supplies, tools, and
equipment (12/77 - 100).................................
Lumber, awnings, glass, and masonry (12/77 = 100)........
Plumbing, electrical, heating, and cooling
supplies (12/77 = 100) .....................................
Miscellaneous supplies and equipment (12/77 = 100)........

370.5
393.5
159.8

377.8
393.4
163.5

380.8
397.8
164.2

385.3
404.3
166.2

391.0
412.8
167.5

396.7
421.6
168.1

355.0
402.6
255.6

374.6
388.3
163.5
395.9
301.4
522.4
447.6
254.4
661.0
217.6
359.8
407.7
259.3

360.9
407.8
260.8

361.5
408.8
261.1

364.3
414.8
261.6

363.1
411.7
261.6

361.8
410.1
260.7

146.2
124.2

151.0
122.5

152.5
128.4

152.2
127.8

152.1
128.3

151.8
128.1

151.2
124.4

141.9
142.4

142.0
145.2

141.0
144.8

143.5
145.2

146.1
145.5

145.8
145.7

145.7
146.0

144.8
235.9
154.9
234.2
124.5
160.4

144.7
235.4
154.7
234.9
124.7
161.5

343.6

344.7

373.3

374.3
112.9
259.2
386.1
110.8
110.9
110.4
370.0
422.2
270.6

144.3
234.5
154.8
234.4
124.3
160.2

142.3
230.6
153.3
231.4
122.3
154.2

143.2
232.5
154.0
232.2
122.8
158.5

143.5
232.9
154.1
233.3
123.2
158.6

HO USING

334.6

341.2

342.0

S helter (CPI U ) ...............................................................................................................

358.9

370.1

371.2

Renters’ costs................................................................
Rent, residential ........................................................
Other renters' costs ....................................................
Flomeowners' costs..........................................................
Owners' equivalent rent................................................
Household insurance....................................................
Maintenance and repairs ....................................................
Maintenance and repair services .......................................
Maintenance and repair commodities...................................

107.8
247.2
371.3
106.5
106.5
106.3
357.3
409.6
259.7

111.3
256.1
375.1
109.8
109.8
108.9
364.4
414.2
267.7

111.8
257.1
378.5
110.0
110.0
109.0
366.0
414.7
269.9

112.4
258.4
381.9
110.7
110.7
109.5
366.8
415.8
270.5

Alcoholic beverages at home (12/77 = 100) ...............................
Beer and ale ............................................................
Whiskey..................................................................
Other alcoholic beverages (12/77 - 100).............................
Alcoholic beverages away fromhome (12/77 = 100) .....................


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

75

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
20.

Consumer Prices

Continued—Consumer Price Index— U.S. city average

[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
All Urban Consum ers

1384

G eneral sum m ary

Urban W age Earners and C lerical W o rk ers

1985

1984

1985

M ay

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

May

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

Fuel and other u t i l i t i e s .............................................

385.5

386.0

387.2

386.5

388.2

388.7

393.0

386.6

387.1

388.3

387.5

389.2

389.7

393.8

Fuels.................................
Fuel oil, coal, and bottled gas.......................................
Fuel oil ...............................
Other fuels (6/78 = 100) .......................
Gas (piped) and electricity...........................................
Electricity.....................................
Utility (piped) gas .....................................

483.5
649.2
659.9
194.4
441.4
343.0
591.7

480.2
625.9
631.5
195.6
442.2
348.2
583.0

481.2
621.6
626.5
195.6
444.1
351.0
582.9

480.8
623.4
628.4
194.9
443.3
352.6
576.8

482.2
620.8
626.3
194.2
445.5
354.2
580.1

483.0
623.5
630.1
193.7
445.9
355.7
578.2

490.0
620.8
627.0
192.9
454.7
358.4
598.9

482.6
651.5
662.1
195.1
439.9
347.2
587.2

479.7
628.4
634.0
196.2
441.0
347.3
579.7

480.7
623.9
628.8
196.1
443.2
350.1
580.2

480.3
625.7
631.3
195.5
442.3
351.7
574.3

481.6
623.1
628.7
194.7
444.4
353.2
577.2

482.3
625.9
632.5
193.7
444.6
354.6
575.0

488.9
623.2
629.5
193.4
453.0
357.4
594.1

Other utilities and public services .......................
Telephone services...............................
Local charges (12/77 = 100)...............................
Interstate toll calls (12/77 = 100) .....................
Intrastate toll calls (12/77 = 100) .....................
Water and sewerage maintenance...........................

228.8
186.7
158.3
122.6
123.1
373.9

234.1
190.4
166.5
116.2
124.1
384.4

235.3
190.8
167.1
116.2
124.0
389.6

234.3
189.1
164.6
116.2
123.9
391.3

236.3
191.3
167.7
116.2
124.3
391.4

236.4
191.1
167.5
116.2
124.2
393.2

236.8
191.4
167.7
116.8
123.9
394.2

229.9
187.4
159.0
123.0
122.9
378.2

235.0
190.9
167.0
116.5
124.0
388.3

236.3
191.3
167.6
116.5
123.9
393.3

235.1
189.5
164.9
116.6
123.9
395.0

237.2
191.2
168.2
116.6
124.2
395.1

237.3
191.7
168.0
116.6
124.2
396.8

237.7
192.0
168.2
117.2
123.8
397.9

Household fu rn ish in g s and operations

242.4

244.2

244.2

246.2

246.9

247.9

247.6

239.1

240.5

240.4

242.6

243.2

244.1

244.0

Housefurnishings ...............................
Textile housefurnishings.......................................
Household linens (12/77 = 100)...............
Curtains, drapes, slipcovers, and sewing
materials (12/77 = 100) .............................

199.8
236.6
140.8

199.7
239.9
141.6

198.8
237.1
138.9

200.7
244.5
146.6

200.6
241.4
142.2

201.7
239.5
140.5

201.2
243.2
143.8

197.7
239.9
141.6

197.3
244.1
143.0

196.3
240.5
140.2

198.3
247.9
147.9

198.2
245.2
143.5

199.2
243.0
141.7

198.9
247 2
144.8

154.6

158.0

157.3

158.6

159.3

158.7

159.9

158.9

162.9

161.3

162.3

163.8

163.0

165.1

Furniture and bedding...................................
Bedroomfurniture (12/77 = 100) .....................
Sofas (12/77 = 100) ...................................
Living roomchairs and tables (12/77 = 100)...................
Other furniture (12/77 = 100) .............................
Appliances including TVand sound equipment .....................
Television and sound equipment .................................
Television ............................................
Sound equipment (12/77 = 100) ...........................
Household appliances .................................
Refrigerators and home freezers...........................
Laundry equipment.................................
Other household appliances (12/77 = 100) ...............
Stoves, dishwashers, vacuums, and sewing
machines (12/77 = 100)...............................
Office machines, small electric appliances, and
air conditioners (12/77 = 100) .......................
Other household equipment (12/77 = 100).................
Floor and window coverings, Infants’, laundry,
cleaning, and outdoor equipment (12/77 = 100).............
Clocks, lamps, and decor items (12/77 = 100).................
Tableware, serving pieces, and nonelectric
kitchenware (12/77 = 100)...................................
Lawn equipment, power tools, and other
hardware (12/77 = 100) .......................................
Housekeeping supplies ...................
Soaps and detergents...............................
Other laundry and cleaning products (12/77 = 100) ..........
Cleansing andtoilet tissue, paper towels and napkins (12/77 = 100) . .
Stationery, stationery supplies, and gift wrap (12/77 = 100) ........
Miscellaneous household products (12/77 = 100) ........
Lawn and garden supplies (12/77 = 100)...........................
Housekeeping services .............
Postage.......................................
Moving, storage, freight, household laundry, and
drycleaning services (12/77 = 100)...............
Appliance and furniture repair (12/77 = 100) . . . .

223.8
154.3
121.1
128.2
144.7
149.8
102.9
96.5
109.5
190.6
196.2
146.7
126.2

225.6
160.1
122.3
125.8
143.9
145.2
99.2
92.5
106.1
185.9
197.5
147.6
121.0

224.1
154.1
121.6
125.7
147.2
145.2
99.1
92.0
106.4
186.0
197.1
146.8
121.3

225.0
154.7
121.3
125.9
148.5
145.8
99.7
91.9
107.6
186.5
197.2
147.1
121.8

226.7
156.5
121.4
126.7
149.8
145.4
99.5
92.3
106.9
185.7
195.2
148.4
121.2

231.7
165.5
124.5
126.9
149.1
145.3
99.0
90.9
107.2
186.6
196.0
148.5
121.9

229.1
162.2
123.2
126.7
148.0
144.1
97.8
89.4
106.1
185.9
195.2
147.1
121.6

220.1
150.2
121.1
129.0
140.4
151.3
101.9
95.1
108.5
192.3
202.5
147.6
125.2

222.5
156.4
121.9
126.4
140.4
147.3
98.2
91.3
105.0
188.6
203.8
148.9
118.9

220.4
150.5
121.2
126.2
142.9
147.1
98.1
90.7
105.2
188.5
203.5
147.8
119.1

221.5
151.2
120.7
126.9
144.6
147.9
98.6
90.5
106.4
189.2
203.3
147.9
119.8

223.1
152.1
121.0
128.1
145.2
147.6
98.5
91.0
105.7
188.8
201.0
149.3
119.7

228.0
161.2
123.7
128.1
145.0
147.3
97.9
89.5
106.0
189.5
201.8
149.6
120.2

226.2
158 7
123.1
127.9
144.3
146.0
96.7
88.0
104.8
189.1
200.9
148.3
120.1

126.9

121.8

121.5

122.4

122.7

122.8

122.9

126.2

120.2

119.5

120.7

121.2

121.0

121.4

125.7
142.1

120.5
143.9

121.4
143.6

121.4
145.1

120.0
144.9

121.3
144.9

120.7
145.6

124.1
139.4

117.4
140.7

118.4
141.0

118.7
142.6

117.9
142.1

119.1
141.9

118.6
142.4

147.5
136.1

152.0
137.2

150.9
135.2

153.0
137.3

152.2
135.8

151.1
136.6

152.4
138.9

138.8
131.5

141.9
132.5

140.5
131.0

142.4
133.2

142.4
131.6

140.7
132.2

141.5
134.4

147.2

145.5

146.0

147.0

148.3

148.2

148.4

143.0

140.9

142.8

142.4

144.8

144.1

144.4

134.1
301.5
298.2
153.4
151.7
142.5
159.8
144.8
326.5
337.5

139.1
307.5
305.7
157.1
155.8
145.2
161.5
146.3
330.6
337.5

140.0
309.9
308.0
158.4
156.6
145.4
163.5
147.9
331.3
337.5

141.2
311.5
309.1
158.8
158.7
145.3
163.9
149.8
333.9
349.4

140.4
311.8
308.6
159.1
160.0
146.0
163.9
148.6
337.4
371.9

140.6
312.6
309.4
157.8
161.4
147.3
163.6
150.0
337.9
371.9

140.3
312.9
309.2
157.5
162.3
146.7
163.8
150.5
338.0
371.9

139.5
298.5
293.7
152.0
151.7
145.7
154.4
138.7
326.9
337.5

144.3
304.6
301.1
155.7
155.6
148.8
156.0
140.3
331.1
337.5

144.6'
306.9
303.3
156.9
156.4
149.1
158.0
141.6
331.8
337.5

146.0
308.5
304.3
157.2
158.4
149.0
158.4
143.9
334.9
349.8

144.9
308.9
303.9
157.6
159.7
149.8
158.6
142.4
338.5
372.7

145.1
309.8
304.8
156.5
161.0
151 1
158.2
144.3
339.0
372.7

144.7
310.0
304.6
156 1
161 9
150 6
158 5
144.8
339.2
372.7

172.9
150.1

176.6
155.3

177.9
155.0

180.2
155.8

181.4
156.4

182.1
156.7

182.4
156.6

173.2
148.1

176.9
152.8

178.2
152.6

180.9
153.4

182.0
154.0

182.6
154.4

182 9
154.5

A P P A R E L AN D UPKEEP

198.9

203.2

199.8

201.8

205.3

205.9

205.3

197.7

202.1

198.5

200.7

204.2

204.9

204.2

Apparel c o m m o d it ie s ................................................

185.8

189.6

185.7

187.5

191.3

191.8

191.0

185.1

189.2

185.1

187.2

190.9

191.5

190.7

Apparel commodities less footwear...........

181.7

185.9

181.9

183.7

187.6

188.2

187.3

180.7

185.3

180.9

183.1

187.0

187.7

186.8

Men's and boys’ .....................................
Men’s (12/77 = 100) ...........................
Suits, sport coats, and jackets (12/77 = 100).............
Coats and jackets...............................
Furnishings and special clothing (12/77 = 100)..........
Shirts (12/77 = 100) .................................
Dungarees, jeans, and trousers (12/77 = 100) ..........
Boys’ (12/77 = 100) ...........................
Coats, jackets, sweaters, and shirts (12/77 = 100)........
Furnishings (12/77 = 100) ...........................
Suits, trousers, sport coats, andjackets (12/77 = 100) . .

190.7
120.4
111.9
98.2
147.6
127.6
113.5
122.5
119.4
136.6
119.3

196.0
123.2
113.3
105.6
151.7
128.3
116.6
128.1
123.9
139.2
126.9

193.2
121.7
112.3
101.5
149.1
127.4
116.0
125.0
117.1
138.1
126.0

192.8
121.6
112.2
100.9
149.0
128.0
115.4
124.4
116.2
138.9
125.1

195.2
123.2
113.5
100.7
150.6
130.6
117.3
125.9
120.0
138.2
125.6

197.4
124.7
115.7
100.4
151.3
132.5
119.1
126.6
121.9
138.8
125.3

197.8
124.9
115.3
101.0
151.6
133.4
119.1
127.2
122.2
140.6
125.8

191.1
121.1
105.2
101.2
143.5
130.1
119.9
121.1
121.8
132.2
116.6

196.8
124.1
106.8
108.8
147.6
130.7
123.1
126.5
125.6
134.7
124.2

193.6
122.5
105.6
104.4
145.2
129.9
122.4
123.2
118.0
133.9
123.4

193.1
122.2
105.5
103.3
144.8
130.5
121.6
122.8
117.3
134.5
122.8

195.7
123.8
106.5
103.0
146.0
133.7
123.8
124.5
122.0
133.8
123.2

197.8
125.4
108.6
103.3
146.9
135.5
125.7
125.2
123.6
134.4
123.1

198.2
125.5
108.2
103.9
147.1
136.2
125.5
126.0
124.2
136.4
123.6

76

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

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

20.

Continued— Consumer Price Index— U.S. city average

[1967= 100 unless otherwise specified]
All Urban Consum ers
G eneral sum m ary

1984

Urban W age Earners and C lerical W o rk e rs

1985

1984

1985

M ay

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

M ay

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

Women’s and girls’ ....................................................
Women’s (12/77 = 100) .........................................
Coats and jackets............................................
Dresses ......................................................
Separates and sportswear (12/77 = 100) .................
Underwear, nightwear, and hosiery (12/77 = 100) ........
Suits (12/77 = 100).........................................
Girls’ (12/77 = 100)..............................................
Coats, jackets, dresses, and suits (12/77 = 100)..........
Separates and sportswear (12/77 = 100) .................
Underwear, nightwear, hosiery, and
accessories (12/77 = 100)...............................
Infants' and toddlers’ ..................................................
Other apparel commodities .............................................
Sewing materials and notions (12/77 = 100) ...................
Jewelry and luggage (12/77 = 100) .............................

161.8
107.7
159.7
176.1
93.4
137.5
77.3
107.2
98.3
102.7

167.2
111.3
175.0
174.3
100.8
138.8
81.6
110.9
104.0
106.2

161.3
107.3
161.7
168.1
96.1
137.9
76.8
106.9
96.2
104.1

164.1
109.3
161.0
172.3
98.6
139.0
80.9
108.3
100.3
103.4

169.9
113.4
164.8
182.5
102.4
140.4
88.7
110.7
105.1
105.0

170.0
113.6
168.2
178.7
103.2
141.1
89.1
110.7
102.0
106.8

168.0
111.9
159.5
179.1
102.1
141.4
82.6
110.7
101.8
107.0

162.7
108.6
164.7
162.9
93.9
137.1
92.7
106.4
96.0
103.7

168.6
112.6
178.2
160.7
101.5
138.3
99.9
109.9
101.8
106.3

162.1
108.3
164.6
154.8
96.5
137.3
93.0
105.9
94.8
103.1

165.8
110.9
166.3
159.7
98.7
138.5
100.2
107.7
100.1
102.3

171.5
114.9
169.8
168.7
102.7
139.8
109.8
110.6
104.9
104.9

172.0
115.2
172.7
166.9
103.6
140.5
108.9
111.0
102.4
107.5

169.7
113.3
163.5
167.3
102.6
140.9
100.6
110.8
102.0
107.3

129.7
283.9
216.8
123.1
147.4

130.9
291.9
213.3
121.9
144.7

129.8
290.3
212.2
120.9
144.1

130.5
298.8
215.5
122.0
146.6

130.7
302.1
216.9
122.9
147.6

132.1
295.3
215.8
121.4
147.3

132.2
298.3
215.1
123.0
145.9

128.7
293.0
205.0
121.5
137.6

129.6
302.9
201.0
120.5
134.3

128.6
299.7
199.9
119.1
133.9

129.5
310.1
203.0
119.5
136.7

129.7
314.5
204.2
120.5
137.4

131.1
306.4
203.3
119.8
136.8

131.2
310.6
202.7
121.4
135.5

Footwear......................................................................
Men’s (12/77 = 100)..................................................
Boys' and girls' (12/77 = 100).........................................
Women's (12/77 = 100) ..............................................

210.2
137.1
132.4
127.1

211.4
137.1
135.3
127.0

208.6
136.5
135.3
123.2

210.1
136.5
136.9
124.6

213.1
139.1
137.1
127.0

213.2
139.1
134.5
128.6

213.2
139.8
134.5
128.1

210.7
139.2
134.7
123.7

211.7
138.9
138.3
122.9

209.5
138.5
138.4
119.5

210.8
138.5
139.7
120.8

213.4
140.9
139.5
123.1

213.3
141.1
136.9
124.6

213.3
141.8
137.1
123.9

Ap p arel se rvic e s

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

303.7

311.5

312.5

316.0

317.1

318.4

319.4

301.6

309.3

310.2

313.6

314.7

316.1

317.0

Laundry and drycleaning other than coin operated (12/77 = 100) ........
Other apparel services (12/77 = 100).......................................

182.6
156.5

186.9
161.2

187.2
162.3

189.3
163.9

190.2
164.3

190.8
165.2

191.4
165.7

180.9
157.7

184.9
162.6

185.3
163.5

187.3
165.2

188.2
165.5

188.8
166.5

189.4
167.0

T R A N S P O R T A T IO N

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

312.2

315.8

314.7

314.3

316.7

320.0

321.4

314.6

317.9

316.7

316.3

318.7

322.0

323.3

P r i v a t e ................................................................................................................................

307.4

310.4

309.1

308.7

311.0

314.6

316.0

311.0

313.9

312.6

312.2

314.6

318.0

319.4

Newcars......................................................................
Used cars ....................................................................
Gasoine ......................................................................
Automobile maintenance and repair .........................................
Body work (12/77 = 100) ............................................
Automobile drive train, brake, and miscellaneous
mechanical repair (12/77 = 100) ...................................
Maintenance and servicing (12/77 = 100).............................
Power plant repair (12/77 = 100) .....................................
Other private transportation..................................................
Other private transportation commodities .............................
Motor oil, coolant, and other products (12/77 = 100) ..........
Automobile parts and equipment (12/77 = 100) ...............
Tires ..........................................................
Other parts and equipment (12/77 = 100).................
Other private transportation services...................................
Automobile insurance .............................................
Automobile finance charges (12/77 = 100) .....................
Automobile rental, registration, and other fees (12/77 = 100). . . .
State registration ............................................
Drivers’ licenses (12/77 = 100).............................
Vehicle inspection (12/77 = 100)...........................
Other vehicle-related fees (12/77 = 100)...................

207.6
378.0
376.7
340.2
172.3

212.0
382.7
365.7
346.2
176.1

213.1
382.8
356.8
346.9
176.9

213.9
384.6
351.6
348.2
178.4

214.1
386.1
351.6
348.5
178.3

214.1
386.4
373.8
348.2
178.2

214.5
384.2
381.4
349.6
178.6

207.1
378.0
374.2
340.8
170.9

211.3
382.6
367.1
347.1
174.7

212.0
382.8
358.2
347.9
175.5

213.1
384.6
353.2
349.2
177.0

213.4
386 2
353.2
349.6
177.1

213.4
386.4
375.3
349.3
176.7

213.8
384.2
382.7
350.6
177.1

165.8
154.8
162.6
270.4
201.7
152.7
127.2
172.5
133.5
291.2
323.7
162.4
150.3
199.4
158.0
139.9
165.2

169.7
157.0
165.1
282.3
202.2
156.2
127.1
171.4
134.5
306.2
340.0
170.9
158.4
213.5
163.7
142.2
170.1

170.0
157.1
165.7
283.9
202.0
155.7
127.0
171.4
134.2
308.3
345.1
169.6
158.5
213.6
164.6
142.2
170.3

170.2
157.4
166.6
284.4
203.8
156.0
128.3
174.0
133.9
308.5
346.3
168.1
159.1
213.6
164.6
142.2
171.8

170.6
157.2
167.0
284.5
201.9
156.4
126.8
171.4
133.5
309.1
348.3
166.6
159.6
214.6
164.6
142.4
172.2

170.9
156.8
167.0
285.8
202.8
156.1
127.6
173.0
133.4
310.5
351.8
165.6
159.9
214.6
164.6
144.7
172.7

171.1
157.9
167.5
285.6
201.3
155.7
126.5
171.1
132.9
310.7
354.2
163.3
159.7
214.6
164.8
144.7
172.0

169.8
154.0
162.2
271.3
204.2
152.5
128.9
175.7
133.3
291.6
322.7
161.9
151.3
199.6
158.3
140.4
172.7

174.0
156.3
164.8
283.3
204.7
155.2
128.9
175.1
134.0
306.7
338.9
170.5
159.6
212.9
164.1
142.3
177.8

174.2
156.6
165.4
284.7
204.2
154.5
128.6
174.9
133.6
308.6
343.9
169.2
159.8
213.1
164.9
142.3
178.0

174.5
156.8
166.4
285.2
206.1
155.2
129.9
177.7
133.2
308.7
345.2
167.7
160.4
213.1
164.9
142.3
180.0

175.1
156.5
166.8
285.1
204.2
155.4
128.5
175.0
132.8
309.2
347.2
166.2
161.0
214.1
164.9
142.5
180.5

175.4
156.0
166.9
286.3
205.1
154.7
129.2
176.5
132.8
310.4
350.5
165.2
161.3
214.1
164.9
144.4
181.4

175.7
157.0
167.4
285.9
203.5
154.4
128.1
174.6
132.4
310.4
352.9
162.8
161.1
214.1
165.1
144.4
180.6

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

380.7

392.8

394.5

394.4

397.3

398.0

398.4

372.9

382.8

384.2

384.2

386.7

387.4

387.6

Airline fare....................................................................
Intercity bus fare ............................................................
Intracity mass transit........................................................
Taxi fare......................................................................
Intercity train fare............................................................

435.9
429.9
342.3
309.2
373.5

456.2
455.4
346.7
311.3
388.2

458.9
459.6
347.0
313.4
390.2

468.7
456.5
347.0
315.0
390.3

464.3
454.4
347.7
317.4
390.3

466.2
453.5
347.6
317.4
390.2

466.8
456.4
347.6
317.4
387.1

431.9
429.3
342.1
318.3
373.8

451.1
455.4
346.5
320.3
388.7

454.1
459.3
346.7
322.4
390.7

453.8
455.2
346.8
324.1
390.7

459.9
452.2
347.5
326.7
390.7

462.1
451.7
347.4
326.8
390.7

462.5
455.3
347.4
326.8
387.0

M EDICAL C AR E

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

376.8

388.5

391.1

393.8

396.5

398.0

399.5

375.0

386.7

389.3

392.0

394.6

396.1

397.7

Public

M edical care c o m m o d it ie s ..........................................................................................

238.7

247.3

248.2

249.8

251.9

253.9

255.2

238.7

247.2

248.0

249.6

251.5

253.5

254.8

Prescription drugs............................................................
Anti-infective drugs (12/77 = 100).....................................
Tranquilizers and sedatives (12/77 = 100) ...........................
Circulatories and diuretics (12/77 = 100).............................
Hormones, diabetic drugs, biologicals, and
prescription medical supplies (12/77 = 100).......................
Pain and symptomcontrol drugs (12/77 = 100).....................
Supplements, cough and cold preparations, and
respiratory agents (12/77 = 100)...................................

233.1
165.8
202.8
167.9

244.4
171.8
218.8
174.9

245.4
171.5
220.1
176.0

247.6
171.9
223.2
178.5

250.9
174.0
227.9
180.9

253.6
175.7
233.9
182.7

254.7
175.6
234.7
184.5

234.5
168.3
202.7
167.3

245.9
174.6
218.9
174.2

247.0
174.3
220.2
175.3

249.2
174.7
223.1
177.8

252.4
176.7
227.8
180.1

255.1
178.4
233.8
181.8

254.6
178.4
234.4
183.5

214.1
188.7

228.3
198.2

228.9
196.6

229.6
198.1

230.8
200.9

231.3
202.7

232.3
205.3

216.3
191.0

230.7
197.2

231.2
198.7

232.2
200.3

233.2
203.0

233.9
204.6

234.4
207.5

174.6

179.1

180.6

183.2

185.7

187.1

186.8

175.3

179.7

181.2

184.0

186.4

187.9

187.5

Nonprescription drugs and medical supplies (12/77 = 100)...............
Eyeglasses (12/77 = 100) ............................................
Internal and respiratory over-the-counter drugs.......................
Nonprescription medical equipment and supplies (12/77 = 100) . ..

162.8
139.3
266.6
156.5

166.8
141.9
273.7
160.3

167.3
142.5
274.7
160.2

168.0
144.0
275.1
161.2

168.6
144.5
276.6
161.1

169.5
144.7
278.5
161.7

170.4
144.2
280.4
163.2

163.7
138.2
267.7
158.0

167.8
140.9
275.0
161.9

168.2
141.4
275.8
161.6

168.9
143.0
276.2
162.8

169.5
143.4
277.6
162.6

170.4
143.4
279.6
163.1

171.5
143.0
281.8
165.0


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

77

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
20.

Consumer Prices

Continued—Consumer Price Index— U.S. city average

[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
All Urban

Consum ers

1984

G eneral sum m ary

Urban W age Earners and C lerical W o rk ers
1984

1985

1985

M ay

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

M ay

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

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

407.1

419.3

422.4

425.3

428.1

429.4

430.9

404.7

417.0

420.1

423.1

425.7

427.1

428.7

Professional services ...........................................•............
Physicians' services . . ............ .................................
Dental services..........................................................
Other professional services (12/77 = 100) ...........................

343.8
375.2
323.6
156.7

354.0
383.8
337.7
166.1

356.8
386.1
339.7
165.9

359.3
389.6
340.4
168.0

361.9
392.6
343.3
168.4

363.0
393.9
344.5
168.5

364.5
395.6
345.8
169.0

344.2
379.0
321.6
156.0

354.4
387.9
335.3
158.4

357.2
390.2
337.2
162.3

359.7
393.9
338.0
164.3

362.4
397.0
340.7
164.7

363.6
398.5
342.0
164.8

365.0
400.3
343.2
165.3

Other medical care services..................................................
Hospital and other medical services (12/77 = 100)...................
Hospital room........................................................
Other hospital and medical care services (12/77 = 100) .........

483.6
207.9
660.7
204.8

498.2
217.6
690.8
214.4

501.7
219.4
697.7
216.0

505.2
220.6
700.7
217.3

508.0
221.6
703.6
218.4

509.6
222.0
704.2
219.0

511.2
222.4
705.7
219.3

480.3
205.9
653.3
203.0

495.3
215.1
680.9
212.5

498.8
216.9
687.0
214.2

502.3
218.1
690.3
215.5

505.0
215.8
692.2
216.3

506.6
219.2
692.9
216.8

508.2
219.6
694.4
217.1

M edical care se rvic e s

E N T E R T A I N M E N T ...........................................................................................................

253.5

260.1

261.0

266.3

262.2

263.3

263.6

249.6

255.8

256.6

256.9

257.3

258.6

258.9

Entertainm ent com m odities

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

252.2

256.8

257.1

257.9

258.7

259.5

259.5

246.8

250.9

251.1

251.9

252.2

253.2

253.1

Reading materials (12/77 = 100) ..........................................
Newspapers ............................................................
Magazines, periodicals, and books (12/77 = 100).....................

163.1
313.0
167.5

168.8
320.1
175.6

169.6
320.7
176.9

171.5
323.2
179.6

173.3
324.3
182.8

173.7
325.8
182.8

173.3
327.5
181.0

162.6
313.1
167.3

168.2
320.4
175.4

168.8
321.0
176.6

170.7
323.5
179.4

172.4
324.5
182.2

172.9
326.1
182.7

172.6
327.9
180.8

Sporting goods and equipment (12/77 = 100).............................
Sport vehicles (12/77 = 100) .........................................
Indoor and warmweather sport equipment (12/77 = 100)...........
Bicycles..................................................................
Other sporting goods and equipment (12/77 = 100).................

138.0
143.0
117.3
200.8
134.6

139.6
145.9
118.0
198.4
134.4

140.2
146.9
117.3
198.4
135.1

139.9
146.7
117.6
199.5
133.2

140.2
147.0
118.1
200.0
132.6

140.4
147.3
118.0
201.4
132.6

139.9
146.9
116.8
202.9
130.3

131.7
133.0
115.5
201.7
134.3

133.0
135.4
116.1
199.5
134.0

133.9
136.8
115.5
199.8
134.3

133.7
136.6
115.8
200.9
132.9

133.4
136.0
116.3
201.6
132.3

133.8
136.5
116.1
202.9
131.9

133.2
136.0
115.1
204.2
129.8

Toys, hobbies, and other entertainment (12/77 = 100) ...................
Toys, hobbies, and music equipment (12/77 = 100).................
Photographic supplies and equipment (12/77 = 100) ...............
Pet supplies and expenses (12/77 = 100).............................

141.0
139.2
133.2
149.8

142.5
139.1
135.1
154.0

142.1
137.7
134.9
155.2

142.2
137.8
135.1
155.2

142.0
137.3
136.0
154.9

142.6
138.4
135.8
155.2

143.1
138.7
136.4
155.9

140.0
135.8
134.4
150.9

141.5
135.6
136.4
155.3

141.0
134.1
136.1
156.3

141.1
134.3
136.3
156.3

141.0
133.8
137.2
156.0

141.6
135.0
136.9
156.3

142.1
135.2
137.6
157.0

Entertainm ent s e r v i c e s .................................................................................................

255.8

265.5

267.0

266.7

267.6

269.2

269.9

255.8

265.6

267.4

266.8

267.4

269.2

270.0

Feesfor participant sports (12/77 = 100)...................................
Admissions (12/77 = 100)..................................................
Other entertainment services (12/77 = 100) ...............................

159.6
151.3
134.9

165.9
158.2
138.0

166.5
160.3
137.9

166.5
159.4
138.2

166.9
159.4
139.8

167.7
160.7
140.4

168.3
161.5
139.9

160.3
150.2
135.5

166.8
156.9
138.5

167.6
159.1
138.4

167.5
158.1
138.6

167.4
158.4
140.3

168.5
159.7
140.8

169.3
160.4
140.0

O TH E R GOODS AN D SER VIC ES

303.2

316.7

319.1

320.5

321.1

321.8

322.3

300.8

312.8

315.6

317.1

317.6

318.3

318.8

Tob acco p r o d u c t s ...........................................................................................................

305.9

314.6

321.0

323.2

323.7

324.0

324.1

305.6

314.2

320.8

323.0

323.4

323.6

323.6

Cigarettes ....................................................................
Other tobacco products and smoking accessories (12/77 = 100)..........

314.0
157.9

323.2
161.0

330.3
161.6

332.5
163.1

332.8
164.7

332.9
165.5

332.9
166.0

313.1
157.9

322.1
161.0

329.2
161.5

331.4
163.0

331.7
164.8

331.7
165.6

331.7
166.0

P e rsonal care ..................................................................................................................

269.5

276.6

277.2

278.2

278.7

279.8

280.9

267.5

274.4

274.9

275.9

276.3

277.5

278.6

Toilet goods and personal careappliances...................................
Products for the hair, hairpieces, and wigs (12/77 = 100) ..........
Dental and shaving products (12/77 = 100) .........................
Cosmetics, bath and nail preparations, manicure and
eye makeup implements (12/77 = 100).............................
Other toilet goods and small personal careappliances (12/77 = 100) . ..

267.4
154.1
166.8

273.5
156.5
172.1

274.0
156.4
173.5

275.4
152.0
175.8

276.0
157.2
174.5

277.1
157.4
176.2

277.5
156.4
175.3

268.3
153.4
164.9

274.2
155.8
170.0

274.6
155.6
171.4

275.9
156.1
173.5

276.5
156.3
172.3

277.5
156.6
173.8

277.8
155.7
173.1

151.5
151.7

155.3
154.7

155.3
154.8

155.6
155.3

155.8
157.5

155.9
158.3

157.1
159.8

152.7
155.3

156.3
158.3

156.3
158.5

156.8
158.9

156.8
161.1

156.8
162.0

157.8
163.3

Personal care services ......................................................
Beauty parlor services for women .....................................
Haircuts and other barber shop services for men (12/77 = 100) . . .

272.3
275.0
151.4

280.4
283.8
155.1

281.1
283.9
156.2

281.7
284.3
156.8

282.0
285.1
156.3

283.3
286.2
157.2

285.0
288.2
157.2

267.1
268.0
150.2

275.0
276.6
153.8

275.7
276.7
154.9

276.3
277.1
155.5

276.5
277.8
155.1

278.0
279.2
156.0

279.7
281.1
156.8

P e rsonal and educational e x p e n s e s .........................................................................

357.4

384.3

385.6

386.9

387.6

388.3

388.5

360.3

386.4

387.9

389.3

390.1

390.7

390.9

Schoolbooks and supplies ..................................................
Personal and educational services ...........................................
Tuition and other school fees...........................................
Collegetuition (12/77 = 100).....................................
Elementary and high school tuition (12/77 = 100) .............
Personal expenses (12/77 = 100).....................................

317.8
366.7
184.4
184.7
183.9
203.5

334.0
395.5
201.3
201.3
201.4
209.5

340.7
395.9
201.2
201.3
201.4
210.7

343.8
396.9
201.4
201.5
206.4
212.6

343.9
397.9
201.4
201.5
201.4
214.9

344.5
398.5
201.5
201.6
201.4
216.5

344.5
398.8
201.5
201.6
201.4
217.0

322.4
369.7
185.3
185.5
185.0
204.3

338.9
397.8
202.3
202.2
202.9
209.7

345.5
398.3
202.3
202.2
202.9
211.0

348.7
399.4
202.5
202.5
202.9
212.7

348.8
400.3
202.5
202.5
202.9
214.8

349.4
401.0
202.6
202.5
202.9
216.6

349.5
401.2
202.6
202.5
202.9
216.6

363.6
442.8
355.9
382.7

355.0

350.2

358.1

371.2

378.3

357.6
383.3

356.7
386.6

358.9
390.9

359.1
391.1

363.2
391.0

Special ind exes:

Gasoline, motor oil, coolant, and other products...........................
Insurance and finance........................................................
Utilities and public transportation.............................................
Housekeeping and home maintenance services.............................

78

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372.4

362.3

353.8

348.7

356.7

369.9

377.1

373.8

352.8
369.5

357.5
374.1

359.1
374.9

358.3
377.6

360.6
381.8

360.9
381.8

365.1
381.7

351.6
377.8

21. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Cross classification of region and population size class by expenditure
category and commodity and service group
[December 1977 = 100]
Size class A
(1.25 m illion or m ore)
C ategory and group

Size class B
(385,000-1.250 m illion)

1984
Dec.

Feb.

Size class C
(75,000-385,000)

1984
Apr.

Dec.

Feb.

Size class D
(75,000 o r less)

1984
Apr.

Dec.

1984

Feb.

Apr.

Dec.

Feb.

Apr.

Northeast
EXP E N D ITU R E C A TE G O R Y

All items .....................................................................................
Food and beverages ....................................................................
Housing.................................................................................
Apparel and upkeep ....................................................................
Transportation ..........................................................................
Medical care ............................................................................
Entertainment............................................................................
Other goods and services ..............................................................

164.3
154.1
169.7
125.5
173.0
181.4
151.3
178.9

165.5
157.0
170.5
124.9
173.0
184.5
151.8
180.7

166.7
157.7
171.2
127.6
174.8
187.1
153.9
181.9

169.9
152.3
181.2
126.7
176.8
183.5
149.8
177.4

171.5
156.0
184.3
121.3
176.4
185.2
146.8
179.8

173.5
156.5
186.7
128.7
178.1
186.9
147.5
179.9

174.4
155.8
187.5
138.2
176.3 *
184.1
155.4
181.5

175.8
158.3
189.9
134.2
176.3
185.5
157.1
184.5

177.8
158.3
193.1
136.9
177.7
189.1
159.0
185.5

169.7
151.4
176.9
138.7
176.9
192.8
156.5
180.9

170.3
153.6
177.4
137.7
175.5
194.0
158.2
182.7

174.2
155.2
185.9
137.4
177.7
195.9
158.1
183.4

155.1
155.4
175.3

156.7
156.0
176.2

157.6
157.1
177.6

161.0
164.9
183.1

161.7
163.6
186.1

163.5
166.2
162.3

160.6
162.7
196.1

161.3
162.2
198.7

162.2
163.7
202.0

159.0
162.3
185.3

159.6
161.9
185.8

160.8
163.0
193.5

C O M M O D ITY AN D SER VIC E G R O U P

Commodities.................................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages ................................................
Servces.......................................................................................

North Central R egion
E X P EN D ITU R E C A TE G O R Y

All items .....................................................................................
Food and beverages ....................................................................
Housing.................................................................................
Apparel and upkeep ....................................................................
Transportation ..........................................................................
Medical care ............................................................................
Entertainment............................................................................
Other goods and services ..............................................................

173.2
150.4
191.8
120.8
173.7
182.1
148.4
173.0

174.3
152.5
193.6
120.1
172.8
184.6
150.2
175.7

175.9
152.4
194.6
123.9
176.2
186.6
150.8
176.0

169.2
149.6
178.3
132.5
174.3
184.6
139.9
186.1

169.7
151.3
178.5
132.9
172.7
188.2
142.2
188.7

171.7
151.1
180.6
135.6
177.4
189.4
142.5
188.6

166.4
149.9
174.0
129.3
176.7
176.3
154.2
169.6

166.7
151.7
173.3
131.3
175.6
178.3
155.6
170.8

168.6
151.9
175.5
135.7
179.0
180.1
156.0
169.9

167.6
158.5
171.0
128.0
174.9
186.2
146.4
181.8

168.2
158.9
172.1
126.5
173.7
189.4
147.3
184.9

169.1
158.9
171.7
129.4
178.1
191.1
144.1
186.1

159.0
163.1
193.7

159.7
162.8
195.5

161.7
166.0
196.6

157.8
161.0
187.2

158.1
160.6
188.0

160.4
164.2
189.7

155.9
158.5
183.1

156.1
157.9
183.4

157.9
160.6
185.5

156.7
155.8
184.8

156.2
154.8
186.8

158.0
157.6
186.6

C O M M O D ITY AND SER VIC E G R O U P

Commodities.................................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages ................................................
Services.......................................................................................

South
E X P EN D ITU R E C A TE G O R Y

All items .....................................................................................
Food and beverages ....................................................................
Housing.................................................................................
Apparel and upkeep ....................................................................
Transportation ..........................................................................
Medical care ............................................................................
Entertainment............................................................................
Other goods and services ..............................................................

170.3
157.8
176.1
137.0
176.8
184.2
151.8
177.2

171.0
160.0
177.2
135.3
175.5
185.6
153.1
178.4

172.4
159.9
178.1
138.7
178.5
188.1
154.4
179.2

172.0
157.4
177.2
132.0
180.7
185.3
162.6
180.6

173.0
159.5
178.2
130.8
180.2
187.9
163.8
182.5

173.7
158.9
178.0
132.7
183.3
189.3
163.5
184.7

170.2
153.8
175.6
130.7
179.0
193.1
156.2
178.7

171.2
156.3
177.1
129.5
178.2
195.8
154.9
181.1

172.2
155.7
177.3
130.2
181.6
197.1
157.5
181.5

170.4
158.1
178.2
117.8
174.1
199.0
152.7
173.9

170.1
160.0
176.7
114.9
173.1
199.9
153.4
176.0

171.6
159.9
177.9
113.0
176.9
201.0
154.7
175.6

160.8
162.0
183.1

160.9
160.8
184.5

163.0
164.1
185.2

162.3
164.1
186.2

163.0
163.8
187.5

164.5
166.7
187.3

160.0
162.8
185.9

160.6
162.3
187.5

161.7
164.4
188.2

159.3
159.5
186.9

159.6
158.9
185.7

161.5
161.6
187.0

C O M M O D ITY AND S ER VIC E G R O U P

Commodities.................................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages ................................................
Services.......................................................................................

W est
E X P EN D ITU R E C A TE G O R Y

All terns .....................................................................................
Food and beverages ....................................................................
Housing.................................................................................
Apparel and upkeep ....................................................................
Transportation ..........................................................................
Medical care ............................................................................
Entertainment............................................................................
Other goods and services ..............................................................

172.1
157.6
179.8
126.7
181.2
187.9
146.9
183.0

173.5
158.9
182.2
127.8
180.1
191.8
147.9
185.7

174.6
158.9
182.4
127.3
184.2
193.4
149.6
186.5

170.9
161.5
174.1
131.8
181.8
184.5
154.6
179.8

172.0
163.1
176.2
131.0
180.3
186.8
155.5
181.7

174.4
162.9
179.2
133.9
184.5
190.0
156.6
182.6

162.9
155.2
160.9
125.6
177.0
193.5
158.0
175.0

164.2
158.2
161.9
126.8
176.0
196.0
162.6
176.9

166.9
168.7
164.2
130.3
181.7
198.1
165.8
177.8

170.1
164.3
171.2
146.1
173.4
189.9
169.3
180.3

170.0
166.2
171.6
146.6
172.5
192.5
157.1
182.0

170.8
166.3
172.2
144.0
173.9
193.5
159.5
183.7

157.8
157.9
190.0

158.3
157.8
192.4

159.9
160.5
193.0

161.4
161.0
183.7

161.8
160.7
185.4

163.9
164.1
188.4

157.9
158.6
168.7

158.5
157.8
170.8

161.7
162.6
172.9

159.0
156.3
186.3

158.6
154.5
186.5

159.5
155.7
187.3

C O M M O D ITY AN D SER VIC E G R O U P

Commodities.................................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages ................................................
Services.......................................................................................


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
22.

Consumer Prices

Consumer Price Index— U.S. city average, and selected areas

[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
A ll Urban Consum ers
A re a 1

1984

Urban W age Earne rs and C lerical W ork ers

1985

1984

1985

M ay

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

M ay

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

U.S. city average2 ............................................................

309.7

315.5

316.1

317.4

318.8

320.1

321.3

305.4

312.2

312.6

313.9

315.3

316.7

317.8

Anchorage, Alaska (10/67 = 100)..........................................
Atlanta, Ga.....................................................................
Baltimore, Me..................................................................
Boston, Mass..................................................................
Buffalo, N.Y....................................................................

275.3

278.8

265.1

Chicago, III.-Northwestern Ind................................................
Cincinnati, Ohio—Ky.—Ind...................................................
Cleveland, Ohio ..............................................................
Dallas—
Ft. Worth, Tex.........................................................
Denver-Boulder, Colo.........................................................

307.0
321.9

311.3
303.1

318.2

278.3
315.2
309.4

303.4
314.0

Detroit, Mich...................................................................
Honolulu, Hawaii ............................................................
Houston, Tex...................................................................
Kansas City, Mo.—Kansas..................................................
Los Angeles-Long Beach, Anaheim, Calif....................................

305.7

315.1
325.1

Miami, Fla. (11/77 = 100)..................................................
Milwaukee, Wis................................................................
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.—WIs...........................................
NewYork, N.Y.-Northeastern N.J............................................
Northeast, Pa. (Scranton)....................................................

166.4
320.5

305.4

300.8
294.7

Philadelphia, Pa.—N.J........................................................

298.7

Portland, Oreg.—Wash.......................................................
St. Louis, Mo.—III............................................................
San Diego, Calif................................................................

301.9
305.4
353.0

San Francisco-Oakland, Calif..................................................
Seattle—
Everett, Wash.........................................................
Washington, D.C.—Md.—Va.................................................

313.0
305.7

310.9

313.0

305.1
322.1

317.4
328.4

308.4
301.5
306.3
306.8
313.3
364.1

313.7
292.6
333.6
314.6
314.1

330.4
310.2
309.2
323.8

319.5
314.6

323.1
315.2

315.5

314.7

315.8
292.7
335.3
319.8
315.9

170.1
327.8
310.9
304.9
310.4

333.6
311.8
312.4
324.3

309.0
314.3
369.2
321.4
319.2

309.4
300.8

319.8
330.4

296.5
312.3

356.3

341.0

316.7

298.3

319.1

303.1

171.0
330.9

167.2
338.2

312.6
306.0

291.6
295.5

314.2

300.5

310.4
315.9
372.1

297.5
297.3
327.8

321.0
319.8

302.7
308.9

301.7

320.3
315.1
307.8
288.1
302.5
318.9

318.6
325.0

330.4

2Average of 85 cities.

271.7
316.0
289.8

342.4
335.6

328.7

325.8

319.1

355.1

168.6
324.6
327.9
308.0

324.6
305.4

340.4
333.2

1The areas listed include not only the central city but the entire portion of the Standard Metropolitan
Statistical Area, as defined for the 1970 Census of Population, except that the Standard Consolidated Area
is used for NewYork and Chicago.

80

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

316.7

350.6
309.1
289.8
333.4
313.7
311.1

320.7
314.4

301.3

339.7
330.7
346.6

280.0
322.6

304.0

301.2

329.9
350.7

308.1

304.0
300.3
331.1
304.4
309.1

169.8
343.4
323.8
301.6
307.9
304.6

321.5

302.0
301.0
309.4
297.4
310.4
329.1
306.7
317.7

271.9
322.3
322.3
313.2
291.9

304.7
322.2

319.8
346.2

300.0
297.6
330.9
304.0
306.5

273.1
320.2
312.3

306.0

309.8

306.2
321.8
329.6

351.9
306.3
300.1
332.8
309.7
311.2

171.3
346.9
306.0
303.6
312.4
306.0

304.2
304.2
313.5

329.2
305.1
315.3
306.8

314.1

305.8
305.2
317.2
301.2
313.0
336.5

326.1
309.0
322.3

306.6

172.2
350.2

299.8
311.0
333.7
324.2

306.9
324.0

308.4
323.0

23.

Producer Price Indexes, by stage of processing

[1967 = 100]
C om m odity grouping

1985

1984

Annual
average
J u ly

Aug.

Sept.

Nov.

Dec.

291.5

292.3

290.3
271.1
269.5
269.1
337.8
238.3
240.6
295.9

291.2
272.0
257.6
271.0
338.9
239.0
241.1
296.5

Oct.

1984

June

291.1

290.9

292.3

291.3

289.5

290.1
270.8
258.9
269.7
339.2
236.4
238.7
293.9

291.6
275.3
270.8
273.4
339.2
236.6
240.1
294.6

290.4
274.0
274.6
271.7
336.9
236.7
240.1
294.6

288.7
273.0
270.3
271.1
336.2
233.0
240.8
292.5

M ar.

Apr.

M ay

June

Jan.

Feb .1

292.0

292.3

r292.6

292.4

293.1

294.2

294.0

290.9
273.6
263.0
272.3
336.7
239.2
240.7
295.6

290.6
273.7
255.4
273.1
334.9
240.2
242.8
298.5

290.7
r275.6
r279.4
r273.1
r332.7
r240.9
r243.9
r299.2

290.4
274.2
283.9
271.1
333.4
240.8
244.1
299.5

291.2
272.4
286.9
268.9
336.9
241.1
244.6
300.0

292.6
269.7
262.6
268.2
342.6
241.5
245.1
299.8

292.1
268.5
240.4
268.8
342.0
241.9
245.5
300.7

FIN IS HED GOODS

Finished goods..................................................
Finished consumer goods .................................
Finished consumer foods ...............................
Crude................................................
Processed ............................................
Nondurable goods less foods...........................
Durable goods ...........................................
Consumer nondurable goods less food and energy . . .
Capital equipment...........................................

290 3
273.3
281.6
270.3
337.3
236.8
239.0
294.0

IN TE R M E D IA TE M A TER IA LS

Intermediate materials, supplies, and components.............

320.0

321.6

321.7

321.1

320.3

320.1

320.4

319.9

319.6

r318.7

318.6

319.4

319.9

320.2

Materials and components for manufacturing.............

301.8

303.4

303.2

302.5

301.9

301.4

301.7

301.1

300.6

300.5

300.1

300.7

300.6

300.4

Materials for food manufacturing.......................
Materials for nondurable manufacturing ...............
Materials for durable manufacturing ...................
Components for manufacturing.........................

271.1
290.5
325.1
287.5

275.2
292.8
326.9
287.5

276.4
292.7
325.4
287.9

272.4
291.3
325.1
288.4

270.0
290.9
323.5
288.9

267.6
290.4
322.3
289.4

269.5
289.8
323.1
289.7

268.2
289.2
321.9
289.9

265.2
288.9
320.6
290.4

r265.3
r288.0
r320.7
r290.8

263.5
287.3
320.2
291.0

263.3
287.2
322.5
291.1

261.3
286.9
322.9
291.2

262.1
286.3
322.6
291.2

Materials and components for construction...............

310.3

310.3

310.9

312.0

311.7

311.8

311.8

312.4

313.4

r313.3

313.1

313.8

315.8

317.3

Processed fuels and lubricants.............................
Manufacturing industries.................................
Nonmanufacturing industries ...........................

566.2
483.5
638.1

575.2
490.4
649.1

576.6
491.4
650.9

569.2
484.7
643.0

565.3
481.8
638.1

564.1
483.4
634.3

566.6
486.1
636.5

561.3
483.0
629.2

556.3
478.7
623.5

r546.3
r469.7
612.6

548.2
472.3
614.0

552.5
474.8
619.8

558.2
477.7
628.2

559.3
474.3
633.6

Containers..................................................

302.3

301.8

303.0

304.1

305.2

308.8

310.1

310.4

311.1

r311.8

312.4

312.1

311.2

311.3

Supplies....................................................
Manufacturing industries.................................
Nonmanufacturing industries ...........................
Feeds ..................................................
Other supplies........................................

283.4
279.0
285.9
215.8
300.6

283.9
279.0
286.7
221.6
300.5

283.2
279.2
285.6
211.7
301.0

284.1
280.9
286.0
208.3
302.2

283.6
280.7
285.3
203.0
302.3

283.2
281.5
284.4
195.4
302.7

282.9
281.7
283.8
192.4
302.6

283.1
282.2
283.8
191.1
302.8

283.9
283.5
284.5
190.1
303.8

283.8
r283.7
284.1
185.6
304.2

283.8
284.2
283.8
180.4
304.8

283.9
285.0
283.6
176.3
305.4

283.5
284.9
283.0
172.6
305.4

283.4
285.1
282.7
171.3
305.2

CR UDE M A TER IA LS

Crude materials for further processing .........................

330.8

333.0

334.1

328.9

326.2

319.6

323.2

322.4

318.9

r318.1

312.9

311.3

310.0

305.5

Foodstuffs and feedstuffs...................................

259.5

260.3

263.6

256.5

252.7

244.9

252.8

253.0

250.7

r250.0

243.6

240.5

237.0

234.0

Nonfood materials..........................................

484.5

489.6

486.4

485.0

484.6

480.3

475.2 . 472.0

466.0

r465.1

462.2

464.0

467.0

459.4

Nonfood materials except fuel...........................
Manufacturing Industries .............................
Construction...........................................

380.5
390.1
278.7

386.1
395.7
283.5

380.9
390.1
282.0

376.8
386.1
277.6

379.3
388.5
279.9

374.7
383.9
276.3

369.2
377.6
276.3

366.4
374.4
276.4

361.9
368.9
279.7

r358.2
r364.0
r283.9

358.3
364.1
284.4

360.5
366.3
287.0

357.9
363.2
287.7

354.1
358.7
289.2

Crudefuel................................................
Manufacturing industries .............................
Nonmanufacturing industries.........................

931.3 932.6 940.2 953.1 937.6 935.9 934.0 929.8 916.6 r930.5 913.0 911.8 943.9 917.7
1,092.2 1,094.5 1,103.5 1,120.1 1,100.0 1,097.6 1,095.1 1,089.7 1,072.2 r1,090.4 1,067.3 1,065.8 1,108.9 1,074.0
818.1 818.4 825.1 835.1 823.3 822.1 820.7 817.3 807.5 r818.2 804.9 804.1 827.5 808.1

S P EC IA L GR O U PIN G S

Finished goods excluding foods.................................
Finished consumer goods excluding foods ...............
Finished consumer goods less energy.....................

294.8
294.1
257.8

295.4
294.9
256.7

295.7
295.0
258.9

294.8
293.8
258.5

292.7
291.7
257.2

296.1
295.0
258.2

296.9
295.9
258.9

295.8
294.8
259.3

296.3
294.3
260.5

295.9
r293.5
r261.8

296.2
293.7
261.3

297.8
295.8
261.0

300.1
299.1
260.4

300.3
299.0
260.2

Intermediate materials less foods and feeds ...................
Intermediate materials less energy.........................

325.0
303.8

326.4
304.7

326.7
304.7

326.3
304.7

325.7
304.2

325.8
304.1

326.1
304.3

325.6
304.1

325.4
304.2

r324.5
r304.2

324.7
303.9

325.6
304.4

326.4
304.5

326.6
304.6

Intermediate foods and feeds ...................................

253.1

257.8

255.3

251.4

248.1

244.0

244.3

243.0

240.7

r239.2

236.3

234.8

232.3

232.4

Crude materials less agricultural products .....................
Crude materials less energy ...............................

547.0
255.5

552.5
257.6

549.8
258.5

548.8
251.9

546.6
249.9

542.4
242.6

535.9
248.0

532.3
247.8

525.4
246.2

r525.1
245.9

521.6 • 523.0
240.9 239.1

527.5
235.3

518.6
232.0

1Data for February 1985 have been revised to reflect the availability of late reports and corrections
by respondents. All dataare subject to revision 4 months after original publication.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

r = revised.

81

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
24.

Producer Prices

Producer Price Indexes, by commodity groupings

[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
Code

Com m odity group and subgroup

1984

Annual
average

1985

1984

June

Ju ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

(1957-59 = 100)...............................

310.3
329.2

311.3
330.3

311.9
330.9

310.7
329.7

309.3
328.2

309.4
328.3

310.3
329.2

309.8
328.7

Farm products and processed foods and feeds ...............................
Industrial c o m m o d itie s ...............................................................................

262.4
322.6

262.8
323.8

264.9
323.9

261.4
323.3

259.4
322.3

255.3
323.4

258.1
323.8

A ll com m odities
A ll com m odities

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

Feb .1

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

June

309.7 r309.1
328.6 r328.0

308.7
327.5

309.3
328.2

309.9
328.8

309.5
328.4

258.6
323.0

257.6 r258.0
323.1 r322.2

255.0
322.6

253.3
323.8

250.6
325.3

249.1
325.2

FAR M P R O D U C TS AND PR OC ESSED FOODS
AND FEEDS

01
01-1
01-2
01-3
01-4
01-5
01-6
01-7
01-8
01-9

Farmproducts......................................................
Fresh and dried fruits and vegetables...........................
Grains............................................................
Livestock........................................................
Live poultry......................................................
Plant and animal fibers .........................................
Fluid milk........................................................
Eggs..............................................................
Hay, hayseeds, and oilseeds ...................................
Other farm products............................................

255.8
278.1
239.7
251.8
240.6
228.4
278.3
210.8
256.3
285.6

257.1
273.7
257.8
250.0
227.7
252.7
271.8
177.9
272.4
279.1

258.7
281.9
248.9
260.1
259.2
235.8
273.9
184.9
245.8
277.4

253.3
293.7
236.9
253.7
218.6
211.3
276.8
181.2
242.6
284.3

249.8
290.1
231.4
244.9
239.7
210.3
282.1
177.6
228.4
296.5

240.2
267.3
219.0
233.9
219.2
202.8
286.7
179.9
219.1
294.0

245.7
251.2
219.7
247.7
247.1
201.4
287.6
176.0
227.3
297.9

245.7
252.0
212.5
252.3
231.7
203.0
287.5
187.5
227.4
293.8

243.2 r245.3
259.0 r289.6
217.5 217.2
247.4 249.7
232.7 222.4
204.5 200.6
284.6 281.0
141.9 161.5
226.2 214.6
289.4 r285.6

238.7
277.7
216.1
236.6
215.5
200.4
278.4
167.6
212.0
285.8

236.9
277.8
220.6
231.3
202.3
211.3
271.1
175.1
213.8
285.3

230.4
250.9
214.1
227.7
214.6
202.8
264.9
150.2
213.4
283.5

229.4
254.0
212.7
226.7
223.6
199.1
259.6
147.7
210.7
283.4

02
02-1
02-2
02-3
02-4
02-5
02-6
02-7
02-8
02-9

Processed foods and feeds........................................
Cereal and bakery products.....................................
Meats, poultry, and fish.........................................
Dairy products..................................................
Processed fruits and vegetables.................................
Sugar and confectionery.........................................
Beverages and beverage materials .............................
Fats and oils ....................................................
Miscellaneous processed foods.................................
Prepared animal feeds..........................................

265.0
270.5
254.4
251.7
294.3
301.2
273.1
301.3
278.0
220.5

264.8
271.4
247.4
249.6
298.2
304.1
272.8
328.1
279.9
225.5

267.3
272.3
258.7
251.4
296.2
305.0
273.9
312.7
281.3
216.7

264.8
271.7
252.2
251.2
295.7
303.7
274.6
305.9
280.4
213.9

263.6
271.9
249.5
255.0
291.8
302.4
274.6
298.5
281.1
209.2

262.6
272.7
245.5
256.4
295.8
299.8
276.1
301.6
281.2
202.4

263.8
273.7
250.4
257.3
292.3
297.0
276.0
311.9
280.9
199.7

264.5
273.6
255.9
255.8
293.5
295.7
275.6
297.6
281.0
198.8

264.4
276.6
256.6
255.3
296.6
293.5
275.9
280.5
281.5
198.0

263.9
r277.7
r255.6
r254.0
r296.6
r291.1
r277.5
r285.2
r281.4
r193.6

262.9
277.8
252.1
253.4
300.2
291.6
277.6
290.7
281.0
189.3

261.2
278.2
246.3
251.4
298.7
292.8
277.2
303.2
281.7
185.7

260.6
277.6
245.8
250.1
297.7
293.6
277.9
296.1
283.1
182.6

258.8
278.7
239.9
249.4
300.7
294.7
274.4
295.5
283.7
184.3

03
03-1
03-2
03-3
03-4
03-81
03-82

Textile products and apparel.......................................
Synthetic fibers (12/75 = 100).................................
Processed yarns and threads (12/75 = 100) .................
Gray fabrics (12/75 = 100).....................................
Finishedfabrics (12/75 = 100).................................
Apparel..........................................................
Textile housefurnishlngs.........................................

210.0
159.6
142.8
153.7
126.7
201.3
238.9

210.2
160.5
143.8
154.3
127.1
200.8
239.0

210.5
160.1
143.7
154.5
126.9
201.6
239.1

210.1
159.9
142.1
154.4
127.1
201.0
240.0

210.7
159.2
142.2
154.6
127.3
202.2
240.5

210.4
158.2
141.4
154.8
126.9
201.9
241.3

210.2
157.5
140.8
153.7
126.6
202.2
241.4

210.0
157.7
140.8
154.0
126.6
202.1
238.3

210.3
157.6
141.4
153.8
126.6
202.7
239.5

210.6
r157.5
141.9
r152.6
r127.0
r203.2
r240.8

210.4
156.6
141.4
152.5
127.1
203.2
240.6

210.5
156.8
141.1
151.8
127.0
203.6
241.0

210.7
157.2
141.3
152.3
127.0
203.6
240.9

210.2
156.6
141.0
151.7
125.6
203.8
239.9

04
04-2
04-3
04-4

Hides, skins, leather, and related products.......................
Leather ..........................................................
Footwear ........................................................
Other leather and related products .............................

286.3
372.3
251.7
263.6

290.1
387.8
250.5
267.9

288.9
383.2
250.1
267.2

298.7
378.1
250.9
267.7

288.7
371.4
252.0
267.6

287.7
369.3
252.1
268.1

283.8
359.8
252.4
267.9

283.6
354.5
252.6
266.9

283.7
358.1
252.8
270.0

r283.7
r352.5
r255.9
r270.3

283.1
348.5
255.5
274.5

285.5
351.6
255.3
275.2

283.6
350.1
253.9
271.8

285.2
349.7
257.5
272.1

05
05-1
05-2
05-3
05-4
05-61
05-7

Fuels and related products and power.............................
Coal..............................................................
Coke..............................................................
Gasfuels3 ......................................................
Electric power ..................................................
Crude petroleum4 ..............................................
Petroleumproducts, refined5 ...................................

06
06-1
06-21
06-22
06-3
06-4
06-5
06-6
06-7

Chemicals and allied products.....................................
Industrial chemicals6............................................
Prepared paint
Paint materials..................................................
Drugs and pharmaceuticals .....................................
Fats and oils, Inedible...........................................
Agricultural chemicals and chemical products.................
Plastic resins and materials.....................................
Other chemicals and allied products ...........................

300.8
341.3
272.5
329.7
240.0
371.4
284.8
308.6
277.5

302.2
345.4
270.9
337.4
237.3
414.3
286.5
311.1
275.9

302.6
345.6
274.0
334.8
240.5
378.8
285.0
310.6
277.3

301.1
340.9
276.4
334.3
240.7
350.1
283.0
310.3
278.3

300.9
337.7
277.0
333.0
239.7
359.4
285.0
311.8
279.6

301.3
335.9
277.8
332.5
244.7
365.1
285.5
309.4
279.7

301.6
334.7
277.1
334.3
246.9
380.1
282.5
309.0
281.3

300.7
334.8
277.8
334.7
245.0
376.7
282.5
306.2
280.1

301.6
336.8
278.2
332.6
247.4
346.2
282.7
305.2
282.0

302.2
r336.7
r274.7
r333.4
r250.3
r347.1
r281.7
r306.9
r282.8

302.8
336.8
279.7
334.2
253.2
343.1
282.6
305.5
282.4

303.6
335.8
280.4
336.0
254.7
348.9
283.0
308.1
283.4

303.2
335.3
277.8
337.4
257.5
331.5
282.5
306.3
283.0

303.4
336.9
278.0
338.9
255.2
298.4
282.2
309.1
284.3

07
07-1
07-11
07-12
07-13
07-2

Rubber plastic products ...........................................
Rubber and rubber products.....................................
Crude rubber ....................................................
Tires and tubes..................................................
Miscellaneous rubber products .................................
Plastic products (6/78 = 100) .................................

246.8
266.1
276.8
242.1
290.6
139.5

247.5
266.3
277.7
243.2
289.3
140.2

247.5
266.5
275.6
243.5
290.0
140.2

247.7
267.6
273.0
243.7
293.7
139.7

248.3
268.1
273.9
244.2
294.0
140.1

246.6
264.8
271.2
239.2
292.9
140.1

246.1
263.9
270.4
238.3
291.8
140.0

245.9
263.7
272.1
237.1
292.5
139.8

246.7
264.3
275.5
238.4
291.1
140.4

r246.4
r265.4
r273.3
r239.5
r293.2
r139.4

246.6
265.7
270.7
241.2
292.6
139.5

246.8
265.1
270.4
239.1
294.1
140.1

246.6
264.8
268.1
239.6
293.3
140.0

246.1
264.6
271.0
237.7
294.4
139.6

08
08-1
08-2
08-3
08-4

Lumber and wood products .......................................
Lumber..........................................................
Mlllwork............................................
Plywood..............................................
Other wood products............................................

307.4
349.8
307.8
241.6
234.5

307.1
350.5
305.3
236.3
235.0

304.4
342.6
306.8
237.2
235.2

304.7
342.3
307.2
245.9
236.5

303.3
338.2
307.4
243.4
235.9

300.3
334.3
307.0
240.1
236.6

301.0
336.6
309.5
234.9
236.5

303.0
339.5
311.6
234.2
237.9

304.4
343.0
312.6
234.2
237.9

r303.4
r343.0
r311.6
r226.5
r237.7

303.4
345.0
309.9
223.7
238.8

301.7
340.5
309.5
222.7
239.1

307.0
349.9
310.8
232.1
236.0

313.8
364.4
312.3
237.3
235.7

IN D U S TR IA L CO M M O D ITIES

Seefootnotes at end of table.

82

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

656.8 665.9 665.0 657.9 652.3 654.4 655.3 648.5 636.8 r625.3 625.8 633.6 648.3 645.7
546.5 544.3 548.1 550.0 549.1 548.9 548.6 547.7 548.0 r549.6 549.3 548.2 547.3 547.2
436.4 442.9 441.9 437.3 435.7 432.4 432.8 435.1 439.7 r439.4 433.6 430.1 429.2 429.2
1,109.0 1,109.1 1,110.8 1,116.9 1,104.6 1,112.5 1,113.4 1,103.1 1,073.0 r1,067.2 1,046.8 1,045.0 1,086.1 1,049.5
439.9 446.7 453.5 456.7 456.4 445.4 443.0 440.8 446.0 r446.0 448.0 449.4 448.2 460.5
669.8 673.3 672.6 671.1 670.6 669.8 655.8 649.4 631.2 r615.1 615.4 618.3 621.5 620.2
665.1 679.7 673.3 654.8 646.5 655.5 661.5 652.3 635.5 r615.6 620.7 636.5 657.6 654.4

24.

Continued— Producer Price Indexes, by commodity groupings

[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
Code

C om m odity group and subgroup

1984

1985

1984

Annual
average
June

Ju ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

F eb .1

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

June

IN D U S TR IA L C O M M O D ITIES— Continued

09
09-1
09-11
09-12
09-13
09-14
09-15
09-2

Pulp, paper, and allied products...................................
Pulp, paper,and products,excluding building paper and board. .
Woodpulp........................................................
Wastepaper......................................................
Paper ............................................................
Paperboard ......................................................
Converted paper and paperboard products.....................
Building paper and board .......................................

318.5
293.3
397.2
240.1
302.9
281.5
281.2
259.0

318.4
293.3
410.3
257.3
301.6
279.1
280.6
265.1

319.8
295.7
410.6
254.7
307.7
279.1
282.1
262.9

321.3
296.3
410.2
254.5
307.0
285.1
282.4
259.8

322.0
297.5
409.1
249.6
306.7
288.6
284.4
259.4

323.1
299.3
408.2
235.6
306.7
293.7
286.9
257.7

324.1
299.7
397.3
221.4
306.9
294.3
289.0
253.7

324.1
298.9
392.1
206.0
305.7
293.4
289.3
253.4

327.1
298.1
381.2
190.8
306.3
287.2
290.4
255.3

r327.6
r297.1
r364.8
192.6
r304.4
r285.9
r291.4
256.2

327.0
295.4
353.9
170.2
303.7
285.7
290.4
256.3

327.3
294.3
347.9
154.4
303.6
284.0
290.0
257.6

327.2
293.3
342.4
144.0
304.6
282.1
288.8
258.6

327.0
292.9
346.1
141.6
304.7
276.2
289.0
261.1

10
10-1
10-17
10-2
10-3
10-4
10-5
10-6
10-7
10-8

Metals and metal products.........................................
Iron and steel....................................................
Steel mill products..............................................
Nonferrous metals..............................................
Metal containers ................................................
Hardware........................................................
Plumbing fixtures and brassfittings ...........................
Heating equipment..............................................
Fabricated structural metal products . : .......................
Miscellaneous metal products...................................

316.1
356.9
366.0
277.1
350.0
296.9
302.7
252.9
310.7
295.3

317.3
357.0
365.4
282.8
348.0
296.2
302.4
252.7
311.2
294.3

316.1
357.4
367.6
277.0
348.0
297.1
302.8
255.2
311.7
294.1

316.2
357.4
368.1
275.3
352.0
298.0
304.6
255.5
312.3
295.0

315.6
357.9
368.1
271.8
352.3
299.0
304.4
255.7
312.1
295.8

316.0
358.4
368.6
266.8
357.4
299.9
306.2
256.1
313.8
301.5

316.4
357.7
368.0
269.4
357.4
299.9
309.2
256.0
312.7
301.6

315.5
357.1
367.9
266.0
357.2
300.9
309.3
256.4
313.2
301.8

315.0
357.1
367.3
263.3
357.4
302.6
306.4
256.3
313.5
301.8

315.6
r357.4
r367.3
r264.9
r357.9
r303.2
r306.8
r257.3
r313.5
r302.2

315.4
358.2
367.1
262.9
357.5
304.0
307.9
257.3
314.3
301.9

316.9
357.8
367.5
268.6
358.0
305.0
311.3
257.8
314.3
302.1

316.3
356.3
367.3
268.1
358.2
304.8
312.7
258.4
314.7
301.8

315.1
354.9
366.9
263.9
358.2
304.8
313.1
259.6
314.8
302.5

11
11-1
11-2
11-3
11-4
11-6
11-7
11-9

Machinery and equipment ........................................
Agricultural machinery and equipment .........................
Construction machinery and equipment.........................
Metalworking machinery and equipment.......................
General purpose machinery and equipment ...................
Special industry machinery and equipment.....................
Electrical machinery and equipment.............................
Miscellaneous machinery .......................................

293.1
336.1
357.0
334.0
314.1
348.7
248.7
274.4

293.1
337.8
358.1
333.4
314.0
348.6
249.1
273.9

294.0
338.6
358.3
334.2
315.2
351.9
249.4
274.2

294.1
338.8
356.9
334.7
315.5
352.8
249.4
274.1

294.3
337.2
357.2
335.6
315.9
351.1
249.8
274.5

294.8
337.3
357.5
337.1
316.0
351.5
250.8
274.4

295.3
337.0
357.6
338.1
316.5
351.8
251.5
274.8

295.6
337.6
357.8
338.7
316.9
352.4
251.7
274.5

297.9
338.5
378.6
338.6
318.3
355.7
253.0
275.0

r297.6
338.3
r363.2
339.4
r318.9
r357.1
r253.7
r275.4

298.0
339.0
361.8
340.6
319.9
357.2
253.3
277.0

298.3
339.0
361.2
340.8
320.5
358.4
253.2
278.0

298.8
339.3
362.4
341.5
321.1
359.0
253.9
277.7

299.1
339.5
362.0
341.6
321.9
359.7
253.8
278.1

12
12-1
12-2
12-3
12-4
12-5
12-6

Furniture and household durables.................................
Household furniture ............................................
Commercial furniture............................................
Floor coverings..................................................
Household appliances ...........................................
Home electronic equipment.....................................
Other household durable goods.................................

218.7
242.1
297.1
191.2
211.0
83.8
318.6

219.1
242.3
297.0
192.7
211.1
83.9
319.9

219.2
242.2
298.1
192.7
211.5
84.2
318.6

219.2
242.7
298.4
192.6
211.9
83.8
316.8

219.0
243.4
297.5
192.5
211.6
83.1
316.8

219.2
244.3
297.3
193.0
211.1
83.1
317.7

220.0
245.1
300.7
192.9
210.9
83.1
320.5

220.1
245.5
299.6
193.2
211.3
82.7
320.7

220.3
246.9
300.3
193.7
211.2
80.8
322.5

r220.8
247.4
r302.8
r192.4
211.2
r81.9
r322.7

221.1
247.7
303.5
192.1
211.1
81.9
324.5

221.4
248.2
305.0
192.4
212.3
80.9
323.6

221.4
249.9
305.9
190.6
212.4
79.9
323.0

221.5
250.3
307.1
190.5
212.6
79.4
322.8

13
13-11
13-2
13-3
13-4
13-5
13-6
13-7
13-8
13-9

Nonmetallic mineral products .....................................
Flat glass........................................................
Concrete ingredients............................................
Concrete products ..............................................
Structural clay products, excluding refractories ...............
Refractories......................................................
Asphalt roofing..................................................
Gypsumproducts ..............................................
Glass containers ................................................
Other nonmetallic minerals .....................................

337.3
224.5
325.7
309.6
286.8
361.2
399.5
346.7
360.7
500.1

338.3
226.3
326.7
310.0
286.2
361.8
394.2
360.3
365.0
499.2

339.8
226.3
327.1
310.6
286.4
361.8
394.5
359.7
366.3
507.1

340.8
219.6
328 4
311.3
288.2
361.6
408.4
359.5
366.1
511.4

340.5
219.7
328.2
311.7
289.4
361.6
408.0
355.4
364.6
509.8

340.0
219.9
327.6
312.0
289.5
361.6
409.1
339.0
364.9
508.9

339.6
218.5
328.5
311.8
289.6
365.6
410.1
334.4
364.2
505.8

340.1
218.6
329.6
312.2
289.7
365.6
412.1
330.6
364.2
507.3

341.7
221.3
331.0
314.6
291.3
365.9
409.6
328.6
363.7
514.2

r342.6
220.9
r333.5
r314.6
r291.6
r365.9
r407.5
r344.3
r364.6
r514.1

343.6
221.2
335.8
315.0
291.8
368.0
404.6
320.9
370.7
513.9

344.8
220.5
336.7
316.9
291.7
370.0
414.3
317.8
371.4
518.3

347.1
221.8
339.2
320.2
291.7
372.3
414.4
317.5
372.3
522.7

348.5
221.3
339.5
321.5
295.7
372.3
411.7
338.1
374.4
523.7

14
14-1
14-4

Transportation equipment (12/68 = 100).........................
Motor vehicles and equipment...................................
Railroad equipment..............................................

262.7
261.5
355.6

262.2
261.1
354.4

262.5
261.4
356.5

262.3
261.1
357.7

257.8
255.2
357.6

265.0
263.8
358.8

265.7
264.3
358.9

265.0
263.5
358.9

266.8 268.1
265.2 266.7
359.9 r361.8

268.0
266.6
362.7

268.5
266.6
364.0

268.4
266.5
362.6

269.4
267.7
362.6

15
15-1
15-2
15-3
15-4
15-5
15-9

Miscellaneous products............................................
Toys, sporting goods, small arms, ammunition...............
Tobacco products ..............................................
Notions..........................................................
Photographic equipment and supplies .........................
Mobile homes (12/74 = 100)...................................
Other miscellaneous products...................................

295.9
227.1
398.4
283.2
214.6
163.3
350.5

295.7
226.5
400.2
283.9
213.6
162.7
350.0

297.3
226.5
408.7
283.9
213.8
162.9
350.1

298.2
226.5
406.7
283.9
215.5
163.2
353.2

296.7
227.0
406.7
283.9
215.5
163.6
346.9

296.5
227.4
402.3
283.5
215.6
163.6
348.5

296.5
227.6
402.7
283.5
212.9
164.4
349.6

296.7
227.7
402.9
283.6
213.2
164.3
350.1

299.2
228.0
420.1
283.6
213.6
164.3
347.2

300.7
r231.0
M20.6
284.1
r213.7
164.4
r350.7

300.5
231.3
420.6
284.1
215.9
164.4
347.7

301.7
231.2
420.7
285.6
215.8
164.5
352.2

301.1
230.2
420.7
285.6
215.8
164.6
350.9

300.9
229.9
420.7
285.6
215.8
164.8
350.1

1Datafor February 1985 have been revised to reflect the availability of late reports and corrections by
respondents. All dataare subject to revision 4 months after original publication.
2Not available.
3Prices for natural gas are lagged 1 month.
4lncludes only domestic production.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

5Most prices for refined petroleumproducts are lagged 1 month,
®Some prices for industrial chemicals are lagged 1month.
r = revised-

83

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
25.

Producer Prices

Producer Price Indexes, for special commodity groupings

[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
Com m odity grouping

All c om m od ities— less farm p r o d u c t s ......................................
All toods

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

Processed foods ....................................................

Industrial commodities less fuels...............................
Selected textile mill products (Dec. 1975 = 100).............
Hosiery .................................
Underwear and nightwear ...............................
Chemicals and allied products, including synthetic rubber
and fibers and yarns...........................

Annual
average
1984

June

J u ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

313.8
269.2
269.8

314.8
267.5
269.0

315.3
271.7
272.8

314.4
269.6
270.0

313.3
268.6
269.1

314.2
266.6
268.3

314.7
267.3
270.3

314.1
268.5
271.2

287.6
142.2
147.6
230.0

288.0
142.7
147.4
228.8

288.2
142.7
147.9
230.2

288.3
142.9
148.0
230.3

287.6
143.0
148.0
230.6

288.7
142.9
148.1
230.6

289.1
142.8
148.1
230.5

288.9
142.3
148.0
230.3

1984

1985
Feb .1

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

Ju n e

314.2
267.8
271.1

r313.4
r269.7
270.7

313.5
268.4
269.9

314.3
267.1
268.4

315.5
264.3
267.6

315.2
262.6
265.7

290.2
142.3
148.1
232.5

290.6
r142.6
148.4
232.7

290.7
142.6
148.6
232.3

291.3
142.5
148.7
234.7

291.4
142.3
148.7
234.9

291.6
141.4
148.7
232.6

289.7

290.5

291.3

290.2

289.9

290.0

290.0

289.4

290.6

291.1

291.5

292.2

292.0

292.7

243.1
318.5
363.7

240.6
317.2
363.1

244.6
312.2
365.2

245.1
315.0
365.8

243.9
311.4
365.9

249.7
307.6
366.5

251.9
307.4
365.9

250.0
309.6
365.8

253.4
311.5
365.2

256.0
308.8
365.2

259.5
309.2
365.1

260.6
305.8
365.5

263.6
315.4
365.5

261.2
327.0
365.2

Pharmaceutical preparations.......................
Lumber and wood products, excluding millwork...............
Steel mill products, Including fabricated wire products .
Finished steel mill products, excluding fabricated wire
products .........................................
Finished steel mill products, Including fabricated wire
products ...............................

365.5

364.8

367.0

367.5

367.5

368.1

367.5

367.4

366.8

366.7

366.6

367.0

366.8

366.4

363.0

362.4

364.4

365.0

365.1

365.7

365.2

365.1

364.5

364.5

364.3

364.8

364.8

364.5

Special metals and metal products ...........................
Fabricated metal products.................
Copper and copper products...............................
Machinery and motive products..........
Machinery and equipment, except electrical .............

300.0
304.1
186.0
286.3
319.3

300.6
303.6
189.5
286.1
319.2

300.0
303.9
184.4
286.8
320.3

299.9
305.0
183.3
286.8
320.6

297.2
305.4
182.5
284.8
320.6

301.0
308.7
178.1
288.4
320.9

301.3
308.5
183.0
289.0
321.3

300.5
308.9
180.1
288.8
321.6

300.9
309.1
179.3
291.0
324.5

301.9
309.4
r184.8
r291.4
r323.7

301.8
309.6
182.2
291.6
324.5

302.7
310.0
189.0
292.0
325.0

302.3
310.1
188.8
292.2
325.4

302.1
310.4
184.1
292.8
325.9

Agricultural machinery, including tractors .....................
Metalworking machinery.......................
Total tractors.......................
Agricultural machinery and equipment less parts.............

353.6
364.9
381.5
341.0

356.5
363.3
386.7
343.0

357.2
364.6
386.9
344.0

357.5
365.1
385.7
344.3

355.2
366.6
382.6
342.3

354.8
368.8
381.0
342.0

354.0
370.4
379.5
341.5

354.8
371.4
379.7
342.3

355.9
370.3
385.2
343.3

355.5
r371.6
r384.4
r343.0

356.5
374.9
384.2
343.9

356.6
374.6
384.4
343.9

357.0
375.1
385.2
344.4

357.1
375.4
383.5
344.6

Farmand garden tractors less parts ...................
Agricultural machinery, excluding tractors less parts ........
Construction materials...............

360.4
348.5
306.4

365.7
349.2
306.3

366.0
350.4
306.7

367.0
350.1
307.6

362.3
349.8
307.2

359.9
350.8
307.2

357.6
351.3
307.0

358.0
352.5
307.7

360.4
352.4
308.5

359.0
r352.9
r308.3

359.6
354.2
308.1

360.0
354.0
308.6

360.3
354.6
310.6

360.7
354.5
312.7

1Data for February 1985 have been revised to reflect the availability of late reports and corrections
by respondents. All data are subject to revision 4 months after original publication.

26.

r = revised.

Producer Price Indexes, by durability of product

[1967 = 100]
Annual
average
1984

June

Ju ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

F e b .1

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

June

Total durable goods ..........
Total nondurable goods ...........

293.6
323.3

293.8
324.9

293.8
326.0

293.9
323.7

292.7
322.3

294.4
320.9

294.9
322.1

294.8
321.3

295.8
320.1

r296.4
r319.0

296.4
317.9

297.1
318.4

297.5
319.2

297.9
318.1

Total manufactures.......................
Durable .......................
Nondurable .................

302.9
293.9
312.3

303.9
294.0
314.2

304.3
294.2
314.8

303.3
294.5
312.6

302.2
293.2
311.7

303.2
295.1
311.6

303.9
295.6
312.5

303.5
295.5
311.7

303.9
296.5
311.4

r303.4
r297.0
r309.9

303.3
297.0
309.8

304.1
297.7
310.7

305.0
298.2
312.0

305.3
298.8
311.9

Total rawor slightly processed goods . . .
Durable ...................
Nondurable .....................

346.6
266.7
351.4

348.0
273.3
352.3

349.6
264.5
354.7

346.9
259.6
352.2

344.4
260.6
349.4

339.1
255.9
344.2

341.0
254.2
346.3

339.8
252.2
345.1

336.7
256.0
341.5

r336.8
r259.2
r341.4

333.3
261.1
337.5

332.7
262.2
336.8

331.2
255.6
335.7

327.2
247.6
332.0

C om m odity grouping

1984

1Data for February 1985 have been revised to reflect the availability of late reports and corrections
by respondents. All data are subject to revision 4 months after original publication.

84

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1985

r= revised.

27.

Producer Price Indexes for the output of selected SIC industries

[1967= 100 unless otherwise specified]
1972
SIC
code

Ind ustry d escription

1985

1984

Annual
average

1984

M ay

June

Ju ly

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

F e b .1

Mar.

Apr.

M ay

June

264.3
913.7

273.7
914.1

271.6
918.4

264.6
921.6

249.1
928.3

257.1
918.2

271.6
916.2

276.6
906.2

267.9
901.6

264.1
880.3

262.1
r878.0

262.1
866.8

260.0
868.6

243.7 256.6
891.6 873.5

2074 Cottonseed oil mills.............................
2083 Malt ............................................
2098 Macaroni and spaghetti.........................

209.2
240.4
261.6

245.3
241.6
261.9

243.1
241.6
261.9

223.2
241.6
261.9

210.2
241.6
261.9

205.0
241.6
261.9

172.9
241.6
261.9

166.9
234.5
261.9

177.7
234.5
258.6

166.4
226.5
258.6

r169.3
226.5
258.6

163.2
226.5
261.9

164.8
226.5
258.6

165.0 171.1
226.5 218.5
258.6 258.6

Cordage and twine (12/77 = 100) ...........
Fabric dress and work gloves .................
Canvas and related products (12/77 = 100). .
Wood pallets and skids (12/75 = 100)........

138.9
310.5
151.1
164.2

139.4
315.6
150.6
165.1

139.4
315.6
150.6
165.4

138.6
315.6
150.6
168.6

138.5
315.6
150.6
168.6

138.5
315.6
152.1
168.7

138.5
315.6
152.1
168.3

138.5
315.6
152.1
168.2

138.5
315.6
152.1
168.5

138.5
313.5
152.1
169.0

138.5
314.9
r152.1
r169.4

138.5
314.9
152.9
169.4

138.5
314.9
152.5
170.1

138.5
314.9
152.5
170.1

2521 Wood office furniture...........................
2654 Sanitary food containers .......................
2655 Fiber cans, drums, and similar products
(12/75- 100).................................
2911 Petroleumrefining (6/76 = 100) .............

290.4
279.1

289.2
280.6

289.2
280.7

289.1
280.6

289.2
280.7

291.1
281.3

291.2
281.4

295.1
281.5

298.6
281.4

299.8
283.9

r299.8
r286.5

301.0
289.7

303.1
289.8

303.2 304.5
288.6 288.8

193.7
244.2

193.1
248.1

193.1
248.8

194.7
246.5

194.7
240.1

194.7
237.5

194.8
240.9

197.8
242.7

197.8
239.4

199.1
233.2

200.0
r225.2

200.0
226.7

200.0
232.7

199.9 200.0
240.9 240.5

3253
3255
3259
3261
3263

Ceramic wall and floor tile (12/75 = 100) ...
Clay refractories.................................
Structural clay products, n.e.c..................
Vitreous plumbing fixtures.....................
Fine earthenware food utensils.................

151.2
371.9
232.6
292.7
377.5

149.6
371.5
232.4
290.8
376.5

149.6
371.7
232.4
292.5
372.1

149.6
371.6
232.4
293.1
373.3

153.4
371.4
232.3
293.9
374.0

153.4
371.4
232.4
295.6
374.8

153.4
371.4
232.4
297.7
375.9

153.4
378.8
232.4
297.6
378.2

153.4
378.8
232.5
298.1
379.4

153.4
379.4
237.1
297.9
382.3

r153.4
r379.4
r237.0
298.8
r383.9

150.5
383.3
237.5
298.1
385.5

150.5
387.3
237.6
299.3
369.5

150.5
391.7
237.7
302.7
373.7

160.6
391.7
237.8
303.3
374.7

3269
3274
3297
3482

Pottery products, n.e.c. (12/75 = 100) . . . .
Lime (12/75 - 100) ...........................
Nonclay refractories (12/74 = 100)...........
Small arms ammunition (12/75 = 100)........

192.1
183.0
219.2
'90.3

192.2
184.1
220.1
190.3

186.3
183.3
220.1
190.3

187.6
180.3
219.9
190.3

187.6
179.6
219.9
190.3

197.7
187.2
220.3
190.3

195.2
180.5
219.9
190.3

195.3
182.1
220.2
190.3

195.3
183.0
220.2
190.3

198.8
187.4
220.5
195.9

r199.0
r185.1
r220.3
r198.8

199.4
185.2
220.4
205.5

198.9
182.3
220.4
205.5

199.0
182.5
220.5
205.5

199.0
185.6
220.6
205.5

3648
3671
3942
3944
3955

Lighting equipment, n.e.c. (12/75 = 100) . . .
Electron tubes, receiving type .................
Dolls (12/75 - 100)...........................
Games, toys, and children’s vehicles .........
Carbon paper and inked ribbons (12/75 = 100)

186.6
497.2
134.4
239.5
145.7

185.6
490.9
133.4
239.1
149.1

185.7
491.3
133.6
239.2
149.1

186.3
491.6
133.6
239.2
146.7

188.1
491.6
133.6
239.1
146.7

188.2
491.8
133.6
239.3
146.7

194.4
492.0
133.6
239.4
139.7

196.9
527.2
133.6
239.4
139.7

196.9
527.2
133.6
239.4
139.7

196.9
546.9
134.6
240.9
139.7

197.4
r547.1
r134.7
r246.1
139.4

196.1
547.0
134.5
243.1
129.5

195.5
547.0
134.5
242.9
128.6

195.7
547.1
134.5
242.9
126.3

197.7
547.1
134.5
242.9
126.3

167.5

166.4

166.4

168.7

168.8

168.8

169.7

169.7

169.7

172.1

r172.1

172.1

172.1

172.1

173.5

M INING

1092 Mercury ores (12/75 = 100) .................
1311 Crude petroleumand natural gas .............
M AN U FA C TU R IN G

2298
2381
2394
2448

3996 Hard surface floor coverings (12/75 = 100)

1Data for February 1985 have been revised to reflect the availability of late reports and corrections
by respondents. All dataare subject to revision 4 months after original publication.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

138.5
317.6
152.5
170.7

r = revised.

85

PRODUCTIVITY DATA

P r o d u c t iv it y d a t a are compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
from establishment data and from measures of compensation and
output supplied by the U .S. Department of Commerce and the
Federal Reserve Board.

Definitions
O u tp u t is the constant dollar gross product produced by the particular
sector. O u tp u t p er h o u r o f all p erso n s (labor productivity) measures the
value o f goods and services in constant prices produced per hour of labor.
O u tp u t p er u n it o f c a p ita l se rv ices (capital productivity) measures the
value o f goods and services in constant dollars per unit of capital services
input.
M u ltifa cto r p ro d u ctiv ity measures the output per unit of combined
labor and capital input. The traditional measure of output per hour reflects
changes in capital per hour and a combination of other factors— such as,
changes in technology, shifts in the composition of the labor force, changes
in capacity utilization, research and development, skill and efforts of the
work force, management, and so forth. The multifactor productivity meas­
ure differs from the familiar bls measure of output per hour of all persons
in that it excludes the effects of the substitution of capital for labor.
C o m p en sa tio n p er h o u r includes wages and salaries o f employees plus
employers’ contributions for social insurance and private benefit plans.
The data also include an estimate of wages, salaries, and supplementary
payments for the self-employed, except for nonfinancial corporations, in
which there are no self-employed. R ea l c o m p en sa tio n p er h o u r is com­
pensation per hour adjusted by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers.
U n it la b o r co sts measure the labor compensation costs required to
produce a unit o f output and is derived by dividing compensation by output.
U n it n o n la b o r p a y m e n ts include profits, depreciation, interest, and in­
direct taxes per unit o f output. They are computed by subtracting com­
pensation of all persons from current dollar gross product and dividing by
output. U n it n o n la b o r co sts contain all the components o f unit nonlabor
payments except unit profits. U n it p ro fits include corporate profits and
the value o f inventory adjustments per unit of output.

The im p licit p rice d e fla to r is the price index for the gross product of
the sector reported. It is derived by dividing the current dollar gross product
by the constant dollar figures.
H o u rs o f all p erso n s measures the labor input of payroll workers, selfemployed persons, and unpaid family workers. O u tp u t p er all em p loyee

86

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

h o u r describes labor productivity in nonfinancial corporations where there
are no self-employed. The cap ital se rv ices input index used in the mul­
tifactor productivity computation is developed by bls from measures of
the net stock of physical assets— equipment, structures, land, and inven­
tories— weighted by rental prices for each type of asset. C om b in ed un its
o f la b o r an d cap ital in p u t are computed by combining changes in labor
and capital inputs with weights which represent each component’s share
o f total output. The indexes for capital services and combined units of
labor and capital are based on changing weights which are averages o f the
shares in the current and preceding year (the Tomquist index-number
formula).

Notes on the data
In the business sector and the nonfarm business sector, the output meas­
ure employed in the computation of output per hour is constructed from
Gross Domestic Product rather than Gross National Product. Multifactor
productivity measures (table 28) for the p r iv a t e business and p r iv a t e non­
farm business sectors differ from the business and nonfarm business sector
measures used in the traditional labor productivity indexes (tables 2 9 -3 2 )
in that they exclude the activities of government enterprises. There is no
difference in the sector definition for manufacturing.
Output measures for the business sectors are derived from data supplied
by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U .S. Department of Commerce, and
the Federal Reserve Board. Quarterly manufacturing output indexes are
adjusted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to annual estimates o f output
(gross product originating) from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Com­
pensation and hours data are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the
Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The productivity and associated cost measures in the tables describe the
relationship between output in real terms and the labor time and capital
services involved in its production. They show the changes from period
to period in the amount o f goods and services produced per unit o f input.
Although these measures relate output to hours and capital services, they
do not measure the contributions of labor, capital, or any other specific
factor of production. Rather, they reflect the joint effect of many influences,
including changes in technology; capital investment; level of output; uti­
lization of capacity, energy, and materials; the organization of production;
managerial skill; and the characteristics and efforts of the work force. For
a more complete description of the methodology underlying the multifactor
productivity measures, see Bulletin 2178, “ Trends in Multifactor Produc­
tivity, 1 9 4 8 -8 1 ” (September 1983).

28.

Annual indexes of multifactor productivity and related measures, selected years, 1950-83

[1977 = 1

0

0

)

_________________________ ______ _______ ______ ______ ______

Item

1950

1960

1970

1973

1974

1975

1976

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

49.7
98.6
63.6
39.5

64.8
98.5
75.4
53.3

86.1
98.5
90.2
78.3

94.8
103.0
97.5
91.8

92.5
96.5
93.8
89.9

94.5
92.0
93.6
88.0

97.6
96.1
97.1
93.7

100.5
101.8
101.0
105.5

99.3
100.3
99.7
107.9

98.7
95.6
97.6
106.4

100.6
94.1
98.3
109.2

100.8
89.6
96.8
106.3

103.7
92.3
99.6
111.1

79.4
40.1
62.1
50.4

82.2
54.1
70.7
65.8

90.8
79.4
86.7
87.4

96.8
89.1
94.1
92.0

97.2
93.1
95.8
95.9

93.1
95.7
94.0
102.8

95.9
97.5
96.5
101.6

105.0
103.6
104.5
98.7

108.6
107.5
108.2
98.9

107.8
111.4
109.0
103.3

108.5
116.0
111.0
106.9

105.4
118.7
109.8
112.6

107.2
120.3
111.5
112.3

55.6
98.2
68.1
38.3

68.0
98.4
77.6
52.3

86.8
98.6
90.7
77.8

95.3
103.2
97.9
91.7

92.9
96.5
94.1
89.7

94.8
91.7
93.6
87.6

97.8
96.1
97.2
93.6

100.6
101.9
101.0
105.7

99 0
100.1
99.4
108.0

98.2
95.2
97.2
106.4

99.6
93.2
97.4
108.7

99.9
88.7
95.9
105.9

103.5
91.9
99.3
111.3

69.0
39.0
56.2
56.6

77.0
53.2
67.4
69.1

89.7
78.9
85.9
88.0

96.2
88.8
93.6
92.4

96.5
93.0
95.3
96.3

92.4
95.6
93.5
103.4

95.7
97.4
96.3
101.8

105.1
103.7
104.6
98.7

109.1
107.9
108.7
98.9

108.4
111.7
109.5
103.1

109.1
116.6
111.6
106.8

106.0
119.4
110.4
112.6

107.6
121.2
112.0
112.6

49.4
94.5
59.9
38.6

60.0
88.0
67.0
50.7

79.2
91.8
82 3
77.0

93.0
108.2
96.8
95.9

90.8
99.6
93.1
91.9

93.4
89.4
92.2
85.4

97.6
96.1
97.1
93.6

100.9
101.5
101.1
105.3

101.6
99.5
101.0
108.2

101.7
90.7
98.8
103.5

104.9
89.9
100.8
106.1

107.1
82.9
100.3
99.3

111.6
87.6
104.9
104.4

78.2
40.9
64.5
52.3

84.4
57.5
75.6
68.2

97.3
83.9
93.5
86.2

103.1
88.6
99.0
85.9

101.2
92.2
98.7
91.1

91.4
95.5
92.6
104.5

95.9
97.4
96.3
101.6

104.4
103.8
104.2
99.4

106.5
108.8
107.1
102.1

101.7
114.1
104.8
112.2

101.1
118.0
105.2
116.7

92.7
119.8
99.0
129.2

93.5
119.2
99.5
127.5

P R IV A T E BUSINESS SEC TO R

Productivity:
Output per hour of all persons.................
Output per unit of capital services.............
Multifactor productivity.........................
Output..............................................
Inputs:
Hours of all persons.............................
Capital services .................................
Combined units of labor and capital input . . . .
Capital per hour of all persons ...................
P R IV A T E N ON FARM BUSINESS SEC TO R

Productivity:
Output per hour of all persons.................
Output per unit of capital services.............
Multifactor productivity.........................
Output..............................................
Inputs:
Hours of all persons.............................
Capital services .................................
Combined units of labor and capital input . . . .
Capital per hour of all persons ...................
M A N U FA C TU R IN G

Productivity:
Output per hour of all persons.................
Output per unit of capital services.............
Multifactor productivity.........................
Output..............................................
Inputs:
Hours of all persons.............................
Capital services .................................
Combined units of labor and capital input . . . .
Capital per hour of all persons ...................

29.

Annual indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices, selected years, 1950-84

[1977 = 100]
Item

Business sector:
Output per hour of all persons.................
Compensation per hour.........................
Real compensation per hour ...................
Unit nonlabor payments.........................
Implicit price deflator...........................
Nonfarmbusiness sector:
Output per hour of all persons.................
Compensation per hour.........................
Real compensation per hour ...................
Unit labor costs.................................
Unit nonlabor payments.........................
Implicit price deflator...........................
Nonfinancial corporations:
Output per hour of all persons.................
Compensation per hour.........................
Real compensation per hour ...................
Unit labor costs.................................
Unit nonlabor payments.........................
Implicit price deflator...........................
Manufacturing:
Output per hour of all persons.................
Compensation per hour.........................
Real compensation per hour ...................
Unit labor costs.................................
Unit nonlabor payments.........................
Implicit price deflator...........................

1950

1955

1960

1965

1970

1975

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

50.4
20.0
50.5
39.8
43.4
41.0

58.3
26.4
59.7
45.2
47.6
46.0

65.2
33.9
69.5
52.1
50.6
51.6

78.3
41.7
80.1
53.3
57.6
54.7

86.2
58.2
90.8
67.5
63.2
66.0

94.6
85.6
96.4
90.5
90.4
90.4

100.5
108.5
100.8
108.0
106.7
107.5

99.3
118.7
99.1
119.5
112.8
117.2

98.8
131.1
96.4
132.6
119.3
128.1

100.7
143.4
95.5
142.4
136.7
140.4

100.9
155.0
97.3
153.6
136.8
147.9

103.7
161.7
98.4
156.0
145.5
152.4

107.0
168.6
98.4
157.6
157.0
157.4

56.3
21.9
55.1
38.8
42.7
40.1

62.8
28.3
64.0
45.1
47.8
46.0

68.3
35.7
73.1
52.3
50.4
51.6

80.5
42.8
82.3
53.2
58.0
54.8

86.8
58.7
91.5
67.6
63.8
66.3

94.8
86.1
96.9
90.8
88.5
90.0

100.6
108.6
100.8
108.0
105.3
107.1

99.0
118.4
98.8
119.5
110.4
116.5

98.3
130.6
96.0
132.8
118.6
128.1

99.8
143.1
95.3
143.5
135.0
140.6

100.0
154.5
97.0
154.5
136.9
148.6

103.4
162.0
98.6
156.6
147.0
153.4

106.2
168.7
98.4
158.8
156.9
158.2

(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

68.0
37.0
75.8
54.4
54.6
54.5

82.0
43.9
84.3
53.5
60.8
56.1

87.4
59.4
92.7
68.0
63.1
66.3

95.5
86.1
97.0
90.2
90.8
90.4

100.8
108.4
100.7
107.5
104.2
106.4

100.6
118.6
99.0
117.8
106.9
114.1

99.7
130.8
96.2
131.2
117.4
126.4

101.6
143.1
95.3
140.9
135.1
138.9

102.6
154.6
97.0
150.6
138.1
146.3

106.1
161.0
97.9
151.8
149.1
150.9

108.5
166.6
97.2
153.6
158.8
155.4

49.4
21.5
54.0
43.4
54.3
46.6

56.4
28.8
65.1
51.0
58.6
53.2

60.0
36.7
75.1
61.1
61.1
61.1

74.6
42.8
82.3
57.5
69.4
61.0

79.2
57.6
89.8
72.7
65.1
70.5

93.4
85.5
96.2
91.5
87.3
90.3

100.9
108.3
100.6
107.3
102.7
106.0

101.6
118.8
99.2
117.0
99.9
112.0

101.7
132.7
97.6
130.5
97.9
120.9

104.9
145.2
96.8
138.4
111.6
130.6

107.1
158.0
99.2
147.6
110.5
136.7

111.6
163.4
99.4
146.4
128.8
141.2

115.6
169.4
98.8
146.5
140.3
144.7

1Not available.


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87

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
30.

Productivity

Annual changes in productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices, 1974-84

1974

Business sector:
Output per hour of all persons ..........
Compensation per hour...........
Real compensation per hour ...........
Unit labor costs ...............
Unit nonlabor payments.................
Implicit price deflator ...................
Nonfarmbusiness sector:
Output per hour of all persons ..........
Compensation per hour.............
Real compensation per hour ..........
Unit labor costs .............
Unit nonlabor payments.................
Implicit price deflator .............
Nonfinancial corporations:
Output per hour of all employees........
Compensation per hour...........
Real compensation per hour . . . .
Unit labor costs ...............
Unit nonlabor payments.............
Implicit price deflator ...................
Manufacturing:
Output per hour of all persons ..........
Compensation per hour.............
Real compensation per hour ...........
Unit labor costs .............
Unit nonlabor payments.................
Implicit price deflator ...................

Annual rate
of change

Year

Item
1975

-2.4
9.4
-1.4
12.1
4.4

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1950-84

9.5

2.2
9.6
0.5
7.3
15.1
9.8

3.3
8.5
2.6
5.1
4.0
4.7

2.4
7.7
1.2
5.1
6.4
5.6

0.5
8.5
0.8
8.0
6.7
7.5

-1.2
9.4
-1.7
10.7
5.8
9.0

-0.5
10.4
-2.7
11.0
5.7
9.3

1.9
9.4
-0.9
7.3
14.6
9.6

0.2
8.1
1.9
7.9
0.1
5.3

27
4.3
1.1
1.6
6.3
30

32
42
00
10
79
3?

65
20
41
39

-2.5
9.4
-1.4
12.2
5.9
10.2

2.0
9.6
0.4
7.5
16.7
10.3

3.2
8.1
2.2
4.7
5.7
5.1

2.2
7.5
1.0
5.2
6.9
5.7

0.6
8.6
0.8
8.0
5.3
7.1

-1.5
9.0
-2.0
10.7
4.8
8.8

-0.7
10.3
-2.8
11.1
7.4
10.0

1.5
9.6
-0.7
8.0
13.8
9.8

0.2
8.0
1.7
7.7
1.4
5.7

35
4.9
1.6
1.4
7.4
32

27
41
-0 1
14
67
31

6.2
17
42
39

-3.7
9.4
-1.5
13.6
7.1
11.4

2.9
9.6
0.4
6.5
20.1
10.9

2.9
7.9
2.0
4.9
4.6
4.8

1.8
7.6
1.1
5.7
5.3
5.6

0.8
8.4
0.7
7.5
4.2
6.4

-0.2
9.4
-1.7
9.6
2.6
7.2

-0.9
10.3
-2.8
11.3
9.8
10.8

1.9
9.4
-0.9
7.4
15.1
9.8

1.0
8.0
1.8
6.9
2.3
5.3

33
4.2
0.9
0.8
7.9
3.1

23
35
-0.8
11
65
30

t1)
(1)
(1)
<1)
(1)
<1)

-2.4
10.6
-0.3
13.3
-1.8
9.0

2.9
11.9
2.5
8.8
25.9
13.1

4.5
8.0
2.1
3.4
7.5
4.6

2.5
8.3
1.8
5.7
6.5

0.9
8.3
0.6
7.3
2.7
6.0

0.7
9.7
-1.4
9.0
-2.6
5.7

0.2
11.7
-1.6
11.5
-2.1
7.9

3.1
9.4
-0.9
6.1
14.1
8.0

2.1
8.8
2.5
6.6
-1.0
4.7

4.3
34
0.2
-0.8
16.5
3.3

35
36
-0 6
-0 1
89
2.5

63
18
36
28
3.4

6°

1974-84

(L3

0.2

6.1

1Not available.

31.

Quarterly indexes of produ ctivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices, seasonally adjusted

[1977 = 100]

Business sector:
Output per hour of all persons ...........
Compensation per hour . .
Real compensation per hour . .
Unit labor costs...........
Unit nonlabor payments . . . .
Implicit price deflator.........
Nonfarmbusiness sector:
Output per hour of all persons ........
Compensation per hour ........
Real compensation per hour...........
Unit labor costs..........
Unit nonlabor payments .........
Implicit price deflator.................
Nonfinancial corporations:
Output per hour of all employees . . . .
Compensation per hour . .
Real compensation per hour..........
Total unit costs...........
Unit labor costs.............
Unit nonlabor costs...........
Implicit price deflator.............
Manufacturing:
Output per hour of all persons . .
Compensation per hour ...........
Real compensation per hour........
Unit labor costs...............

88

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Q uarterly indexes

Annual
ave rage

Item

1982

1983

1

1984

1985

1983

1984

103.7
161.7
98.4
156.0
145.5
152.4

107.0
168.6
98.4
157.6
157.0
157.4

100.9
156.7
97.3
155.3
135.8
148.7

101.6
158.4
98.0
155.9
136.5
149.3

102.2
160.2
99.0
156.8
139.8
151.0

103.6
161.0
98.5
155.4
144.6
151.7

104.3
161.8
97.9
155.1
147.9
152.7

104.7
164.2
98.4
156.8
149.1
154.2

105.7
166.7
98.6
157.7
151.6
155.6

107.0
167.5
98.2
156.5
157.2
156.7

107.2
169 3
98 3
158 0
158.5
158.1

108 0
171 1
98 5
158 4
160 2
159.0

161.1

103.4
162.0
98.6
156.6
147.0
153.4

106.2
168.7
98.4
158.8
156.9
158.2

100.3
156.0
96.8
155.6
136.8
149.3

100.5
157.9
97.7
157.1
136.4
150.2

101.6
160.1
99.0
157.6
140.6
151.9

103.6
161.5
98.8
155.9
146.4
152.7

104.1
162.4
98.3
155.9
149.4
153.8

104.4
164.0
98.3
157.1
151.4
155.2

105.2
166.5
98.4
158.3
152.2
156.3

106.6
168.0
98.4
157.6
156.8
157.3

106 3
169 5
98.4
159.5
158 0
159.0

106 9
171 0
98 5
160 0
160 3
160.1

99 n
163 ?
160 9
162.4

106.1
161.0
97.9
155.2
151.8
164.9
117.2
150.9

108.5
166.6
97.2
156.4
153.6
164.3
147.6
155.4

103.3
156.2
97.0
154.7
151.3
164.4
86.6
146.9

103.2
157.7
97.5
157.0
152.9
168.8
75.6
147.7

104.0
159.2
98.4
156.7
153.1
167.0
92.5
149.4

105.8
160.6
98.2
155.2
151.7
165.1
111.8
150.2

107.2
161.8
97.9
154.4
150.9
164.4
126.6
151.2

107.2
162.6
97.4
154.7
151.7
163.3
135.9
152.6

108.1
164.8
97.5
155.0
152.5
162.0
143.2
153.6

108.9
165 8
97.2
155.0
152.3
162.8
151.1
154.6

108 2
167 1
97 1
157.5
154.5
165.9
145.3
156.1

108 8
188 7
97 1
158 0
155 0
166.4
147 6
157.1

160 5
157 6
168 6
150 3
159.3

111.6
163.4
99.4
146.4

115.6
169.4
98.8
146.5

108.8
159.8
99.2
146.9

107.9
161.0
99.6
149.3

109.2
162.7
100.6
149.0

110.9
163.0
99.6
147.0

113.4
163.5
98.9
144.1

113.0
164.6
98.6
145.7

114.0
167.1
98.8
146.6

115.0
168 3
98.6
146.4

117 0
169 9
98 7
145.2

116 3
17? 1
99 1
147.9

III

IV

II

III

IV

1

II

III

IV

I

99 0

116 6
149.8

32. Percent change from preceding quarter and year in productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices,
seasonally adjusted at annual rate
P ercent change from sam e q uarter a y e a r ago

Q uarterly percent change at annual rate
Item

Business sector:
Output per hour of all persons........
Compensation per hour...............
Real compensation per hour..........
Unit labor costs.......................
Unit nonlabor payments .............
Implicit price deflator.................
Nonfarmbusiness sector:
Output per hour of all persons........
Compensation per hour...............
Real compensation per hour..........
Unit nonlabor payments .............
Implicit price deflator.................
Nonfinancial corporations:
Output per hour of all employees . . .
Compensation per hour...............
Real compensation per hour..........
Total units costs .....................
Unit labor costs ...................
Unit nonlabor costs ...............
Unit profits ...........................
Implicit price deflator.................
Manufacturing:
Output per hour of all persons.......
Compensation per hour...............
Real compensation per hour..........
Unit labor costs.......................

III 1983
to
IV 1983

IV 1983
to
I 1984

1 1984
to
II 1984

II 1984
to
III 1984

III 1984
to
IV 1984

IV 1984
to
1 1985

IV 1982
to
IV 1983

1 1983
to
I 1984

II 1983
to
II 1984

III 1983
to
III 1984

IV 1983
to
IV 1984

I 1984
to
1 1985

1.4
6.1
1.9
4.6
3.1
4.1

4.0
6.2
0.8
2.1
7.0
3.7

4.9
1.9
-1.8
-2.9
15.4
2.9

0.6
4.4
0.7
3.7
3.4
3.6

3.1
4.4
0.8
1.2
4.3
2.2

r-3.5
r5.2
r1.8
r9.0
r-1.6
r5.3

3.1
3.7
0.4
0.6
9.2
3.3

3.5
4.1
-0.4
0.6
8.4
3.0

3.3
4.0
-0.3
0.7
8.7
3.3

2.7
4.6
0.4
1.9
7.1
3.6

3.2
4.2
0.1
1.0
7.4
3.1

1.2
3.9
0.4
2.7
5.2
3.5

1.0
4.1

5.5
3.7
0.0
-1.7
12.5
2.8

-1.1
3.6
0.1
4.7
3.1
4.2

2.2
3.7
0.1
1.4
5.9
2.9

r-2.5
r5.4
r2.1
r8.1
r1.6
r5.9

3.9
3.9
0.6

3.0
5.3
3.7

2.9
6.1
0.7
3.1
2.3
2.8

10.9
3.3

3.5
4.0
-0.5
0.4
8.3
2.9

2.9
4.0
-0.3
1.1
7.1
3.0

2.1
4.4
0.2
2.3
5.7
3.4

2.4
4.3
0.2
1.9
5.9
3.2

1.0
4.1
0.5
3.1
5.7
3.9

-0.2
2.0
-2.1
0.8
2.1
-2.6
32.6
3.6

3.6
5.7
0.4
0.6
2.0
-3.2
23.4
2.7

2.8
2.4
-1.3
0.2
-0.4
2.0
23.8
2.6

-2.5
3.2
-0.4
6.5
5.9
8.0
-14.5
3.9

2.5
3.7
0.2
1.2
1.2
1.1
16.0
2.7

-2.8
4.0
0.7
6.6
7.0
5.5
-1.3
5.7

3.9
3.1
-0.1
-1.5
-0.8
-3.2
79.8
3.3

4.0
3.6
-0.9
-1.1
-0.4
-3.0
54.8
2.8

2.9
3.3
-1.0
-0.1
0.4
-1.4
35.2
2.9

0.9
3.3
-0.9
2.0
2.4
0.9
14.7
3.2

1.6
3.8
-0.3
2.1
2.2
1.9
10.9
3.0

3.3
0.2
3.6
3.4
4.1
4.9
3.7

-1.4
2.9
-1.2
4.3

3.5
6.2
0.8
2.6

3.6
2.9
-0.8
-0.6

7.1
3.7
0.1
-3.1

-2.2
5.2
1.6
7.6

0.6
5.8
2.4
5.1

4.8
2.2
-1.0
-2.4

4.4
2.7
-1.7
-1.6

3.7
3.3
-1.0
-0.4

3.1
3.9
-0.3
0.8

2.9
4.5
0.4
1.5

2.2
4.4
0.8
2.1

-

0.0

0.0

0.0

r = revised.


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89

WAGE AND COMPENSATION DATA

D a t a for the em plo ym en t cost in d e x are reported to the Bureau
o f Labor Statistics by a sample of 2,000 private nonfarm estab­
lishments and 750 State and local government units selected to
represent total employment in those sectors. On average, each
reporting unit provides wage and compensation information on
five well-specified occupations.

Data on negotiated wage and benefit changes are obtained from
contracts on file at the Bureau, direct contact with the parties, and
secondary sources.

Definitions
The E m p lo y m e n t C o st In d ex ( e c i ) is a quarterly measure of the average
change in the cost o f employing labor. The rate of total compensation,
which comprises wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee ben­
efits, is collected for workers performing specified tasks. Employment in
each occupation is held constant over time for all series produced in the
e c i , except those by region, bargaining status, and area. As a consequence,
only changes in compensation are measured. Industry and occupational
employment data from the 1970 Census of Population are used in deriving
constant weights for the ECI. While holding total industry and occupational
employment fixed, in the estimation of indexes by region, bargaining
status, and area, the employment in those measures is allowed to vary over
time in accord with changes in the sample. The rate of change (in percent)
is available for wages and salaries, as well as for total compensation. Data
are collected for the pay period including the 12th day of the survey months
o f March, June, September, and December. The statistics are neither an­
nualized nor adjusted for seasonal influence.
W a g es a n d sa la r ie s consist of earnings before payroll deductions, ex­
cluding premium pay for overtime, work on weekends and holidays, and
shift dilferentials. Production bonuses, incentive earnings, commissions,
and cost-of-living adjustments are included; nonproduction bonuses are
included with other supplemental pay items in the benefits category; and
payments-in-kind, free room and board, and tips are excluded. Benefits
include supplemental pay, insurance, retirement and savings plans, and
hours-related and legally required benefits.
D a ta o n n eg o tia ted w a g e c h a n g es apply to private nonfarm industry
collective bargaining agreements covering 1,000 workers or more. Data
on compensation changes apply only to those agreements covering 5,000
workers or more. First-year wage or compensation changes refer to average
negotiated changes for workers covered by settlements reached in the period

90

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and implemented within the first 12 months after the eifective date o f the
agreement. Changes over the life o f the agreement refer to all adjustments
specified in the contract, expressed as an average annual rate. These meas­
ures exclude wage changes that may occur under cost-of-living adjustment
clauses, that are triggered by movements in the Consumer Price Index.
Wage-rate changes are expressed as a percent of straight-time hourly earn­
ings; compensation changes are expressed as a percent of total wages and
benefits.
E ffective w age a d ju stm en ts reflect all negotiated changes implemented
in the reference period, regardless of the settlement date. They include
changes from settlements reached during the period, changes deferred from
contracts negotiated in an earlier period, and cost-of-living adjustments.
The data also reflect contracts providing for no wage adjustment in the
period. Effective adjustments and each of their components are prorated
over all workers in bargaining units with at least 1,000 workers.

Notes on the data
The Employment Cost Index data series began in the fourth quarter of
1975, with the quarterly percent change in wages and salaries in the private
nonfarm sector. Data on employer costs for employee benefits were in­
cluded in 1980, to produce a measure of the percent change in employers’
cost for em ployees’ total compensation. State and local government units
were added to the e c i coverage in 1981, providing a measure o f total
compensation change in the civilian nonfarm economy.
Data for the broad white-collar, blue-collar, and service worker groups,
and the manufacturing, nonmanufacturing, and service industry groups are
presented in the e c i . Additional occupation and industry detail are provided
for the wages and salaries component of total compensation in the private
nonfarm sector. For State and local government units, additional industry
detail is shown for both total compensation and its wages and salaries
component.
Historical indexes (June 1981 = 100) of the quarterly rates of changes
presented in the e c i are also available.
For a more detailed discussion of the ECI, see chapter 11, “ The Em­
ployment Cost Index,’’ of the b l s Handbook o f M ethods (Bulletin 2134—
1), and the Monthly Labor Review articles: “ Employment Cost Index: a
measure of change in the ‘price of labor,” ’ July 1975; “ How benefits will
be incorporated into the Employment Cost Index,” January 1978; and
“ The Employment Cost Index: recent trends and expansion,” May 1982.
Additional data for the e c i and other measures of wage and compensation
changes appear in Current Wage Developments, a monthly publication of
the Bureau.

33.

Employment Cost Index, by occupation and industry group

[June 1981 = 100]

______________________________
P ercent change

C ivilian w o rk e rs 1 ....................................................................................................

Workers, by occupational group
White-collar workers................................................
Blue-collar workers ................................................
Service workers ....................................................
Workers, by industry division
Manufacturing ......................................................
Nonmanufacturing..................................................
Public administration2 ...........................................
Private ind ustry w o rk ers

Workers, by occupational group
White-collar workers .............................................
Blue-collar workers ..............................................
Service workers..................................................
Workers, by industry division
Manufacturing....................................................
Nonmanufacturing................................................
State and local governm e nt w o r k e r s ...........................................................

Workers, by occupational group
White-collar workers .............................................
Blue-collar workers..............................................
Workers, by industry division
Services ..........................................................
Schools........................................................
Elementary and secondary .................................
Hospitals and other services3 .................................
Public administration2 ...........................................
1Excludes farm, household, and Federal workers.
2Consists of legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory activities.


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1985

1984

1983

S eries

M arch

3 m onths
ended

12 m onths
ended

M arch 1985

M arch

June

Sept.

Dec.

M arch

June

Sept.

Dec.

113.2

114.5

116.5

117.8

119.8

120.8

122.4

123.9

125.5

1.3

4.8

120.9
117.7
122.0

122.1
118.6
122.1

124.0
119.6
124.6

125.5
120.9
126.8

127.3
122.2
127.8

1.4
1.1
0.8

5.3
3.8
4.8

113.7
112.3
114.3

114.9
113.6
115.1

117.6
114.8
116.7

118.9
115.8
119.1

112.5
113.5
116.6
116.2

113.5
114.9
117.1
117.0

115.0
117.2
121.1
119.8

116.0
118.6
122.6
121.4

117.9
120.7
125.0
122.9

119.1
121.6
125.5
123.7

120.4
123.3
128.8
126.9

122.0
124.8
130.9
128.6

123.9
126.2
131.9
130.1

1.6
1.1
.8
1.2

5.1
4.6
5.5
5.9

112.6

113.9

115.6

117.0

119.0

120.1

121.1

122.7

124.2

1.2

4.4

112.8
112.1
113.8

114.2
113.5
114.6

116.5
114.6
115.1

117.9
115.7
117.9

119.9
117.5
121.5

121.4
118.4
121.2

122.4
119.3
123.2

123.9
120.6
125.7

125.8
121.9
126.3

1.5
1.1
.5

4.9
3.7
4.0

112.5
112.6

113.5
114.2

115.0
116.0

116.0
117.5

117.9
119.6

119.1
120.7

120.4
121.6

122.0
123.1

123.9
124.4

1.6
1.1

5.1
4.0

116.5

117.1

120.8

122.0

123.9

124.4

128.8

130.1

131.7

1.2

6.3

1.1
1.7

6.4
5.1

1.1
1.1
.7
1.5
1.2

6.7
7.1
7.2
5.4
5.9

117.0
114.9

117.5
115.8

121.5
118.0

122.6
119.2

124.5
121.9

125.0
122.3

129.7
125.0

131.1
125.9

132.5
128.1

116.8
116.6
117.2
117.5
116.2

117.4
116.9
117.4
118.8
117.0

121.7
121.9
123.3
121.1
119.8

122.6
122.6
123.9
122.6
121.4

124.5
124.5
125.4
124.4
122.9

125.0
124.7
125.7
125.7
123.7

129.9
130.6
132.1
127.9
126.9

131.3
132.0
133.5
129.2
128.6

132.8
133.4
134.4
131.1
130.1

3Includes, for example, library, social, and health services.

91

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
34.

Wage and Compensation Data

Employment Cost Index, wages and salaries, by occupation and industry group

[June 1981 = 100]
Pe rcent change
1' 83

S eries
M arch

June

1984
Sept.

1985

Dec.

M arch

June

Sept.

Dec.

M arch

3 m onths
ended
Marc

12 m onths
ended
1985

Workers, by occupational group
White-collar workers.........................................
Blue-collar workers .....................................
Service workers .....................................

112.2

113.4

115.3

116.5

117.9

118.8

120.3

121.7

123.1

1.2

4.4

113.0
110.8
113.2

114.2
112.0
113.9

116.7
113.1
115.1

117.9
114.0
117.4

119.3
115.3
120.0

120.4
116.1
119.8

122.2
117.0
122.3

123.5
118.2
124.3

125.2
119.3
124.8

1.4
0.9
.4

49
3.5
4.0

Workers, by industry division
Manufacturing ...........................
Nonmanufacturing...........................
Services .........................
Public administration2 .........................

111.0
112.7
115.8
114.6

112.0
114.0
116.3
115.4

113.3
116.1
120.1
118.2

114.5
117.4
121.3
119.4

115.7
118.9
123.3
120.4

116.8
119.7
123.8
121.3

118.0
121.3
127.2
124.4

119.5
122.6
128.9
125.7

121.0
123.9
129.7
127.0

1.3
1.1
6
1.0

4.6
4.2
5?
5.5

C ivilia n w o rk e rs 1 ................................................

P riva te ind ustry w o r k e r s .........................................

Workers, by occupational group
White-collar workers .......................................
Professional and technical workers.................
Managers and administrators .............................
Salesworkers...........................
Clerical workers.........................................
Blue-collar workers ...............................
Craft and kindred workers.......................
Operatives, except transport...............................
Transport equipment operatives.......................
Nonfarmlaborers.............................
Service workers.............................
Workers, by industry division
Manufacturing.......................................
Durables.............................
Nondurables ...............................
Nonmanufacturing.....................................
Construction ...........................
Transportation and public utilities...........................
Wholesale and retail trade.....................
Wholesale trade .............................
Retail trade.......................................
Finance, insurance, and real estate.........................
Services...........................................
State and local governm e nt w o r k e r s ........................

Workers, by occupational group
White-collar workers .....................................
Blue-collar workers .........................
Workers, by industry division
Services .................................
Schools...............................
Elementary and secondary ...............................
Hospitals and other services3 .......................
Public administration2 .......................
Excludes farm, household, and Federal workers.
Consists of legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory activities.

92

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111.6

112.9

114.5

115.8

117.2

118.2

119.2

120.6

122.0

1.2

4.1

112.2
114.8
112.0
105.7
113.4
110.7
112.2
110.0
108.0
109.0
112.9

113.6
115.9
114.0
107.1
114.6
111.9
113.4
111.1
110.3
109.8
113.5

115.9
119.9
114.8
108.4
116.7
112.9
114.3
112.3
110.7
110.8
113.7

117.2
120.4
115.7
111.2
118.3
113.9
115.4
113.6
110.2
112.1
116.5

118.5
122.2
118.0
110.2
119.8
115.1
116.5
114.9
111.7
112.9
119.8

119.9
123.8
119.2
111.9
120.7
115.9
117.3
115.8
112.7
114.1
119.3

120.9
125.2
121.0
110.5
122.0
116.7
118.0
116.6
113.4
114.7
121.2

122.3
127.3
122.2
111.6
122.9
118.0
119.4
117.9
114.0
115.9

124.0
127.7
123.8
116.3
124.7
119.1
120.8
118.9
114.5
116.7

1.4
3
1.3
4.2
1.5
.9
1.2
.8
.4
.7

46
45
49
5.5
41
3.5
37
35
25
3.4

123.7

123.8

.1

3.3

111.0
111.1
110.9
112.0
110.4
112.9
108.5
111.8
107.2
110.6
116.0

112.0
111.8
112.3
113.4
112.1
114.7
110.8
114.1
109.4
111.1
116.6

113.3
112.9
113.9
115.2
112.2
115.7
111.5
115.7
109.9
113.5
120.4

114.5
114.4
114.6
116.5
112.9
116.8
112.3
116.5
110.6
116.9
121.9

115.7
115.7
115.8
118.0
113.3
118.5
114.3
118.2
112.8
116.1
124.2

116.8
116.6
117.1
119.0
114.0
119.3
116.0
120.0
114.4
116.9
124.7

118.0
117.7
118.6
119.9
114.3
119.9
116.5
120.7
114.9
115.3
127.1

119.5
119.1
120.2
121.2
114.4
120.7
118.1
122.9
116.2
115.8
129.5

121.0
120.6
121.6
122.6
115.5
121.7
118.8
123.7
116.9
122.0
129.9

1.3
1.3
1.2
1.2
1.0
.8
.6
.7
.6
5.4
.3

4.6
4.2
5.0
3.9
1.9
27
39
4.7
3.6
5.1
4.6

115.1

115.7

119.2

120.0

121.6

122.0

126.1

127.1

128.4

1.0

5.6

115.6
113.3

116.1
114.3

119.8
116.4

120.6
116.9

122.2
119.1

122.5
119.6

127.1
121.9

128.0
122.5

129.3
124.2

1.0
1.4

5.8
4.3

115.5
115.2
115.6
116.5
114.6

115.9
115.4
115.8
117.7
115.4

119.8
119.9
121.1
119.7
118.2

120.6
120.6
121.7
120.6
119.4

122.2
122.2
122.9
121.9
120.4

122.5
122.3
123.0
123.1
121.3

127.2
127.8
129.3
125.1
124.4

128.1
128.7
130.2
125.9
125.7

129.4
129.9
130.8
127 7
127.0

1.0
.9
.5
14
1.0

5.9
6.3
64

includes, for example, library, social, and health services.

5.5

35.

Employment Cost Index, private industry workers, by bargaining status, region, and area size

[June 1981 = 100]
P ercent change
1985

1984

1983

Series

3 m onths
ended

12 m onths
ended

M arch 1985

M arch

Ju n e

Sept.

Dec.

M arch

June

Sept.

Dec.

M arch

Workers, by bargaining status1
Union ..................................................................
Manufacturing ......................................................
Nonmanufacturing..................................................

114.5
114.0
114.9

116.0
114.8
117.1

117.8
116.3
119.2

118.8
117.2
120.4

120.6
119.3
121.9

121.7
120.5
122.8

122.6
121.6
123.6

123.9
123.2
124.5

124.8
124.2
125.3

0.7
.8
.6

3.5
4.1
2.8

Nonunion ..............................................................
Manufacturing ......................................................
Nonmanufacturing..................................................

111.5
111.2
111.6

112.8
112.3
113.0

114.4
113.8
114.7

115.9
114.9
116.4

118.0
116.6
118.6

119.2
117.9
119.8

120.3
119.3
120.7

121.9
120.8
122.4

123.8
123.6
123.9

1.6
2.3
1.2

4.9
6.0
4.5

Workers, by region1
Northeast ..............................................................
South ..................................................................
North Central ..........................................................
West....................................................................

112.6
112.5
110.9
115.4

114.3
113.5
112.5
116.6

116.0
115.6
113.9
118.0

117.5
117.1
114.7
120.0

118.9
119.7
117.2
121.0

120.7
120.7
117.9
122.2

122.4
120.7
119.7
122.5

123.8
122.2
120.8
124.9

125.1
124.2
122.0
126.8

1.1
1.6
1.0
1.5

5.2
3.8
4.1
4.8

Workers, by areasize1
Metropolitan areas ....................................................
Other areas ............................................................

112.9
110.8

114.2
112.3

116.0
113.4

117.4
114.5

119.4
116.7

120.6
117.4

121.5
119.0

123.2
119.8

124.7
121.4

1.2
1.3

4.4
4.0

Workers, by bargaining status1
Union ..................................................................
Manufacturing ......................................................
Nonmanufacturing..................................................

112.9
111.4
114.3

114.2
112.3
116.0

116.0
113.7
118.3

116.9
114.8
118.9

118.1
116.1
120.1

119.0
117.1
120.7

119.8
118.1
121.3

120.9
119.5
122.1

121.7
120.4
122.8

.7
.8
.6

3.0
3.7
2.2

Nonunion ..............................................................
Manufacturing ......................................................
Nonmanufacturing..................................................

110.9
110.7
111.0

112.2
111.8
112.4

113.7
113.0
114.0

115.2
114.2
115.6

116.7
115.4
117.2

117.8
116.5
118.3

118.8
117.9
119.2

120.4
119.5
120.7

122.1
121.5
122.3

1.4
1.7
1.3

4.6
5.3
4.4

Workers, by region1
Northeast ..............................................................
South ..................................................................
Midwest (formerly North Central) .....................................
West....................................................................

112.0
111.4
110.1
114.1

113.6
112.5
111.5
114.9

115.3
114.3
112.8
116.5

116.6
115.7
113.6
118.5

117.4
117.9
115.5
118.8

118.9
119.0
116.0
119.6

120.5
119.0
117.8
120.0

121.9
120.2
118.7
122.5

123.0
122.3
119.6
124.0

.9
1.7
.8
1.2

4.8
3.7
3.5
4.4

Workers, by area size1
Metropolitan areas ....................................................
Other areas ............................................................

111.9
110.1

113.2
111.4

114.9
112.3

116.2
113.4

117.6
115.1

118.6
116.0

119.5
117.5

121.0
118.3

122.4
119.6

1.2
1.1

4.1
3.9

CO M PEN SA TIO N

W AG ES AND S A LA R IES

1The indexes are calculated differently fromthose for the occupation and industry groups. For a
detailed description of the index calculation, see B L S H a n d b o o k o f M e t h o d s , B u lle t in 1 9 1 0 .


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93

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW August 1985 • Current Labor Statistics:
36.

Wage and Compensation Data

Wage and compensation change, major collective bargaining settlements, 1980 to date

[In percent]
Q uarterly average
M easure

1983
1980

1981

Total compensation changes, covering
5,000 workers or more,
all industries:
First year of contract .............
Annual rate over life of contract. . .

10.4
7.1

10.2
8.3

3.2
2.8

3.4
3.0

Wage rate changes covering at least
1,000 workers, all industries:
First year of contract .............
Annual rate over life of contract. . .

9.5
7.1

9.8
7.9

3.8
3.6

Manufacturing:
First year of contract .............
Annual rate over life of contract. . .

7.4
5.4

7.2
6.1

Nonmanufacturing (excluding
construction):
First year of contract .............
Annual rate over life of contract. . .

9.5
6.6

Construction:
First year of contract .............
Annual rate over life of contract. . .

13.6
11.5

1982

1983

1984

1984

1985P

II

III

IV

1

II

III

IV

I

II

3.6
2.8

4.4
3.6

5.0
4.3

4.9
3.1

5.1
4.7

3.5
3.2

2.7
3.1

3.7
2.0

3.6
3.1

3.8
3.5

2.6
2.8

2.4
2.4

2.7
2.8

3.7
3.6

4.2
2.8

2.8
3.3

2.6
2.7

2.1
2.6

2.3
1.5

2.8
3.0

2.8
2.9

2.8
2.6

0.4
2.1

2.3
1.5

1.3
.9

3.4
3.5

2.9
3.1

2.5
2.5

2.6
2.8

2.3
2.5

2.2
1.0

0.6
1.5

1.7
2.2

9.8
7.3

4.3
4.1

. 5.0
3.7

3.4
3.8

5.9
5.2

5.8
4.3

4.8
2.7

4.2
4.8

4.3
4.2

2.0
2.8

3.9
3.8

5.0
4.5

3.8
3.5

13.5
11.3

6.5
6.3

1.5
2.4

.5
1.0

1.7
2.1

1.5
2.9

1.1
2.6

-3.6
-2.8

1.1
1.4

2.0
2.1

-2.8
-.8

-1.1
.7

1.5
2.1

p = preliminary.

37.

Effective wage adjustments in collective bargaining units covering 1,000 workers or more, 1980 to date
Y e a r and quarter

Year
M easure

1983
1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1984

1985P

II

III

IV

1

II

III

IV

1

II

Average percent adjustment (including no change):
All Industries..............................................
Manufacturing .........................................
Nonmanufacturing .....................................

9.9
10.2
9.7

9.5
9.4
9.5

6.8
5.2
7.9

4.0
2.7
4.8

3.7
4.3
3.3

1.3
1.1
1.5

1.2
1.2
1.2

1.1
.9
1.2

0.9
1.2
.7

0.9
1.0
.9

1.2
1.0
1.3

0.7
1.1
.4

0.7
.9
.6

0.8
.6
1.0

Fromsettlements reached In period.....................
Deferred fromsettlements reached Inearlier period . . . .
Fromcost-of-living clauses...............................

3.6
3.5
2.8

2.5
3.8
3.2

1.7
3.6
1.4

.8
2.5
.6

.8
2.0
.9

.3
1.0
.1

.2
.8
.2

.6
.3
.2

.1
.4
.3

.1
.7
.2

.2
.7
.3

.3
.2
.2

.1
.6
.1

.2
.5
.1

Total number of workers receiving wage change
(in thousands)1 .........................................
Fromsettlements reached In period .....................
Deferred fromsettlements reached Inearlier period . . .
Fromcost-of-living clauses...............................
Number of workers receiving no adjustments
(in thousands) .........................................

—

8,648

7,852

6,530

6,195

3,061

3,025

2,887

2,694

2,482

2,386

1,850

2,024

2,258

_
—
—

2,270
6,267
4,593

1,907
4,846
3,830

2,327
3,260
2,327

1,851
3,668
2,518

561
1,405
1,299

599
1,317
1,218

996
669
1,290

295
984
1,459

355
1,148
1,151

406
1,581
1,215

911
443
1,070

139
993
1,018

479
863
947

—

145

483

1,187

1,123

4,656

4,693

4,830

4,624

4,835

4,932

5,467

5,061

4,827

1Thetotal number of workerswho receivedadjustmentsdoesnot equal thesumof workersthat received
each type of adjustment, because some workers received more than one type of adjustment during the
period.

94

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p = preliminary.

WORK STOPPAGE DATA

Estimates of days idle as a percent o f estimated working time
measure only the impact of larger strikes (1,000 workers or more).
Formerly, these estimates measured the impact of strikes involving
6 workers or more; that is, the impact of virtually all strikes. Due
to budget stringencies, collection of data on strikes involving fewer
than 1,000 workers was discontinued with the December 1981
data.

stoppages include all known strikes or lockouts involving
1,000 workers or more and lasting a full shift or longer. Data are
based largely on newspaper accounts and cover all workers idle
one shift or more in establishments directly involved in a stoppage.
They do not measure the indirect or secondary effect on other
establishments whose employees are idle owing to material or
service shortages.

W ork

38.

Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more, 1947 to date
Beginning in
m onth or ye a r

D ays idle

W o rk ers involved

Num ber of stoppages
M onth and ye a r

In effect
during month

Beginning in
month o r year
(in thousands)

In effect
during m onth
(in thousands)

N um ber
(in thousands)

P ercent of
estim ated
w o rk in g tim e

1947
1948
1949
1950

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

270
245
262
424

1,629
1,435
2,537
1,698

25,720
26,127
43,420
30,390

.22
.38
.26

1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
I960

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

415
470
437
265
363
287
279
332
245
222

1,462
2,746
1,623
1,075
2,055
1,370
887
1,587
1,381
896

15,070
48,820
18,130
16,630
21,180
26,840
10,340
17,900
60,850
13,260

.12
.38
.14
.13
.16
.20
.07
.13
.43
.09

1961

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

1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968

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

195
211
181
246
268
321
381
392
412
381

1,031
793
512
1,183
999
1,300
2,192
1,855
1,576
2,468

10,140
11,760
10,020
16,220
15,140
16,000
31,320
35,567
29,397
52,761

.07
.08
.07
.11
.10
.10
.18
.20
.16
.29

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

298
250
317
424
235
231
298
219
235
187

2,516
975
1,400
1,796
965
1,519
1,212
1,006
1,021
795

35,538
16,764
16,260
31,809
17,563
23,962
21,258
23,774
20,409
20,844

.19
.09
.08
.16
.09
.12
.10
.11
.09
.09

...........

145
96
81
62

729
656
909
376

16,908
9,061
17,461
8,499

.07
.04
.08
.04

1969

1970

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

1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977

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

1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1984

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

1985P

January .......................................................
February .......................................................
Marcn.........................................................
April...........................................................
May.............................................................
June...........................................................

6

3
2
7
5
5
8
5
10
4
4
3
2

4
4
3
2
2

12
13
10
13
15
14
20
19
18
16
15
13

28.0
9.4
3.0
28.5
8.1
23.7
70.8
24.2
107.9
18.0
12.0
42.5

42.9
42.4
16.5
38.4
39.2
45.9
106.4
103.9
122.9
39.6
32.3
59.0

505.3
379.5
296.3
657.3
587.6
761.1
1,228.0
1,634.5
731.0
562.1
500.1
655.8

.03
.02
.01
.03
.03
.04
.06
.07
.04
.03
.03
.04

9
13
12

4.7
29.3
15.2

8
8
8

6.9
15.7

16.0
43.9
48.2
14.1
14.8
28.5

278.3
259.3
698.5
229.5
203.3
454.3

.01
.01
.03
.01
.01
.02

6.2

p= preliminary.


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