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0 1 S&L. L j d u i s
M O N T H L Y -L A B O R R l V IF W
U.S. D epartm ent of Labor
Bureau of Labor S ta tistics
February 1985
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
In this issue:
E m ploym ent and U nem ploym ent in 1984
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Raymond J. Donovan, Secretary
R e g io n a l C o m m is s io n e rs
fo r B u re a u o f L a b o r S ta tis tic s
Janet L. Norw ood, Commissioner
R e g io n I— B o s to n : Anthony J. Ferrara
1 6 0 3 J o h n F. K e n n e d y F e d e ra l B u ild in g , G o v e rn m e n t C e n te r,
B o s to n , M a s s . 0 2 2 0 3
P h o n e : (6 1 7 ) 2 2 3 - 6 7 6 1
C o n n e c tic u t
M a in e
M a s s a c h u s e tts
N e w H a m p s h ire
R h o d e Isla n d
V e rm o n t
T h e M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w is p u b lis h e d b y th e
B u re a u o f L a b o r S ta tis tic s o f th e U .S . D e p a rtm e n t
o f L a b o r. C o m m u n ic a tio n s o n e d ito ria l m a tte rs
s h o u ld b e a d d r e s s e d to th e E d ito r-in -C h ie f,
M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , B u re a u o f L a b o r S ta tis tic s ,
W a s h in g to n , D .C . 2 0 2 1 2 .
P h o n e : (2 0 2 ) 5 2 3 - 1 3 2 7 .
R e g io n II— N e w Y o rk : Samuel M. Ehrenhalt
1 5 1 5 B ro a d w a y , S u ite 3 4 0 0 , N e w Y o rk. N Y 10 0 3 6
P h o n e : (2 1 2 ) 9 4 4 - 3 1 2 1
N e w J e rs e y
N e w Y o rk
P u e rto R ic o
V irg in Is la n d s
B U R E A U O F L A B O R S T A T IS T IC S
S u b s c rip tio n p ric e p e r y e a r— $ 2 4 d o m e s tic : $ 3 0 fo re ig n .
S in g le c o p y $4, d o m e s tic : $ 5 fo re ig n .
S u b s c rip tio n p ric e s a n d d is trib u tio n p o lic ie s fo r th e
M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w (IS S N 0 0 9 8 - 1 8 1 8 ) a n d o th e r G o v e rn m e n t
p u b lic a tio n s a re s e t b y th e G o v e rn m e n t P rin tin g O ffic e ,
an a g e n c y o f th e U .S . C o n g re s s . S e n d c o rre s p o n d e n c e
o n c irc u la tio n a n d s u b s c rip tio n m a tte rs (in c lu d in g
a d d r e s s c h a n g e s ) to:
S u p e rin te n d e n t o f D o c u m e n ts ,
G o v e rn m e n t P rin tin g O ffic e ,
W a s h in g to n , D .C . 2 0 4 0 2
M a k e c h e c k s p a y a b le to S u p e rin te n d e n t o f D o c u m e n ts .
T h e S e c re ta ry o f L a b o r h a s d e te rm in e d th a t th e
p u b lic a tio n o f th is p e rio d ic a l is n e c e s s a ry in th e
tra n s a c tio n o f th e p u b lic b u s in e s s re q u ire d by
la w o f th is D e p a rtm e n t. U s e o f fu n d s fo r p rin tin g
th is p e rio d ic a l h a s b e e n a p p ro v e d b y th e D ire c to r
o f th e O ffic e o f M a n a g e m e n t a n d B u d g e t
th ro u g h A p ril 3 0 , 1987 . S e c o n d -c la s s
p o s ta g e p a id a t W a s h in g to n , D .C . a n d at
a d d itio n a l m a ilin g a d d re s s e s .
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R e g io n III— P h ila d e lp h ia : Alvin I. Margulis
3 5 3 5 M a rk e t S tre e t
P .O . B o x 1 3 3 0 9 , P h ila d e lp h ia , P a. 19101
P h o n e : (2 1 5 ) 5 9 6 - 1 1 5 4
D e la w a re
D is tric t o f C o lu m b ia
M a ry la n d
P e n n s y lv a n ia
V irg in ia
W e s t V irg in ia
R e g io n IV — A tla n ta : Donald M. Cruse
1371 P e a c h tre e S tre e t, N .E .. A tla n ta . G a. 3 0 3 6 7
P h o n e : (4 0 4 ) 8 8 1 - 4 4 1 8
A la b a m a
F lo rid a
G e o rg ia
K e n tu c k y
M is s is s ip p i
N o rth C a ro lin a
S o u th C a ro lin a
Tennessee
R e g io n V — C h ic a g o : William E Rice
9 th F lo o r. F e d e ra l O ffic e B u ild in g , 2 3 0 S. D e a rb o rn S tre e t
C h ic a g o , III. 6 0 6 0 4
P h o n e : (3 1 2 ) 3 5 3 - 1 8 8 0
Illin o is
In d ia n a
M ic h ig a n
M in n e s o ta
O h io
W is c o n s in
R e g io n V I— D a lla s : Bryan Richey
F e d e ra l B u ild in g , R o o m 221
5 2 5 G riffin S tre e t, D a lla s , T e x a s 7 5 2 0 2
P h o n e : (2 1 4 ) 7 6 7 - 6 9 7 1
A rk a n s a s
L o u is ia n a
N e w M e x ic o
O k la h o m a
Texas
February cover:
D raw ing by Lili Rethi;
P hotograph co u rte sy of the
S m ithsonian Institution,
W ashington, D.C.
C over design by M elvin B. M oxley.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
R e g io n s V II a n d V III— K a n s a s C ity : Elliott A. Browar
911 W a ln u t S tre e t, K a n s a s C ity , M o. 6 4 1 0 6
P h o n e : (8 1 6 ) 3 7 4 - 2 4 8 1
V II
Io w a
Kansas
M is s o u ri
N e b ra s k a
V III
C o lo ra d o
M o n ta n a
N o rth D a k o ta
S o u th D a k o ta
U ta h
W y o m in g
R e g io n s IX a n d X — S a n F ra n c is c o : Sam M. Hirabayashi
4 5 0 G o ld e n G a te A v e n u e , B o x 3 6 0 1 7 ,
S a n F ra n c is c o , C a lif. 9 4 1 0 2
P h o n e : (4 1 5 ) 5 5 6 - 4 6 7 8
IX
A m e ric a n S o m o a
A riz o n a
C a lifo rn ia
G uam
H a w a ii
N evada
T ru s t T e rrito ry o f th e P a c ific Is la n d s
X
A la s k a
Id a h o
O re g o n
W a s h in g to n
research
l ib r a r y
F e d e ra i R e s e rv e B a n k
o f S t. L o u is
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
FE B R U A R Y 1985
V O LU M E 108, N U M B E R 2
WAR 0 6 1985
Henry Lowenstern, Editor-in-Chief
Robert W. Fisher, Executive Editor
R. M. Devens, Jr., and others
3
Employment during 1984: a second year of strong growth
As the recovery entered its second year, u n em ploym ent con tin u e d to d e c lin e sharply
am id robust em ploym ent grow th, but a cro ss-th e -b o a rd im provem ent fa d e d at m idyear
H. R. Hamel, J. T. Tucker
16
Implementing recom m endations to im prove labor statistics
Five years after the Levitan C om m ission exam ined the G o ve rn m e n t’s labor force data,
BLS assesses attainm ent of som e pro p o sa ls and activities tied to a d o p tion of others
Larry T. A dam s
25
Changing em ploym ent patterns of organized workers
The total num ber of U.S. w orkers increased w hile the nu m b e r of em p lo ye d w orkers w ho
w ere m em bers of unions or em ployee associations registered a d e clin e
W illiam J. W iatrowski
32
Employee income protection against short-term disabilities
M ost w orkers in m edium and large co m p a n ie s are covered, but the d e g re e and
duration of protection vary; usually only w h ite -co lla r em ployees receive sick leave
REPORTS
G. C. Alter, W. E. Becker
39
Estim ating lost future earnings using the new w orklife tables
Shirley J. Smith
42
Estim ating lost future earnings: a com m ent
Anne M cD ougall Young
43
O ne-fourth of the adult labor force are co lleg e gradua tes
Philip L. Rones
46
Using the
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
cps
to tra ck retirem ent trends am ong o ld e r men
DEPARTMENTS
2
39
43
53
56
58
61
65
Labor m onth in review
C om m unications
Research sum m aries
Technical notes
M ajor agreem ents expiring next m onth
D evelopm ents in industrial relations
Book reviews
Current labor statistics
Labor M onth
In Review
IM PRO VING ST A T IST IC S. In
discussing the future of economic
statistics—at the December meeting of
the American Economic Association in
D a lla s—C om m issio n er o f L ab o r
Statistics Janet L. Norwood touched on
several improvements needed or under
way. Excerpts:
Service sector. Over the past few
decades, most of the growth in the
economy has shifted from manufactur
ing to services. Today, more than 7 of
every 10 workers have jobs in the
service-producing sector. Unfortunate
ly, the data system has not kept up with
these changes; while some data in major
Bureau series cover services, large gaps
remain. Congress, recognizing this need,
added resources in the fiscal 1985 budget
for expansion of data on the service sec
tor and development of plans and cost
estimates for further coverage. The
budget increment should permit the BLS
to undertake some of the research
necessary for an appropriate measure
ment program in the major areas of the
service sector as well as to develop a
series of new measures of prices, wages,
and productivity in the sector.
Local area data. Closely related to the
shift from manufacturing to services is
the structural decline that has for many
years been taking place in a number of
basic U.S. manufacturing industries.
This industrial restructuring, in such in
dustries as autos and steel, textiles and
shoes, tends to be concentrated in par
ticular areas of the country. Our current
local area data base is inadequate for the
determination of the effects of economic
change.
Local area data are difficult and ex
pensive to produce with accuracy. In
deed, development of local area data as
a part of a national indicator tends to
dilute the quality of the national
measure. However, as industrial restruc
turing continues, the need for such data
2
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
will surely increase.
Wages. The Bureau’s Employment
Cost Index provides a macro in
dicator of the percent change in occupa
tional wage and salary rates and
employer costs of nonwage compensa
tion. While aggregate measures are pro
duced for the total private economy,
more detailed information is needed by
industry, individual occupation, and
geographic area.
One serious deficiency is the lack of
dollar-level inform ation on fringe
benefits, an increasingly important ele
ment in employee compensation. More
information is also needed on changes in
employer practices and on new issues in
collective bargaining. In addition, our
occupational safety and health and other
industrial relations information needs
strengthening—and in some cases,
reshaping—to make it more useful for
research and analytical purposes.
Employment. BLS is currently involv
ed in two major improvements in the
employment-unemployment measure
ment area which will have a lasting effect
on the future quality of these programs.
The first of these—redesign of the Cur
rent Population Survey to take ac
count of changes reflected in the 1980
census—is a joint operation with the
Census Bureau and should be completed
in July 1985. Major changes in sample
design will help to improve the accuracy
of estimates for individual States and
will result in a more efficient national
design. The second effort—moderniza
tion of the monthly business survey on
employment, hours, and earnings—is a
Federal-State cooperative improvement
program of the BLS and the State
Employment Security agencies.
Prices. Over the last decade, BLS has
introduced m ajor conceptual and
methodological changes into its con
sumer and producer price programs.
The Producer Price Index Revision pro
gram covering manufacturing and min
ing is nearly completed, and the pro
gram to revise the Consumer Price Index
is well under way.
A few years ago, the Bureau launched
a successful effort to establish a continu
ing program for the collection and
publication of consumer expenditures.
Processing problems have slowed the
establishment of a program for regularly
scheduled publication and analysis of
the results of these important data. A
great deal of progress has been made,
however, and a schedule for regular
recurring publication will soon be an
nounced.
Productivity. The Nation’s experience
with slowdown in the rate of productivi
ty growth during the last decade has
demonstrated the need for more com
plete coverage of nonlabor factors of
production in productivity measures. In
an attempt to meet this need, BLS began
publication of multifactor productivity
measures, including indexes of capital
productivity. Thus far, these measures
have been limited to the major sectors of
the economy, although progress has
been made in the development of these
new indexes in two industries—autos
and steel. Economists will need a far
more comprehensive set of these
measures to analyze the important issues
that continue to face the American
economy in this field.
Over the next few years, the country
will make a number of important
choices in decisions on funding govern
ment programs. The challenge for the
statistical system will be the implementa
tion of those choices in a manner which
does not short-change data users of the
future. The economics profession can
help by making its priorities known in a
clear and effective manner.
□
Employment and unemployment in 1984:
a second year of strong growth in jobs
As the economic recovery entered its second year ,
unemployment showed a further sharp decline
amid the substantial increase in employment,
but the across-the-board improvement
in joblessness faded after midyear
R ic h a r d
and
D
M.
e b b ie
D e v e n s , Jr ., C a r o l B o y d L e o n ,
L . S p r in k l e
The employment situation in 1984 reflected extraordinary
rates of employment growth in the first 2 quarters, a pause
in the summer months, and additional employment growth
in the last quarter of the year. Total civilian employment,
as measured by the Current Population Survey, stood at
106.0 million in the fourth quarter after seasonal adjustment.
Employees on nonagricultural payrolls, as measured by the
Current Employment Statistics program, totaled 95.5 mil
lion at yearend. Both series were up by about 7 million from
the trough of the 1981-82 recession.1
With the robust employment growth early in the year,
unemployment continued to drop sharply, but, as the job
growth slowed, the unemployment decline slowed after mid
year. At 8.2 million in the fourth quarter, unemployment
was down about 1.3 million from the year before and more
than 3.5 million from the recession trough. At year’s end,
the rate of unemployment in the total labor force was 7.1
percent; it was 7.2 percent for the civilian labor force. These
indicators were down 1.3 percentage points from the fourth
quarter of 1983.
This article examines the behavior of the key labor force
time series, both for 1984 and in relation to the business
cycle, and details the effects on various social and economic
groups.2 Special emphasis is placed on such groups as mi
nority workers, as well as on families and their relationship
Richard M. Devens, Jr., Carol Boyd Leon, and Debbie L. Sprinkle are
economists in the Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
to the labor market, and selected industries that have had
prominent roles in the changing employment structure of
the economy.
Unemployment
As employment growth paused in mid-1984, so faded the
rapid reduction in unemployment that had occurred in the
first 6 quarters of recovery. The rate of unemployment for
civilian workers dropped more than a full percentage point
from the fourth quarter of 1983 to the second quarter of
1984 and then showed more modest improvement, ending
the year at 7.2 percent. (See table 1.)
Among the major labor force groups by age and sex, men
and teenagers showed declines in unemployment in all 4
quarters of 1984. After large decreases in the first and second
quarters, the unemployment rate for men edged down slightly
in the last two to end the year at 6.2 percent. The rate for
women, however, actually edged up a bit in the third quarter,
after dropping as low as 6.7 percent in the spring; unem
ployment among women stood at 6.6 percent at the end of
the year. Teenage unemployment showed small declines
throughout most of 1984 but remained at a persistently high
level, ending the year at 18.4 percent.
The continuing decline in unemployment among adult
males in the second half reflected improvements among
black men, as their rate dropped from 14.8 to 13.1 percent
between the second and fourth quarters. Over the same
3
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Employment and Unemployment in 1984
T ab le 1.
Selected labor force indicators, seasonally adjusted quarterly averages, 1 9 8 2 -8 4
[Numbers in thousands]
Characteristic
1982
IV
1984
1983
IV
I
II
III
IV
Total
Civilian labor fo rc e ...........................................................................................................................
Participation r a te .....................................................................................................................
Employed........................................................................................................................................
Employment-population r a t io ...............................................................................................
Unemployed...................................................................................................................................
Unemployment r a t e ................................................................................................................
110892
64.1
99121
57.3
11772
10.6
112100
64.1
102591
58.6
9509
8.5
112650
64.1
103768
59.1
8882
7.9
113514
64.5
104985
59.6
8529
7.5
113754
64.4
105306
59.6
8447
7.4
114185
64.5
105951
59.8
8233
7.2
58356
78.7
52570
70.9
5786
9.9
59048
78.4
54457
72.3
4592
7.8
59352
78.3
55199
72.8
4153
7.0
59571
78.3
55637
73.1
3934
6.6
59798
78.3
55952
73.3
3846
6.4
60013
78.3
56274
73.4
3738
6.2
44100
52.9
40141
48.2
3959
9.0
45034
53.3
41764
49.4
3270
7.3
45275
53.3
42117
49.6
3158
7.0
45924
53.9
42838
50.2
3087
6.7
46058
53.8
42928
50.2
3129
6.8
46335
53.9
43285
50.4
3051
6.6
8436
54.1
6409
41.1
2027
24.0
8018
53.2
6371
42.3
1647
20.5
8022
53.7
6452
43.2
1570
19.6
8019
54.3
6510
44.1
1508
18.8
7898
53.9
6426
43.9
1472
18.6
7837
53.8
6392
43.9
1444
18.4
96567
64.4
87460
58.3
9107
9.4
97620
64.5
90467
59.8
7153
7.3
98096
64.5
91437
60.1
6659
6.8
98619
64.8
92233
60.6
6387
6.5
98425
64.6
92172
60.5
6253
6.4
98755
64.7
92626
60.7
6129
6.2
11509
61.5
9155
48.9
2354
20.5
11632
61.0
9560
50.2
2072
17.8
11816
61.5
9842
51.2
1973
16.7
11942
61.9
10035
52.0
1907
16.0
12102
62.4
10187
52.5
1915
15.8
12263
63.0
10409
53.4
1854
15.1
5970
63.7
5058
53.9
912
15.3
6226
64.1
5476
56.3
750
12.1
6330
63.8
5640
56.8
690
10.9
6341
63.6
5657
56.7
683
10.8
6316
64.8
5648
58.0
668
10.6
6440
65.1
5775
58.4
665
10.3
Men, 20 years and over
Civilian labor f o r c e ...........................................................................................................................
Participation r a te .....................................................................................................................
Employed........................................................................................................................................
Employment-population r a t io ...............................................................................................
Unemployed...................................................................................................................................
Unemployment r a t e ................................................................................................................
W omen, 20 years and over
Civilian labor f o r c e ...........................................................................................................................
Participation r a te .....................................................................................................................
Employed........................................................................................................................................
Employment-population r a t io ...............................................................................................
Unemployed...................................................................................................................................
Unemployment r a t e ................................................................................................................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian labor f o r c e ...........................................................................................................................
Participation r a te .....................................................................................................................
Employed........................................................................................................................................
Employment-population r a t io ...............................................................................................
Unemployed...................................................................................................................................
Unemployment r a t e ................................................................................................................
White
Civilian labor f o r c e ...........................................................................................................................
Participation ra te .....................................................................................................................
Employed........................................................................................................................................
Employment-population r a t io ...............................................................................................
Unemployed...................................................................................................................................
Unemployment r a t e ................................................................................................................
Black
Civilian labor fo r c e ...........................................................................................................................
Participation ra te .....................................................................................................................
Employed........................................................................................................................................
Employment-population r a t io ...............................................................................................
Unemployed...................................................................................................................................
Unemployment r a t e ................................................................................................................
Hispanic origin
Civilian labor fo r c e ..........................................................................................................................
Participation ra te .....................................................................................................................
Employed........................................................................................................................................
Employment-population r a t io ...............................................................................................
Unemployed...................................................................................................................................
Unemployment r a t e ................................................................................................................
N ote : Detail for the above racial and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the “ other races" group are not presented, and Hispanics are included in both the
white and black population groups.
period, white male unemployment edged down to end the
year at 5.4 percent. The overall unemployment rate for
whites dropped slightly in the second half, to 6.2 percent,
following a much stronger improvement in the first half.
Among blacks, unemployment dropped from 17.8 to 16.0
percent between the end of 1983 and midyear; at the end
of 1984 the black unemployment rate was 15.1 percent.
Black teenagers continued to have a very high rate of un
employment. Even after a 6.6-percentage-point drop from
fourth quarter 1983 to the end of 1984, unemployment af
4
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
fected about two-fifths of black teens in the labor force. The
unemployment rate for workers of Hispanic origin showed
a decline of 1.8 percentage points over the year to 10.3
percent, with most of the improvement taking place in the
first quarter.
Duration and reasons. The median duration of unem
ployment fell from 9.3 weeks at the end of 1983 to 7.3
weeks at the end of 1984. Similarly, the average (mean)
duration of unemployment fell 2.9 weeks to end the year
at 17.1 weeks. These declines reflected a sharp reduction
in the number of the unemployed who had been out of work
for a long time. The number of persons jobless for 6 months
or longer declined by three-quarters of a million over the
year. Nevertheless, at yearend there were still 1.4 million
persons who had been unemployed for half a year or more.
Protracted unemployment is particularly a problem for men
55 years and older.
The number of job losers among the unemployed dropped
by about a million between the end of 1983 and the fourth
quarter of 1984 as their share of the unemployed fell from
55 to 51 percent. It should be noted, however, that this
cyclically important indicator showed virtually no change
from the third quarter to the fourth. Many observers treat a
higher proportion of those who leave jobs voluntarily as an
indicator of worker confidence in the economy; that pro
portion of the unemployed rose irregularly from 8.9 percent
at the end of 1983 to 10.3 at yearend.
Total employment
The first 2 quarters of 1984 extended the unusually rapid
growth of total employment experienced in 1983. From the
fourth quarter of 1983 to the second quarter of 1984, civilian
employment grew by 2.4 million, or 2.3 percent. In contrast,
from the second to the fourth quarters, employment grew
by less than a million, or 0.9 percent. This declining rate
of employment growth was reflected in other quarterly eco
nomic statistics, such as real Gross National Product (com
puted at a seasonally adjusted annual rate) and the Index of
Industrial Production:
Civilian
Real
Industrial
Quarter
employment
GNP
production
I
1.1
10.1
2.8
II
1.2
7.1
2.1
III
0.3
1.6
1.5
IV
0.6
2.8
- 0 .2
Overall employment growth for the year was 3.3 percent,
measured from the fourth quarter of 1983 to the fourth
quarter of 1984. Men accounted for about 54 percent of the
increase in employment, women for more than 45 percent,
with virtually no change in teenage employment. Most of
the gains for women occurred in the first half of the year,
while gains among men were more evenly spread.
The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population
with jobs (the employment-population ratio) rose more than
a full percentage point over the year to 59.8 percent in the
fourth quarter. This was very close to the quarterly high of
60.0 percent reached in 1979. Employment growth ex
ceeded population growth for men and women. Among
teenagers, the decline in population coupled with fairly steady
employment levels also resulted in a higher employmentpopulation ratio.
There has been some concern over the composition of
employment growth over the course of the current recovery.
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Such concerns are often based on the fact that the serviceproducing industries are growing at a faster rate than goodsproducing industries. It is also useful to analyze the occu
pational distribution of job growth over the past year. While
some analysts maintain that the changing industrial com
position of employment implies an unfavorable trend toward
“ dead-end” service and clerical jobs, and thus away from
“ good” managerial/professional and industrial craft jobs,
the figures for 1984 demonstrate that the latter occupational
groups were the fastest growing, and the former occupations
were among the slower.3 Employment growth by occupa
tional group:
Occupation
Managerial and
professional specialty .......
Technical, sales, and
administrative support __
Service occupations ..............
Precision production,
craft, and repair ................
Operators, fabricators,
and laborers.......................
Farming, forestry, and
fishing................................
Employment
Percent
1983 IV 1984 IV change
24,071
25,305
5.1
31,843
14,115
32,849
14,239
3.2
0.9
12,814
13,268
3.5
16,618
17,132
3.1
3,365
3,393
0.8
The administrative support subsector, which includes
clerical workers, grew by only about 2 percent over the
year, while, in a development linked to recovery in the
industrial sector, handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and
laborers saw an employment increase of 5.1 percent.
Nonfarm payroll employment
The number of nonagricultural jobs surged in the first
half of 1984, sustained by the strong cyclical recovery.
Growth continued at a somewhat slower pace during the
second half, as the job total reached 95.5 million by yearend,
surpassing the recession trough by 6.8 million employees.
All in all, 2 years of economic recovery added about two
and one-half times the number of payroll jobs lost during
the 1981-82 recession. Virtually all of that recession loss,
however, occurred in the goods-producing sector, while
two-thirds of the recovery gains took place in the serviceproducing sector. Indeed, goods-sector jobs were still slightly
short of their pre-recession peak at the end of 1984. Em
ployment growth in the goods sector essentially stalled dur
ing the second half, as the service sector accounted for
almost 85 percent of payroll additions. (See table 2.)
Despite a less heady pace of job growth, the recovery
was still producing solid job gains, particularly when viewed
in comparison with other post-World War II recoveries.
Because the depth and duration of the 1973-75 recession
were quite similar to those of the 1981-82 recession, the
recovery beginning in 1975 provides a useful benchmark
5
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Employment and Unemployment in 1984
T ab le 2.
E m ployees on nonagricultural payrolls by industry, seasonally adjusted qu arterly averages, 1 9 8 2 -8 4
[In thousands]
1984
1982
1983
IV
IV
I
II
III
IV1
T o ta l......................................................................................................................................
88,713
91,686
92,765
93,790
94,560
95,480
Industry
Total p riv a te ..............................................................................................................................
72,877
75,817
76,896
77,884
78,562
79,365
G o o d s -p ro d u c in g .......................................................................................................................................
22,968
24,050
24,518
24,862
25,056
25,147
M in in g .....................................................................................................................................................
Oil and gas e x tra c tio n .....................................................................................................................
M anufacturing.........................................................................................................................................
1,030
652
3,828
959
18,110
967
603
4,068
1,065
19,016
977
607
4,177
1,103
19,364
994
618
4,292
1,124
19,576
1,015
636
4,362
1,135
19,679
1,009
645
4,407
1,148
19,731
Durable g o o d s ....................................................................................................................................
Lum ber and wood p r o d u c ts ...................................................................................................
Furniture and fix tu re s ..................................................................................................................
Stone, clay, and glass p ro d u cts..............................................................................................
Prim ary metal in du strie s............................................................................................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel p ro d u c ts .........................................................................
Fabricated metal p ro d u cts.........................................................................................................
Machinery, except e le c tr ic a l...................................................................................................
Electrical and electronic e q u ip m e n t........................................................................................
Transportation e q u ip m e n t.........................................................................................................
M otor vehicles and e q u ip m e n t...........................................................................................
Instrum ents and related p ro d u c ts ...........................................................................................
M iscellaneous m anufacturing .................... ...............................................................................
10,484
596
425
558
824
343
1,349
2,052
1,951
1,663
660
698
367
11,169
694
466
589
870
351
1,420
2,102
2,109
1,836
825
705
379
11,432
707
479
602
875
347
1,448
2,151
2,176
1,893
862
715
386
11,600
712
483
605
883
346
1,469
2,206
2,226
1,909
853
721
386
11,719
706
483
604
875
333
1,489
2,246
2,261
1,942
872
726
388
11,784
713
491
609
864
320
1,499
2,252
2,275
1,961
881
731
389
Nondurable g o o d s ...........................................................................................................................
Food and kindred p ro d u c ts ......................................................................................................
Tobacco m a n u fa ctu re s...............................................................................................................
Textile m ill p ro d u c ts .................. ...........................................................................................
Apparel and other textile p ro d u c ts ........................................................................................
Paper and allied p ro d u c ts .........................................................................................................
Printing and p u b lis h in g ............................................................................................................
Chemical and allied p ro d u c ts ....................................................................................................
Petroleum and coal p ro d u c ts ....................................................................................................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics p ro d u c ts ......................................................................
Leather and leather p ro d u c ts ....................................................................................................
7,627
7,847
7,932
7,976
7,960
1,627
1,628
1,638
1,645
1,642
68
728
1,137
654
1,271
1,055
199
679
209
67
760
1,194
672
1,316
1,050
192
757
210
66
768
1,213
679
1,333
1,054
190
783
210
67
762
1,217
682
1,355
1,059
188
794
206
67
750
1,196
684
1,371
1,065
187
800
199
7,947
1,647
66
732
1,181
684
1,385
1,066
185
809
191
S ervice -p ro d u cing .......................................................................................................................................
65,745
67,636
68,247
68,928
69,504
70,333
Transportation and public u tilitie s ...................................................................................................
T ra n s p o rta tio n ....................................................................................................................................
Com m unication and public u tilitie s ..............................................................................................
5,022
2,734
2,288
5,050
2,772
2,279
5,104
2,828
2,276
5,145
2,872
2,273
5,197
2,919
2,278
5,229
2,957
2,272
Wholesale t r a d e ....................................................................................................................................
Durable g o o d s ....................................................................................................................................
Nondurable g o o d s ...........................................................................................................................
5,215
3,034
2,180
5,346
3,129
2,216
5,434
3,189
2,245
5,489
3,233
2,256
5,553
3,280
2,274
5,629
3,318
2,311
Retail t r a d e ............................................................................................................................................
General merchandise s to r e s .........................................................................................................
Food store s..........................................................................................................................................
Autom otive dealers and service s ta tio n s ..................................................................................
Eating and drinking p la c e s ............................................................................................................
15,188
2,141
2,512
1,633
4,869
15,800
2,188
2,594
1,703
5,083
15,975
2,217
2,623
1,738
5,123
16,169
2,273
2,635
1,748
5,179
16,307
2,307
2,645
1,758
5,235
16,586
2,366
2,693
1,771
5,304
Finance, insurance, and real e s ta te ................................................................................................
F in a n c e ...............................................................................................................................................
In su ra n ce ............................................................................................................................................
Real e s ta te ..........................................................................................................................................
5,350
2,655
1,716
979
5,529
2,778
1,728
1,023
5,593
2,813
1,740
1,040
5,659
2,857
1,747
1,055
5,680
2,853
1,763
1,064
5,727
2,877
1,779
1,071
S e r v ic e s ..................................................................................................................................................
Business services..............................................................................................................................
Health s e r v ic e s .................................................................................................................................
19,134
3,288
5,888
20,042
3,711
6,016
20,273
3,839
6,041
20,560
3,968
6,066
20,770
4,063
6,066
21,047
4,138
6,105
G o v e rn m e n t............................................................................................................................................
Federal..................................................................................................................................................
State .....................................................................................................................................................
L o c a l.....................................................................................................................................................
15,837
2,743
3,642
9,451
15,869
2,760
3,668
9,441
15,869
2,764
3,679
9,425
15,906
2,778
3,697
9,432
15,998
2,789
3,712
9,497
16,115
2,792
3,728
9,594
C o nstru ctio n .............................................................................................................................................
General building c o n tra c to rs .........................................................................................................
1Data are prelim inary.
for assessing the strength of the current expansion. When
employment growth in each recovery is indexed to the re
spective cyclical trough, we find that relative employment
growth for the current recovery has increasingly exceeded
the post-1975 experience with each successive month. The
pattern varies markedly by sector, however. In the goodsproducing sector, the post-1982 recovery had an extended
period of faster growth than the earlier recovery, but it was
marked by a pause in the rate of growth some 20 months
into the recovery. In contrast, indices for the resilient ser
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vice-producing sector tracked closely until early 1984, when
the rate of growth in this recovery quickened and surpassed
the post-1975 index. The service-producing index acceler
ated again in the fourth quarter after hesitating slightly in
the third. (See chart 1.)
Service-producing sector. The service-producing sector
gained 2.7 million jobs between the fourth quarters of 1983
and 1984, contributing 70 percent of the additions to total
employment. This increase was led by vigorous growth in
Chart 1. Index of seasonally adjusted m onthly em ploym ent change for the current recovery and
the corresponding phase of the 1 9 7 5 -8 0 recovery
[R ecession trough = 1 0 0 ]
NOTE: The trough of the 1973-75 recession was March 1975 and of the 1981-82 recession,
November 1982, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.
services and retail trade. The services division created more
than a million jobs, well over one-third of the sector’s in
crease. This division encompasses a diversity of indus
tries— from hotels, entertainment, and recreation to business,
health, educational, social, and legal services. While the
services division as a whole continued its historical trend
of secular growth, health services exhibited a lower rate of
employment growth than in previous years. An actual de
cline in hospital employment in 1984 explains the slower
pace, as hospitals streamlined management and staff in re
sponse to lower demand and pressure for more cost-effective
health services.
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Business services, one of the more cyclically sensitive of
the service industries, led the division in both magnitude
and rate of growth, making up 40 percent of the division’s
employment gain in 1984. A continuing upward trend in
personnel supply services— particularly in temporary help—
explained a substantial proportion of business services’
growth, although the pace of growth in this industry was a
bit slower than in 1983. The temporary help industry con
tributed about 1 in 30 of the additional private payroll jobs
in 1984, down from 1 in 20 during earlier stages of the
economic recovery. Temporaries are used by a variety of
industries, not only to meet short-term labor shortages but
7
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Employment and Unemployment in 1984
also to meet labor needs when employers are uncertain of
the staying power of product demand. The use of tempor
aries declines as employers reassess their needs and add to
their permanent work force.
Jobs in retail trade increased by 785,000 over the year.
Eating and drinking places and general merchandise stores
contributed about half the increase, with general merchan
dise showing the higher growth rate. Employment gains
were particularly strong in the first and second quarters but
tapered off in the third quarter as consumer spending flat
tened and retail sales lagged. By yearend, the pace picked
up once again in anticipation of strong holiday sales.
In wholesale trade, a 280,000-increase was dominated by
additional workers involved in the sale of durable goods,
particularly in commercial and industrial equipment. Firstquarter employment gains were particularly strong for cy
clically sensitive durables and remained steady throughout
1984, despite a drop in the volume of sales after the second
quarter.
Elsewhere in the service-producing sector, employment
in transportation and public utilities added 180,000 jobs in
1984, bringing the industry total above its pre-recession
peak. All of the increase occurred in transportation, with
about half of it coming from trucking. Finance, insurance,
and real estate jobs were also up 200,000. In contrast to
previous years, employment in State and local government
picked up as the economic recovery fueled greater tax rev
enues, but Federal employment remained essentially un
changed.
Goods-producing sector. The goods sector— construction
and manufacturing, in particular— enjoyed a strong cyclical
rebound early in the recovery and exhibited a higher rate
of growth than the service-producing sector in the recovery’s
second through sixth quarters. The pace of growth mod
erated in the latter half of 1984, however, after a midyear
climb in mortgage interest rates and an increasing volume
of factory-made imports. By yearend, only construction had
fully recovered the number of jobs lost during the previous
recession, as manufacturing employment had recouped 75
percent of its job loss, and mining employment was still
below the level recorded at the recession trough.
The moderation in goods-producing employment growth
was reflected in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ diffusion
index, which is heavily weighted toward manufacturing.
Between 70 and 80 percent of the 186 composite industries
registered job gains (over 3-month spans) during the first 2
quarters; the index hovered around 60 percent during the
second half.
New jobs in construction grew at a less rapid pace in the
second half, after a strong performance in the first and
second quarters. The major weak spot in the construction
market was in traditional single-family housing. Mortgage
interest rates rose sharply in the spring, resulting in slower
sales in the summer and a stalling in housing starts. These
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factors weakened the demand for construction labor. Cush
ioning the construction slowdown in the last two quarters
was a backlog in orders for new homes left over from the
pent-up demand from recession years. Moreover, home
mortgage rates had edged down by yearend, and an expan
sion in multifamily housing reflected some of the demand
from new households that would have otherwise been for
single-family dwellings.4
The construction industry added 340,000 workers to its
payrolls over the course of 1984. Four-fifths of the increase
was in the special trades industry, which includes plumbing,
painting, electrical work, masonry, or concrete work. The
pattern of job growth in special trades dominated the trend
for construction as a whole, and most of the employment
gains for both series occurred in the first half. At yearend,
construction employment had regained 170 percent of the
jobs lost during the recession.
The rebound in manufacturing employment by the end
of 1984 had been almost entirely within durable goods,
while most of the less cyclical nondurables industries showed
little or no growth. The fnoderation of job gains in the last
half appeared to be associated with the widening merchan
dise trade deficit. Stimulated by the strength of the dollar
abroad, the volume of imports grew throughout 1984, with
virtually all of the increase in factory-made products. Par
adoxically, the usual efforts of domestic manufacturers to
remain competitive did not stimulate factory job growth at
home as much as might have been expected. The investment
in more modem equipment to increase productivity would
normally benefit industries such as machinery, electrical and
electronic equipment, and fabricated metal products because
of increased demand for their products. In 1984, however,
the capital investment dollar was worth more when spent
on equipment produced overseas.
Foreign competition alone, however, did not explain the
pause in durable goods’ job growth. The overriding factor
was the cooling of a heated recovery. New orders for durable
goods failed to post big gains after the first quarter, and
factory output flattened, particularly in durables. The rate
of growth in gross national product faltered with industrial
production. Durable goods employment increased 430,000
from fourth quarter 1983 to second quarter 1984, or 3.9
percent; the second-to-fourth quarter increase was only
180,000 workers, or 1.6 percent.
Despite the weakness in the hard-goods sector during the
second half, durables posted a 600,000-gain in jobs over
the year. Eighty-five percent of the increase came from
additions in fabricated metal products, machinery, electrical
and electronic equipment, and transportation equipment.
The electrical equipment and machinery industries added
the most workers, both numerically and on a percentage
basis. Employment gains in machinery reflected the in
creased demand for construction, metalworking, and general
industrial machinery, as well as for office equipment. The
job gain in the electrical and electronic equipment industry
was concentrated in electronic components and accessories,
a “ feeder” industry to other high technology products. Spurred
by growth in this component, the employment level in elec
trical and electronic equipment continued to set new records
in 1984, while other major growth industries within durables
made marked progress toward previous peaks. For example,
the transportation equipment industry added 125,000 work
ers over the year. Reflecting the economy’s deceleration,
three-fifths of employment increases in the four fast-growing
durable industries were added in the first half.
Foreign competition played a more obvious role in the
primary metals industry, the only major durable goods in
dustry to post a decline in jobs over the year. There was a
noticeable loss of around 30,000 jobs over the year in the
struggling steel and blast furnace products industry. While
steel demand was blunted only briefly by the short auto
strikes in the third quarter, the decline in employment was
fairly steady throughout the year.
Employment in construction-related industries was not
particularly strong, despite a booming first half in the con
struction industry itself. Lumber and wood products, fur
niture and fixtures, and stone, clay and glass added few
workers to payrolls after the first quarter. By yearend, lum
ber and furniture industries had recovered more jobs than
were lost in the 1981-82 recession, but levels in all three
industries remained below historical peaks.
Nondurables as a whole showed virtually no job growth,
as small gains in the first half were countered by actual
declines in the second half. Four industries— textiles, ap
parel, petroleum, and leather— experienced employment
declines for the year. Demand for domestic products in these
industries was also abated by the increasing volume of im
ports. Employment increases in printing, along with rubber
and miscellaneous plastics, helped to offset the stagnation
in other nondurables. Gains in printing were steady through
out the year. Employment in rubber and miscellaneous plas
tics, however, is driven by demand in the construction and
auto industries; as a result, growth was concentrated in the
first half.
Unlike other industries in the goods-producing sector,
mining experienced moderate, steady employment gains up
through the third quarter of 1984. Virtually all of the mining
division’s increase came from oil and gas extraction, al
though the number of jobs remained short of the 1982 peak.
Since 1982, the demand for oil has weakened, while lower
oil prices have left less incentive for increasing exploration
and employment.
Automobiles and steel. The automobile and steel industries
are often mentioned together as the prototypes of industries
bearing the costs of “ restructuring” the U.S. economy.
However, there are significant differences in the way the
two have been affected by the business cycles of the early
1980’s. The two sketches here highlight the similarities, the
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differences, and their effect on industry employment.
For the past half century, the automobile industry has
been a central element of the U.S. economy. Its impact on
other industries is profound— for each job in the automobile
industry there are about 2 associated jobs in the rest of the
economy.5 The three largest auto manufacturers rank 2, 9,
and 38 on Fortune magazine’s listings of the Nation’s largest
industrial corporations. Since the employment peak in the
late 1970’s, however, there have been a number of devel
opments that have led to a deterioration in the relative po
sition of the industry. Most obvious has been the effect of
the back-to-back recessions of the early 1980’s. Consumer
durables manufacturing, such as for autos, has traditionally
been sensitive to poor economic conditions, as consumers
hedge against lower incomes by deferring “ big ticket” pur
chases. This had tended to lengthen the average useful life
of existing cars and lower demand for new autos. Post
baby-boom demographic patterns have slowed the long-term
growth of the number of new motorists. In addition, as a
private study of changes affecting the U.S. auto industry
notes, a “ shift in competition from styling to technology
and quality has challenged the existing competitive strengths
of domestic producers. . . .at the same time that foreign
competitors have increased their presence markedly.” 6
The result of these changes has been a steep decline in
the number of jobs in the automobile industry. After peaking
at just over a million payroll jobs in the last quarter of 1978,
auto employment plummeted to 660,000 at the fourth quarter
1982 trough. Despite the sharp recovery, in part due to
strong consumer demand in 1984, payroll jobs in the in
dustry— 875,000 at the end of 1984— were still far below
the level of 6 years before. Similarly, the unemployment
rate for automobile manufacturing averaged slightly more
than 4 percent in 1978, rose to more than 20 percent during
the recession year of 1982, and in the final quarter of 1984
averaged about 6.5 percent. In should be noted that un
employment rates were lower in the first quarter—just under
6 percent— before starting to rise again. That the unem
ployment rate in the auto industry has roughly paralleled
general labor force developments is in significant contrast
to recent developments in the steel industry.
Throughout the late 1970’s and into the 80’s, the inter
national steel industry has experienced severe change. World
capacity has diversified geographically and now exceeds
annual consumption needs by as much as 180 million tons.
Technological change in production methods has radically
altered the balance among the subsectors of the steel in
dustry. Changes in demand for, and economies in the pro
duction of, final goods that are particularly steel intensive—
for example, automobiles— have limited the demand for
steel products.
Despite the vast size of its domestic market, the U.S.
steel industry has not been isolated from these international
trends. A combination of recession in the early 1980’s, a
change in the ratio of steel consumption to gross national
9
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Employment and Unemployment in 1984
product (including the “ downsizing” of autos), and intense
international competition has contributed to a complex re
structuring of the U.S. steel industry. Between 1977 and
1984, the overall capacity of the steel industry fell by 16
percent. By the first quarter of 1984, imports accounted for
about one-fourth of raw steel consumption in the U.S. mar
ket, up from 18 percent in 1977. Within the industry, “ minimill” production techniques have grown from a 3-percent
share of output in 1960 to about one-fifth currently. Over
roughly the same period, the market share of the major
integrated steel firms shrank from about four-fifths in the
1950’s and early 1960’s to just over one-half in 1983.
The structural changes affecting the steel industry have
had significant consequences for employment. While the
increases in raw steel production rates between 1982 and
1984 would normally have suggested a general increase in
payroll employment, such has not been the case. From the
trough of the 1981-82 recession (November 1982) to De
cember 1983„ the steel industry had only recovered 5 percent
of the jobs lost during the downturn, and 1984 saw job
levels fall by about 30,000. While it is true that the un
employment rate, as measured by the Current Population
Survey, has fallen in the “ blast furnaces, steel-works, roll
ing and finishing mills” industrial category, this undoubt
edly reflects a transfer of labor away from the steel industry,
rather than increased employment; that is, unemployed steel
workers may have taken jobs in other industries or with
drawn from the labor force entirely.
Hours of work
After steady increases throughout 1983, the factory work
week peaked at 41 hours in the early months of 1984; this
level represented the longest workweek in manufacturing
since 1967. The pattern of increase was partly a result of
increasing factory overtime hours, which rose to a 1984
peak of 3.7 hours early in the second quarter. Employers
often change hours of work in the short run to reconcile
production schedules with the current number of workers.
Adding employees to the payroll is a costly process, more
costly than overtime hours if the increase in product demand
is to be only transitory. If the increased level of production
is viewed as more permanent, the employer will add workers
to reduce overtime hours. As a result, employment will
continue to increase after hours have begun to decline. This
pattern was evident in hours and employment for manufac
turing in 1984, particularly within the durable goods sector.
While hours retreated from the first quarter peak, they re
mained at historically high levels.
The aggregate hours index is a comprehensive measure
of labor input, taking into account both the number of pro
duction or nonsupervisory employees on nonfarm payrolls
and their weekly hours. The index for the total private sector
rose by 3.3 percentage points in the first six months, re
flecting the strength in employment and hours for goods10
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producing industries and employment gains in the services
sector. The index continued to edge up in the second half,
buoyed by continued job growth in the services sector. The
total private index ended the year at 114.5, a full 12 points
above the previous recession trough.
Full- and part-time workers. Four of every 5 nonagricultural workers in the United States are employed full time—
that is 35 hours or more a week. The remaining workers,
those at work part time, totaled 18 million in the fourth
quarter. Most of these (70 percent) worked part time vol
untarily, or for noneconomic reasons. However, 5.5 million
were at work on part-time schedules for economic reasons.
These persons either wanted a full-time job but could not
find one or usually worked full time but had had their hours
cut back in response to unfavorable economic conditions.
The number of persons working part time for economic
reasons had doubled from its late-1978 level to reach 6.4
million by the fourth quarter of 1982. Seventy percent of
the 900,000-improvement since then took place during 1983.
While the number of persons involuntarily on short work
weeks moves in a cyclical fashion, changes in the number
of voluntary part-timers are not particularly cyclical but
rather follow a fairly narrow secular growth trend. Over the
4 quarters ending in late 1984, there was less than 1 percent
growth in the number of voluntary part-time workers in
nonagricultural industries, despite a 4-percent increase in
persons on full-time schedules. Voluntary part-timers ac
counted for about 13 percent of nonagricultural workers in
the fourth quarter, down slightly from their 14-percent em
ployment share in 1977.
Although only about 20 percent of employed women were
voluntary part-timers in late 1984, they accounted for close
to 60 percent of persons in all industries cn voluntary parttime schedules. Men and teenagers fairly evenly made up
the remaining 40 percent. These proportions have changed
over the last few years, as more women have joined both
the part-time and full-time labor forces, while the number
of teenagers in the labor force has declined. This decline is
especially relevant to the part-time employment issue, be
cause about half of all working teens were on voluntary
part-time schedules in 1984. Teenagers who work part time
average about 17 hours per week, compared with a 20-hour
average for adults.
Labor force growth
The civilian labor force— the employed and the unem
ployed— grew in 1984, but by less than 2 percent. Both
1983 and 1984 have been years of slow labor force growth
when compared to similar periods of recovery in the 1970’s.
For instance, the second year of recovery from the 1969—
70 downturn saw a labor force increase approaching 3 per
cent. (The highest fourth-quarter-to-fourth-quarter labor force
gains of the 1970’s were recorded in 1972-73 and 1976—
77, at 3.3 percent.) Contributing to the slower growth of
the labor force was a decline in the number of teenagers in
the labor force. This was a reflection of the long-term decline
in the teenage population as the baby boom generation passed
into adulthood, to be followed by a generation characterized
by very low birth rates— the so-called “ baby-bust” gen
eration.
After a year and a half of rather sluggish increases in
labor force participation, women registered a 0.6-percentage-point increase in their labor force participation rate,
ending 1984 with 53.9 percent of their population working
or looking for work. Men had virtually no change in labor
force participation in 1984, nor did teenagers.
Discouraged workers
Persons who are neither working nor looking for work
are considered to be not in the labor force. Of the 63 million
nonparticipants in the final quarter of 1984, about 1.3 mil
lion were “ discouraged workers.” These persons reported
that they wanted a job but were not looking for work because
they believed they could not find it. While the number of
discouraged workers follows the cyclical movements in un
employment, the discouraged are not included in the count
of the unemployed, because, unlike the unemployed, they
have not looked for work during the 4-week period preced
ing the survey week. Indeed, they need not ever have ac
tually tested the job market to be included in the category.8
The total of discouraged workers peaked in the final quarter
of 1982 at 1.8 million. The following shows the number of
discouraged, seasonally adjusted in thousands, at the two
most recent business cycle peaks ( p ) and troughs ( t ) and
for the past 5 quarters.
1980:
I ( ? ) .......
Ill ( T ) . . .
1981:
1982:
1983:
1984:
HI (p) •••
IV ( t ) . . .
IV .........
I ............
II ...........
Ill .........
IV .........
Total
discouraged
Job market
factors
Personal
factors
954
1,008
1,106
1,813
1,447
1,350
1,275
1,211
1,303
592
697
820
1,390
1,044
939
928
885
935
362
311
286
423
404
411
348
326
368
The majority of discouraged workers cite job market fac
tors, rather than personal factors— such as age or lack of
education or skills'—as their reason for not looking for
work.The proportion citing job market factors has been in
the 70-to-80 percent range over the past 3 years, with the
80-percent figure being registered in the first quarter of 1983,
just after the recessionary trough. Over the most recent 4
quarters, the number of discouraged declined by about
130,000, with decreases occurring among the job-market
discouraged and those discouraged by personal factors.
About 3 of every 5 discouraged workers are women.
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Interestingly, this proportion changed little over the course
of the most recent recession, even though cyclical unem
ployment changes tend to be more pronounced among men
than women. Blacks also make up a disproportionately large
share of the discouraged and in the fourth quarter accounted
for more than 35 percent of the total. There was no decline
in the number of black discouraged workers over the year.
Workers in families
Most labor force participants live in family units. About
65 percent of the labor force in 1984 consisted of persons
responsible for their family units, including those with no
spouse present (mainly women). An additional 20 percent
consisted of relatives, generally teenagers and young adults
living with their parents. Thus, only about 15 percent of
the labor force were not in family units— fewer than 10
percent who lived alone and 6 percent who lived with others,
such as housemates.
With the overwhelming proportion of the population liv
ing in family units and the growing number of women in
the labor force has come an increase in the number of multi
worker families. In 1984, 44 percent of all married-couple
families had both a husband and wife employed. This was
up from 39 percent just 7 years earlier. A large number of
the remaining married-couple families had two or more
workers other than a husband/wife combination, while oth
ers were of retirement age and had no workers at all.
As employment grew in 1984, so did the proportion of
multi-worker families. In the fourth quarter, the proportion
of employed persons who were the sole support of their
families was 24 percent, down about a percentage point
from 1983. This proportion has been edging downward over
time— despite some increases during recessionary periods.
Over the last 7 years, the decline has totaled 4 percentage
points.9
The decline in joblessness over the year reduced the pro
portion of families that had an unemployed member. In the
fourth quarter, just under 10 percent of all families had
someone unemployed, down from 11 percent the year earlier
and 14 percent at the end of 1982. Moreover, the rising
incidence of multi-worker families means that many of these
families also had an employed family member. The effect
of unemployment within a family is often mitigated by the
presence of other workers and may also be minimized by
the receipt of unemployment compensation, which about
one-third of the jobless in 1984 claimed.
These cushioning effects were not available to all the
unemployed, however. In the fourth quarter, about 33 per
cent of the unemployed living in families had no employed
person in the family. (Data on the proportion with neither
another family member employed nor receiving unemploy
ment compensation are not available.) While less than 20
percent of the unemployed wives in late 1984 had no work
ers in their family, such was the case for almost 45 percent
11
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Employment and Unemployment in 1984
of the unemployed husbands. Men and women who maintain
families alone were much more likely to be their family’s
sole support. About 70 percent of the unemployed men who
maintain families and 80 percent of the women had no
employed person in their family.
It should also be noted that unemployment may be dual
in families. For instance, while husbands overall had a job
less rate of 4.1 percent in the fourth quarter, those with an
unemployed wife had a jobless rate of more than 13 percent.
Similarly, wives as a whole had an unemployment rate of
5.2 percent, but it was about 17 percent for those whose
husbands also were looking for work. There were about
175,000 couples with dual unemployment, considerably less
than in the recession years.
The likelihood of a woman participating in the labor force
is greatly influenced by her age and marital status, and by
whether she has children. For instance, more than 80 percent
of never-married women ages 25 to 34 were in the labor
force in the final quarter of 1984. The proportion drops to
about 65 percent for married women in the same age group.
The presence of young children, not surprisingly, tends to
lower participation still further. Among married women of
all ages, those with preschoolers had a participation rate of
about 55 percent, compared with 67 percent for those with
children in school. The effect of young children in the family
was even larger among women who maintain families, where
there is a 20-point participation rate difference between those
with preschoolers and those with school-age children. In
general, divorced women are the most likely to participate
in the labor force and widows the least likely; no doubt the
average age of 59 years for the latter group is an important
factor.
Perhaps what is of most importance is not that labor force
participation rates of mothers with young children are lower
than those of women with older children, but rather that
participation rates of mothers are so high. What is more,
the largest increases in labor force participation have been
among mothers with young children. In fact, the partici
pation rate for married women with children under 6 grew
by nearly 10 points in just 5 years and in 1984 far exceeded
the rate for wives with no children present. (It should be
noted that the wives without children tend to be older than
the mothers, although certainly most were pre-retirement
age and a number were young newlyweds.) Only the par
ticipation rates of widowed and divorced women have shown
little growth.
Black workers
The labor market situation for black workers has im
proved notably over the past 2 years. The unemployment
rate for blacks, at 15.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 1984,
declined by more than 2.5 points over the year and by more
than 5 points from its all-time high, set in late 1982. The
ratio of black-to-white unemployment, at 2.4 to 1, remained
historically high, however.
12
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Another way to view the differences in the unemployment
rates for blacks and whites is by comparing their late-1984
levels to those registered in the first quarter of 1977; both
of these periods came 8 quarters into recoveries from long
and deep recessions. While the rate for white workers was,
in fact, lower than it had been at the same point in the post1974-75 recession recovery, the jobless rate for blacks at
the end of 1984 remained above their 1977 level. One reason
that unemployment among blacks is still higher than during
the earlier recovery period is that blacks experienced es
sentially one long, hard recession, lasting from early 1980
through late 1982, while white workers experienced a 1year period of partial recovery (from the third quarter of
1980 to the third quarter of 1981). Hence, the unemployment
rate for blacks at the “ official” business cycle peak in the
third quarter of 1981 was even higher than that registered
during the 4‘official’ ’ recessionary trough a year earlier. (See
chart 2.)
The jobless rate for black men, at 13.1 percent in late
1984, had fallen by about 7 points from its recession peak.
Joblessness among white men only dropped about 3.5 per
centage points but, at 5.4 percent, was substantially below
the national average. Unemployment among black women,
like that of white women, is less cyclical, meaning less
prone to the ups and downs of the business cycle, than that
of their male counterparts. The late-1984 rate for black
women of 13.2 percent was about 4 points below the reces
sion high but was substantially higher than the 5.6 percent
registered for white women.
Nearly half of all black teenagers in the labor force in
late 1982 were unemployed, and no improvement occurred
during the next year. By late 1984, their unemployment rate
dropped to 41 percent, about matching the level in 1977.
Interestingly, white teenagers, like black teens and adults,
showed no improvement in joblessness during the 1980-81
recovery. But the unemployment rate for white teens de
clined in both 1983 and 1984. By late 1984, their rate was
down to 15.6 percent; hence, black teens were 2.6 times as
likely as white teens to be unemployed.
The actual number of unemployed blacks rose from about
1.3 million before the 1980 recession to 2.4 million in the
second quarter of 1983 and receded to 1.9 million by late
1984. About 200,000 of that decline took place in 1984.
On the employment side, the count dropped from 9.5
million before the 1980 recession to 9.2 million by late 1982
and then grew to 10.4 million by late 1984. Most of the
improvement— about 850,000— took place over the last 4
quarters.
The ratio of employment-to-population, by telling us what
proportion of the population is employed, helps put em
ployment changes into perspective in a setting of a contin
ually growing population. About 53 percent of all workingage blacks in the civilian population were employed in late
1984; among whites, the proportion was 61 percent. Much
of the difference can be attributed to a 10-point gap in the
Chart 2. Unemployment rates of blacks, Hispanics, and whites, quarterly averages, seasonally
adjusted, 1973-84
Percent
22.0
18.0
14.0
10.0
6.0
2.0
NOTE: Shaded areas indicate recessions as designated by the National Bureau of Economic
Research.
ratios for black and white men— 65 versus 75 percent. The
ratios for men decline due both to economic downturns and
earlier retirements.
Unlike their male counterparts, black women historically
have had higher employment ratios than white women. But
faster labor force growth among white women has brought
their ratios to about the same level— 50 percent. That high
mark, representing a record for both groups of women,
resulted from steady labor force participation during the
recessionary period and a resumption of growth during the
recovery.
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As indicated earlier, the population of teenagers has been
shrinking. For black teens, the decline began in 1981 and
for white teens, in 1978. Both 16-to-19-year-old groups
contracted by about 3 percent during 1984. But the number
of employed black teens actually grew by almost 100,000
during 1984, raising their employment-population ratio nearly
5 points, to 23 percent. The employment of white teens was
about unchanged, and when combined with the decrease in
their population, their employment ratio rose, albeit by only
1 percentage point. Perhaps of more significance, however,
is the fact that the employment ratio for black teens remains
13
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Employment and Unemployment in 1984
less than half that of white teens, whose ratio was 48 percent
in late 1984.
The kinds of jobs held by black workers are quite different
from those of whites. One-third of black men worked as
machine operators, fabricators, and laborers in 1984, com
pared to one-fifth of white men. (See table 3.) Close to 20
percent of black men were in service occupations, twice the
proportion of whites. Black men were underrepresented in
all other fields, with about 15 percent in precision produc
tion, craft, and repair— compared to more than 20 percent
of white males— and 12 percent in managerial and profes
sional specialty jobs— compared to about 25 percent among
whites.
The occupational distribution of black women also was
notably different from that of their white counterparts. About
30 percent of the black women were in service occupations,
in which fewer than one-fifth of white women worked. Like
black men, black women were overrepresented as operators,
fabricators, and laborers. While more than a third of the
black female workers held jobs in the technical, sales, and
administrative support category, nearly half of all white
women were so employed. For both black and white women,
administrative support including clerical jobs accounted for
the majority of these positions. Black women were under
represented in both managerial and professional specialty
occupations. Only 2.5 percent of working black women or
white women held precision production, craft, and repair
jobs.
T ab le 3.
Hispanic workers
Like other worker groups, persons of Hispanic origin
shared in the economic recovery of the last 2 years, as their
jobless rate dropped from 15.3 to 10.3 percent. In fact, the
fourth-quarter 1984 figure compares favorably with the rate
posted 2 years into the recovery from the 1973-75 recession.
The labor market situation for Hispanic workers more or
less paralleled the course of the business cycle, with two
separate recessionary periods during the 1980’s. The ratio
of Hispanic-to-white unemployment rates was 1.7 to 1 in
late 1984; that relationship has not altered appreciably since
the inception of the Hispanic unemployment data series
more than 10 years ago.
Hispanic men, women, and teenagers all exhibited sub
stantial unemployment rate declines during the recovery
from the latest recession. Between the fourth quarters of
1982 and 1984, the jobless rate for Hispanic men fell from
12.9 to 8.6 percent. For women, the rate dropped from 13.7
to 9.5 percent, and for teens, unemployment fell from 31.6
percent to 21.9 percent. (These data are not available on a
seasonally adjusted basis and hence are not fully comparable
with those shown for whites and blacks in table 1.)
The nearly 10 million working-age persons of Hispanic
origin residing in the United States (excluding Puerto Rico)
accounted for 5.6 percent of the overall population. The
largest of the Hispanic ethnic groups was persons of Mex
ican origin, with 60 percent of the Hispanic total. The job-
E m ployed civilians by occupation, sex, race, and H ispanic origin, 1984 annual averages
[Percent distribution]
Men
Women
Occupation
Total
White
Black
Hispanic
origin
Total
White
Hispanic
origin
Black
Total, 16 years and over (thousands)....................................................
Percent .....................................................................................................
59,091
100.0
52,462
100.0
5,123
100.0
3,359
100.0
45,915
100.0
39,659
100.0
4,995
100.0
2,320
100.0
Managerial and professional speciality.................................................................
Executive, administrative, and managerial......................................................
Professional s p e c ia lity .......................................................................................
24.6
13.0
11.6
25.7
13.7
12.0
12.3
6.3
6.1
12.0
7.1
4.9
22.5
8.5
14.0
23.3
8.9
14.4
15.8
5.2
10.6
12.1
5.1
7.0
Technical, sales, and administrative support......................................................
Technicians and related s u p p o rt.......................................................................
Sales occupations...............................................................................................
Administrative support, including c le ric a l......................................................
19.6
2.8
11.1
5.7
20.0
2.8
11.8
5.4
15.0
1.9
4.6
8.5
15.2
2.0
7.1
6.1
45.6
3.3
13.1
29.1
46.9
3.3
13.9
29.8
36.5
3.3
7.8
25.3
41.3
2.3
11.4
27.6
Service oc cu p a tio n s...............................................................................................
Private ho usehold...............................................................................................
Protective s e rv ic e ...............................................................................................
Service, except private household and protective.........................................
9.4
.1
2.5
6.8
8.4
.1
2.3
6.0
18.4
.1
4.1
14.2
13.8
.1
1.8
11.9
18.7
2.1
.5
16.2
17.2
1.6
.4
15.2
30.8
5.9
.8
24.0
23.0
3.9
.5
18.6
Precision production, craft, and re p a ir...............................................................
20.2
20.8
15.8
21.1
2.4
2.4
2.6
4.4
Operators, fabricators, and laborers....................................................................
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors............................................
Transportation and material moving occupations.........................................
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and la b o re rs .................................
21.1
8.0
6.9
6.2
20.0
7.6
6.6
5.8
33.6
11.4
11.2
11.0
29.4
12.7
7.1
9.7
9.6
7.1
.8
1.6
8.9
6.5
.8
1.6
13.9
11.0
1.0
1.8
17.5
14.3
.6
2.6
Farming, forestry, and fis h in g ...............................................................................
5.1
5.2
4.9
8.5
1.2
1.3
.5
1.8
1Less than 0.05 percent.
N ote: Detail for the above racial and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the “ other races” groups are not presented, and Hispanics are included in both
the white and black population groups.
14
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less rate for persons of Mexican origin (at 9.9 percent) was
between that of workers of Puerto Rican origin (13.8 per
cent) and those of Cuban origin (7.3 percent). Cuban work
ers tend to be older and better educated than other Hispanics.
Employment among Hispanics, which had fallen by about
400,000 during the latest recession, has since grown by
700,000. Their employment-population ratio reached 58
percent— still shy of the 60-percent high posted in early
1979— but nonetheless substantially above the recessionary
level of 54 percent.
The jobs Hispanic men hold are, with only a few excep
tions, quite similar to those of black men. (See table 3.)
Like blacks, Hispanic men in 1984 were overrepresented
as machine operators, fabricators, and laborers, and in ser
vice occupations, while their numbers in managerial and
professional specialty positions and sales occupations were
relatively small. However, like white men, one-fifth of His
panic males held precision production, craft, and repair jobs.
About 9 percent of Hispanic men worked in farming, for
estry, and fishing, a category which accounts for only about
5 percent of white men and black men.
The occupational distribution of Hispanic women is not
especially like that of either white women or black women.
Slightly more than one-fourth provided clerical and admin
istrative support and just under one-fourth worked in service
occupations. The next largest group of Hispanic female
workers was machine operators, fabricators, and laborers—
particularly textile, apparel, and furnishings machine op
erators, among whom Hispanics hold a disproportionately
large share of the jobs. Hispanic women were especially
poorly represented in the professional specialty category,
as well as in executive, administrative, and managerial jobs.
In s u m m a r y , it would be accurate to call 1984 a year of
strong employment gains— about 3 million more people had
jobs by the end of the year than were employed a year
earlier. However, employment growth did pause in the sum
mer months before advancing again in the last quarter.
Whether this moderate growth will continue will be the
employment story for 1985.
□
■FO O TN O TES■
'The Current Population Survey is conducted monthly by the Census
Bureau on behalf o f the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey is conducted
among a scientifically selected sample of about 60,000 households and
provides information on labor force, employment, and unemployment by
a variety o f demographic and economic characteristics.
Data from the Current Employment Statistics program are collected from
the payroll records of nearly 200,000 nonagricultural establishments by
the Bureau o f Labor Statistics in cooperation with State agencies. This
survey provides estimates of the number of persons on business payrolls,
their average hours of work, and their average hourly and weekly earnings.
2The business cycle as identified by the National Bureau of Economic
Research.
3 See B u s in e s s W eek , July 9, 1984, p. 83, for a summary of contrasting
opinions on this issue. See Barry Bluestone, and Bennett Harrison, Th e
D e in d u s tr ia liz a tio n o f A m e r ic a : P la n t C lo s in g s , C o m m u n ity A b a n d o n
m e n t, a n d th e D is m a n tlin g o f B a s ic I n d u s try (New York, Basic Books,
1982); and Robert Z. Lawrence, C a n A m e r ic a C o m p e te ? (Washington,
The Brookings Institution, 1984) for elaboration of the arguments.
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4See “ Housing Heads for a Soft Landing,” B u s in e ss W eek , Sept. 17,
1984, pp. 3 8 -3 9 . Additional information on housing starts and construc
tion expenditures is available from the U .S. Department of Commerce,
Bureau o f the Census.
5 Based on unpublished Employment Requirements Tables developed by
the Office of Economic Growth and Employment Projections, Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
6 Jeffrey Allen Hunker, S tr u c tu r a l C h a n g e in th e U .S . A u to m o b ile In
d u s tr y (Lexington, m a and Toronto: Lexington Books, 1984), p. 2.
7 Congressional Budget Office, T h e E ffects o f I m p o r t Q u o ta s o n th e S te e l
In d u stry (Washington, Congressional Budget Office, 1984), pp. 16, 6, and
4. See also Patricia A. Daly, formerly a
dustry," 1983 (unpublished).
bls
economist, “ The Steel In
8 For more information about discouraged workers, see Paul O. Flaim,
“ Discouraged workers: how strong are their links to the job market?”
M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , August 1984, pp. 8 -1 1 .
9These family data are available on a quarterly basis beginning with the
second quarter of 1976. They are not available seasonally adjusted.
15
Implementing the Levitan Commission’s
recommendations to improve labor data
Five years after the National Commission on
Employment and Unemployment Statistics examined
government's labor force statistics program,
the b l s has implemented many o f the recommendations
and has undertaken activities aimed at adopting others
Harvey
R.
H am el
and
Jo h n
T.
Tucker
One of the major recommendations of the National Com
mission on Employment and Unemployment Statistics (also
known as the Levitan Commission after its chair, Professor
Sar A. Levitan) was that a comprehensive review of the
labor force data system be conducted at least once each
decade. The Commission was established in 1978, and is
sued its recommendations in September 1979.1
Five years have proven a very short period for making
changes in the statistics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has
implemented a number of the major recommendations that
were approved by the two Secretaries of Labor who have
served during this period, and continues testing and devel
oping programs leading to the implementation of others.
Some recommendations were found to be either impractical
or too costly. Still others may be reexamined when the next
review panel is convened. This article summarizes the ac
complishments of the b l s in implementing several of the
recommendations and in conducting activities preparatory
to the adoption of others. It does not cover all the recom
mendations directed at the b l s or those relating to programs
of other agencies.
Harvey R. Hamel is a senior economist in the Division of Employment
and Unemployment Analysis and John T. Tucker is chief, Division of
Monthly Industry Employment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
16
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Prior reviews
The National Commission on Employment and Unem
ployment Statistics was not the first outside review panel to
examine the Nation’s labor force data system. Earlier ex
aminations took place in 1948, 1954-55, and 1961-62.2
The most well-known of these was the 1961-62 review
panel, officially named the President’s Committee to Ap
praise Employment and Unemployment Statistics, but com
monly known as the Gordon Committee after its chair,
Professor Robert A. Gordon. The Gordon Committee made
a number of recommendations for experimentation, sharp
ening of concepts, and expansion of data from the b l s major
surveys.3
One of the basic issues confronting the Gordon Com
mittee was the “ accuracy and meaningfulness of the figures
themselves.” 4 Some critics argued, for example, that the
official jobless measure was overstated because it included
people who searched for work but whose willingness or
availability to accept a job was marginal; others believed
that the official measure understated the extent of labor mar
ket underutilization because it excluded persons who would
have searched for work if they thought jobs were available.5
The Gordon Committee recommendations led to the 1967
implementation of several important conceptual changes in
the Current Population Survey ( c p s ) — the national house
hold sample survey on which the unemployment statistics
are based— which “ tightened” the official definition of un
employment;6 years later, the Levitan Commission consid
ered, but rejected, other possible changes in the definition.7
Despite these reviews, the debate over the relevancy and
objectivity of the jobless measure continues.
The National Commission on Employment and Unem
ployment Statistics was charged with “ responsibility for
examining the procedures, concepts, and methodology in
volved in employment and unemployment statistics and sug
gesting ways and means of improving them.” 8 Major areas
of investigation concerned the accuracy of the b l s data
program, including the household-based c p s , as well as the
establishment-based Current Employment Statistics survey.
Did the surveys measure what they purported to measure?
More importantly, did they measure what they should be
measuring, given the social and economic changes that had
occurred since the last review? One of the main questions
examined by the Commission, for example, was the desir
ability of linking information on labor force status with
economic hardship. It also completed an extensive review
of the establishment survey to determine the representa
tiveness of the sample and the accuracy and reliability of
the survey estimates, particularly in the fast-growing ser
vices sector.
In its report, the Commission made nearly 100 specific
recommendations for improving the Nation’s overall labor
statistics system, most of which were concerned with major
programs of the b l s . 9 Former Secretary of Labor Ray Mar
shall and current Secretary Raymond Donovan examined
the Commission’s recommendations and, as required by the
public law establishing the Commission, submitted reports
to the Congress evaluating each recommendation in terms
of desirability, feasibility, and cost.10
Current Population Survey issues
The b l s has made several Commission-recommended
changes in the c p s program relating to the development of
new or expanded labor market information, data presenta
tion, as well as to the c p s estimation process. However, it
has encountered several unresolved problems in adopting a
number of recommendations for changes in labor force mea
surement which had been endorsed by the Secretary of
Labor.
Expanded data. One of the key recommendations of the
National Commission on Employment and Unemployment
Statistics was that the labor force be redefined to include
the Armed Forces stationed in the United States. (It rec
ommended against including the military in the State and
local area statistics because Armed Forces installations are
not part of the local labor market.) The Commission noted
that because joining the military was (and still is) voluntary,
it represents a viable alternative to civilian employment.
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The inclusion of resident Armed Forces data in the na
tional labor force statistics was initiated in January 1983.11
The new series reflect the inclusion of approximately 1.7
million resident Armed Forces members and include sep
arate data on the noninstitutional population, labor force,
participation rate, total employed, employment-population
ratio, and unemployment rate. (The number of unemployed
persons, of course, is not affected by the addition of the
military data because Armed Forces members are, by def
inition, classified as employed.) Separate data are published
for men and women 16 years and over, and monthly data
back to 1950 are available. The new series augments, rather
than replaces, the traditional civilian-based labor force se
ries. The most conspicuous estimate from the new series,
the total unemployment rate, is consistently one-tenth to
two-tenths of a percentage point below the civilian-based
jobless rate.12 Because the resident Armed Forces level has
varied little in recent years, both the civilian labor force and
the total labor force series show identical trends.
The b l s also adopted the Commission’s recommendation
that monthly data be collected on whether youth ages 16 to
24 are attending school full or part tim e.13 The Commission
explained that such data are needed “ to understand work
and education choices, to design appropriate employment
policies and training programs, and to help appraise the
labor market attachment of students.” 14 A short series of
questions designed to determine whether youth are currently
in school, whether those in school are high school or college
students, and whether they are enrolled on a full- or parttime basis, was initiated in the regular c p s questionnaire in
November 1983. The b l s is evaluating the responses to
these new questionnaire items and expects to begin pub
lishing the results with the January 1985 data.
The Commission did not address the controversial issue
of whether youth who are attending school full time should
continue to be included in the official labor force figures
when they are working at or seeking part-time jobs. At
present, neither school status nor other activities are con
sidered in determining labor force status. Excluding full
time students from the official labor force count would re
duce the overall jobless rate by about one-half percentage
point.
Another key recommendation implemented by the b l s
dealt with the preparation of an annual report that linked
economic hardship resulting from low wages, unemploy
ment, and low labor force participation with earnings and
family and household income.15 The b l s issued its first
report in January 1982, based on data for calendar year
1979.16 Subsequent reports have been published covering
data for 1980, 1981, and 1982.17
The Commission was aware that introducing the 1980
Census-based occupational classification system into the c p s 18
(which was subsequently put into operation beginning with
data for January 1983) would create discontinuity with prior
c p s occupational groupings. Therefore, it recommended that
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MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Improving Labor Force Statistics
a format be developed to provide for comparable historical
data based on skill levels. Time and cost constraints pre
cluded a complete recoding of the individual monthly rec
ords necessary to accomplish this goal. However, b l s and
the Census Bureau developed a limited set of estimates for
the 1972-82 period, based on the new classification system,
which can be compared with data for 1983 forward.19 An
nual average estimates are available for all civilians, men,
and women by major occupational group. The procedure
was not sufficiently accurate to develop detailed occupa
tional estimates below the major categories.
The Commission recommended more frequent collection
of occupational mobility data through special supplements
to the c p s in order to measure movements of workers among
occupations over a single year.
In January of both 1981 and 1983, the b l s included sup
plements to the c p s which asked questions on the extent
and nature of job changes during the prior year and length
of employment on current job. The 1983 supplement also
included questions on the type of job training persons re
ceived in order to obtain their current job or to improve
skills in their present job.20
Conceptual changes. The National Commission on Em
ployment and Unemployment Statistics made no recom
mendations for changing the basic labor force concepts and
definitions. It did, however, recommend changes related to
the identification and measurement of the relatively small
number of persons outside the labor force commonly known
as “ discouraged workers.” As currently defined, these are
persons who want a job “ now” but are not looking because
they believe no job is available in their line of work or
community. The Commission concluded that present c p s
procedures for identifying this group were too arbitrary and
subjective.21 The procedures were considered too arbitrary
because they exclude students and persons who cite home
or family responsibilities as their reason for not searching
for work even if such persons also indicate they believe no
job is available. They were also considered too subjective
because they depend on a person’s stated desire for work,
regardless of whether the person had, in fact, tested the job
market recently.
The Commission recommended an alternative approach,
one that is modeled after the Canadian Labor Force Survey.
The new criteria would determine whether persons, who
were neither working nor looking for work (during the most
recent 4-week period), had, in fact, sought work in the
previous 6 months. If so, they would be asked the reasons
they were not presently looking for work, whether they were
currently available for work, and whether they wanted a
job. After much debate, the Commission also recommended
continuation of the present practice of classifying discour
aged workers as outside the labor force rather than making
them part of the unemployment count. (Many critics believe
the jobless figures are understated and that discouraged
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workers should be reflected in the unemployment figures.)
The Secretary of Labor accepted these recommendations,
agreeing that the new methodology would provide better
estimates of the number of persons whose discouragement
over the prospect of finding a job has prompted them to
give up their job search. However, adoption of the new
procedure has been delayed indefinitely because tests of the
feasibility of introducing the necessary series of questions
(as well as other potential changes) into the c p s question
naire have been inconclusive. (See more detailed discussion
later in this section.)
The Commission saw a need for procedures which would
provide a more comprehensive picture of work time lost
due to economic conditions in order to more accurately
measure the extent of slack labor market resources. Thus,
it recommended that all c p s respondents, whether working
full or part time, be asked if they usually worked more hours
than they had during the survey reference week.22 Those
on reduced hours would then be asked why they worked
fewer hours than usual, and, if the response was an eco
nomic factor affecting the job, such persons would be counted
as involuntary short-hour workers and tabulated by hours
worked. This recommendation was accepted by the Sec
retary of Labor and is expected to be implemented during
the mid-1980’s by revising the c p s questionnaire.
The Commission recommended replacing the current c p s
question which asks unemployed persons whether they are
seeking full- or part-time jobs with one that asks whether
they want to work more or less than 35 hours per week.
The reply would determine their classification as full- or
part-time jobseekers. This recommendation needs to be tested
further to determine whether the change would have any
effect on the distribution of the full- or part-time job-search
categories.
In fact, the Commission recognized that testing was nec
essary to determine the feasibility and possible impact of
its recommendations on existing labor force measures prior
to any revision of the basic questionnaire. To this end, it
recommended that the Census Bureau’s Methods Devel
opment Survey (then called the Methods Test Panel) be
doubled in size— from 1,600 to 3,200 households per month—
and be used to test questionnaire revisions. The Methods
Development Survey was expanded, but even a doubling
of its size was insufficient for its intended purpose. It soon
became apparent that although none of the questions being
tested was intended to change the concepts of employment
and unemployment, they did have a sizable impact on the
employment and unemployment levels resulting from the
test questionnaires. Throughout the testing period, estimates
of such key labor force measures as the unemployment rate
and the employment-population ratio were somewhat lower
when based on the test document than those obtained from
the control document (the present c p s questionnaire). In
other words, the inclusion of the new questions resulted in
lower estimates of labor force activity. Reasons for this
effect were difficult to understand. The variations may have
resulted from the content differences being tested, from pro
cedural problems in conducting the test survey which had
developed over time, or from the fact that the survey was
quite limited geographically and the results were not rep
resentative of the Nation. The Methods Development Sur
vey’s monthly sample size reverted back to 1,600 households
in mid-1981 because of funding cutbacks, thus becoming
inadequate to support the objectives of the test.
The Methods Development Survey continued in that for
mat until it was discontinued in September 1983. A scaleddown questionnaire (limited essentially to the new questions
for identifying discouraged workers) was tested in connec
tion with the Census Bureau’s Random Digit Dialing pro
ject23 from October 1983 to September 1984. Those results
also showed an unexplained effect on the basic labor force
measures. Currently, there are no plans for further testing.
Where does this leave the proposed implementation of a
revised cps questionnaire? It is apparent that the Methods
Development Survey test questions produced significant dif
ferences in the level and rate of unemployment, even though
no conceptual changes were made. Both Census Bureau and
bls technicians agree that, prior to introduction in the on
going survey, revised questions would need to be tested
under tightly controlled conditions in a major national over
lap sample survey of a minimum of 10,000 households
monthly for at least 1 year (in addition to a sufficient breakin period). A separate panel of that size would enable an
alysts to assess any difference in the levels and trends of
the major labor force measures over the course of a year.
For example, any potential breaks in series— such as in the
unemployment rate— could be identified and quantified
through the overlap sample testing, and the extent of the
effect could then be clearly delineated at the time the new
questions were adopted. Because it is impossible to measure
the impact of the new questions on key labor force estimates
in the absence of an overlap survey, it is not feasible to
introduce major revisions into the cps at this time.24
Two other Commission recommendations dealt with the
labor force classification of participants of government
classroom training and work experience programs. The
Commission recommended that participants in programs that
provide only classroom training be classified as not in the
labor force and that participants in work experience pro
grams be classified as employed. Formerly, if such infor
mation were volunteered, each group was classified as
unemployed. Both recommendations were implemented in
January 1984 through modifications to the cps interviewers’
instruction manual. However, there is no direct inquiry in
the cps questionnaire about participation in these programs,
and we know that previously such information had been
volunteered by only a few respondents. As expected, this
definitional change has not had any measurable effect on
the labor force estimates.
Data presentation.
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The National Commission on Em
ployment and Unemployment Statistics recommendations
related not only to the type of data to be collected through
the cps and how it should be measured, but also to the
methods by which data and related information should be
presented to the public. The Commission deemed the ex
planations of labor force concepts, definitions, and data
reliability contained in the bls monthly news release, “ The
Employment Situation,” too technical and detailed for the
intended audience. In 1981, the bls rewrote these expla
nations in plainer language, particularly the explanation of
seasonal adjustment. Another change in the news release
related to the placement of the table showing alternative
measures of unemployment (u-1 through u-7 ). In keeping
with the Commission’s suggestion, the table has been given
greater prominence in the release. Also, the bls had intended
to simplify and revise the components of these measures, but
encountered problems with the testing of new questions (de
scribed earlier) which prevented it from doing so.
The bls adopted one of the two recommendations for
changing the method of seasonally adjusting labor force
statistics. In January 1980, it shifted to the x-11 arima
method, as suggested by the Commission. This method
continues as the official method for seasonally adjusting
employment and unemployment data. The Secretary of La
bor withheld judgment on the Commission’s recommen
dation that the bls adopt the concurrent method of seasonal
adjustment (that is, calculating new factors every month by
including the current month’s data in the seasonal adjust
ment process) primarily because such a procedure would
necessarily preclude the present practice of advance an
nouncements and publication of seasonal factors for future
months. The bls does make available each month the ci
vilian worker unemployment rate based on a concurrent
adjustment, as well as four other unofficial alternative ap
proaches.25 Both bls and the Census Bureau are continuing
to conduct research in this area and could adopt the con
current method in the future if the perceived advantages
outweigh the disadvantages.
The Commission urged that greater use be made of cps
gross flow data in order to provide insights into the dynamics
of labor market behavior. Gross flow data provide monthly
estimates of the total number of persons entering the labor
force, those leaving the labor force, as well as shifts between
employment and unemployment. Despite their potential value,
until recently these data had not been published in many
years because of serious deficiencies. The Secretary of La
bor agreed with the Commission that publication of these
data should be resumed on a regular basis, together with an
explanation of the discrepancies between the gross flow data
and the official estimates. The first two such reports were
published in March 1982 and November 1983, and regular
publication of the data is expected to continue.26
In mid-1984, the bls and the Census Bureau sponsored
a conference on gross flow statistics, bringing together ex
perts from both inside and outside ot government. Discus19
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Improving Labor Force Statistics
sion focused on the identification of the specific reporting
errors and biases which affect the accuracy of gross flow
data, methods of adjusting the data to overcome these de
ficiencies, alternatives to gross flow data, and recommen
dations for future research directions.27 Several promising
techniques for adjusting the gross flow data to make them
more useful were discussed. These techniques will be tested
by the bls , and the adjusted data will be published if they
are acceptable.
Estimation process. The accuracy of CPS estimates de
pends largely on the accuracy of the population data that
are used in the sample design and selection. For this reason,
after every decennial Census since the inception of the cps
in 1940, the sample has been redesigned to reflect changes
in the size, location, and characteristics of the population.
Throughout most of its history, the cps has been viewed as
a national sample survey which produced national estimates.
However, growing pressures for more accurate and consis
tent State and local area estimates (in some cases mandated
by law for the implementation of Federal revenue sharing
programs) brought three State and subState expansions to
the survey during the 1970’s. This made the cps a sort of
hybrid, that is, a national sample modified on an ad hoc
basis to provide data for States and large labor market areas.
The pressures for more reliable area statistics placed a strain
on the cps design. So that the post-1980 Census redesign
of the cps would provide a more efficient sample design,
the National Commission on Employment and Unemploy
ment Statistics supported the plan of the bls and the Census
Bureau to design 51 individual samples— each State plus
the District of Columbia— as the basis for the overall na
tional frame. The new sample is being phased in between
April 1984 and July 1985, and is expected to improve the
reliability of the State and subState estimates and the overall
cost effectiveness of the sample.
The Commission also made several recommendations for
research on and improvement of the reliability of sample
estimates. These included the development of information
on sources of bias, characteristics of refusals and non
response, the differential effects of rotation group bias, and
possible biases arising from the use of proxy respondents.
Results of research in some of these areas have already been
useful to the Census Bureau in the cps redesign process.
Research continues on some of the more difficult method
ological aspects of the survey.
Improved establishment survey data
The National Commission on Employment and Unem
ployment Statistics made considerably fewer specific rec
ommendations for improving the Current Employment
Statistics survey. The Commission’s report noted that the
lack of many detailed recommendations was due to several
basic shortcomings of the survey, particularly its nonprob
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ability sample design, relatively poor survey documentation,
and inadequate quality measures.
The Commission recognized that the extensive industry
and geographic detail on employment, hours, and earnings
produced from the survey were essential for current eco
nomic analysis as well as for providing basic building blocks
for construction of estimates of industrial production, per
sonal income, gross national product, and productivity.
Therefore, while questioning the sample design and other
basic statistical underpinnings of the survey, it urged caution
in making major changes that might disrupt major economic
series. The Commission stressed the importance of first
documenting all survey and operational aspects of the ex
isting program before proceeding to the conduct of basic
research on the technical aspects of the survey. The bls has
addressed these recommendations in just that fashion. The
process of documenting the current program operations has
been completed, and a number of specific concerns noted
by the Commission have been answered. These improve
ments have taken place during a period of great change in
the basic structure of the program, as funding and admin
istrative responsibility for the survey has been transferred
from the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training
Administration to the bls . A s part of a major modernization
effort, the bls is now in the process of conducting the
research and planning needed to place the establishment
survey on a firmer statistical base.
Documentation o f current program. Documentation has
long been a problem because of the way the Current Em
ployment Statistics program operated. The survey is con
ducted as a Federal/State program, with cooperating State
agencies responsible for soliciting sample members and col
lecting data each month on a mail shuttle collection docu
ment (bls-790 form). The microdata (individual employers’
reports) are then transmitted to bls in Washington for use
in preparing national estimates. The State agencies also use
these data to prepare State and area (Metropolitan Statistical
Area) estimates of employment, hours, and earnings by
industry. While obviously avoiding a duplicate reporting
burden on employers to provide data separately to local,
State, and national levels of government, the decentralized
conduct of the survey by 51 separate agencies makes it
difficult for bls to ensure adherence to standards in survey
operations. At the time of the Commission’s review of the
Current Employment Statistics program, the bls did not
have in place sufficient standards or the appropriate tools to
monitor State performance.
After the Commission’s report, bls undertook a complete
review and rewriting of the State Operations Manual which
was used as the basis for a full round of training sessions
with bls regional and State personnel working on the sur
vey. Annual updates to this manual reflect program changes
and new developments. The manual is currently being re
vamped and is scheduled for reissue in 1985. Over the last
several years, a training program has been developed for
new employees in the State agencies and separate training
has been provided to State employees involved in preparing
estimates.
The first task in monitoring State agencies’ performance
was to review all aspects of each State’s survey operations.
bls national and regional staif conducted the initial review
in 1980. Based on the results of this review, improvement
plans were developed for individual States to bring them
into compliance with standards contained in the State Op
erations Manual. After the initial review of State operations,
an annual review procedure was developed by bls regional
office staff to use in monitoring the implementation of im
provement plans. Information on critical aspects of survey
operations such as sample selection, solicitation, data col
lection, editing, data processing, estimation, and publication
is now being maintained in a computer data base and is
updated each year based on these reviews.
A new regional office operations manual was developed
to systematically document the rapidly changing role of the
bls technical staff in the eight regional offices. This doc
umentation has proven particularly important in keeping
abreast of the application of data processing and telecom
munications technology to survey operations. In addition,
annual meetings are held with bls Washington and regional
technicians to review and discuss new developments.
The Commission questioned the sample design for the
establishment survey (specifically the methods used for se
lecting the sample and its representativeness). It recom
mended that bls study possible new sample designs, including
a pilot version of a probability sample. While bls has begun
such a study, it recognizes that solicitation procedures would
have to be greatly improved before any new design could
be implemented. Various tests have been conducted to de
termine the most effective solicitation approach to assure
high response rates from new sample members. These tests
have shown that response rates in the 75- to 80-percent range
are possible when solicitation is conducted by trained staff,
with extensive followup for nonresponse. Based on this
experience, a solicitation procedure has been developed for
use in all States, with a requirement for stringent control
and recordkeeping of solicitation efforts consistent with the
current sample design. This procedure will be incorporated
in the revised State Operations Manual, to be issued in
1985.
The use of telecommunications by State agencies to trans
mit microdata to Washington has greatly speeded the flow
of data and enhanced the quality of the national estimates
by providing more complete samples. The effect of this
technology is most apparent in preliminary estimates in
cluded in “ The Employment Situation’’ news release. Prior
to the use of telecommunications, each State agency had to
stop collecting and editing the reports of sample respondents
by Wednesday or Thursday of the week prior to the news
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
release. They had to mail the reports to Washington in time
for them to be processed Monday evening of the release
week. The advent of telecommunications has meant that the
States can continue to collect and edit data from respondents
through Monday afternoon, and then transmit the data elec
tronically to Washington for processing that same evening.
This capability, coupled with better controls and increased
followup, has resulted in a dramatic increase in the sample
response included in the preliminary estimates (from about
65,000 to more than 100,000 reports).
The Commission was concerned about the accuracy of
the establishment survey data. This concern was intensified
by the fact that the bls had been unable to benchmark the
survey results in 4 of the 7 years prior to the Commission’s
review. Furthermore, at the time of the review, the es-202
(Quarterly Report on Employment and Wages of Employees
Covered by Unemployment Insurance), the Federal-State
cooperative program which is the cornerstone for the bench
mark, was not being compiled on a timely basis by many
of the State Employment Security Agencies. In addressing
this concern, bls devoted more resources to the annual
benchmark adjustment, and the required adjustment has been
made each year for the last 5 years. The benchmarks were
not complete the first several years, as several State agencies
continued to miss deadlines for submitting their es-2 0 2
reports. However, in the last 2 years this situation has greatly
improved, and all State agencies are now submitting the
reports on time. As a result, the most recent benchmark
adjustment was complete and the bls has reduced by 3
months the time required for preparation and release of the
benchmark revision. The latest establishment survey revi
sions were published in the May-June period rather than
the August-October period as was customary prior to the
Commission’s review.
The Commission recommended that the number of cells
and the degree of sample stratification for the establishment
survey be reevaluated annually at the time of the benchmark
revision. This recommendation was immediately imple
mented, and a review has been performed in conjunction
with the annual benchmark revision each year. Nearly 1,100
strata are now used in the benchmark estimation process,
an increase of more than 20 percent from 1978. The in
creased stratification has improved the accuracy of the hours
and earnings estimates in addition to those for employment,
and has permitted the publication of additional industry de
tail.
The Commission recognized that the industry detail pro
duced from the establishment survey, while extensive, was
inadequate for the large and growing service-producing sec
tor of the economy. However, it stopped short of recom
mending a major expansion in industry detail because the
sample appeared to be particularly weak in this sector. Many
industries in the service-producing sector are characterized
by small firms, which makes it very difficult to develop and
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MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Improving Labor Force Statistics
maintain an adequate sample of employers.28 Despite the
difficulties, the cooperating State agencies have increased
sample coverage in service-producing industries by 26,000
additional employer reports. As a direct result of this marked
buildup of sample, the bls expanded its publication of in
dustry detail in the service-producing sector by 82 additional
industries in 1984.29
The Commission recommended that the bls intensify re
search for the implementation of cyclically sensitive bias
adjustment procedures in the establishment survey.30 This
technique was used in the construction industry in 1981. It
was more difficult, however, to develop procedures for other
industries that actually improved the accuracy of current
employment estimates. A major breakthrough in the re
search occurred in 1983, and bls introduced cyclicallysensitive bias adjustment procedures for all industries coin
cident with the introduction of the latest benchmark revision
in 1984.31 The new model used to produce the bias ad
justment factors represents a refinement of the old method
that utilized a 3-year average of the differences between
benchmarks and estimates. The new method uses the 3-year
average of differences, but also relates the bias to the em
ployment change in the sample in the most recent quarter.
Thus, bias factors are now recomputed quarterly, instead
of annually, and are much more sensitive to the economic
cycle as measured by the month-to-month employment
changes in the establishment sample.
Modernizing the establishment survey. The Bureau is cur
rently involved in a full-scale modernization of the estab
lishment survey that encompasses many of the broader
recommendations made by the National Commission on
Employment and Unemployment Statistics. This long-range
project involves the review of all aspects of the program at
the national, State, and area levels. The modernization effort
stems from the fact that the nature of the establishment
survey, as well as the basic cooperative Federal/State re
lationship under which it is conducted, has been relatively
unchanged for the last 30 years. During this period, sig
nificant advances have occurred in the areas of survey design
techniques, data processing, telecommunications, and em
ployer recordkeeping practices. As discussed earlier, the
ongoing survey has benefited from some of these devel
opments, but major changes must await a systematic
redesign.
The objectives of the modernization are:
• to provide data relevant to current public policy uses
and needs;
• to develop a firm statistical foundation for the estab
lishment survey within which objective measures of
current sampling and nonsampling errors can be made
for all survey estimates; and
• to modernize survey operations and procedures, and
telecommunications and software systems.
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Current research testing is focused on collection meth
odology and the control of response/nonresponse errors for
the national preliminary estimates which appear in the monthly
news release. In addition, the collection of new data items
is also being tested, including total payroll— and total hours
for all workers, and part-time employment, hours, and earn
ings for workers in service and trade establishments.
Change in program responsibility. The National Com
mission on Employment and Unemployment Statistics found
that the division of technical and administrative responsi
bilities between the bls and the eta for supervising the
conduct of the establishment survey in the State agencies
led to duplication of effort and conflicting demands. Funds
for the survey were not earmarked or itemized in the State
agencies, making it difficult to assess the adequacy of fund
ing levels. The Commission recommended, therefore, that
bls responsibility for the establishment survey (and several
other Federal/State cooperative statistical programs) should
include sole funding authority, and that allocations to State
agencies for the survey should be earmarked.
After lengthy negotiations within the Department of La
bor, the bls was granted administrative responsibility for
the survey in State agencies. In fiscal 1984, for the first
time, cooperative agreements were signed between the bls
and each State agency specifying survey deliverables. The
deliverables were in the form of specific State performance
relative to program requirements and specified State com
pliance with specifications and standards outlined in the
State Operations Manual. Variances were allowed only when
improvement plans were agreed to that would bring the
State(s) into compliance. This process also resulted in a
funding reallocation based on each State’s required sample
size, the number of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and other
factors.
Although these new administrative procedures have been
in effect for a comparatively short time, their positive impact
is being felt in practically all aspects of the survey. Coupled
with the annual State operations review, the cooperative
agreements offer a degree of control for standardizing pro
cedures and for implementing improvements in States that
was not possible before.
The es -2 0 2 Report
As mentioned earlier, the National Commission on Em
ployment and Unemployment Statistics had expressed con
cern with the timeliness of another of the bls Federal-State
cooperative programs— the es-2 0 2 Report— which is the
primary input to the annual industry employment bench
marks for the establishment survey. The Commission had
also expressed concern with two other aspects of the es202 program— the absence of effective quality control and
the failure to clearly identify funding and committed re
sources.
With regard to quality control, the bls instituted a formal
State operations review procedure in 1980 to analyze all
aspects of es-2 0 2 operations. The purpose of the reviews
was to identify problem areas (notably failure to meet stan
dards contained in the State Operations Manual) and de
velop a plan with the State agencies to remove these
deficiencies over a reasonable period. Initially, the reviews
were conducted annually but are now being done every 2
years with an annual followup to assess progress made in
implementing the previous year’s program improvement
recommendations.
With regard to the funding and resource problems, the
bls and the eta agreed in 1983 to jointly manage the es202 program. Under this agreement, bls and eta share
fiscal and administrative management of the program, while
bls retains full technical responsibilities. Resources for the
program were moved from the overall Unemployment In
surance Program budget and were included among several
programs that are administered under eta ’s Employment
Service Reimbursable Grants process. The net result of this
transfer was that funds for the es-2 0 2 program for each
State are now clearly earmarked, eta and bls jointly de
termine the resources necessary for each State to operate
the program and monitor each State agency’s performance
in the program, and work closely to resolve the “ priority”
problems mentioned earlier.
Local Area Unemployment Statistics program
The National Commission on Employment and Unem
ployment Statistics noted that “ the inadequacy of State and
local data has become especially glaring in recent years as
the use of these data . . . has expanded.” 32 The accuracy
of statewide unemployment statistics was (and still is) being
questioned. In contrast to the national figures, monthly un
employment estimates for most State and local areas are not
based directly on the cps because the sample size in those
areas is not adequate to provide data which meet the min
imum statistical standards on a monthly basis. Under the
current “ two-tiered” system, monthly estimates for 10 large
States and 2 large areas (Los Angeles and New York City)
are based directly on cps estimates because the sample size
in those areas is large enough to support direct use of cps
data. Monthly estimates for the remaining 40 States and all
other subState areas are developed using the so-called
“ Handbook” method. This method is based on (but not
limited to) administrative statistics from the State Unem
ployment Insurance system, which, in turn, are subse
quently adjusted in accordance with annual cps statewide
estimates. The Commission examined several options for im
proving State and local area unemployment estimates and con
cluded that, given the legislative requirements for the production
of monthly estimates for thousands of areas and the prohibitive
cost of expanding the use of cps data to all areas, the contin
uation of a two-tiered system was warranted.
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Based on the Commission’s recommendations, the bls
implemented a research program aimed at improving the
methodology for developing State and area estimates through
the development of a system that would:
• use state-of-the-art statistical techniques for estimation
and testing;
• provide minimum annual estimation errors relative to
the cps ;
• reflect local seasonal patterns and business cycle move
ments;
• incorporate local counts and sample-based estimates;
• be susceptible to rigorous statistical testing;
• be capable of being updated at least annually; and
• be efficient to operate.
Results of ongoing research have shown that the use of
regression techniques for developing subnational estimates,
which the Commission also had supported,33 may well be
more consistent with bls objectives for an accurate, effi
cient, and cost-effective system than the present “ Hand
book” procedures. Thus, recent bls research has focused
on regression methods.
The use of regression techniques for developing estimates
may have several advantages over the “ Handbook” method.
First, and foremost, they result from well-established math
ematical and statistical principles, which make it possible
to hypothesize a causal relationship (that is, a model) be
tween a set of economic variables, estimate the relationship
among those variables, and test not only the adequacy of
the model as a whole, but the individual relationships as
well. Statistical advances in the “ state-of-the-art” could
easily be incorporated into the estimation techniques.
Moreover, the model’s coefficients could be updated pe
riodically to adjust for changes in the interrelations. Re
sults of this research to date have been promising, but
further development and testing, including evaluation by
cooperating State agencies, is necessary before a regres
sion-based system could be substituted for the present
methodology.
A number of the levitan commission recommenda
tions have either been implemented by the bls or are in
the process of being implemented. Changes in the meth
ods by which the bls data are collected, classified, and
made available to the public have resulted in several im
provements in the quality of the labor force statistics pro
gram and will lead to additional improvements in the
future.
Several other recommendations were considered by the
Secretary of Labor, but were deemed unacceptable because
of substantive or cost considerations. Some of these, along
with new issues that have surfaced in recent years, may be
studied again in the next comprehensive review of the Na
tion’s labor force data system.
23
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Improving Labor Force Statistics
■F O O TN O T E S
'National Commission on Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
C o u n tin g th e L a b o r F o rc e (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1979).
2 See John E. Bregger, “ Establishment of a new Employment Statistics
Review Com mission,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , March 1977, pp. 14-20.
3 President’s Committee to Appraise Employment and Unemployment
Statistics, M e a s u r in g E m p lo y m e n t a n d U n e m p lo y m e n t (Washington, Gov
ernment Printing Office, 1962).
M b id ., p. 10.
5I b id .
6These included an availability for work test, a reporting of explicit jobsearch methods used, and a requirement that job-search activity had to
have taken place during the prior 4-week period for classification as un
employed. For a detailed explanation of these changes, see Robert L.
Stein, “ New Definitions for Employment and Unemployment,” E m p lo y
m e n t a n d E a r n in g s , February 1967, pp. 3 -2 7 .
7 See Robert L. Stein, “ National Commission recommends changes in
labor force statistics,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , April 1980, pp. 11-21.
8See Section 13,
p .l
. 9 4 -4 4 4 ,
hr
12987, 94th Cong., Oct. 1, 1976.
9 See C o u n tin g th e L a b o r F o r c e . Because the U .S. statistical system is
decentralized among several Federal agencies, many of the Commission’s
recommendations relate to programs of other agencies. Still others dealt
with legislative concerns of Congress.
10See I n te rim R e p o r t o f th e S e c r e ta r y o f L a b o r on th e R e c o m m e n d a tio n s
o f th e N a tio n a l C o m m is s io n o n E m p lo y m e n t a n d U n e m p lo y m e n t S ta tis tic s
(U .S. Department o f Labor, March 1980); and F in a l R e p o r t o f th e S e c r e ta r y
o f L a b o r on th e R e c o m m e n d a tio n s o f th e N a tio n a l C o m m is sio n o n E m
p lo y m e n t a n d U n e m p lo y m e n t S ta tis tic s (U.S. Department of Labor, Oc
tober 1981).
" S e e Gloria Peterson Green and others, “ Revisions in the Current
Population Survey beginning in January 1983,” E m p lo y m e n t a n d E a r n
in g s , February 1983, pp. 7 -1 5 . Also see John E. Bregger, “ Labor force
data from c p s to undergo revision in January 1983,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e
v ie w , November 1982, pp. 3 -6 .
12For example, the seasonally adjusted total unemployment rate in No
vember 1984 was 7.0 percent, compared with the civilian labor force based
rate o f 7.1 percent. Both measures are highlighted each month in the b l s
Employment Situation news release and in the Commissioner of Labor
Statistics statement on current labor market developments presented before
the Joint Economic Committee of the Congress.
13Data on the school enrollment and the high school graduation and
dropout status o f youth have been collected in supplements to the CPS
conducted each October since 1959.
14C o u n tin g th e L a b o r F o r c e , p. 90.
15More recently, the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982 (P .L . 9 7 300) also mandated the annual issuance of these reports.
16See 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 2123
(Bureau o f Labor Statistics, 1982).
17Data for 1980 are published in 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 : D a ta f o r 1 9 8 0 , PB 83-115345 (National Technical Infor
mation Service, 1982). Information for 1981 is published in 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 2169 (Bureau o f Labor
Statistics, 1983). Data for 1982 are published in 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 2201 (Bureau of Labor Statistics,
1984).
18The new system, developed for the 1980 Census of Population, evolved
24
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from the 1980 Standard Occupational Classification System, which has
been designated as the standard for all occupational data issued by the
U .S. Government.
19For an explanation of the estimation procedures and limitations of
these data, see Deborah Pisetzner Klein, “ Occupational Employment Sta
tistics for 1 9 7 2 -8 2 ,” E m p lo y m e n t a n d E a r n in g s , January 1984, pp. 1 3 16.
20 See ‘ ‘One American Worker in Ten Has Been With the Same Employer
More than 20 Years,” usdl N e w s 8 4 -8 6 , Mar. 1, 1984. More detailed
findings are published in Ellen Sehgal, “ Occupational mobility and job
tenure in 1983,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , October 1984, pp. 18-2 3 . Data
for 1981 were published in J o b T e n u re a n d O c c u p a tio n a l C h a n g e , Bulletin
2162 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1983).
21 C o u n tin g th e L a b o r F o r c e , p. 45.
22I b i d ., p. 55.
23 Random Digit Dialing refers to an experimental, national frame sample
survey using centralized independent interviewing conducted by the Census
Bureau. Methods Development Survey questionnaires were tested through
Random Digit Dialing from October 1983 to September 1984.
24The Monthly Labor Survey, a separate test panel survey o f some
15,000 households, was conducted in 1964-66 to test several Gordon
Committee recommendations. The Monthly Labor Survey panel was merged
with the ongoing c p s sample in 1967. For additional discussion, see John
E. Bregger, “ The Current Population Survey: a historical view and b l s ’
role,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , June 1984, pp. 8 -1 4 .
25 Unemployment rates, based on alternative seasonal adjustment meth
ods, together with explanations of each measure, are published each month
in the Statement of the Commissioner of Labor Statistics before the Joint
Economic Committee of the U .S. Congress.
26 See G r o s s F lo w D a ta F ro m th e C u r r e n t P o p u la tio n S u rv e y , 1 9 7 0 p b 82-174327 (National Technical Information Service, March 1982);
and G r o s s F lo w s in th e L a b o r F o r c e , p b 84-115740 (National Technical
Information Service, 1983). For a comprehensive examination of this issue,
see Ralph E. Smith and Jean E. Vanski, G r o s s C h a n g e D a ta : T h e N e g le c te d
D a ta B a s e , Background Paper No. 11 (National Commission on Employ
ment and Unemployment Statistics, July 1978).
80,
27The proceedings from this conference will be published in a b l s Census Bureau report later this year. The b l s also convened a seminar in
September 1979 on this subject. Edited transcripts of the formal presen
tations and related material are published in U sin g th e C u r r e n t P o p u la tio n
S u r v e y a s a L o n g itu d in a l D a ta B a s e , Report 608 (Bureau of Labor Sta
tistics, 1980).
28 See Thomas J. Plewes, “ Bureau seeks better measures o f service
em ployment,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , November 1982, pp. 7 -1 6 .
29 See John T. Tucker, “ Publication o f employment data for additional
service-producing industries,” E m p lo y m en t a n d E a rn in g s, June 1984, pp. 2 4 27.
30 Because there is a lag in the coverage of new firms which are estab
lished during an expansionary period, the payroll survey often understates
job growth as business conditions improve. The b l s attempts to adjust for
the creation of new firms in the monthly estimation procedures through
the use of bias adjustment factors.
31 See John B. Farrell, “ b l s establishment estimates revised to March
1983 benchmarks,” E m p lo y m e n t a n d E a r n in g s , June 1984, pp. 6 -2 3 .
32C o u n tin g th e L a b o r F o r c e , p. 229.
33I b i d ., p. 261.
Changing employment patterns
of organized workers
The total number ofU.S. workers rose
while the number o f employed
workers who were members
o f unions or employee associations fell
Larry T. A dams
The organized labor movement lost 2.7 million members
among employed wage and salary workers between 1980
and 1984. This was a particularly sharp drop in the number
of union1 members compared with the experience between
the end of World War II and 1980, a period of generally
rising union membership. Because this decline took place
while the nation’s workforce grew, the proportion of em
ployed wage and salary workers who were union members
declined during the period, continuing a trend that began in
the late 1950’s.
The change in the number and proportion of union mem
bers took place while changes in the American economy
were having a particularly severe impact on employment in
goods-producing industries and in transportation, where many
union members worked. Competition from imports was
growing and government deregulation of the transportation
industry in 1980 increased competition from nonunion firms.
The “ smokestack” industries, the traditional source of union
strength, were stagnant or declining, while the less-orga
nized service-producing industries had vigorous employ
m ent g ain s. D uring the recession of 1 9 8 1 -1 9 8 2 ,
unemployment hit hardest in industries where unions were
strong but, to date, the recovery has been most vigorous in
industries and occupations that typically have low levels of
unionization.
Larry T. Adams is a labor economist in the Division of Developments in
Labor-Management Relations, Office of Wages and Industrial Relations,
Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
This article discusses the employment of organized work
ers in May 1980 with averages for the year ended in Sep
tember 1984, the second year of the recovery from the 198182 recession. Data on employment were obtained primarily
from the Current Population Survey (cps ), conducted by
the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.2 In
May 1980, the cps collected data on workers identified by
their membership in unions or by their representation at
work by a union, whether or not they were members. These
data were next collected in January 1983 and have been
collected each month since then.3
It should be noted that the cps union membership data
cover only employed wage and salary workers, not union
members who are self-employed, unemployed, retired, laid
off, or for other reasons are not wage and salary employees.
Thus, they do not represent the total number of people who
belong to unions and employee associations. The last bls
study4 that counted total union membership (regardless of
employment status) was in 1980. That study recorded union
(and employee association) membership at 22,377,000. This
was 2,282,000 or 11 percent more than the 20,095,000
employed wage and salary workers who were union mem
bers recorded by the May 1980 cps . Because bls no longer
collects data on total union membership, a similar compar
ison of membership trends cannot be made for 1984.
The cps data indicate that the number of employed wage
and salary workers belonging to labor unions fell from 20.1
million in 1980 to 17.4 million in 1984— a loss of 2.7
million. During the same time the total number of employed
25
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Trends in Unionization
wage and salary workers increased from 87.5 million to
91.3 million— a gain of 3.8 million. As a result, union
members as a proportion of all employees fell from 23.0
percent in 1980 to 19.1 percent in 1984. (See table 1.)
Between May 1977 and May 1980, union membership
among employed wage and salary workers increased by
about three-quarters of a million, from 19.3 to 20.1 million.
The proportion of employees who were union members,
however, fell from 23.8 to 23.0 percent, a consequence of
the growth of wage and salary employment outpacing the
increase in union membership.
There are no comparable c p s data for earlier years. How
ever, as previously noted, the b l s “ Directory of National
Unions and Employee Associations” 5 is another source of
data on labor organization membership. Unlike the C P S , the
Directory counted membership in labor organizations (unions
only, prior to 1968) regardless of employment status. The
data are, nevertheless, useful in providing a historical back
drop. They show that during the post-World War II era
through 1980, union membership (excluding employee as
sociations) fluctuated from year to year but grew on balance.
It stood at 14.3 million in 1945, peaked at 20.2 million in
1978, and then declined to 19.8 million in 1980. During
the period, the largest decline in membership was 1.2 mil
lion between 1956 and 1961.
Unions and employee associations combined showed a
similar pattern of membership change between 1968 and
1980, the period for which such data are available. From
1968 to 1978, membership in both types of organizations
rose from 20.7 million to 22.9 million, but then fell to 22.4
million in 1980.
During the 1945-1980 period, the number of employed
wage and salary workers increased faster than membership
in unions (excluding employee associations). Consequently
the proportion of workers in unions fell from 35.5 percent
in 1945 to 21.9 percent in 1980. When employee associa
tions are combined with unions, the declines were from
30.5 percent in 1968 to 24.7 percent in 1980. Against this
background, the 1980-84 declines in the number and pro
portion of union members among employed wage and salary
workers indicated by the c p s data appear particularly steep
despite definitional differences between the c p s and the Di
rectory o f National Unions and Employee Associations.
The sharp reversal in the upward trend in the absolute
number of union members in the work force and the ac
celerated decline in the proportion of union members in the
work force between 1980 and 1984 stem from different
employment patterns in the two major sectors— goods and
services— of private industry. Historically the main source
of union members, nonagricultural goods-producing indus
tries (mining, construction, and manufacturing) suffered a
net employment decline of 800,000 workers over the period.
However, in these industries, jobs held by union members
fell 1.9 million while jobs held by nonmembers rose 1.1
million. By contrast, in service-producing industries, which
historically have had a comparatively low proportion of
union members (with the exception of the transportation,
communications, and utilities industries), employment in-
Tab le 1. E m ployed w ag e and salary w orkers and num bers and propo rtions of union m em bers, by in dustry, M ay 1980 and
th e averag e fo r the year ended in S ep tem ber 1984
[Workers in thousands]
Percent of employed wage and salary
workers who were union members
Number of employed wage and salary workers
Total
Inion members
May
1980
Year
ended
September
1984
1 9 8 0 -8 4
change
May
1980
Year
ended
September
1984
All industries1 ............................................................
87,480
91,331
+ 3,851
20,095
17,417
Private sector1 .......................................................
71,424
75,582
+ 4,158
14,332
Goods-producing1 ............................................
M in in g ............................................................
C onstruction.................................................
M anufacturing..............................................
Durable g o o d s .........................................
Nondurable goods...................................
27,590
891
4,437
20,824
12,419
8,405
26,787
903
4,413
20,038
11,980
8,098
-8 0 3
©
©
-7 8 6
-4 7 9
-3 0 7
8,428
285
1,371
6,726
4,328
2,398
Service-producing............................................
Transportation, communications, and
public utilities............................................
Wholesale and retail trade...........................
Finance, insurance, and real estate...........
Service............................................................
43,834
48,795
+ 4,961
5,277
17,287
5,062
16,168
5,414
18,680
5,753
18,948
+ 137
+ 1,393
+ 691
+ 2,780
Government............................................................
16,056
15,748
-3 0 8
Industry
1 9 8 0 -8 4
change
May 1980
Year
ended
September
1984
-2 ,6 7 8
23.0
19.1
11,756
-2 ,5 6 7
20.1
6,569
162
1,072
5,302
3,339
1,963
-1 ,8 5 9
-1 2 3
-2 9 9
-1 ,4 2 4
-9 8 9
-4 3 5
30.5
32.0
30.9
32.3
34.8
28.5
5,904
5,188
-7 1 6
13.5
10.6
-
2.9
2,554
1,746
162
1,439
2,146
1,525
156
1,361
-4 0 8
-2 2 1
©
©
48.4
10.1
3.2
8.9
39.6
8.2
2.7
7.2
-
8.8
1.9
5,661
©
35.9
35.9
5.764
’ Includes agriculture, forestry and fisheries not shown separately.
Note:
2Change not statistically significant.
Source:
26
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-
3.9
15.6
-
4.5
24.5
17.9
24.3
26.5
28.0
24.2
- 6.0
-1 4 .1
- 6.6
- 5.8
- 6.8
- 4.3
Due to rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals.
Current Population Survey.
1 9 8 0 -8 4
percentagepoint
change
-
©
-
1.7
creased by 5 million. However, union membership among
the service industries’ work force fell by 700,000.
In goods-producing industries, both the recession and
import competition (especially in steel, automobiles, and
apparel and textiles) had a sharp effect on employment dur
ing 1980-84. Firms facing declining markets, or market
shares, tried to recoup by reducing labor costs by several
means. Among those that particularly affected employment
of union member workers were greater use of nonunion
facilities, contracting out work previously performed by
union members, and purchasing supplies previously pro
duced in-house by union members from nonunion domestic
sources or foreign suppliers. Furthermore, nonunion com
petition for available work intensified, and it seems likely
that some jobs lost during the 1981-82 recession were re
gained by nonunion firms during the subsequent recovery.
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Within the goods-producing sector, the mining industry
suffered the largest proportional loss of working union mem
bers, 43 percent, as the number of mining employees be
longing to unions fell from 285,000 to 162,000 between
1980 and 1984. Because total employment in the mining
industry was about the same in 1984 (903,000) as in 1980
(891,000), the proportion of union members decreased from
32.0 percent to 17.9 percent.
The other principal components of the nonfarm goodsproducing sector, construction and manufacturing, also had
declines in the number of union member workers and pro
portional union membership. By 1984, employment in the
construction industry had returned to its 1980 prerecession
level of approximately 4.4 million. The number of con
struction industry jobs held by union members, however,
stood at 1.1 million in 1984, down from 1.4 million in
1980; thus, 24.3 percent of total employment in the industry
in 1984 compared with 30.9 percent in 1980 were union
members. As construction slowed during the 1981-82
recession, competition between union and nonunion con
tractors for available work intensified, with many nonunion
contractors bidding for, and receiving, work historically
performed by union contractors. Indeed, some unionized
firms created separate companies that were not unionized.
In a tight market, nonunion companies sometimes could be
more competitive than union firms when bidding on or per
forming on projects. They could, for example, pay less than
union scale, and be more flexible in work practices because
they were not governed by union work rules or staffing
requirements.
In the manufacturing industries, employment in 1984 was
just over 20 million, 800,000 below the 1980 level. The
number of employed union members in manufacturing,
however, declined by about 1.4 million, resulting in the
proportion of union members in manufacturing falling from
32.3 percent in 1980 to 26.5 percent in 1984.
Changes in employment and union membership varied
somewhat among component manufacturing industries,
however. Employment in the durable goods industries de
creased approximately 500,000 between 1980 and 1984.
However, the number of employed union members in these
industries fell by almost 1 million. The primary and fab
ricated metals industries and the nonelectrical machinery
industry accounted for most of the decline in employed
union members. These industries have not fully recovered
from the 1981-82 recession, and have been subject to in
tense import competition. Two other durable goods indus
tries adversely affected by the recession and imports— stone,
clay, and glass products and electrical machinery— had em
ployed union member decreases of approximately 100,000
each.
The nondurable goods industries had a decline of about
300.000 jobs and lost over 400,000 employed union mem
bers. As a result, in those industries, the proportion of union
members fell from 28.5 percent in 1980 to 24.2 percent in
27
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Trends in Unionization
1984. Among the nondurable manufacturers, the chemical
industry had the largest decreases in the number of employed
union members— 109,000— and a decline from 25.8 to 18.3
percent in their proportion of total employment. The textiles
and apparel industries lost approximately 150,000 jobs be
tween 1980 and 1984. The number of employed union mem
bers in these industries decreased by more than 90,000 during
the same period. Consequently, the proportion of union
members fell from 21.3 to 18.2 percent of total employment.
The service-producing sector,6 unlike goods-producing
industries, had strong employment gains between 1980 and
1984. Bolstered by substantial and continuing increases in
health care and business services employment and more
modest, but steady, gains in finance, insurance, and real
estate, the service sector had an employment increase of 5.0
million jobs. The transportation, communications, and pub
lic utilities and wholesale and retail trade industries expe
rienced employment losses during the 1981-82 recession,
but these were more than offset by gains during the sub
sequent recovery.
Despite the overall rise in employment in the service
sector, the number of employed union members fell by more
than 700,000. About half the loss was in the transportation
industry. The deregulation of trucking and airlines brought
intense competition between union and nonunion firms in
these industries.
In Federal, State, and local government, employment
declined by about 300,000, from 16,056,000 workers in
1980 to 15,748,000 in 1984. The number of government
employees who were union members declined by 100,000
to about 5.7 million. The proportion of union members,
therefore, held steady at 35.9 percent. A detailed discussion
of employed union members working for government over
the 1980-84 period is not possible because 1980 data were
not tabulated by level of government.
Employed union members in 1984
The industrial and occupational distribution of employed
union workers that existed in 1984 is the result of long-term
trends as well as recent changes in employment and union
membership. Five out of six union members worked in the
goods-producing industries, the government sector, and
transportation, communications, and public utilities in the
service-producing industries. By comparison, just 1 out of
2 of all wage and salary workers were employed in these
industry groupings. Union members accounted for 30.0 per
cent of the workers in these industries, but only 7.0 percent
of the workers in other industries: wholesale and retail trade;
finance, insurance, and real estate; and services. (See table
2 .)
The distribution of employed union members by occu
pation, sex, and race is influenced by many factors. In
general, however, workers in occupations typically found
in construction, mining, manufacturing, and transportation
28
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are more likely to be union members than those in finance,
trade, or service jobs; employed men are more likely than
employed women to be union members, and employed blacks
are more likely to be union members than employed whites.
In private industry, transportation, communications, and
utilities had the highest proportion of union members— twofifths of the division’s employment. Manufacturing and con
struction, each with about 1 out of 4 of its employees as
union members, ranked second and third, respectively, in
proportion of union members. Mining had about 1 out of 5
employees in unions, and was fourth. Trade, services, and
finance, insurance, and real estate each had fewer than 1
out of 10 employees in unions.
Manufacturing employed 45 percent of union members
who worked in private industry: transportation, communi
cations, and utilities accounted for 18 percent. Despite the
Tab le 2. Em ployed w age and salary w orkers and union m em bers by industry, o ccupation, race, and sex, a verage fo r the
year ended in S ep tem ber 1984
Private sector
Worker
characteristic
All
industries1
Total1
Mining
Construction
Manufacturing
Transportation,
communication
and
public utilities
W holesale
and
retail
trade
Finance,
Insurance,
and real
estate
Service
Govern
ment
Number of employed wage and salary workers (thousands)
All workers:
91,331
75,582
903
4,413
20,038
5,414
18,680
5,753
18,948
15,748
20,540
13,792
227
375
3,330
872
1,580
1,491
5,880
6,749
28,857
13,085
24,555
10,342
177
14
385
24
3,888
370
1,656
180
9,150
3,988
3,850
236
5,355
5,517
4,302
2,744
11,035
10,198
290
2,549
3,886
1,095
1,263
88
990
837
16,081
15,137
194
1,072
8,501
1,604
2,666
46
973
945
17,417
11,756
162
1,072
5,302
2.146
1,525
156
1,361
5,661
3,283
715
4
33
134
97
28
26
391
2,569
3,259
1,982
1,959
902
6
3
11
4
405
130
576
88
603
175
85
29
273
472
1,300
1,080
3,375
3,044
84
749
1,290
626
175
10
108
331
5,430
5,088
64
275
3,333
755
543
5
110
342
Union members by race:
W h ite ......................................
B la c k ......................................
14,482
2,491
9,844
1,605
152
9
964
90
4,452
745
1,829
276
1,312
157
120
27
988
301
4,638
886
Union members by sex:
Male.........................................
Fem ale....................................
11,554
5,863
8,569
3.Î8 7
158
3
1,054
18
4,050
1,252
1,667
479
937
588
78
597
764
2,985
2,676
All occupations2 .........................
Managerial and professional
s p e c ia lty ...........................
Technical, sales, and
adm inistrative...................
S ervice....................................
Precision production, craft,
and repair...........................
Operators, fabricators, and
laborers..............................
Union members by occupation:
All occupations2 .........................
Managerial and professional
s p e c ia lty ...........................
Technical, sales, and
adm inistrative...................
S ervice....................................
Precision production, craft,
and repair............................
Operators, fabricators, and
laborers..............................
77
Percent of employed wage and salary workers who were union members
Union members:
19.1
15.6
17.9
24.3
26.5
39.6
8.2
2.7
7.2
35.9
16.0
5.2
1.7
8.8
4.0
11.1
1.8
1.7
6.7
38.1
11.3
15.1
8.0
8.7
3.3
(3)
2.9
(3)
10.4
35.2
34.8
49.0
6.6
4.4
2.2
12.4
5.1
8.6
30.2
39.4
30.6
29.8
29.2
29.4
33.2
57.2
13.9
11.0
10.9
39.6
33.8
33.6
32.9
25.7
39.2
47.1
20.4
(3)
11.3
36.2
W hite.........................................
B lack.........................................
18.2
26.2
14.8
22.2
17.9
(3)
24.0
26.9
25.4
36.9
38.4
49.3
7.8
11.1
2.3
5.9
6.1
13.4
35.6
39.0
Male
.................................
Female.......................................
23.3
14.0
20.5
9.5
21.4
2.1
26.1
4.9
30.2
18.9
42.5
32.1
9.8
6.4
3.5
2.2
8.7
6.3
38.9
33.1
All occupations2 .........................
Managerial and professional
s p e c ia lty .........................
Technical, sales, and
adm inistrative.................
Service ..............................
Precision production, craft,
and repair.........................
Operators, fabricators, and
laborers...........................
11ncludes agriculture, forestry, and fisheries not shown separately.
Note:
in clu d e s farming, forestry, and fishing not shown separately.
Source:
Due to rounding, sums of Individual items may not equal totals.
Current Population Survey.
3Data do not meet publication standards.
comparatively small proportions of workers in trade and
services who were union members, those two industry di
visions, because they employed large numbers of workers
relative to other industries, together accounted for 1 out of
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4 union member employees in private industry. In contrast,
construction had one of the higher proportions union mem
bership but because of its relatively small size, only about
one-tenth of union members in private industry.
29
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Trends in Unionization
Occupation, sex, and race
By occupation. In private industry, two of the five major
occupational groups7 were relatively heavily unionized. About
a third of the operators, fabricators, and laborers, and nearly
three-tenths of the precision production, craft, and repair
workers were union members. These two occupations were
also among the most highly organized on an industry di
vision basis as well, although the proportions varied. Over
all, less than a tenth of the workers in any of the other
occupational groups were union members. There were,
however, sharp differences among the industry divisions in
union membership by occupation. For example, in trans
portation, communications, and utilities, more than onethird of the employees in every occupational group except
managerial and professional workers were union members,
and nearly three-fifths of the precision production, craft,
and repair workers were union members. On the other hand,
in services, fewer than one-eighth in any of the occupations
were union members.
Compared with private industry, government had little
variation in unionization by occupation. The proportion of
union members ranged from 36 to 40 percent among four
of the five occupational groups. The exception was the tech
nical, sales, and administrative group with 30 percent union
members. Overall, in government, 35.9 percent of the em
ployees were union members. Two occupations— teachers
(except college and university) and protective service work
ers— accounted for a disproportionate share of union mem
bership in government. While making up 23.3 percent of
government employment they constituted 38.3 percent of
union members.
By sex. A greater proportion of men than of women em
ployees were members of unions, 23.3 percent compared
to 14.0 percent. The greater degree of union membership
among men than women occurred in almost every occupation/industry cross classification, and in both the public
and private sectors. The only noticeable exception was the
managerial and professional specialty group in government
where women in these jobs had a union membership rate
of 41.6 percent, compared to 33.9 percent for men. The
comparatively high rate of unionization among women in
these occupations stems from the high proportion of women
who were teachers, and the high degree of unionization
among teachers.
By race. Black workers were more likely than white work
ers to be union members. This was true in virtually every
industrial occupational grouping. The proportion of blacks
in the private sector belonging to unions was 22.2 percent
while 39.0 percent of their counterparts in government were
union members. Among white workers, 14.8 percent in
private industry and 35.6 percent in government were union
members.
"
30
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---------- F O O T N O T E S ---------1“ Union” is defined to include traditional labor unions and employee
associations that represent employees in collective bargaining.
2These data were from the Current Population Survey. (See the appendix
at the end of this article.) The 1980 data were collected in May of that
year and therefore reflect an unknown amount of seasonal variation. The
data referred to as representing 1984 are averages for the 12 months ended
in September of that year, the most recent c p s data available.
3 See Paul O. Flaim, “ New Data on Union Members and Their Earn
in gs,” E m p lo y m e n t a n d E a r n in g s , January 1985.
4 Unpublished Bureau of Labor Statistics data derived from the discon
tinued b l s Bulletin, D ir e c to r y o f N a tio n a l U n io n s a n d E m p lo y e e A s s o c i
a tio n s .
5 The Bureau’s D ir e c to r y o f N a tio n a l U n io n s a n d E m p lo y e e A s s o c ia tio n s
series provides union membership data from 1930 to 1980. The directory
data were obtained directly from the labor unions and employee associa
tions by way of a biennial questionnaire. The responding organizations
provided, through their own determination, the average number o f duespaying members. Unlike the c p s data, which determine the union mem-
bership status of employed persons, the dues-paying member definition
includes unemployed members as well as members on strike, layoff, or
retired. Thus, while data from the directory are not entirely comparable
with those from the Current Population Survey, they are a useful source
for long-term membership trends.
6The service-producing sector consists of: transportation, communica
tions, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance,
and real estate; and services.
7 Employed wage and salary workers were classified in one o f the fol
lowing major occupational groups: Managerial and professional specialty;
technical, sales, and administrative support; service; precision production,
craft, and repair workers; and operators, fabricators, and laborers.
APPENDIX: Use of the cps for this study
The cps is a program of personal interviews conducted
monthly by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. In 1983 and 1984, the monthly sample
consisted of about 60,000 households selected so their mem
bers represent the U.S. population 16 years of age and older.
In one-fourth of the households (those leaving the sample
that month), two special questions are asked concerning the
union status of any household member reported to be in a
wage and salary job. The first question asked if the employee
was a member of a labor organization; the second question—
asked only if the answer to the first was negative— asked
if the employee was represented by a labor organization on
the job. Only the employee’s principal job was considered.
It should be noted that the cps is subject to reporting
errors for these data in addition to the sampling error in
herent in any sample survey. Often, a single member of the
household provides the information for all members of the
residence. It is possible, for example, that the respondent
may not be completely informed on the employed person’s
industry of employment, union membership, or union rep
resentation. For a full description of the cps and a discussion
of the procedure used to collect union membership data, see
the January 1985 issue of Employment and Earnings, a
periodical published by bls .
Industries and occupations. The occupational definitions
used in the May 1980 cps followed the Standard Occupa
tional Classification (soc) introduced in 1972. By contrast,
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the definitions used in computing the averages for the 12month period ended in September 1984 are in accord with
the revised soc introduced with the 1980 Census. The two
sets of data are thus not fully comparable in terms of their
occupational breakdowns. (See U.S. Department of Com
merce, Office of Federal Statistical Policy Standards, Stan
dard Occupational Classification Manual, 1980 (Washington,
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1980).) Industries used
were the conventional industry divisions defined in the Stan
dard Industrial Classification (sic) for 1972. The 1972 sic
was modified for use in this article to identify all government
employees and include them in the public sector rather than
in the industry divisions. This classification is important for
this article because of the strong interest in the organization
of government employees by unions and employee asso
ciations. The industrial classification used in bls Bulletin
2105, Earnings and Other Characteristics o f Organized
Workers, May 1980, did not incorporate this modification
of the sic. Therefore, its industry data are not comparable
to the data in this article, in which unpublished 1980 data,
based on the modified sic, are used for 1980-84 compar
isons. The 1980 and 1984 data also differ in that the 1980
data pertain to the month of May whereas the 1984 data are
averages for the 12-month period ended in September 1984.
(See Office of Management and Budget, Standard Industrial
Classification Manual, 1972 (Washington, U.S. Govern
ment Printing Office, 1972).)
31
Employee income protection
against short-term disabilities
M ost workers in medium and large firms
are protected, but the degree and duration
o f protection vary; usually white-collar workers
get sick leave benefits, while blue-collar workers
are covered by sickness and accident insurance
W
il l ia m
J.
W
ia t r o w s k i
The vast majority of workers in medium and large firms are
protected against loss of income during temporary absences
from work due to nonoccupational sickness or accident.
However, degree of protection and duration of coverage
vary widely. Short-term disability protection was provided
to 94 percent of these employees in 1983 in the form of
paid sick leave plans, or sickness and accident insurance
benefits, or both.
Data on short-term disability protection are from the 1983
Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of the incidence and char
acteristics of employee benefits.1 The survey provides in
formation on the amount of income protection available to
employees, but not on the actual usage of this benefit. Data
were tabulated for all full-time employees and for three
employee groups: professional-administrative, technicalclerical, and production employees. In this article, the first
two groups are frequently combined and labeled white-collar
workers, in contrast with production or blue-collar workers.
Short-term disability protection provided white-collar work
ers differs considerably from that provided blue-collar work
ers. Just over 90 percent of the white-collar employees were
covered by sick leave plans in 1983, more than double the
percentage of blue-collar employees. Conversely, two-thirds
of blue-collar employees had sickness and accident insur-
William J. Wiatrowski is an economist in the Division of Occupational
Pay and Employee Benefit Levels, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
32
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ance plans, compared with only one-third of the white-collar
workers. (See table 1.)
This difference partly reflects contrasting wage payment
practices for white- and blue-collar employees. The former
typically are salaried, and their regular weekly or monthly
pay can be continued during periods of disability. Pay con
tinuation is more difficult to administer for blue-collar work
ers, who usually receive a rate per hour worked rather than
a fixed salary; in such instances, sickness and accident in
surance provides an alternative vehicle for income protec
tion.
Paid sick leave plans
Sick leave, available to two-thirds of all employees cov
ered by the survey, virtually always continues full pay for
at least part of the duration of disability. Sick leave is always
financed entirely by the employer out of operating funds,
rather than through insurance carriers. Full-pay benefits may
be accompanied by benefits at less than full pay for some
additional period, and duration of benefits may vary by
length of service or remain constant over the worklife of an
employee. Benefits are seldom subject to a waiting period,
but may require medical proof of illness. Although sick
leave provisions are generally spelled out in formal plans—
giving employees reasonable assurance of receiving benefits
under the stipulated conditions— some plans are informal,
with benefits at the discretion of a supervisor. Only formal
plans were included in the survey.
Tab le 1. P articipation in short-term disability plans, fu ll
tim e em ployees in m edium and large firm s, 1983
[In percent]
Type of plan
Professional Technical
All
and adminis
and
employees
trative
clerical
Production
T o t a l.................................
100
100
100
100
Sickness and accident insurance
o n ly ...................... .................
Noncontributory1 .................
27
23
4
3
5
5
49
43
Paid sick leave only......................
45
66
63
25
23
26
29
18
17
19
22
14
6
4
3
9
Combined sickness and accident
insurance/paid sick leave. . . .
Noncontributory1 sickness
and accident insurance . .
No sickness and accident
insurance or paid sick leave . .
’ Provided at no cost to employee.
N ote:
Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals.
Sick leave plans provide benefits for a maximum number
of days per year (annual plans), for a maximum number of
days per illness (per-disability plans), or “ as needed.” A
small number of establishments provide employees with
both annual and per-disability sick leave benefits, each in
tended for specific purposes. The following tabulation dis
tributes participants in sick leave plans in 1983 by these
approaches to granting sick leave:
Percent of
participants
All sick leave plans.....................................................
Annual plans............................................................
Per-disability p lan s.................................................
Annual and per-disability plans..............................
“ As needed” plans...............................
100
72
20
6
2
Annual plans. For nearly three-fifths of the workers under
annual plans, the number of sick leave days available per
year was uniform, regardless of seniority. For the remaining
workers, benefits varied with seniority. Duration generally
increased rapidly in the early years of service, with increases
slowing after 5 or 10 years. (Maximum benefits were gen
erally reached by 15 years of service.) Average available
sick leave benefits reflect this gradation. The average num
ber of days at full pay for all employees under annual plans
rose rapidly from 17 days at 1 year of service to 40 days
at 15 years of service; then they increased more slowly to
46 days at 30 years of service. (See table 2.)
At all seniority levels, the average duration of benefits
available per year to professional and administrative em
ployees was more than double those available to production
workers. (See table 2.) The average duration of benefits for
technical and clerical employees equaled that for production
workers at 6 months of service, but rose more rapidly there
after. For all three groups, however, the rates of change
were substantial. The increase in duration of average benefit
between 1 and 15 years of service was 111 percent for
professional and administrative employees, 117 percent for
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production employees, and 171 percent for technical and
clerical employees. Over the next 15 years, increases av
eraged about 1 percent a year for each occupational group.
Per-disability plans. Plans which provide a specified num
ber of sick leave days per illness are most beneficial to
employees with a recurring illness because the full amount
of the benefit is available for each new spell of illness. In
such cases, a new benefit period will begin after an employee
has not used sick leave for a specified period, such as 60
days. Per-disability plans typically tie benefits to length of
service.
The average number of sick leave days allowed under
per-disability plans was greater than under annual plans and
tended to increase sharply with length of service up to 25
years. (See table 2.) The average limit on paid sick leave
days under such plans rose from 46 days at 1 year of service
to 111 days at 15 years. Unlike annual plans, significant
increases continued after 15 years, reaching more than 150
days after 25 years of service.
Variations among occupational groups in allowable days
of per-disability sick leave were not as pronounced as in
annual plans. At short-term service, the sick leave duration
was greater for white-collar employees, but after 20 years
of service, blue-collar workers could receive benefits for
longer periods. (This result, and much of the data on perdisability plans, was influenced largely by one nationwide
plan that covered 45 percent of all production employees in
Tab le 2. A verage num ber of sick leave days allow able at
full pay in m edium and large firm s, by type of plan, 1983
Type of plan
and
length of service
All
participants
Professional
and
administrative
Annual sick leave1 by
length of service:
6 m o n th s ...........
1 year...................
3 years ................
5 years ................
10 y e a rs ..............
15 y e a rs ..............
20 years ..............
25 y e a rs ..............
30 years2 ...........
14
17
21
27
34
40
43
45
46
22
27
32
39
49
57
61
64
65
10
14
19
24
32
38
41
42
43
10
12
14
18
22
26
28
30
30
Per-disability sick
leave3 by length of
service:
6 m o n th s ...........
1 year...................
3 years ................
5 ye a rs................
10 y e a rs ..............
15 y e a rs ..............
20 years ..............
25 y e a rs ..............
30 years2 ...........
41
46
52
73
88
111
132
152
152
49
54
63
80
98
114
129
142
143
33
36
44
66
84
107
127
147
147
37
44
44
71
76
111
145
178
178
Technical
and
clerical
Production
1Employees earn a specified number of days per year. This number may vary by length
of service.
2The average increased slightly for longer periods of service.
Em ployees earn a specified number of sick leave days for each illness or disability.
This number may vary by length of service.
Note : Computation of average excluded days paid at partial pay and workers with
only partial paydays or zero days of sick leave.
33
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Short-Term Disability Protection
per-disability plans.) The increase in average duration of
per-disability sick leave days between 1 and 25 years of
service ranged from 163 percent for professional and ad
ministrative employees to 300 percent or more for technical
and clerical and production employees.
creased— or was eliminated— as years of service increased.
Waiting periods were more common among per-disability
plans and occasionally varied by the nature of a disability.
A limited number of plans waived the waiting period when
an employee was hospitalized.
Other sick leave arrangements. Six percent of the partic
ipants in sick leave plans were under combined annual and
per-disability plans. In such arrangements, the annual plan
covered incidental illnesses, while the per-disability plan
was available for longer absences. For example, a single
unexpected sick day would be covered by the annual plan,
while an anticipated absence, such as a hospital stay, would
be covered by the per-disability plan. Annual plans also
covered the waiting periods which occasionally occurred in
per-disability plans. Also included in the estimates for com
bined plans are the less than .5 percent of participants in
plans that provided sick leave on an annual basis to em
ployees with short-term service and on a per-disability basis
to longer-term employees.
Two percent of the participants in sick leave plans were
eligible for benefits “ as needed.” Such plans were mostly
available to professional and administrative employees. As
with all sick leave arrangements included in this survey,
“ as needed” sick leave was under an established formal
plan, rather than a discretionary action by a supervisor.
Unused sick leave policy. Forty-three percent of all par
ticipants in annual sick leave plans could carryover some
or all of their benefits to succeeding years, or could cash
in unused benefits at the end of the year. The distribution
of participants in these plans by unused sick leave policy
was as follows:
Percent of
participants
Other sick leave features
About one-fourth of the participants in the sick leave plans
analyzed in 1983 were provided benefits at partial pay after
exhaustion of available full-pay days. These partial pay
provisions were more common for workers in per-disability
plans (58 percent of participants) than for workers in annual
plans (18 percent). For example, a plan might provide ben
efits for up to 130 work days (6 months) per disability, with
the number of days at full pay and at half pay varying with
years of service. At 1 year of service, the employee would
receive 10 days at full pay and 120 days at half pay. Each
year thereafter, the plan would increase full pay benefits by
10 days while decreasing half pay benefits by 10 days. After
13 years of service, the employee would received all 6
months of sick leave at full pay. (Two percent of sick leave
plan participants were covered by partial pay provisions
only.)
More than two-thirds of all sick leave plan participants
were required to complete a service requirement before be
coming eligible to receive benefits. Of this group, half had
short eligibility periods, generally 3 months. The remaining
half had to wait either 6 months or 1 year. Production
employees generally had longer eligibility periods than whitecollar workers.
After attaining eligibility, participants may be required
to wait a short period (usually 1 to 3 days) before receiving
benefits for any absence. At 1 year of service, 16 percent
of the participants had a waiting period, which often de
34
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All annual sick leave plans..................................
Carryover........................................................
Cash-in..............................................................
Carryover and cash-in.....................................
Unused benefits lost........................................
100
31
8
4
57
Carryover provisions greatly affect the number of sick leave
days made available to employees. Annual plans that allow
the carryover of unused sick leave from one year to the next
(“ cumulative” plans) generally make fewer days available
each year than noncumulative plans; in effect, employees
must rely on accumulated sick leave to provide protection
for a disability of several weeks. For example, at 1 year of
service, cumulative plans averaged a maximum benefit of
9 days a year, while noncumulative plans averaged 22 days.
The cumulative plans’ average rose to 15 days at 25 years
of service, while the noncumulative plans’ average nearly
tripled to 62 days. (See table 3.) Per-disability sick leave
Tab le 3. A verage num ber of annual sick leave days
allo w ab le at full pay in m edium and large firm s, by
a ccum ulatio n policy, 1983
All
participants
Profes
sional and
adminis
trative
1 year of service:
Cumulative p la n ...................
Noncumulative p la n ..............
9
22
12
33
9
17
7
14
5 years of service:
Cumulative p la n ...................
Noncumulative p la n ..............
12
35
15
50
12
32
9
24
10 years of service:
Cumulative p la n ...................
Noncumulative p la n ..............
14
46
18
63
14
43
10
30
20 years of service:
Cumulative p la n ...................
Noncumulative p la n ..............
15
59
20
78
15
57
11
39
25 years of service:
Cumulative p la n ...................
Noncumulative p la n ..............
15
62
20
83
15
59
12
42
Length of service
and accumulation
policy1
Technical
and
Production
clerical
1Data are for paid sick leave plans with a specified number of days available each
year. Per-disability plans were excluded from this table because only annual sick leave
plans allow the employee to carryover and accumulate unused sick leave from one year
to the next. Instead, the number of days of paid sick leave under a per-disability plan is
renewed for each illness or disability after the employee returns to work for a specified
period.
N ote: Computation of average excluded days paid at partial pay and workers with
only partial paydays or zero days of sick leave.
plans, which renew benefits for each spell of illness, and
“ as needed” sick leave arrangements do not provide for
carryover or cash-in of benefits.
T a b le 4. P articipatio n in sickn ess and accid ent insurance
in m edium and large firm s, by type and duratio n of
paym ent, 1983
[Percent of participants]
Uniform and graduated sick leave
Maximum weeks of coverage
Sick leave plans may provide either uniform benefits for
all employees or benefits that increase with seniority.2 These
two approaches were about equally popular in 1983— 49
percent of participants in annual or per-disability plans were
under arrangements providing uniform benefits, and 51 per
cent had graduated provisions. However, uniform benefits
occurred more often in annual plans, while graduated ben
efits were more common in per-disability plans. Fifty-six
percent of the participants under annual plans had uniform
benefits; 44 percent had graduated benefits. In contrast, only
27 percent of the per-disability plan participants had uniform
benefits, while 73 percent had graduated benefits.
The following tabulation shows separately the average
number of days allowable at full pay in plans with uniform
and graduated provisions:3
All
Uniform Graduated
Length of service
plans
provisions provisions
6 m onths.............................
1 year...................................
5 years.................................
10 years...............................
20 years...............................
30 years...............................
23
27
42
51
65
70
31
33
33
33
33
33
14
20
51
67
96
106
Plans providing uniform benefits averaged 33 days of al
lowable sick leave per year or per disability at 1 or more
years of service. Plans with graduated benefits averaged 20
days at 1 year of service and 106 days at 30 years’ service.
Sickness and accident insurance
Sickness and accident insurance, which is provided through
an insurance company or a trust fund, replaces only part of
earnings, and requires a waiting period before benefits be
gin. Maximum duration of benefits is specified for each
successive disability, thereby resembling provisions of perdisability sick leave plans.
Nearly half of the employees covered by the 1983 survey
had sickness and accident insurance; two-thirds of the bluecollar employees participated, which was double the whilecollar rate. Benefits were almost equally split between plans
that paid a specified percent of the employee’s earnings
(generally 50 to 70 percent), and plans that provided a flat
dollar amount per week, either fixed or varying by salary.
Typically, white-collar workers were under plans paying a
percent of earnings, while production workers were covered
by scheduled dollar benefits. Plans commonly limited the
amount of the weekly benefit, often by providing a dollar
cap on the yield from a percent-of-eamings benefit formula.
Slightly more than half the participants could receive benefit
payments for a maximum of 26 weeks. (See table 4.)
Payments under sickness and accident insurance com
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Type of payment
Total1
13
26
52
Varies
by
service
All t y p e s ......................................
100
13
55
13
13
Fixed percent of e a rn in g s ......................
Less than 5 0 .........................................
50-54 ....................................................
55-59 ....................................................
60-64 ....................................................
65-69 ....................................................
70 or m o re ............................................
47
0
18
1
12
10
4
5
(2)
1
(2)
1
2
1
32
0
14
1
8
7
2
1
—
0
4
—
1
0
1
1
1
Percent of earnings va ries......................
By service...............................................
By length of d is a b ility .........................
By both service and length of
d isa b i'ity............................................
4
2
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
2
1
1
1
—
0
1
—
0
—
1
Fixed weekly dollar benefit......................
Less than $ 6 0 ......................................
$60—$79 ...............................................
$80—$99 ...............................................
27
6
2
3
5
7
3
1
1
1
16
3
1
1
1
—
—
$100—$ 1 1 9 ...............................................
$120—$1 3 9 ............................................
$140 or m o r e ......................................
Weekly dollar benefit va rie s...................
By earnings............................................
By service or length of disability . . .
4
7
22
21
1
0
0
1
0
0
3
3
4
6
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
9
8
0
1
0
—
0
0
1
7
7
0
11ncludes m axim um weeks of coverage not shown separately.
2Less than 0.5 percent.
N ote : Because of rounding, sum s of individual item s may not equal totals. Dash
indicates no em ployees in th is category.
monly are based on an employee’s current hourly rate, mul
tiplied by regularly scheduled weekly hours. Alternative
bases include the highest or average weekly rate over a
specified period.
As noted earlier, sickness and accident insurance benefits
for an illness do not begin until completion of a waiting
period. Insurance plans are not designed for illnesses lasting
a few days, but are for disabilities of longer duration. Med
ical proof of disability is often required before payments
begin. A typical plan would provide benefits beginning the
eighth calendar day for illnesses and on the first day for
accidents and for conditions requiring hospitalization. Ret
roactive payments may cover the waiting perioa once an
employee is off the job a specified number of days, but such
provisions are rare.
Three-fourths of the participants in sickness and accident
insurance plans were required to complete a minimum ser
vice period (usually 3 months or less) before they were
covered by the plan. In most cases, the employer paid the
full cost of the insurance; 17 percent of the participants
contributed toward the cost of their plan. Most employee
contributions were a fixed amount, usually $1 to $2 a month.
Coordinating sick leave with insurance plans
Twenty-three percent of the employees covered by the
survey participated in both sick leave and sickness and ac
cident insurance plans. Such combined benefits were avail35
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Short-Term Disability Protection
able to 27 percent of white-collar employees and 18 percent
of blue-collar employees. Provisions of each combination
plan specified how the amount and duration of payments
from each type of benefit worked in tandem.
One approach used to link sick leave and sickness and
accident benefits is the “ offset” method; that is, benefits
received simultaneously are coordinated so that the total
benefit does not exceed full salary. In a typical case, sick
leave benefits begin immediately and provide full pay; in
surance benefits begin after a waiting period and overlap
the sick leave benefits schedule. Consequently, sick leave
benefits are reduced by the amount of the insurance payment
during the period when both benefits are paid. In other
words, the insurance payment and the reduced sick leave
payment together equal the original sick leave payment,
which generally is full pay. Benefits from each source con
tinue for their specified durations.
Another approach is the “ combined” method, whereby
insurance benefits do not begin until sick leave benefits have
ended. In this case, insurance begins after its waiting period
or immediately after sick leave benefits run out, whichever
is later. The duration of benefits (the sum of each plan’s
schedule of payments) extends beyond the limits of either
insurance or sick leave alone.
Establishments offering sickness and accident insurance
allow fewer sick leave days, on average, than those without
such insurance. At 1 year of service, for example, annual
sick leave plans linked with sickness and accident insurance
in 1983 averaged 12 days per year, while those in estab
lishments without such insurance averaged 21 days. Similar
differences occurred at all service intervals, culminating at
25 years of service in an average of 26 sick leave days when
insurance was also provided and 57 days when insurance
was not provided. (See table 5.)
Variations by industry and region
The sample for the Employee Benefits Survey is not de
signed to permit analysis of data by industry or geographic
location. Nonetheless, information from the Bureau of La
bor Statistics Area Wage Surveys does permit such com
parisons on the incidence of short-term disability benefits.5
These wage surveys provide data on the incidence of benefits
(but not detailed provisions) for plant and nonsupervisory
office workers in six broad industrial divisions: manufac
turing; transportation, communications and other public util
ities; wholesale trade; retail trade; finance, insurance, and
real estate; and selected services. Data are also available
for four regions— Northeast, South, North Central, and West.
(See table 6.)
Nearly half of the firms within the scope of the Area
Wage Surveys have fewer than 100 employees.6 Partly be
cause small firms are less likely to provide sick leave or
sickness and accident insurance, the overall incidence of
short-term disability coverage is somewhat lower in the Area
36
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Wage Survey results for all metropolitan areas than in the
Bureau’s national survey of employee benefits in medium
and large firms. Differing approaches to State temporary
disability insurance benefits also contribute to this result.
New York and New Jersey employees are reported in the
Area Wage Survey program as having sickness and accident
insurance benefits only if their temporary disability insur
ance contributions exceed State requirements, or if em
ployee benefits exceed requirements of the law. Conversely,
the Employee Benefits Survey counts as sickness and ac
cident insurance participants all workers whose employers
make any temporary disability insurance contributions.
However, these differences are found mainly among bluecollar workers, with 82 percent having coverage in the Area
Wage Survey establishments, compared with 91 percent in
the study of medium and large firms. The corresponding
figures for white-collar workers are 94 percent and 97 per
cent.
Among plant workers, the overall incidence of short-term
disability plans was highest in public utilities (93 percent
of the workers) and lowest in services (53 percent). Sickness
and accident insurance was most prominent in manufactur
ing and least likely to be found in services. By region, short
term disability protection financed by employers was more
prevalent in the Northeast (84 percent of the workers cov
ered) and North Central States (91 percent covered) than in
the West (74 percent) and South (78 percent). Reflecting
the effect of California’s Disability Insurance Program, the
West had the lowest incidence of employer financed, short
term disability coverage, but the highest incidence of sep
arate sick leave plans.7
T a b le 5. A verage num ber of annual sick leave days
allo w ab le at full pay in m edium and large firm s, by
a vailab ility of sickn ess and accid ent insurance, 1983
All
participants
Profes
sional and
adminis
trative
Technical
and
clerical
Production
1 year of service:
With insurance...........
Without insurance . . .
12
21
19
31
12
15
7
16
5 years of service:
With insurance...........
Without insurance . . .
16
33
27
46
17
27
27
10 years of service:
With insurance...........
Without Insurance . . .
20
43
33
57
23
37
10
34
20 years of service:
With insurance...........
Without insurance . . .
25
54
40
71
29
47
12
43
25 years of service:
With insurance...........
Without insurance . . .
26
57
42
75
30
49
13
45
Length of service
and availability
of insurance1
8
1Per-disability plans are excluded because only 3 percent of the employees covered
by the survey were under both per-disability sick leave plans and sickness and accident
Insurance. Twenty percent of the employees had annual sick leave and sickness and
accident insurance.
Note: Computation of average excludes days paid at partial pay, and zero days of
annual sick leave.
Tab le 6. P ercent o f fu ll-tim e em ployees in establishm en ts reporting short-term d isability plans, by in dustry d ivision and re
gion, all m etrop olitan areas, 1 9 8 0 -8 2
Industry division
Type of worker
and plan
Region
All
industries
Manufac
turing
Public
utilities
W holesale
trade
Retail
trade
Finance,
insurance,
and real
estate
23
36
16
52
37
17
36
21
31
21
43
8
Selected
services
North
east
South
North
Central
West
28
11
21
33
26
32
11
61
44
10
Plant workers:
Sick leave only.......................................................
Sickness and accident Insurance o n ly ..............
Sick leave and sickness and accident
In su ra n ce ..........................................................
23
20
39
31
21
32
14
30
20
19
20
T o ta l...............................................................
82
88
93
88
73
83
53
84
78
91
74
Office workers:
Sick leave only.......................................................
Sickness and accident insurance o n ly ..............
Sick leave and sickness and accident
in s u ra n c e .........................................................
47
9
33
15
46
6
49
9
44
16
60
5
53
6
41
11
52
8
39
14
65
4
38
46
44
33
29
32
32
42
33
43
26
T o ta l...............................................................
94
94
96
91
89
97
91
94
93
96
95
N ote: Unpublished data from the Area Wage Survey program, collected over a 3-year period in 70 selected metropolitan areas, and weighted to represent all metropolitan areas of the
United States as of February 1974. In this program, If a majority of workers In an establishment were covered by a plan, all workers were considered covered. If less than a majority had
the plan, none was considered to have the plan.
Industrial and regional differences were not as pronounced
for office workers. Sick leave, either alone or coordinated
with sickness and accident insurance, was the predominant
benefit for these employees; fewer than 10 percent of the
office workers had sickness and accident insurance only.
Additional disability benefits
Occupational disabilities are almost universally covered
by workers’ compensation laws. In the three States (New
Jersey, South Carolina, and Texas) without compulsory
workers’ compensation laws, rejection of coverage is suf
ficiently difficult to guarantee almost complete coverage.
Employers may also provide additional coverage to supple
ment workers’ compensation. Benefits from these supple
mentary plans were not included in the short-term disability
analysis.
Permanent disabilities may be covered by an employer’s
long-term disability insurance plan or disability benefits from
a private pension plan. In addition, social security benefits
are available to individuals having a specified amount of
“ covered employment” and meeting the prescribed defi
nition of disability. Social security benefits begin after 5
months of disability. Long-term disability benefits are be
yond the scope of this discussion.8
During the period of nonoccupational short-term disabil
ity, seniority rights continue which may affect such future
events as promotions, layoffs, and retirement benefits. Sim
ilarly, employer-sponsored health and welfare insurance
benefits generally continue during periods of temporary dis
ability; and waiver-of-premium provisions are common in
group life insurance policies, exempting both the employer
and the disabled employee from paying premiums. Provi
sion for continuation of these benefits often is not included
in the short-term disability benefit plan, and is specified
only in seniority, health insurance, and pension plan de
scriptions. Consequently, it was not feasible to review these
provisions, because the analysis was limited to short-term
disability benefit plan documents.
□
■ F O O TN O T E S
1
The Employee Benefits Survey is conducted annually in private sector
establishments in the contiguous United States employing at least 50, 100,
or 250 workers, depending on the industry. Industrial coverage in
cludes: mining; construction; manufacturing; transportation, communi
cations, and electric, gas, and sanitary services; wholesale trade; retail
trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and selected services. Findings
o f the 1983 survey are reported in E m p lo y e e B e n efits in M e d iu m a n d L a r g e
F irm s, 1 9 8 3 , Bulletin 2213 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1984). In addition
to short-term disability plans, the survey explores the incidence and detailed
characteristics o f health, life, and long-term disability insurance; private
retirement pensions; and a variety of paid time-off items. It also reports
on the extent o f eligibility for numerous other benefits. For information
on the background and conduct of the survey, see Robert Frumkin and
William Wiatrowski, “ Bureau of Labor Statistics takes a new look at
employee benefits,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , August 1982, pp. 4 1 -4 5 .
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2The Federal employees sick leave system, providing 13 days a year
regardless o f length of service, is an example of uniform benefits.
3 Average number of sick leave days includes annual and per-disability
sick leave plans. Figures are full days only, disregarding any waiting period
or carryover from previous years. Per-disability sick leave days are those
available for the first illness of a year; “ as needed” sick leave plans were
excluded from tabulation.
4Five States (California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode
Island) have temporary disability insurance laws providing for benefits
s:milar to those under private sickness and accident insurance. Because
employees pay the full premium for State disability insurance in Rhode
Island and California (except where employers substitute private coverage),
the plans of these two States are excluded from b l s surveys. State disability
plans in New Jersey and New York are included in the sickness and accident
37
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Short-Term Disability Protection
insurance portion o f the Employee Benefits Survey because employers pay
at least part of the cost. Employees generally pay a fixed percent of earnings
for coverage and the employer pays the remainder o f the premium, but
some employers in New York pay the entire cost. (Hawaii also requires
employers to pay part o f the cost of the program, but is outside the scope
o f the Employee Benefits Survey.)
5 Area Wage Surveys are conducted in a sample o f 70 metropolitan areas
designed to represent all metropolitan areas of the United States. In each
area, wage data are collected annually and the incidence of selected em
ployee benefits is reported every third year. The Area Wage Survey benefit
data provided here were gathered during the 1980-82 period and were
weighted to represent all metropolitan areas, combined.
6The Area Wage Surveys are conducted in establishments with a min
imum o f 50 or 100 employees, depending on the industry and area.
7 Under the California Disability Insurance Program, employees con
tribute to a State fund which provides cash benefits to nearly all employees
who may be temporarily disabled by nonwork-connected injury or illness,
eliminating the need for employer paid sickness and accident insurance.
Many employers, however, provide sick leave coverage to coordinate with
the State plan.
8 Social security disability benefits are offset by any workers’ compen
sation received. Employer-provided benefits generally are reduced by other
disability payments, including social security, to avoid duplication. For a
further discussion of permanent disability benefits, see Donald Bell and
William Wiatrowski, “ Disability benefits for employees in private pension
plans,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , August 1982, pp. 3 6 -4 0 .
Unions in transition
The 1930’s ushered in the modem union era and the rebirth of collective
bargaining. In the early war and postwar years of the 1940’s, the unions
were able to consolidate their gains of the 1930’s and demonstrate that
they were here to stay. By the 1950’s, the law and a resurgent management
were able to slow the growth of union membership. The inability of mem
bership to keep pace with the expanding white-collar sector continued to
be the critical element in the slowdown. In the 1960’s, unions penetrated
the public sector, including large numbers of white-collar employees. As
in Western Europe, the inflation years of the 1970’s made union power
one of the targets of wage and incomes policy in the United States. The
1980’s seem to be shaping up as the decade of union retrenchment and
retreat. The question: Will the 1980s be just another cyclical downturn,
or will they mark a long-term change in union strategy from offense to
defense?
— Ja c k B a r b a s h
“ Trade Unionism from Roosevelt to Reagan,”
The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,
May 1984, p. 12.
38
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Communications
Estimating lost future earnings
using the new worklife tables
G eorge C. A lter and W illiam E. B ecker
Since the 1982 publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
updated worklife tables, articles have appeared in the Monthly
Labor Review and several legal journals regarding the use
of such tables in liability proceedings.1 As stated in these
articles expert witnesses in wrongful death and injury liti
gation are interested primarily in using the increment-dec
rement worklife tables to find the expected number of years
an individual would have been active in the work force had
an injury or death not occurred. This expected worklife is
then used to calculate the present value of “ expected” earn
ings lost between the date of death or injury and the date
of expected final separation from the work force.
It will be shown here that such methods do not yield a
mathematically defensible expectation of future earnings,
because the sum of earnings over the expected worklife need
not equal the sum of expected yearly earnings over life. A
model based on the increment-decrement worklife table is
developed for calculations of expected earnings in each year
of possible life. This model is then modified to obtain the
discounted present value of expected future earnings. The
final section of this article presents our calculations of ex
pected earnings for representative individuals who die prior
to age 85, and compares them with those reported by David
Nelson and Kenneth Boudreaux in past issues of the Re
view.2
Expected earnings
It is a simple exercise to show that the sum of earnings
over expected worklife need not equal the sum of expected
yearly earnings over life. For instance, assume that a cohort
of 1,000 people are initially active in the work force but,
at the end of the first year, 400 become inactive. Similarly,
in the second and third years, 300 become inactive at the
end of each year. The expected worklife for this hypothetical
cohort is 1.9 years. If individual earnings in each subsequent
George C. Alter is an assistant professor of history and William E. Becker
is a professor o f economics at Indiana University, Bloomington.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
year are projected to be $25,000, $30,000, and $35,000,
then, using current techniques, an expert witness would
conclude that expected earnings are $52,000 ( = $25,000
+ 0.9 x $30,000), ignoring discounting and other ad
justments. But such a calculation overlooks the interaction
of the probability of being active in each year and the earn
ings which are projected for the year. The true mathematical
mean, or expected earnings, is $53,500 (= 0.4 x $25,000
+ 0.3 x $55,000 + 0.3 x $90,000).
For pedagogical ease, the above example assumes that
the hypothetical cohort of 1,000 remains alive for all 3 years.
It does not allow for both movement into and out of the
work force. These complications affect the calculation of
expected income. Using all the information now available
in the increment-decrement worklife tables, the true math
ematical expected earnings of an active individual at age x
can be derived in the following manner.
Let qx represent the probability (or more precisely, the
relative frequency) of death in the year following exact age
x. Let lx represent the number of survivors at age x. At each
age, survivors can be divided into those who are active in
the work force and those who are not. In addition, at each
age, a survivor who is active may stay active or leave the
work force, while someone who is inactive may stay inactive
or move into the work force. Let the four relevant proba
bilities (or relative frequencies) for work force transition be
represented as follows:
!pA
= the probability that someone who is inactive at
age x will be active at age x + 1;
!Px
= the probability that someone who is inactive at
age x will be inactive at age x + 1;
Ap[ = the probability that someone who is active at age
x will be inactive at age x + 1; and,
ApA = the probability that someone who is active at age
x will be active at age x + 1
The above transitional probabilities are conditional on
survival from age x to age x + 1. Thus:
*pA + !Px = 1, and APx +
ApA
= 1
Assuming that the probability of death and the probabilities
of transition between work force states are independent, the
39
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Communications
number of inactive survivors at age jc + 1 (that is, Ilx+1)
and the number of active survivors at age jc + 1 (Alx+1)
can now be defined as:
' t +i
A /Xtl
= (1 - qx) ('/x H +
= (I - qx)
(W
and
+ A/XAPA)
where /x = \ + A/x, and /x+ 1 = /x (1 - qx).
As in the published increment-decrement worklife tables,
these formulas yield:
Expected workm
life for persons = (1/A/X) X [0 ~ qx+ n)
active at age jc
n=0
(A/x+„ V +„ + 0.5A/x+nApx+n
1,000 and Al16 = 0. The associated !lx and Alx can then be
computed from these two initial values. If one starts at age
17, or calculates the table for persons out of the work force
at age 16, all of the Hx and Alx values will change.
Expected earnings at age x are calculated by introducing
annual earnings. Let total annual earnings in year Jc(yx) be
paid in two equal biannual payments. The payments to per
sons changing work force status during a year can be ap
proximated by assuming that a person who becomes inactive
or dies is active for the first half of the year, and that a
person who is inactive and becomes active has earnings in
the last half of the year. Under these conditions:
Expected earnings
m
for active person = (1/A/X)
[(1 - qx+ n)
at age jc
n=0
/A /
ApA
V (x + n ‘ x + n ;x + n
+ 0.5 i/x+oipa+„) + 0.5A/x+nqx+n]
where M is the number of ages remaining after age x until
the cohort is extinguished.
+ 0.5A/x+ nApJ+nyx+ n
The above formula for expected worklife is based on a
cohort that dies out over jc + M + 1 years. At age jc , for
each of the remaining M + 1 years, there are four terms
over which yearly summation takes place. The first three
terms refer to persons who survive to the next year of age.
Among these survivors there are those who are active at
the start of the year and stay active for a full year. For
this group (1 — qx+n)(Alx+nAPA+n) is the total num
ber of active years accumulated between ages x + n
and x + n + 1. Persons who survive the year, but move
from active to inactive or from inactive to active status,
are assum ed to be active for o n e-h alf year. Thus
(1 ~<lx+n)(0-5Alx+nAPIx+n) and ( l - q x+„)(0.5Ilx+nIPA+n)
are the total numbers of active years accumulated in year x
+ n by individuals who live to age jc + n + 1, and who
make midyear work force transitions from either active to
inactive or inactive to active status, respectively. Persons
who were active at the beginning of the year and die in the
interval are also considered active for one-half year. Thus,
0.5Alx+nqx+n is the total number of active years between
years jc + n and jc + n + 1 for individuals who are assumed
to die at age jc + n + 0.5.
Unlike the simpler mortality tables, the increment-dec
rement model poses an added complication in the formu
lation of expected worklife which has implications for
calculating expected earnings: The values for survivors by
age and work force status depend upon the age at which
one begins the computations and the distribution of persons
by work force status at that age. In a mortality table, any
arbitrary value for l0 will yield the same expectation of life
for each successive age. In the increment-decrement table,
one must set either the active or inactive population to zero
at the starting age. For example, the expected working life
for persons inactive at age 16 is computed by setting 7(16 —
+ 0.5 ^x+nfix + nyx +ni
40
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+ 0.5I/x+nIpAx+nyx+n)
As does the formula for expected worklife, this formula for
expected earnings describes four groups who work (or, more
precisely, are active) for different portions of the year be
tween ages jc + n andjc -I- n + 1. Years of work, however,
are now evaluated in terms of total dollars earned by each
of the four groups.
The above formula for calculating expected earnings in
volves an assumption either that time has no value, or that
productivity and inflation gains are exactly offset by the
market rate of interest. While some expert witnesses still
advocate the use of such a “ total offset method,” 3 courts
today will accept the discounting of future earnings to reflect
the net time value of money.4 The expected earnings equa
tion can be modified to accommodate discounting by defin
ing either a continuous compounding rate (r) or its annual
discount rate equivalent (d), that is, 1 + d)~n = enr. (For
instance, if the annual rate of discount is 11 percent, its
continuous compounding equivalent is 10.44 percent.) The
present value of expected earnings for an active person at
age jc , in continuous discounting form is:
M
d / Ay 2 i d - qx+„)
n=0
[0.5a/x+ , V
x+nyx+ n(e<n+ 5» + e<"+ »')
+ 0 .5 A/x+nV x+ nyx+ne«n+ 5>r
+ 0.51/x+n,pAx+ nyx+ ne(o+ l)r]
+ 0.5A/x+ nqx+ nyx+ne<n+1>'}
Corresponding expressions for the expected worklife, ex
pected earnings, and present value of expected earnings for
persons inactive at age jc can be derived in a similar way.
Calculation procedures
In her comment on Boudreaux’s and Nelson’s methods
for adjusting the worklife tables to estimate lost earnings,
Shirley Smith notes that “ frequently, economists want to
look past the lifetime-worklife expectancy figure to study
the timing of the potential earnings stream.” Here we argue
that in the calculation of expected lost earnings it is not
sufficient to know the “ median number of years until final
separation,” as defined by Nelson; to adjust this figure by
assuming that activity is evenly spread over the entire period
until retirement, as suggested by Boudreaux; or to know
any other single number that represents the possible length
of time that a person will be active. A true mathematical
expectation of lost earnings requires knowledge of the tim
ing of probable activity and of the potential (nominal or
discounted) earnings during the period of probable activity.
Because the timing of probable activity is sensitive to
both the initial work force status and the age of an individual,
our development of the true mathematical expected earn
ings, unlike the approaches of Nelson and Boudreaux, em
phasizes an active or inactive starting point. To assess the
consequences of this distinction, consider the example pro
vided by Boudreaux. A man age 30 with annual earnings
of $25,000 (using a current market interest rate of 11 percent
and an annual earnings increase of 4.5 percent) has a present
Tab le 1.
value of “ expected” earnings of $332,913, by the worklife
table estimate of 29.2 years of remaining worklife for the
entire population. Using Nelson’s 31.5 years to final sep
aration criterion, the present value of “ expected” earnings
is $341,857. Boudreaux’s 7.3-percentage reduction crite
rion drops this estimate to $316,901. However, our cal
culations show that the true mathematical present value of
expected earnings for an active man at age 30 is $319,397,
and for an inactive man at age 30 it is $273,535.
In some cases, one might wish to ignore initial work force
status. A weighted average of our active and inactive es
timates can be obtained by using the proportions of men
active and inactive at the initial age. In the above example
of a man at age 30, this average present value of expected
earnings is $316,502, which compares favorably to Boud
reaux’s estimate of $316,901. Given the ease of using Boud
reaux’s adjustment method, one might question the practical
value of using our more complicated true mathematical ex
pectation method.
Unfortunately, Boudreaux’s approximation is close to the
true mathematical expectation only for younger men. His
assumption that inactivity is spread evenly over the entire
period until retirement is inappropriate at older ages, when
the proportion that are inactive rises rapidly. For a younger
person, changes in expected earnings caused by increasing
probabilities of inactivity later in life are mitigated by high
P robabilities of w ork force transitio ns fo r m en, by age and w ork fo rce status
Rate of —
Active at age x
Age
Survival
Death
Inactive at age x
Active
Inactive
Inactive
Active
16
17
18
19
?n
0 99870
0 99848
0 99832
0 99821
0.99810
0
0
0
0
0
00130
00152
00168
00179
00190
0.73633
0.83598
0.82814
0.82234
0.86112
0.26367
0.16402
0.17186
0.17766
0.13888
0.70348
0.73269
0.68197
0.63228
0.60466
0.29652
0.26731
0.31803
0.36772
0.39534
21
??
2.1
24
25......................
26
27
2ft
29
ftil
0 99800
0 99793
0 99792
0 99795
0.99799
0 99803
0 99807
0 99810
0 99812
0.99814
0.00200
0 00207
0 00208
0 00205
0.00201
0 00197
0 00193
0 00190
0 00188
0 00186
0.88646
0.90865
0 92901
0 94483
0.95668
0.96503
0 97052
0.97424
0.97614
0 97908
0.11354
0.09135
0.07099
0.05517
0.04332
0.03497
0.02948
0.02576
0.02386
0.02092
0.59445
0.59370
0.58156
0.57096
0.56366
0.56330
0.56318
0.56642
0.58214
0.60012
0.40555
0.40630
0.41844
0.42904
0.43634
0.43670
0.43682
0.43358
0.41786
0.39988
31
32
33
34
35......................
36
37
38
39
40
0 99814
0 99811
0 99803
0 99792
0.99778
0 99761
0 99743
0 99723
0 99700
0 99675
0 00186
0 00189
0 00197
0 00208
0.00222
0 00239
0 00257
0 00277
0 00300
0 00325
0.98082
0.98212
0.98295
0.98414
0.98545
0.98600
0.98645
0.98710
0.98629
0.98477
0.01918
0.01788
0.01705
0.01586
0.01455
0.01400
0.01355
0.01290
0.01371
0.01523
0.61932
0.65411
0.67299
0.68539
0.70813
0.73233
0.75924
0.75448
0.75752
0.75835
0.38068
0.34589
0.32701
0.31461
0.29187
0.26767
0.24076
0.24552
0.24248
0.24165
41
42
43
44
4 5 ......................
46
47
48
49
50......................
0 99645
0 99612
0 99575
0 99533
0.99488
0 99438
0 99382
0 99319
0 99249
0.99172
0.00355
0 00388
0 00425
0 00467
0.00512
0 00562
0 00618
0 00681
0 00751
0.00828
0.98388
0.98391
0.98295
0 98170
0.98111
0 98059
0.97837
0.97601
0.97529
0.97388
0.01612
0.01609
0.01705
0.01830
0.01889
0.01941
0.02163
0.02399
0.02471
0.02612
0.75415
0.75912
0.76601
0.76927
0.77840
0.78560
0.81025
0.82041
0.83038
0.83728
0.24585
0.24088
0.23399
0.23073
0.22160
0.21440
0.18975
0.17959
0.16962
0.16272
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Rate of —
Status in next year for survivors —
Status in next year for survivors —
Active at age x
Age
Survival
Inactive at age x
Death
Active
Inactive
Inactive
Active
51...................
52...................
53...................
54...................
55...................
56...................
57...................
58...................
59...................
60...................
0.99090
0.99005
0.98919
0.98829
0.98737
0.98634
0.98509
0.98353
0.98174
0.97974
0.00910
0.00995
0.01081
0.01171
0.01263
0.01366
0.01491
0.01647
0.01826
0.02026
0.97211
0.97115
0.96918
0.96582
0.96144
0.95790
0.94989
0.93407
0.91500
0.88540
0.02789
0.02885
0.03082
0.03418
0.03856
0.04210
0.05011
0.06593
0.08500
0.11460
0.84637
0.86455
0.88187
0.89427
0.89962
0.90767
0.91160
0.91543
0.92765
0.93765
0.15363
0.13545
0.11813
0.10573
0.10038
0.09233
0.08840
0.08457
0.07235
0.06235
61...................
62...................
63...................
64...................
65...................
66...................
67...................
68...................
69...................
70...................
0.97769
0.97571
0.97389
0.97217
0.97042
0.96846
0.96612
0.96325
0.95987
0.95623
0.02231
0.02429
0.02611
0.02783
0.02958
0.03154
0.03388
0.03675
0.04013
0.04377
0.85444
0.82607
0.79895
0.76808
0.73537
0.71640
0.70816
0.69670
0.69525
0.68951
0.14556
0.17393
0.20105
0.23192
0.26463
0.28360
0.29184
0.30330
0.30475
0.31049
0.94056
0.94039
0.94124
0.94353
0.94273
0.94702
0.95150
0.95379
0.95789
0.96207
0.05944
0.05961
0.05876
0.05647
0.05727
0.05298
0.04850
0.04621
0.04211
0.03793
71...................
72...................
73...................
74...................
75...................
76...................
77...................
78...................
79...................
80...................
0.95239
0.94816
0.94351
0.93844
0.93297
0.92714
0.92100
0.91461
0.90805
0.90148
0.04761
0.05184
0.05649
0.06156
0.06703
0.07286
0.07900
0.08539
0.09195
0.09852
0.68370
0.67571
0.66528
0.66368
0.64235
0.46071
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
0.31630
0.32429
0.33472
0.33632
0.35765
0.53929
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
0.96371
0.96540
0.96817
0.97240
0.96161
0.56857
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
0.03629
0.03460
0.03183
0.02760
0.03839
0.43143
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
81 ...................
82...................
83 ...................
84...................
85...................
0.89513
0.88943
0.88503
0.88298
0.00000
0.10487
0.11057
0.11497
0.11702
1.00000
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
1.00000
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
0.00000
41
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Communications
discounting of expected earnings in distant years. For older
people, the mitigating effect of discounting is not present.
Thus, for a man age 45 with the same earnings stream used
above, Nelson’s and Boudreaux’s methods of estimating the
present value of potential earnings yield $256,044 and
$242,217, respectively. Our mathematical expectations are
$236,626 for an active man, $155,310 for an inactive man,
and $231,325 for the weighted average of active and inactive
persons.
o u r m e t h o d o f c a l c u l a t i o n requires two modifications
of the increment-decrement worklife tables published by
b l s . 5 First, the probabilities of transition into and out of
the work force at each age must be converted to probabilities
that are conditional on survival. Second, conditional prob
abilities of transition between active and inactive work force
status must be added at age 76 to close the table. The relevant
probabilities of transition are provided in table 1. A com
puter program for calculating the present value of expected
earnings based on these transitional probabilities is available
from the authors.
□
---------- F O O T N O T E S ----------
Acknowledgment: The authors thanks Shirley J. Smith of the Bureau
o f Labor Statistics for critical comments and helpful suggestions on an
earlier draft o f this article.
1See Shirley J. Smith, “ New worklife estimates reflect changing profile
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, “ Using the appropriate worklife estimate in court proceedings,”
M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , October 1983, pp. 31-32; David M. Nelson, “ The
use o f worklife tables in estimates of lost earning capacity,” M o n th ly
L a b o r R e v ie w , April 1982, pp. 30-31; 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; Gerald P. Martin, “ New Worklife Ex
pectancy Study Favors the D efense,” F o r th e D e fe n s e , March 1983, pp.
3 -4 ; and Melvin Borland and Robert Palsinelli, “ Equalizing Wage Dif
ferences, Worklife Expectancy Tables and Wrongful Death Litigation,”
T r ia l L a w y e r 's G u id e , Summer 1983, pp. 213-19.
2 See Nelson, “ The use of worklife tables” ; and Boudreaux, “ A further
adjustment needed.”
3 See Michael T. Brady, “ Inflation, Productivity, and the Total Offset
Method o f Calculating Damages for Lost Future Earnings,” T h e U n iv e rs ity
o f C h ic a g o L a w R e v ie w , Fall 1982, pp. 93-1 2 2 .
4Edwin B. Wainscott, “ Computation of Lost Future Earnings in Per
sonal Injury and Wrongful Death A ction,” I n d ia n a L a w R eview ^ Summer
1978, pp. 6 4 8 -9 1 .
5 Shirley J. Smith, T a b le s o f W o rk in g L ife : T h 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, November 1982), pp.
1 -6 5 .
Estimating lost future earnings using
the new worklife tables: a comment
S h ir l e y
J.
S m it h
George C. Alter and William E. Becker provide yet another
valuable contribution to the ongoing dialog on estimates of
Shirley J. Smith is a demographic statistician in the Division of Data
Development and Users’ Services, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
42
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
lost earnings due to wrongful injury or death. The authors
have written a computer program replicating the b l s worklife model, expanding it to manipulate earnings projections
by age, and allowing selection of a discount rate to estimate
the present value of those lost future earnings.
I have no reservations about the worklife component of
their model, which is nearly identical to our own. They do
use a different closure procedure (for persons age 75 and
over) than was employed in the b l s 1977 estimates. Our
closure procedure has now been modified for better internal
consistency. Alter and Becker also redefine transition rates,
making them conditional on survival. Mortality is factored
into their model somewhat differently than it is in the b l s
procedure. However this is a difference of form rather than
substance, the results of the two techniques being virtually
identical.
The authors’ primary purpose in replicating the b l s model
is to draw out some of its unpublished findings having to
do with the age-by-age timing of forgone labor force in
volvement for persons of a known labor force status at the
time of injury. Readers involved in liability claims have
expressed considerable interest in this type of data. As I
noted in an earlier issue of the Review,* it is possible to
derive population-based estimates of worklife during each
age from the published tables. Alter and Becker reassert the
need for estimates specific to the labor force status of the
claimant.
The b l s model produces such estimates, but we have not
found it feasible to publish them as part of the Bureau’s
worklife bulletin. (Status-specific estimates by sex, for 60
initial ages, would add at least 120 pages of tables to an
already lengthy publication.) Nevertheless, we have taken
note of the demand for such estimates.
Our next worklife publication is slated to include tables
not only by sex, but also by race and education. This ex
pansion of the output from 2 to 12 reference groups will
require a cutback in the number of data items published for
each group. We hope to be able to retain the estimates most
useful for analysis of lost earnings. In addition, we hope to
be able to provide on request some of the unpublished find
ings of the model, such as initial-status-specific worklife
expectancies within each age, in some form certifiable for
use in court.
The Alter and Becker model estimates lost earnings under
the assumption of biannual payments over the claimant’s
natural lifetime. Doing so entails the use of very detailed
worklife data (specifically, estimates of labor force entries
and exits at each subsequent age, for a cohort of a given
initial age and labor force status). We may also attempt to
provide counts of these flows in the unpublished tables, to
facilitate this type of computation.
□
---------- F O O T N O T E ---------'Shirley J. Smith, “ Using the appropriate worklife estimate in court
proceedings,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , October 1983, pp. 3 1 -3 2 .
Research
Summaries
no a s
a
One-fourth of the adult labor force
are college graduates
ü
a
o
one-fourth of all adult workers.2 Moreover, persons who
have completed at least 1 year of college outnumber those
who left school directly after high school graduation. (See
table 1.)
A nne M c D ougall Y oung
Labor force. Although population increases account for
the bulk of the over-the-year rise in the college educated
work force, a higher labor force participation rate for female
graduates also contributed. Women thus comprised threefifths of the increase and now represent 38 percent of all
Between 1983 and 1984, the number of 25- to 64-year-old
college graduates in the labor force rose by a million— the
third consecutive annual increase of this magnitude. Grad
uates continued to register higher rates of labor force par
ticipation, markedly lower unemployment rates, and larger
shares of managerial and professional specialty jobs than
other workers. Data from the March 1984 Current Popu
lation Survey1 show that college graduates now account for
Anne McDougall Young is an economist in the Office of Employment and
Unemployment Statistics, Division of Employment and Unemployment
Analysis, Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
T ab le 1. Labor fo rce status of persons 25 to 64 years old by years of school com pleted, sex, race, and H ispanic origin,
M arch 1 9 8 3 -8 4
[Numbers in thousands]
Labor force status and
years of school completed
Total
1983
Men
1984
Women
White
Black
Hispanic origin
1983
1984
1983
1984
1983
1984
1983
1984
1983
1984
Civilian noninstitutional po pulation....................................................... 111,658 113,893
Elementary: 8 years or less ............................................................ 11,122 10,618
High school. 1 to 3 years ................................................................. 13,513 13,197
4 years o n ly ................................................................. 44,815 46,209
College:
1 to 3 years .................................................................. 18,996 19,636
4 years or m o r e ......................................................... 23,213 24,232
53,862
5,725
6,220
19,224
9,229
13,463
54,991
5,560
6,131
19,900
9,538
13,865
57,794
5,396
7,292
25,590
9,768
9,749
58,901
5,059
7,068
26,310
10,100
10,368
96,864
8,881
10,796
39,516
16,755
20,914
98,826
8,457
10,502
40,738
17,303
21,825
11,739
1,879
2,444
4,430
1,756
1,230
12,100
1,830
2,420
4,589
1,865
1,395
6,258
2,291
928
1,799
721
519
6,585
2,299
1,009
1,902
815
559
Civilian labor f o r c e ..................................................................................
Elementary: 8 years or le s s ............................................................
High school: 1 to 3 years .................................................................
4 years o n ly .................................................................
College:
1 to 3 years .................................................................
4 years or m o r e .........................................................
83,615
6,095
8,762
33,397
15,159
20,201
86,001
5,818
8,545
34,603
15,812
21,223
47,903
4,110
5,193
17,404
8,459
12,738
48,767
3,902
5,073
17,895
8,761
13,136
35,712
1,986
3,570
15,993
6,702
7,462
37,234
1,917
3,472
16,709
7,050
8,086
72,750
4,942
7,035
29,301
13,304
18,171
74,911
4,732
6,810
30,422
13,840
19,105
8,592
982
1,543
3,459
1,483
1,127
8,954
960
1,560
3,568
1,601
1,266
4,378
1,374
613
1,378
578
434
4,690
1,395
686
1,458
678
474
Labor force participation rate..................................................................
Elementary: 8 years or le s s ............................................................
High school: 1 to 3 years .................................................................
4 years o n ly .................................................................
College:
1 to 3 years .................................................................
4 years or m o r e .........................................................
74.9
54.8
64.8
74.5
79.8
87.0
75.5
54.8
64.7
74.9
80.5
87.6
88.9
71.8
83.5
90.5
91.7
94.6
88.7
70.2
82.7
89.9
91.9
94.7
61.8
36.8
49.0
62.5
68.6
76.5
63.2
37.9
49.1
63.5
69.8
78.0
75.1
55.6
65.2
74.1
79.4
86.9
75.8
56.0
64.8
74.7
80.0
87.5
73.2
52.3
63.1
78.1
84.5
91.6
74.0
52.5
64.5
77.8
85.8
90.8
70.0
60.0
66.1
76.6
80.2
83.6
71.2
60.7
68.0
76.7
83.2
84.8
Employed . . .
Elementary: 8 years or le s s ............................................................
High school: 1 to 3 years ..................................................................
4 years only ...............................................................
College:
1 to 3 years ..................................................................
4 years or m o r e .........................................................
76,098
5,154
7,352
30,051
14,047
19,493
80,365
5,144
7,488
32,097
14,980
20,655
43,194
3,466
4,336
15,334
7,750
12,307
45,412
3,453
4,418
16,451
8,302
12,787
32,903
1,688
3,015
14,715
6,296
7,186
34,953
1,691
3,070
15,646
6,678
7,868
66,915
4,188
5,992
26,595
12,443
17,600
70,610
4,210
6,075
28,480
13,201
18,642
7,152
819
1,204
2,806
1,287
1,036
7,764
819
1,262
3,050
1,446
1,186
3,777
1,129
510
1,208
523
407
4,249
1,217
594
1,341
638
459
Unemployed .
Elementary: 8 years or le s s ............................................................
High school: 1 to 3 years .................................................................
4 years o n ly .................................................................
College:
1 to 3 years .................................................................
4 years or m o r e .........................................................
7,518
942
1,410
3,347
1,112
708
5,635
675
1,056
2,505
831
568
4,710
644
857
2,069
708
431
3,355
448
654
1,444
458
350
2,810
297
553
1,277
405
277
2,280
226
401
1,061
372
218
5,835
755
1,042
2,606
86
570
4,301
522
735
1,941
640
463
1,440
162
339
653
197
91
1,191
141
298
517
155
79
602
247
103
170
55
27
438
178
89
117
40
14
Unemployment rate..................................................................................
Elementary: 8 years or le s s ............................................................
High school: 1 to 3 years .................................................................
4 years o n ly .................................................................
College:
1 to 3 years ..................................................................
4 years or m o r e .........................................................
9.0
15.5
16.1
10.0
7.3
3.5
6.6
11.6
12.4
7.2
5.3
2.7
9.8
15.7
16.5
11.9
8.4
3.4
6.9
11.5
12.9
8.1
5.2
2.7
7.9
15.0
15.5
8.0
6.0
3.7
6.1
11.8
11.5
6.3
5.3
2.7
8.0
15.3
14.8
8.9
6.5
3.1
5.7
11.0
10.8
6.4
4.6
2.4
16.8
16.5
22.0
18.9
13.3
8.1
13.3
14.7
19.1
14.5
9.7
6.2
13.8
18.0
16.8
12.3
9.5
6.2
9.3
12.8
13.0
8.0
5.9
3.0
N ote: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races” group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the
white and black population groups.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Research Summaries
T ab le 2. Labor fo rce status of fem ale college graduates
25 to 64 years old by m arital status, presence o f children,
and race, M arch 1984
[Numbers in thousands]
M arital status,
race, and
Hispanic origin
Civilian
noninstitutional
population
Civilian labor force
Percent
distribution
Total
9,120
1,590
6,306
3,639
1,223
180
1,045
100.0
17 4
69.1
39.9
13.4
2.0
11.5
7,052
1,507
4,465
2,477
1,080
120
959
77.3
94.8
70.8
68.1
88.3
66.7
91.8
779
173
396
251
210
21
188
100.0
22.2
50.8
32.2
27.0
2.7
24.1
684
158
346
227
180
12
168
87.8
91.3
87.4
90.4
85.7
(1)
89.4
260
167
120
93
100.0
64.2
46.1
35.8
189
105
72
84
72.7
62.9
60.0
90.3
Total
Percent of
population
White
Total, 25 to 64 y e a rs ...........................
Never m a rrie d ....................................
Married, spouse p re s e n t................
With children under 18 years old
Other marital s ta tu s .........................
W idowed.........................................
Divorced or se parated.................
Black
Total, 25 to 64 y e a rs ...........................
Never m a rrie d ....................................
Married, spouse present . . . . . . .
With children under 18 years old
Other marital s ta tu s .........................
W idowed.........................................
Divorced or se parated................
Hispanic origin
Total, 25 to 64 y e a rs ...........................
Married, spouse p re s e n t................
With children under 18 years old
Other marital s ta tu s .........................
1Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
N ote: Detail for race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data
for the “ other races” group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the
white and black population groups.
adult workers with 4 years or more of college, compared
with 32 percent in 1970. Over this period, the labor force
participation rate for female college graduates ages 25 to
64 rose from 61 to 78 percent, while that for male graduates
edged down from 96 to 95 percent.3
The proportion of black college graduates in the labor
force continued to exceed that for white graduates, reflecting
primarily the high participation rate of black women. As
shown in table 2, black female graduates who were married
were much more likely than their white counterparts to be
in the labor force, especially if they had children. Black
female graduates were also more likely than white graduates
to have never married and were twice as likely to be divorced
or separated. The much larger proportion of black women
in these marital status groups and the high labor force par
ticipation rates characteristic of persons responsible for their
own support and that of others help account for the higher
participation rate of black graduates. Among men, white
and black college graduates had roughly comparable par
ticipation rates. Married Hispanic women who were college
graduates were less likely to be in the labor force than either
whites or blacks, but those who were not married matched
the participation rates of their white and black counterparts.
Unemployment. Unemployment rates of persons 25 to 64
declined over the year for all educational attainment groups
as the economic recovery continued. College graduates were
44
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about one-fifth as likely as those who had completed 1 to
3 years of high school and one-third as likely as high school
graduates to be unemployed. The inverse relationship of
unemployment rates and educational attainment has been a
historical pattern; moreover, college graduates are hit less
hard by recessions than the other educational status groups.
Occupations. A majority of workers in managerial and
professional speciality occupations were college graduates.
Within this broad category, the proportion of workers who
had completed 4 years or more of college was substantially
higher in professional specialty occupations— 81 percent for
men and 72 percent for women— than in executive, ad
ministrative, and managerial occupations— 52 percent for
men and 35 percent for women. (See table 3.)
Although most workers in professional specialty occu
pations continue to end their formal education at the bac
calaureate level, advanced degrees have increasingly become
an expectation for professional status in many of the specific
categories. In March 1984, about 45 percent of the adult
men and 25 percent of the adult women in professional
specialty jobs had completed 6 or more years of college.
(See table 4.)
There is some indication that the proportion of profes
sional women with postgraduate work may increase in the
future. For example, the proportion of all master’s, doc
torates, and first professional degrees awarded to women
rose from 33 percent in 1970-71 to 45 percent 10 years
later.4 Professional women are also slowly shifting from a
concentration in education and nursing occupations to some
of the more traditionally male strongholds, such as engi
neering, law, and the life and physical sciences.
In contrast to those in professional specialties, only about
5 percent of the managerial workers had completed 5 years
T a b le 4. P ercen tage o f college graduates em ployed in
selected o ccu p atio n s by sex, age, and years o f college
co m p leted , M arch 1984
Occupation, sex, and age
Total
employed
(thousands)
Percent who were college graduates
by years of college completed
4 years or more
Total
4 years
5 years
6 years
or more
Professional specialty
occupations
Men, 25 to 64 ye a rs...................
25 to 44 years......................
45 to 64 years......................
6,225
4,238
1,987
80.7
82.1
77.8
25.2
27.6
20.1
10.8
11.3
9.8
44.7
43.2
47.9
Women, 25 to 64 years..............
25 to 44 years......................
45 to 64 years......................
5,992
4,435
1,557
72.4
74.7
66.0
34.7
36.8
28.7
13.2
13.8
11.5
24.5
24.1
25.8
Men, 25 to 64 y e a rs ...................
25 to 44 years......................
45 to 64 years......................
6,899
4,204
2,695
52.1
56.8
44.7
31.0
33.7
26.7
5.6
6.7
4.0
15.5
16.4
14.0
Women, 25 to 64 years..............
25 to 44 years......................
45 to 64 years......................
3,442
2,366
1,076
35.2
40.8
23.0
20.9
25.7
10.5
4.7
4.8
4.4
9.6
10.3
8.1
Executive, administrative,
and managerial occupations
Tab le 3.
E m ployed civilians 25 to 64 years old by sex, selected occupation, and years o f school c o m p leted , M arch 1984
Percent distribution
Years of school completed
Total
employed
(thousands)
Total
45,412
13,123
6,899
6,225
Technical, sales, and administrative support.................................................
Technicians and related s u p p o rt..........................................................................
Sales occupations.......................................................................
Administrative support, including c le ric a l.........................................
Service o c cu p a tio n s.......................................................................
Private h o useh old.....................................................................................
Protective s e rv ic e ..................................................................................................
Food service........................................................................................................
Health service.............................................................................
Cleaning and building service..........................................................................................
Personal s e rv ic e .....................................................................................
Sex and occupation
Less than
4 years
of high
school
4 years
of high
school
only
1 to 3
years of
college
4 years
of
college
or more
100.0
17.3
36.2
18.3
28.2
100.0
100.0
100.0
3.5
5.8
.9
15.1
22.6
6.8
15.7
19.5
11.5
65 7
52 1
80.7
9,015
1,358
5,199
2,459
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
7.6
3.3
7.7
9.6
34.6
28.8
32.5
42.2
27.5
33.9
26.2
26.6
30.3
33.9
33 6
21.6
3,410
28
1,131
645
132
1,201
273
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
25.6
(1)
10.3
30.2
25.8
39.0
17.6
41.8
(1)
43.6
38.1
38.6
43.0
38.5
21.6
(1)
31.8
20.6
18.2
12.2
24.5
11 1
(1)
14.3
10.9
16.7
5.9
19.0
Men
Total, 25 to 64 y e a rs ............................................................................
Managerial and professional specialty............................................................................
Executive, administrative, and managerial.........................................................
Professional specialty.....................................................................................
Precision production, craft, and re p a ir.......................................................................
9,386
100.0
23.2
52.5
18.4
5.9
Operators, fabricators, and laborers...............................................................................
8,629
100.0
34.7
49.7
12.1
3.6
Farming, forestry, and fis h in g .............................................................................................
1,849
100.0
37.2
38.6
14.1
10.2
Women
Total, 25 to 64 y e a rs ..........................................................................................
34,953
100.0
13.6
44.8
19.1
22.5
Managerial and professional specialty.......................................................................
Executive, administrative, and managerial.......................................................................
Professional specialty................................................................................................
9,435
3,442
5,992
100.0
100.0
100.0
2.3
3.7
1.4
19.2
36.2
9.5
19.2
24.8
16.6
58.7
35.2
72.4
Technical, sales, and administrative support.......................................................................
Technicians and related s u p p o rt....................................................................
Sales occupations.............................................................................................................
Administrative support, including c le ric a l.......................................................................
15,085
1,269
3,684
10,132
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
6.6
3.1
12.2
5.0
56.1
36.6
54.3
59.2
24.7
33.8
19.0
25.7
12 5
26.5
14 4
10.1
Service o c cu p a tio n s.............................................................................................................
Private h o useh old...............................................................................
Protective s e rv ic e .......................................................................................
Food service...................................................................................................................
Health service................................................................................................................
Cleaning and building service.............................................................................................
Personal s e rv ic e ...........................................................................................................
5,632
549
128
1,823
1,135
817
1,178
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
31.3
51.4
14.8
32.4
23.6
48.6
17.5
52.0
38.3
53.9
54.6
55.4
42.8
57.4
12.1
9.8
20.3
10.1
15.9
6.2
15.8
10.9
3.0
5.0
2.2
9.3
46
.5
Precision production, craft, and re p a ir...............................................................................
835
100.0
26.9
53.8
12.3
6.9
Operators, fabricators, and laborers.....................................................................................
3,632
100.0
40.0
50.6
7.3
2.2
335
100.0
31.9
44.2
14.3
9.6
Farming, forestry, and fis h in g ..........................................................................................
’ Percent not shown where base is less than 75,000.
or more of college and only 13 percent, 6 years or more.
Younger workers were somewhat more likely than older
workers to have completed at least a bachelor’s degree. It
is expected that requirements for managers to complete ad
vanced studies will increase as more technical expertise and
specialized knowledge are needed for such positions.5
Two other occupational groups have comparatively high
proportions of workers with a college education— technical
workers, both men and women, and male sales workers.
Technical workers usually assist professional specialty
workers, and must have the educational background to keep
up with developments in their respective fields. Among
sales workers, men traditionally have dominated jobs in such
areas as manufacturing, financial management, and insur
ance, which depend on knowledge of engineering, money
and banking, and underwriting, whereas women have re
mained concentrated in retail trade.
Although relatively few college graduates were employed
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in the other broad occupational categories, gains in the for
mal education of younger workers have raised the educa
tional attainment levels in some more specific service
occupations. For instance, 17 percent of the male protective
service workers under 45 years of age had completed 4 years
of college, compared with only 8 percent of those over 45.
This difference underscores the increasing emphasis in many
police departments on the professional training of their of
ficers. In addition, recent growth in such service industries
as hotels, gyms and spas, and recreational services has con
tributed to the rising proportion of younger college graduates
in personal service jobs.
---------- F O O T N O T E S ---------'Data in this report are based on information from the March 1984
Current Population Survey ( c p s ) , conducted for the Bureau o f Labor Sta
tistics by the Bureau of the Census. The data relate to persons 25 to 64
years old, unless otherwise specified. Because these estimates are based
on a sample, they may differ from those obtained if a complete census
45
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Research Summaries
could have been conducted. Sampling variability may be relatively large
in cases where the estimates are small. Small estimates, or small differences
between estimates, should be interpreted with caution. This report is the
latest in a series on this subject. The earlier summary was Anne McDougall
Young, “ More U .S. workers are college graduates,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e
v ie w , March 1984, pp. 4 6 -4 9 , reprinted with additional detailed tables
for March 1982 and March 1983 in E d u c a tio n a l A tta in m e n t o f W o rk e rs ,
M a r c h 1 9 8 2 - 8 3 , Bulletin 2191 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 1984).
2F u rth e rm o re , even though the college age population is expected to
decline through 1990, the number of persons earning bachelor’s and post
graduate degrees is projected to continue to increase by at least a million
a year. See Debra E. Gerald, P r o je c tio n s o f E d u c a tio n S ta tis tic s to 1 9 9 2 9 3 ; M e th o d o lo g ic a l R e p o r t w ith D e ta ile d P r o je c tio n T a b le s , National Cen
ter for Educational Statistics, forthcoming.
3 See table 1, Bulletin 2191.
4 National Center for Education Statistics, T h e C o n d itio n o f E d u c a tio n ,
1984 Edition, tables 2.14, 2.15, and 2.16.
5 O c c u p a tio n a l O u tlo o k H a n d b o o k , 1 9 8 4 - 8 5 E d itio n , Bulletin 2205 (Bu
reau o f Labor Statistics, April 1984), p. 18.
Using the CPS to track
retirement trends among older men
Philip L. Rones
Changes in the age structure of the population and dramatic
declines in work activity among older men have made re
tirement trends a critical social issue. The economic and
political ramifications of these trends are considerable: Al
ready, declines in retirement age have combined with a
rising life expectancy and changing age distribution, among
other factors, to put pressure on public and private pension
systems. Intergenerational conflicts may also arise, partic
ularly during periods of high unemployment; for example,
early retirement inducements are often used by employers
seeking to avoid laying off younger workers. And, labor
shortages could occur as the number of retirees increases in
relation to the number of new labor force entrants.
It has always been difficult to identify the age at which
people retire because separation from the labor force is often
neither abrupt— part-time work is very common amoftg older
workers— nor final— many older persons reenter the labor
force after a period of absence. In addition, retirement status
is best defined by current work activity for some purposes,
while for others, pension receipt is the more appropriate
criterion. Given the types of data that are most readily avail
able, a simple definition of retirees is often used, such as
those who receive Social Security retirement benefits, or
those above a certain age, such as 55, who are not in the
labor force.
Transitions from work to retirement are probably best
tracked by longitudinal surveys, which follow the same
Philip L. Rones is an economist in the Division of Employment and Un
employment Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
46
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individuals for a period of time. Among the most notable
of these are the Retirement History Survey and the Contin
uous Work History Sample of the Social Security Admin
istration, and the National Longitudinal Survey, conducted
by the Center for Human Resource Research, Ohio State
University. Longitudinal surveys are particularly useful be
cause of the considerable amount of demographic and other
personal information available on individuals in the survey.
A drawback of many longitudinal surveys is that they focus
on persons in a limited age range at the time of the initial
survey, which means that they cannot provide comparisons
between these and other cohorts of workers.
One does not need to follow the same people to track a
group’s labor force trends. Unlike the longitudinal surveys,
the Current Population Survey (cps) 1 relies on a rotating
sample— that is, a household (technically, an address) is in
the sample for a limited time and is then replaced. In the
cps , 25 percent of the sample changes each month. But,
while the survey does not follow the same people for long
periods, the sample can “ represent” the same group over
time. In other words, within the limits of sampling relia
bility, any random sample of persons 55 years of age at one
point in time would represent the same group as a different
sample of 54-year-olds surveyed a year earlier.2
Because of the long history of the cps and the frequency
of observation, the survey can provide an excellent overview
of changes in retirement trends. The data can be used in
three ways. The cross-sectional view examines the labor
force characteristics of persons of different ages at a fixed
point in time. The time-series view examines the behavior
of one or more demographic groups at different times. A
third, the cohort view, follows the same people, or a sample
representing the same people, as they age. This view has
the advantage of permitting one to consider the unique his
tory of each population group when assessing its present
labor force status.
“ Retirement” data from the cps have generally been used
with the time-series approach to track changes in labor force
participation rates for broad age groups, usually persons 55
to 64 years and 65 years and over. However, since 1963
cps data have been available on labor force characteristics
by single year of age and by sex, for persons age 55 to 74.
Thus, the cps provides a better vantage point than most
longitudinal surveys in that it follows work histories of many
cohorts through their older years.
This summary presents these previously unpublished data
for older men and estimates of rough retirement histories
for different generations of these men. A simple definition
of retirement is used for this purpose; all men over age 55
who are not in the labor force are deemed to be retired.
Conversely, all who are working, whether full or part time,
and all those actively looking for work are not retired.
Labor force participation rates— the proportion of the
population in the labor force at each age— for men between
ages 55 and 74 are shown in table 1 for the years 1963—
Tab le 1.
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
Labor fo rce participation rates fo r m en ages 55 to 7 4 ,1 9 6 3 -8 3 annual averages
55
56
57
58
59
92.8
92.6
93.0
92.7
91.3
91.9
91.7
91.8
91.0
90.7
93.1
91.5
90.9
91.0
91.1
91.3
91.5
90 7
89.6
88.9
87.6
90.6
91.9
89.2
89.8
90.8
90.6
89.0
89.1
88.9
90.9
90.0
89.0
88.5
88.9
89.0
88.4
87.2
87.9
89.2
87.7
87.8
86.1
86.8
85.8
86.5
84.4
83.7
82.6
83.6
80.2
81.5
79.7
80.3
80.2
85.1
84.4
83.7
82.3
81.9
80.9
81.2
79.9
78.2
79.7
77 9
88.8
88.0
86.6
87.6
87.1
85.8
85.9
86.3
85.3
85.2
84.6
85.7
85.6
84.1
85.4
83.4
84 8
83.7
82.5
84.2
83.3
88.8
88.6
60
61
62
63
64
88.1
85.5
83.5
84.6
83.3
83.4
82.2
82.8
81.6
81.2
79.6
79.5
76.6
76.1
73.5
75.3
73.0
72.8
79.7
78 2
78.7
79.4
76.0
76.4
76.0
73.9
74.4
70.9
67.2
71.5
71.5
67.7
67.4
68.5
69.0
67.6
67.7
64.4
61.8
61.2
61.4
59.0
55.0
53.7
55.0
54.3
75.5
74.1
72 5
71.7
73.2
71.9
68.4
69.4
68.5
66.5
62.1
59.3
58.3
55.7
53.1
54.1
52.8
50.0
45.2
46 4
46.6
64.4
62.2
61.5
58.1
56.3
53.0
50.3
50.2
49.2
48.6
45.7
42.6
44 9
41.3
54 4
43.4
56.0
47.4
55.9
45.5
52.8
47.0
52.9
47.1
53.4
46 6
51.3
45.6
44.7
49.9
47.2
41.6
45.2
38.6
37.1
41.5
35.4
39.8
38.7
33.7
36.6
31.0
35.1
30.3
38.3
32.0
38.5
31.1
33.9 • 31.5
27.7
33.0
32.1
26.5
31.0
27.1
1922
1921
1920
1919
1918
86.0
85.9
85.5
84.8
85.0
83.9
83.6
82.1
79.2
79.0
76.9
75.5
77.2
75.4
75.0
74 8
72.7
73.0
71.6
86.6
86.2
87.5
86.4
84.4
83.5
82.9
80.4
79.7
80.7
79.4
79.3
78 8
77.2
76.2
75.3
68.6
69.7
68.0
66.8
66.0
65
66
1917
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
39.0
40.2
41.2
40.7
43.2
40 8
41.6
39.4
37.8
34.6
31.5
33.0
30.6
28.1
32.6
25.4
28.0
26.1
28.7
26.3
25.8
32.6
34.9
36.7
37.9
37.4
37.5
36.1
37.7
35.1
33.8
30.2
29.7
28.4
26.7
27.4
29.9
25.4
25.4
25.0
24.7
22.7
33.3
32.1
32.3
32.3
34.9
33.9
35.0
34.0
32.2
29.6
27.8
26.6
25.8
22.3
25.4
27.0
22.7
22.2
22.6
23.7
23.0
27.0
26.4
26.7
26.5
30.3
30.2
30.2
30.2
28.9
27.1
25.4
23.5
23.7
22.4
24.8
22.8
24.4
18.7
18.7
19.2
19.2
27.4
27.3
25.8
24.3
25.7
25.5
25.6
27.9
25.9
25.5
24.0
23.7
22.2
23.2
21.2
20.9
21.5
18.6
17.4
16.3
19.1
29.5
24.9
25.4
25.2
22.0
24.5
24.4
24.8
22.8
22.4
23.6
23.0
22 6
19.2
20.3
19.1
16.3
16.0
17.1
18.4
14.5
26.3
26.5
23.9
20.0
21.2
21.6
22.4
22.0
24.0
20.4
17.8
20.5
20.0
19.4
16.4
19.0
17.3
15.2
15.9
15.5
15.7
24.4
22.3
21.4
21.7
18.3
19.9
19.7
19.1
18.3
20.2
16.9
19.2
16.0
15.6
15.2
14.8
16.2
17.7
13.6
11.5
15.8
1916
1915
1914
1913
1912
1911
1910
1909
B
i
!
r
t
h
c
0
h
0
t
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
Birth cohort
N ote : The birth cohorts indicated by the shaded area are those used in the calculations for tables 2 and 3.
83. From these estimates, two types of retirement histories
are calculated, using the cohort perspective, for the 190422 birth cohorts. (Insufficient data are available for earlier
cohorts, and later cohorts are not old enough to be included.)
Table 2 shows the proportion of the population of each
cohort that had retired at any particular age. These estimates
are additive, that is, adding across gives the proportion of
a cohort that had retired as of a certain age. These retirement
rates are depicted in chart 1, which shows the percentage
of men in even-year birth cohorts who were out the labor
force as of selected ages. The heights of the five sections
of each bar represent the percentages of men who were
retired by age 61, and of those who subsequently retired at
ages 62, 63 and 64, 65, and 66 to 70. Of course, the
T ab le 2.
to 70
retirement histories of the younger cohorts are not yet com
plete.
The second type of retirement history is provided in table
3, which gives the probability of someone who is in the
labor force as of a certain age leaving the labor force the
next year. For example, this table shows the probability that
someone who was in the labor force at age 65 in 1970 would
be out of the labor force at age 66 in 1971.3
The difference in the two types of “ retirement rates” is
that the first shows the proportion of the population of each
cohort leaving the labor force at each age, while the second
shows the proportion of those in the labor force at each age
leaving it the next year. In other words, table 2 answers the
question, “ At what age did men in each cohort leave the
A nnual percentage-poin t decline in labor force participation rates fo r m en in th e 1 9 0 4 -2 2 birth cohorts at ages 55
Year of
birth
Not in the labor
force at age 55
(percent)
Age
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
1.9
1.6
1.8
0.8
2.3
2.6
1.7
1.3
3.4
3.1
3.0
2.5
1.7
3.1
1.6
2.3
3.9
4.3
5.2
2.2
2.6
3.7
2.7
3.2
3.8
4.3
4.1
5.5
3.1
3.9
7.4
5.8
6.8
7.7
6.8
8.7
12.3
9.8
11.7
6.2
4.1
8.0
6.6
5.4
7.9
8.8
7.9
8.5
8.7
4.2
5.9
4.6
7.2
7.0
8.4
5.8
6.3
8.0
5.5
17.7
16.1
17.2
17.0
20.0
18.3
17.6
16.4
15.2
11.9
6.8
8.3
8.6
8.1
6.1
6.1
7.7
6.3
3.1
7.2
6.9
7.6
7.1
4.1
4.8
5.6
+ 1.6
4.9
4.0
5.0
4.0
4.4
3.8
3.6
3.9
.7
2.7
0.0
2.6
1.1
6.0
3.6
1.9
6.1
1.3
.4
7.2
3.2
2.8
1.3
4.3
2.9
3.4
+ 1.5
2.6
2.6
4.0
3.5
3.4
4.5
3.3
2.2
4.0
4.0
1.6
2.5
1.6
2.4
2.7
4.5
6.0
4.9
2.5
5.3
4.4
4.5
6.1
4.2
5.5
1.6
2.5
4.4
6.8
5.3
6.8
5.1
5.3
11.7
14.1
11.6
13.8
13.6
16.0
13.0
13.0
8.7
7.1
8.6
9.0
9.8
7.3
8.4
3.9
5.5
7.1
7.4
6.3
5.1
11.7
14.7
12.7
10.5
13.9
7.0
6.2
6.5
5.0
2.8
1.4
.7
4.0
3.6
1.7
1904 ...................
1905 ...................
1906 ...................
1907 ...................
1908 ...................
1909 ...................
1 9 1 0 ...................
1 9 1 1 ...................
1 9 1 2 ...................
1 9 1 3 ...................
7.2
7.4
7.0
7.3
8.7
8.1
1.3
1.7
2.0
1.6
0.0
0.4
1.2
2.3
1.1
0.2
1.5
2.3
2.4
0.6
2.9
0.7
0.9
2.0
1.4
1.3
1.3
1 9 1 4 ...................
1 9 1 5 ...................
1 9 1 6 ...................
1 9 1 7 ...................
1 9 1 8 ...................
1 9 1 9 ...................
1920 ...................
1 9 2 1 ...................
1922 ...................
8.3
8.2
9.0
9.3
11.2
12.0
12.4
12.9
14.2
1.0
2.2
2.1
3.1
2.2
2.4
3.5
1.7
2.4
1.8
3.5
3.1
1.1
2.2
1.9
1.5
1.8
3.2
2.1
1.0
1.4
2.8
2.1
1.8
1.7
2.4
0.3
Note: These figures represent the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population
of selected cohorts of men who were not in the labor force at age 55 and the proportion
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of each cohort retiring at each age from 56 to 70. All figures are derived from the data in
table 1.
47
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Research Summaries
Chart 1. Percent out of the labor force at specified ages, selected cohorts
of older men
Portion of cohort retiring
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
C o h o rt
48
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1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
Tab le 3.
Anr tuai percent decline in labor force participation rates for m en in the 1 9 0 4 -2 2 birth cohorts at aqes 56 to 70
Age
Year of birth
56
1904
1905
1906
190/
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
1914 . . . .
1 9 1 5 ...........
1 9 1 6 ...........
1 9 1 7 ...........
1 9 1 8 ...........
1 9 1 9 ...........
1920 ...........
1921 ...........
1922 ...........
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
0.4
1.3
2.5
1.2
0.2
0.5
2.5
2.6
6.6
3.2
0.8
1.0
2.2
1.5
1.5
1.5
2.1
1.8
2.0
0.7
2.6
2.9
1.9
1.5
3.9
3.5
3.4
2.8
1.9
3.5
1.8
2.7
4.5
5.0
6.2
2.6
3.0
4.3
4.3
3.5
4.5
5.1
4.9
6.7
3.9
4.7
8.9
7.1
7.1
9.4
8.4
10.9
15.5
12.8
15.4
7.8
5.4
10.5
8.7
7.3
10.6
12.4
11.8
12.7
13.5
5.7
8.2
5.8
10.4
10.2
12.6
6.4
10.6
13.7
9.9
25.7
24.4
26.7
27.3
32.5
31.5
31.3
30.9
30.2
23.7
12.9
16.6
18.2
17.9
17.2
15.3
20.0
17.2
8.8
18.8
15.4
16.8
18.4
11.1
13.6
16.6
+ 5.2
16.1
12.5
16.1
10.5
12.7
12.1
13.9
12.7
2.5
8.3
0.0
9.3
4.2
17.8
11.9
6.9
21.5
4.9
15
24.0
12 4
11 0
5.2
15.5
10.9
13.2
+ 11 2
10 2
96
17 6
15 8
15 0
19.0
1.1
2.4
2.3
3.4
2.5
2.7
4.0
2.0
2.8
2.0
3.9
3.5
1.3
2.5
2.2
1.8
2.1
3.8
2.4
1.2
1.6
3.2
2.5
2.2
2.1
2.2
0.4
3.8
2.6
4.7
4.8
2.7
3.1
2.0
3.0
3.4
5.4
7.2
6.1
3.1
6.6
5.5
5.5
7.7
5.4
7.0
2.1
3.3
5.7
9.0
7.1
9.1
7.0
7.3
15.9
18.7
15.9
19.0
19.8
23.0
19.1
19.7
14.1
11.6
14.0
15.3
17.8
13.6
15.3
7.3
10.2
13.4
14.8
6.6
11.0
21.7
30.2
27.8
24.6
31.0
18.2
18.3
19.7
15.6
9.8
5.1
2.6
13.9
13.7
6.9
1.4
1.8
2.2
1.7
0.0
N ote: These figures represent the percent decline in participation for each cohort of men
as compared to the prior year. They are derived by calculating the percent change in par-
labor force?” For example, among the 1904 cohort, 3.1
percent left the labor force at age 60, and 2.2 percent did
so at age 61. Table 3 answers the question, ‘‘What is the
probability of someone who was in the labor force as of a
certain age retiring (that is, leaving the labor force) the next
year?” Among the 1904 cohort, 3.5 percent of 59-year-old
labor force participants retired at age 60; of those left in the
labor force, 2.6 percent retired at age 61, and so forth.
In using any of these data, one should keep in mind that,
as in any sample survey, the results shown may differ from
the true population values, largely because of sampling er
ror. The problem of statistical reliability of the estimates
becomes more acute as the size of the group being counted
declines.4 Thus, apparently inconsistent trends or odd oc
currences (such as the two positive retirement rates shown
in tables 2 and 3) may be attributable, at least in part, to
sampling error, and to other types of measurement error
such as response or coding errors. Users should interpret
the estimates for specific cells in each table with some cau
tion; the data are best used to show general trends in re
tirement behavior.
□
---------- F O O T N O T E S ---------1The Current Population Survey is a nationwide survey of approximately
60,000 households conducted monthly by the Bureau of the Census for
the Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
2The sample in 2 subsequent years would actually differ slightly, due
to death, institutionalization, and international migration.
3The data in table 3 are derived by calculating the percent change in a
cohort’s participation rate from one year to the next. For example, in table
1, 92.8 percent of 55-year-olds were in the labor force in 1963 and in
1964, this cohort o f men bom in 1908 had a participation rate of 91.5
percent. Thus, the “ withdrawal rate” for the cohort at age 56 in table 3
is ( 9 2 .8 -9 1 ,5)/92.8 = 1.4 percent. The way table 3 should be read is: Of
the 1908 cohort, 1.4 percent of those in the labor force retired at age 56;
o f those left, 2.5 percent retired at age 57, and so forth. The reader might
also note that, working backwards, if the participation rate for each cohort
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ticipation rates for a cohort from one year to the next See text f Dotnote 3.
o f 55-year-olds shown in table 1 is reduced each year by the percent shown
in table 3 (for example, the 92.8-percent rate for the 1908 cohort is reduced
by 1.4 percent, then 2.5 percent, and so on, the rest of table 1 would be
recreated (within the limits imposed by the rounding of figures shown in
both tables).
4 A discussion of standard errors of labor force estimates can be found
in the Explanatory Notes section of any issue of the Bureau o f Labor
Statistics monthly publication E m p lo y m e n t a n d E a rn in g s under the head
ing: “ Household data, reliability of estimates.”
Women and minorities: their proportions
grow in the professional work force
The 1984 annual edition of Professional Women and Mi
norities records the increasing participation of women and
minorities in the professions, noting in particular gains by
women. The Scientific Manpower Commission, which
sponsored the study, reports these findings:
Women. In 1970, women earned 41.5 percent of the bach
elor’s degrees, 39.7 percent of the master’s degrees, and
13.3 percent of the doctorate degrees awarded. However,
by 1982, women were earning more than half of the bach
elor’s (50.3 percent) and master’s (50.8 percent) degrees
and 32 percent of the doctorates.
Despite the entry of so many women, growth of the
professional labor force has slowed since the 1960’s. This
is especially evident in science and engineering, where the
number of bachelor’s degrees rose less than 1 percent be
tween 1974 and 1982, even though there was a 21-percent
increase in the number of women earning these degrees.
At the doctoral level, while total science and engineering
degree awards declined slightly from 1973 to 1983, the
change resulted from a drop of 15.4 percent in the number
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Research Summaries
awarded to men and an increase in the number awarded to
women. By 1983, the proportion of women with these de
grees had risen to 25.7 percent from 12.9 percent in 1973.
Although the female proportion of scientists in the labor
force is still below their proportion in recent graduating
classes, women now make up 41 percent of life scientists,
23 percent of chemists, 18 percent of geological scientists,
30 percent of mathematicians and computer specialists, 6
percent of engineers, and 57 percent of psychologists. Their
proportions are less in the doctoral population, but are grow
ing.
The growth in the number of engineers has been so rapid
in the past decade that their 5 percent proportion in the work
force is well below their present proportion among students
and graduates. Their share of bachelor’s degrees has grown
from less than 1 percent in 1970 to 13.2 percent in 1983;
from less than 1 percent to 9.0 percent at the master’s level;
and from 0.9 percent to 4.7 percent at the doctoral level.
The fall 1983 freshman class includes 17 percent women.
Minorities. The report also shows that minorities are in
creasing their participation in the engineering field— grow
ing from 0.9 percent of bachelor’s graduates in 1970 to 9.5
percent in 1983. Asian/Pacific Islanders had the largest rep
resentation of any minority group in this field, having dou
bled their share of all engineering degrees since 1973. The
number of black engineers graduating at the bachelor’s level
had risen from 657 in 1973 to 1,842 in 1983, while their
proportion of total graduates had moved from 1.5 to 2.5
percent.
Except for Asian/Pacific Islanders, minorities continue to
be underrepresented in the physical and mathematical sci
ences, where they earned 9.6 percent of the bachelor’s, 7.4
percent of the master’s, and 5.3 percent of the doctorate
degrees given in 1982. However, a significant percentage
of these degrees, especially at the graduate level, are earned
by Asian Americans.
Particularly at the graduate level, the proportions of grad
uates who are foreign nationals on temporary visas has grown
significantly over the decade. In engineering, for example,
foreign students earned 3.3 percent of the bachelor’s, 11.9
percent of the master’s, and 12.1 percent of the doctorate
degrees awarded by U.S. schools in 1969. By 1983, their
share had risen to 8.5 percent of the bachelor’s, 25.8 percent
of the master’s, and 39.4 percent of the doctorate degrees.
Women and minorities. In the professional fields, both
women and minorities have substantially increased their
proportion of both graduates, and to a lesser extent, the
labor force. Women earned 27 percent of the medical de
grees awarded in 1983, and minorities, 10 percent. Their
proportionate shares in 1971 were 9.2 and 0.2 percent.
Women are now 16 percent of all physicians, and minorities,
17 percent. Women are 16 percent of lawyers, 27 percent
of pharmacists, and 38 percent of economists. Minorities
50
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constitute 5 percent of architects, 7.5 percent of dentists,
and 5.5 percent of lawyers.
Women’s and minorities’ employment in higher educa
tion had grown slowly during the 1970’s. Women continue
to be disproportionately overrepresented among nonfaculty
researchers in higher education, while men are dispropor
tionately overrepresented in the tenured faculty. In 1983,
women accounted for 19 percent of faculty in universities
and 37 percent of faculty in public 2-year colleges. Only
51 percent of the female faculty in all higher educational
institutions had tenure in 1983, compared with 70 percent
of the male faculty. Women’s proportion among scientists
and engineers at academic institutions has increased slowly.
Between 1974 and 1983, women rose from 13.4 to 17.6
percent of mathematicians; from 9.8 to 13 percent of chem
ists; from 19.7 to 24.8 percent of biologists; and from 21.3
to 26.5 percent of psychologists employed at academic in
stitutions. More than half of the college teachers in English,
foreign languages, health specialties, and home economics
are women, but they are less than 5 percent of the total in
engineering and physics.
T he full report, entitled Professional Women and Mi
norities—A Manpower Data Resource Service, fifth edition,
presents a comprehensive statistical picture of the profes
sional work force. The foregoing summary is based on the
press release announcing the report. Copies of the 288-page
volume may be obtained from the Scientific Manpower
Commission, 1776 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington,
D.C. 20036. Price: $70.
□
Work interruptions and
the female-male earnings gap
Differences in labor force attachment, or the extent of work
interruptions, are often cited as one of the main reasons
women earn less than men. However, a recent study by the
Bureau of the Census reports that work interruptions explain
only a small part of the earnings disparity between men and
women. According to the report, if women had the same
experience, interruptions, and education as men, the earn
ings gap would be reduced by only 14.6 percent.
The report is based on data from the 1979 Income Survey
Development Program, which covered persons ages 21 to
64 who had ever worked. Participants were surveyed at
3-month intervals during a year and a half beginning in
February 1979. The survey measured the extent of work
interruptions by sex, race and Hispanic origin, years of
school completed, occupations, and age and marital status.
Surveyed persons were asked if they had ever been away
from work for 6 months or longer because of inability to
find work, caring for home or family, or illness or disability.
Sex and race. About 72 percent of the women surveyed
had worked interruptions, compared with about 26 percent
of the men. Approximately 65 percent of the women and 2
percent of the men responded that they were “ caring for
home or family.” “ Inability to find work” was reported by
14 percent of the women with interruptions and about 17
percent of the men. There was no significant difference in
the proportions of women and men with disability or illness
interruptions.
Black women had fewer work interruptions than white
and Hispanic-origin women, but were more likely to have
interruptions due to illness. White and Hispanic-origin women
were more likely to interrupt work because of family re
sponsibilities; 67 percent of the white women and 62 percent
of the Hispanic-origin women, compared with 44 percent
of the black women. The labor force interruption rates for
white and Hispanic-origin women were generally the same,
except twice as many Hispanic-origin women cited “ ina
bility to find work.”
Overall, black men had higher interruption rates than
white men. About 35 percent of the black men had inter
ruptions due to an inability to find work, compared with 15
percent of the white men. The proportions for Hispanicorigin men were similar to those of white men.
Educational attainment. Higher educational attainment was
related to fewer work interruptions. Specifically, the pro
portion of persons with work interruptions because of ina
bility to find work decreased as the educational level increased.
For example, 25 percent of the men who did not graduate
from high school experienced such work interruptions, com
pared with only 8 percent of those who graduated from
college. (For women, the rates were 22 and 9 percent,
respectively.) About two-thirds of women with less than a
college education had work interruptions due to family re
sponsibilities, compared with about half of those who grad
uated from college.
Occupation. Among women in white-collar occupations,
those who were in professional, technical, or kindred fields
were less likely to have interruptions due to family or home
care than those who were in sales or clerical jobs. However,
for each occupational group, women were more likely than
men to have work interruptions. Among professional, tech
nical, and managerial workers, the interruption rate was 61
percent for women, compared with 15 percent for men.
Age and marital status. About 43 percent of women ages
21 to 29 had work interruptions due to family reasons com
pared with about 73 percent of women age 30 and over.
Comparable figures for men were about 1.5 percent for those
ages 21 to 29 and about 1.6 percent for those 30 and over.
The interruption rates due to illness or disability were highest
among women ages 45 to 64 (16 percent), and lowest for
those under age 30 (4 percent). The proportions of disability
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interruptions among men were generally similar to those of
women.
The interruption rate for women ages 21 to 29 who had
never married was 21 percent for those without children and
44 percent for those with children. For never-married women
ages 30 to 44, the rates ranged from 33 percent for those
without children to 47 percent for those with children. For
women who were presently married or had been married at
some time, the rates were 33 percent for those without
children and 81 percent for those with children.
The report, “ Lifetime Work Experience and Its Effect
on Earnings: Retrospective Data From the 1979 Income
Survey Development Program,” U.S. Bureau of the Cen
sus, Current Population Reports, Series P-23, No. 136, is
for sale ($1.75) by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. □
ILO labor yearbook:
some international comparisons
The 1983 edition of the International Labor Organization’s
Year Book o f Labor Statistics includes international data on
occupational injuries, industrial disputes and working days
lost, and wage differentials between men and women.
According to the 64-nation survey on injury rates at work,
about 9 million persons were injured in 1982 as a result of
on-the-job accidents— 24,000 of these were fatal.
In the three most dangerous industries— mining and quar
rying, construction, and manufacturing— fatality rates de
clined more than 20 percent in several of the countries.
Although manufacturing had the highest number of fatal
injuries (27 percent), in terms of fatality rates, mining and
quarrying were more dangerous than construction, and man
ufacturing was least hazardous of the three industries.
The 46-nation study on industrial relations reveals that
there were 15 percent fewer strikes in 1982, but 5 percent
more workers were involved in industrial disputes, resulting
in more working days lost. In the 18 participating o e c d
countries, the number of strikes decreased by 15 percent
(from 13,000 in 1981 to 11,000 in 1982), the number of
strikers increased by 8 percent (from 15 million to 16.2
million), and the number of working days lost increased by
5 percent (from 37 million to 39 million). By comparison,
in the 28 mainly developing countries, the number of strikes
also decreased by 15 percent, strikers decreased by 9 percent
(from 3.5 million to 3.2 million), but the number of working
days lost increased significantly by 17 percent (from 45
million to 53 million).
Finally, the “ wage gap” survey of 18 nations covered
the manufacturing and nonagricultural industries for the years
1973-82 and 1977-82. In 1982, Korean women in the non
agricultural industries had the highest salary differential,
51
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Research Summaries
earning 54.9 percent less than Korean men, while Australian
women had the lowest, 8.1 percent less than their male
counterparts. In the manufacturing industries, Japanese women
earned 56.9 percent less than men and Swedish women, 9.7
percent less.
An ilo report on the yearbook notes that comparisons are
difficult because the definitions, concepts, sources, and scope
of the surveys often vary among countries.
Job satisfaction high in America,
says Conference Board study
Nearly 80 percent of American workers are satisfied with
their jobs, according to a recent survey conducted by nfo
Research, Inc. for The Conference Board. The older the
worker, the more satisfied he or she appears to be. About
73 percent of those under age 25 were satisfied with their
work. This figure rose for each 10-year age group (except
the 45 to 54 group), reaching 92 percent for those 65 and
older.
Job satisfaction also is linked to family income. Only 71
percent of those with family income under $10,000 liked
their work, compared with 82 percent of those in households
with incomes of $20,000 or more.
There is hardly any difference in job satisfaction among
areas. Of the 10 areas in the survey universe, satisfaction
ranged from 75.2 percent in the West South Central region
to 80.9 percent in the Mountain region.
The survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000
households. Copies are available from Consumer Research
Center, The Conference Board, 845 Third Avenue, New
York 10022.
□
The new bargainers
The great leaders have either died or retired, and a new generation of
labor leader has come to power. The present-day union leader is likely to
carry a briefcase, look like a business executive, and sport an undergraduate
or professional degree. In other words, the modem labor leader may look
less like their rank-and-file members than like their counterparts on the
management side of the table. The labor leaders of the past had less
education. They started out working on the shop floor of the plant or the
mill and had a strong ideological commitment. The new breed of union
leader has more formal education and fewer direct roots in the working
class. The new labor leader may be less pugilistic, less rough and ready,
and more sophisticated and accommodating.
— A rthur R. Schwartz and M ichele M. Hoyman
“ The Changing of the Guard: The New American Labor Leader,”
The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,
May 1984, p. 65.
52
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Technical Note
The effect of rental equivalence
on the Consumer Price Index, 1967-82
Table 1. The rental com ponent of the c p i - u and a rental
equiv a le n c y m easure fo r hom eow nership, 1 9 6 7 -8 2 1
[In percent]
Year
In 1983, the Bureau of Labor Statistics converted to a rental
equivalence measure for homeowners’ costs in order to re
move the investment aspect from the Consumer Price Index
for All Urban Consumers.1 This note provides an estimate
of the effect which this change would have had on the cpiu during 1967-82, when the prices of houses rose sharply.
Under the new measure of homeowners’ costs, the index
would have increased by 165 percent. By contrast, the of
ficial cpi- u climbed by almost 188 percent during the 16year period.
In essence, the change converted the homeownership
component from a method that included investment as well
as consumption elements to a flow-of-services approach that
measures only the cost of shelter services consumed by
homeowners. The flow-of-services approach uses a tech
nique that estimates the change in the cost of renting housing
services equivalent to those provided by owner-occupied
homes.
The change in the index followed many years of rec
ommendations and research by bls staff and by other gov
ernment, academic, business, and labor economists and
statisticians. The Bureau conducted extensive research on
measuring shelter cost for homeowners as part of the pro
gram that led to the comprehensive revision of the cpi in
1978. From these efforts came a bls staff proposal to change
the treatment of shelter costs in the cpi to a flow-of-services
approach. This proposal was widely reviewed and dis
cussed. However, difficulties in developing a workable flowof-services measure and the diversity of views held by var
ious advisory groups led to the decision not to change the
component’s concept at that time.
In 1980, the Bureau introduced five experimental mea
sures (known as the cpi- u- x I through the cpi- u- x 5) to
demonstrate the effect different homeownership concepts
and techniques could have on the All Items cpi. The ex
perimental C Pi-u-xl, which used a rent substitution tech
nique, is the direct (although approximate) antecedent of
the method the Bureau has now adopted. The development
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Cum ulative change, 1967-82
Rent
Rental equivalency
....
128.5
125.6
................................
5.3
5.2
1968 ............................................
1969 ............................................
2.8
3.8
2.7
3.8
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
............................................
............................................
............................................
............................................
............................................
............................................
............................................
............................................
............................................
............................................
4.6
3.8
3.5
4.9
5.4
5.2
5.5
6.5
7.4
7.9
4.4
3.8
3.4
4.6
5.3
5.1
5.3
6.5
7.5
7.7
1980 ............................................
1981 ............................................
1982 ............................................
9.1
8.5
6.6
9.3
8.6
5.9
Annual change
1D ecem ber-to-Decem ber percent changes.
of the cpi—u—x l increased confidence in the workability
and credibility of a rental equivalence measure.
Limitations of the
c p i- u - x I
Because the cpi- u - x I was computed outside the cpi
production system by restructuring indexes of major national
price groups, it lacked the precision and detail and, more
importantly, the proper local area weighting of the official
cpi. Further, the five homeownership items of the old
method— home purchase, contracted mortgage interest cost,
property taxes, property insurance, and maintenance and
repairs— were simply replaced in the cpi- u - x I by a single,
new homeownership item. The weight for this new item
was computed using a rather imprecise, short-cut technique
from homeowners’ estimates of what their homes would
rent for, as reported in the 1972-73 Consumer Expenditure
Survey. Finally, the price movement used for this item was
the price movement of the U.S. residential rent index.
bls addressed these limitations of the cpi- u- x 1 for the
1983 conversion to rental equivalence. First, the new index
was computed from local area item-strata cost weights. This
process provides the precision, complete item and geo
graphic detail, and proper geographic weighting associated
with the official cpi. Second, new expenditure weights were
53
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Technical Note
calculated by means of the complex statistical estimating
procedures used throughout the c p i . As described below,
weights were calculated for a new primary homeownership
item, homeowners’ equivalent rent, and recalculated for
household insurance, maintenance and repairs, and house
appliances. Third, a new set of statistical weights for the
sample of rental units was calculated so that its price move
ments could represent owner-occupied housing units as well
as renter-occupied units. Finally, the rent sample was aug
mented, in part by adding sample units in areas with high
owner occupancy. This made the sample more efficient for
measuring changes in owners’ equivalent rent, and the in
creased sample size reduced the expected errors of both the
renters’ data and the owners’ estimates of price change.
To address the question of how different the c p i - u - x I
would have been had the 1983 refinements been used in its
calculation, b l s constructed an enhanced x l . Unfortunately,
it was not feasible to replicate all of the enhancements. In
particular, recalculating a price change measure from an
augmented and reweighted rent sample was beyond the scope
of this project. Local area price changes for homeowners’
costs reflecting the reweighting, but not the augmentation,
of the rent sample were available from some test runs of
the new procedures starting with data for June 1980. It was
not practical to perform calculations for earlier periods. Nor
was it practical to produce the full index with its full calculational precision. The enhanced x l presented here— like
the original— was produced using a method that averages
together indexes with relative importances for weights.
However, except for the extensive numeric precision and
the item and geographic detail of the official calculation,
the special technique does yield accurate recalculated in
dexes. The first step in calculating an enhanced x l was to
compute a U.S. rental equivalence index for the 1967-82
period. This index used the proper weighting among local
areas and, from June 1980 forward, rental change measures
from a sample weighted to represent homeowners, instead
of renters.
The local area indexes were averaged together using the
local area weights for owners’ equivalence of rent that were
developed for the 1983 c p i - u to produce a national rental
equivalence index from the base year 1967 to 1982. Com
pared to the rent weights, owners’ equivalent rent shifts
weight from the larger metropolitan areas to the smaller.
The three largest local areas account for 29.9 percent of the
rent weight but only 21.7 percent of the owners’ equivalent
rent weight, mostly because of the large difference in the
New York standard metropolitan statistical area. The c p i
geographic areas that represent smaller urban areas have
40.7 percent of the rent weight and 49.5 percent of the
rental equivalence index. Renting is more common and more
expensive in larger areas.
As shown in table 1, the differences between the changes
in the rent and owners’ equivalent rent indexes were sur
prisingly small. Reweighting the local area, at least, seems
54
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T a b le 2 . R e l a t i v e i m p o r t a n c e o f c o m p o n e n t s o f t h e c p i - u x1 a n d e n h a n c e d x 1 , D e c e m b e r 1 9 7 7
[In percent]
Component
CPI-U-X1
Enhanced x l
All ite m s .......................................................
100.000
100.000
Food and beverages ........................
Housing (old) ....................................
Homeownership ......................
Rent s u b s titu tio n ......................
Housing (n e w )....................................
R e n t ............................................
Other rental costs ...................
Owners’ equivalent re n t...........
Household Insurance ..............
Maintenance and repair
services .................................
Maintenance and repair
commodities .........................
Fuels and other u tilitie s ...........
Household furnishings and
operations..............................
Appliance adjustment . . .
20.849
48.657
-2 5 .3 1 9
14.503
37.841
20.760
Apparel and upkeep....................................
Transportation ............................................
Medical care ...............................................
Entertainment ............................................
Other goods and se rv ic e s ........................
6.427
19.978
5.506
4.528
4.870
—
—
—
—
38.108
6.206
0.786
14.287
0.392
—
0.273
—
0.259
7.183
—
—
—
—
9.065
-0 .3 4 3
—
—
6.400
19.893
5.483
4.509
4.850
to have no discernible effect, although the change over the
16-year period was slightly smaller for owners’ equivalent
rent. Re weighting the rent sample itself may have some
effect. The largest difference between the two series occurs
in the last period, the only period in which the full effect
of the sample re weighting is present. The Bureau, however,
does not have enough information about sample reweighting
(and none at all about sample augmentation) to be able to
demonstrate any difference conclusively.
The next step toward enhancement was to combine the
new index of rental equivalence with other c p i series to
obtain an all-items index. The original c p i - u - x I was an
aggregate of the seven major groups of the c p i (food and
beverages, housing, apparel and upkeep, transportation,
medical care, entertainment, and other goods and services)
less homeownership (which was part of the housing group)
Tab le 3. A nnual changes in the cpi- u, cpi- u- x 1, and
e n hanced x1, 1 9 6 7 -8 2 r
[In percent]
Year
CPI-U
C PI-U -X 1
C um ulative change, 1 9 6 7 -8 2 . . .
Enhanced
187.8
164.6
165.0
1968
1969
.........................................
.........................................
4.7
6.1
3.9
5.2
3.9
5.2
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
.........................................
.........................................
.........................................
.........................................
.........................................
.........................................
.........................................
.........................................
.........................................
.........................................
5.5
3.4
3.4
8.8
12.2
7.0
4.8
6.8
9.0
13.3
4.5
3.5
3.3
8.5
11.1
6.6
5.1
6.3
7.9
10.8
4.6
3.6
3.2
8.5
11.1
6.5
5.1
6.3
8.0
10.8
1980
1981
1982
.........................................
.........................................
.........................................
12.4
8.9
3.9
10.8
8.5
5.0
10.8
8.9
4.9
1Decem ber-to-Decem ber percent changes.
x1
plus the rent substitution item. The price movement of the
rent substitution items was taken from the national rent
index. The enhanced x l combines a new housing group
with the six other major groups. The housing group is an
aggregation of eight items: rent, other rental costs, owners’
equivalent rent, household insurance, maintenance and re
pair services, maintenance and repair commodities, fuels
and other utilities, and household furnishings and opera
tions. A small adjustment was made to the weight for house
hold appliances to compensate for the cost implicitly counted
in the owners’ equivalent of rent. Table 2 shows the com
ponents used to construct the C P i-u -x l and the enhanced
x l , as well as the weight of each. Although there are more
components for housing in the enhanced x l, the 1983 re
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
finement of the item weights had very little effect on the
distribution of weight among the major groups. Note that
the weight for housing in the cpi has been reduced from
almost 49 percent to about 38 percent.
The results of this study are shown in table 3, which
compares the enhanced x l with the cpi- u - x I and the cpiu. From 1967 to 1982, differences between the enhanced
x l and the cpi- u - x I are few and negligible compared with
the differences between either and the official cpi- u . Q
---------- F O O T N O T E S ---------“ ‘Changing the Homeownership Component of the Consumer Price
Index to Rental Equivalence,” C P I D e ta ile d R e p o r t, January 1983.
Documenting youth competencies
Employers report in survey after survey that what they are seeking in
young employees is, first, the basic skills needed to learn on the job, and,
second, the dependability and world-of-work skills to show up on time
and follow instructions. Vocational skills are less frequently required,
although important for some jobs such as secretarial work. Employers do
not usually give academic or other tests, and have little basis for judging
the dependability of those with limited work experience, so they judge on
the basis of academic credentials and other considerations such as vouching
by acquaintances or relatives, best bets based on previous experiences with
similar individuals, or prejudice. Employment and training programs re
cruit and serve those unable to secure jobs in the private sector. Unless
these enrollees attain academic credentials recognized by employers, or
are sorted so that those who prove to be dependable and trainable are
identified, participants who are disadvantaged at entry will be equally
disadvantaged at exit.
— N ational Council on Employment Policy ,
Investing in America’s Future: A Policy Statement
by the National Council on Employment Policy
(Washington, National Council
On Employment Policy, 1984), pp. 24-25.
55
M ajor Agreements
Expiring Next M onth
This list of selected collective bargaining agreements expiring in March is based on information
from the Bureau’s Office of Wages and Industrial Relations. The list includes agreements covering
1,000 workers or more. Private industry is arranged in order of Standard Industrial Classification.
Employer and location
Associated General Contractors of America, Inc.:
South Florida Chapter .............................................................
South Florida Chapter ....................................................................
South Florida Chapter and Builders Association......................................
South Florida Chapter and Builders Association of Southern Florida . . .
Private industry
Labor organization1
Number of
workers
Construction
Construction
Construction
Construction
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
Operating Engineers.......................
Carpenters................................
Laborers ................................
Bricklayers ................................
1,400
6,500
4,000
1,400
Construction
Construction
Construction
Construction
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
Carpenters..............................
Iron Workers.........................
Operating Engineers.......................
Laborers ...........................
5,400
2,700
2,200
3,650
Construction
Construction
Construction
Construction
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
Carpenters.........................
Laborers ................................
Teamsters (Ind.) ....................
Operating Engineers.......................
7,000
5,000
2,000
3,000
Construction ...........................
Laborers .......................
5,000
Associated Building Contractors (Indiana).............................................
Southern Illinois Builders Association (Illinois)..................................
Southern Illinois Builders Association (Illinois)......................................
Indiana Highway Association, Inc. (Indiana).............................................
National Automatic Sprinkler and Fire Association, Inc. (Interstate) .........
Houston Sheet Metal Contractors Association (Texas) ................................
Mechanical Contractors Association of Maryland, steamfitters (Maryland)
Tri-State Iron Workers Employers Association (Interstate) .........................
Construction
Construction
Construction
Construction
Construction
Construction
Construction
Construction
Operating Engineers.......................
Laborers .........................
Carpenters.........................
Operating Engineers.......................
Plumbers.............................
Sheet Metal Workers ..............
Plumbers...........................
Iron Workers.........................
1,500
1,900
1,500
1,500
5,500
1,600
1,100
1,500
Anheuser-Busch, Inc. (Interstate)...............................................................
Dried fruit industry (California) ..................................................
Banquet Foods Corp. (Interstate) .............................................................
Clothing Manufacturers Association of the United States of America
(Interstate)
Lily Tulip, Inc. (Springfield, mo) ..................................................
Edition Bookbinders of New York, Inc. (New York, ny) ....................
Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (California)........................................................
Food products .........................
Food products .........................
Food products .........................
Apparel....................................
Teamsters (Ind.) ..................
Teamsters (Ind.) .........................
Teamsters (Ind.) .........................
Clothing and Textile Workers . . . .
8,000
1,800
3,000
70’000
Paper ......................................
Printing and publishing...........
Petroleum ...............................
Electrical Workers (ibew) . . . .
Graphic Communications .............
Petroleum and Industrial Workers,
Seafarers
Auto Workers ..................
1,000
1,200
1,650
Houston
Houston
Houston
Houston
New
New
New
New
Chapter (Texas) ..................................................................
Chapter (Houston and Galveston, tx) .............................
Chapter and Construction Employers Association (Texas) . . . .
Chapter and Construction Employers Association (Texas) . . . .
York
York
York
York
State Chapter
State Chapter
State Chapter
State Chapter
.................................................................
.................................................................
........................................................................
....................................................................
Indiana Chapter, Laborers’ Negotiating Committee..................................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
Colt Industries, Inc., Firearms Division (Connecticut) ....................
Fabricated metal products . . . .
Zenith Radio Corp., Springfield Division (Missouri) .............................
The Budd Co. (Interstate) ..................................................
AMF/Harley-Davidson Motor Co., Inc. (Milwaukee, w i) ...........................
Milton Bradley Co. (Springfield, ma) ...............................................
Electrical products..................
Transportation equipment . . . .
Transportation equipment . . . .
Miscellaneous manufacturing
Jewelry Manufacturers Association, Inc. and Associate Jewelers, Inc.
(New York, ny)
Queens Transit and 3 other companies (New York) .............................
Trailways (Interstate)......................................................................
Trailways (Interstate).............................................................
See footnotes at end of table.
56
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1,300
Miscellaneous manufacturing
Electrical Workers (ibew) ...........
Auto Workers ..............
Industrial Workers ..................
Retail, Wholesale and Department
Store
Service Employees...........
2,000
Transit ....................................
Transit ....................................
Transit ....................................
Transport Workers................
Amalgamated Transit.............
United Transportation................
1,200
4,000
1,500
2,200
7,800
1,000
1,000
C ontinued— M ajor Agreem ents Expiring Next Month
Employer and location
Private industry
Labor organization1
Number of
workers
Trucking Management, Inc., Over-the-Road, National Master Freight
agreement (Interstate)
Trucking Management, Inc., Local Cartage, National Master Freight
agreement (Interstate)
Merchants Fast Motor Lines, Inc. (Dallas, tx) ...........................................
Trucking..................................
Teamsters (Ind.) ...........................
100,000
Trucking ..................................
Teamsters (Ind.) ...........................
200,000
Trucking..................................
1,300
Joint area cartage agreement (Chicago, il)2 ..................................................
Western States trucking maintenance agreement (Interstate)2 .......................
Master Rail-Truck agreement (Interstate)2 ....................................................
Master Cartage agreement (Chicago, il) ......................................................
Trucking ..................................
Trucking..................................
Trucking..................................
Trucking..................................
Union of Transportation Employees
(Ind.)
Teamsters (Ind.) ...........................
Machinists.......................................
Teamsters (Ind.) ...........................
Chicago Truck Drivers (Ind.) . . . .
Eastern Air Lines, flight attendants (Interstate)3 ...........................................
American Broadcasting Co., Inc. (Interstate)...............................................
Air transportation....................
Communication .......................
Central Telephone Company of Florida (Florida).........................................
Virginia Electric and Power Co. (Virginia) ..................................................
Puget Sound Power and Light Co. (Bellevue, wa) ......................................
Bloomingdale Brothers (New York, ny) ......................................................
Communication .......................
Utilities....................................
Utilities....................................
Retail trade .............................
Associated Men’s Wear Retailers of New York, Inc. (New York,
Retail trade .............................
ny)
...
Government activity
California:
Southern California Rapid Transit District (Los Angeles). .
Transport Workers.........................
Broadcast Employees and
Technicians
Electrical Workers ( ibew) ..............
Electrical Workers (ibew) ..............
Electrical Workers (ibew) ..............
Retail, Wholesale and Department
Store
Retail, Wholesale and Department
Store
Labor organization1
10,000
3,800
3,500
7,500
6,200
2,800
1,150
4,500
1,500
4,000
1,800
Number of
Workers
Transportation .........................
Amalgamated Transit ....................
1,700
Massachusetts: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, maintenance
employees (Boston)
Transportation .........................
Amalgamated Transit....................
3,500
Michigan:
University of Michigan, graduate student teachers
(Ann Arbor)
Education ...............................
Teachers .........................................
1,600
New York:
New
New
New
New
City Transit Authority......................................
City Transit Authority (Brooklyn) ..................
City Surface and Roads Unit ...........................
State, administrative services...........................
Transportation .........................
Transportation .........................
Transportation .........................
General government................
27,500
1,300
5,400
37,700
New York State Unified Court System .............................
Courts......................................
New York State Security Services ....................................
Correctional institutions .........
New York State Operational Services, blue collar ...........
General government................
New York State Troopers ..................................................
New York State Institutional Services...............................
Law enforcement....................
Institutions .............................
New York State Professional and Technical Employees . .
General government................
Transport Workers.........................
Amalgamated Transit ....................
Transport Workers.........................
State, County and Municipal
Employees
State, County and Municipal
Employees
State, County and Municipal
Employees
State, County and Municipal
Employees
Fraternal Order of Police ..............
State, County and Municipal
Employees
Public Employees Federation . . . .
York
York
York
York
1,500
11,000
25,500
2,400
41,000
51,000
'Affiliated with afl - c i o except where noted as independent (Ind.).
industry area (group of companies signing same contract),
information is from newspaper reports.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
57
Developments in
Industrial Relations
Settlement reached in GM parts plants
UAW and Chrysler will not reopen contract
The International Union of Electronic Workers ( i u e ) an
nounced membership approval of a 3-year contract for 24,000
employees of nine General Motors Corp. ( g m ) plants.
Terms were similar to those in g m ’ s settlement with the
United Auto Workers (see Monthly Labor Review, Decem
ber 1984, pp. 46-49), except that the i u e agreement pro
vides for more paid time off, which the union said was a
high priority for the workers employed by g m ’ s Delco,
Packard Electric, and other parts plants. Under the i u e
agreement, the paid absence allowance was increased to 9
work days in the first contract year and 8 in the second. In
the third year, the employees will receive 5 paid absence
days, the same as in each year of the prior agreement, which
had a 2-year term. (In contrast, the new 3-year u a w - g m
contract continued to provide for 5 paid absence days per
year.) In exchange for the improved paid absence provision,
the i u e agreed to offsetting changes in other provisions: the
initial wage increase (2.25 percent) was not retroactive to
the September 14 termination date of the prior agreement;
11 cents of the existing cost-of-living allowance was not
rolled into base rates; 14 cents will be diverted from future
cost-of-living adjustments for the contract duration; and in
creased company payments into a training fund and estab
lishment of a legal services plan were deferred to 1987.
The plants covered by the settlement are located in Ohio,
Mississippi, New York, and New Jersey.
One of the plants, a Packard Electric Division operation
in Warren, o h , agreed to give members of Local 717 vir
tually lifetime job and income guarantees in exchange for
adoption of a two-tier compensation system. Under the sys
tem, the company is permitted to hire new employees at 55
percent of current pay for their job and to give them less
lucrative benefits. The pay of these workers will rise grad
ually over 10 years until it matches the regular rates. The
contract, which will be in effect indefinitely, obligates the
company to hire one new worker at the plant for every three
who leave through attrition.
The United Auto Workers formally asked Chrysler Corp.
to reopen their contract for the purpose of regaining com
pensation parity and returning to the same bargaining cycle
as General Motors and Ford Motor Co. However, backand-forth communications between the parties finally re
sulted in a decision to not bargain early. (The UAW-Chrysler
contract does not include a specific provision for reopening
negotiations and is not scheduled to expire until October
15, 1985.) The disparity began to develop in 1979, when
Chrysler employees negotiated the first of several conces
sionary contracts to aid the company in overcoming its fi
nancial difficulties. In 1982 and 1983 settlements at Chrysler,
the disparity was narrowed, but at the time of the reopening
request, Chrysler workers were still earning about $1 an
hour less than employees of the other companies, and they
were not covered by job and income security plans equal
to those at g m and Ford.
Chrysler rebuffed the union’s request for a reopening be
cause the union wanted to set a deadline for completing the
talks, backed by the right to strike. However, Chrysler did
offer to discuss modification of the pay and benefit provi
sions of the contract, despite its contention that matching
Ford’s and g m ’ s pay and benefit levels would result in labor
costs higher at Chrysler than those at g m and Ford because
of a higher proportion of retired employees drawing pen
sions and medical benefits at Chrysler.
The union responded to Chrysler’s decision by calling for
a meeting of its Chrysler Council, composed of 150 local
union officials. At the meeting, the union leaders decided
not to accept Chrysler’s offer because of the lack of the
strike weapon. As a result, bargaining will not start until
August 1985.
“ 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.
58
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Aerospace settlements
Production of f - 1 6 fighter planes resumed at General Dy
namics Corp.’s Fort Worth, t x , plant after members of the
Machinists union ratified a 3-year contract to end a 2-week
strike. Under the contract, the 6,400 workers will receive
annual bonuses in the first and second contract years each
equal to 4 percent of their earnings during the preceding 12
months, followed by a 4-percent pay increase in the final
year.
Other terms included continuation of the provision for
automatic quarterly cost-of-living pay adjustments; an in
crease in the pension rate to $16 (from $14) a month for
each year of credited service effective immediately and $18
on August 1, 1986, applicable to all workers retiring after
the effective date of the contract; a 12th annual paid holiday;
improved medical and dental benefits, including a free ge
neric prescription drug program; and a new joint committee
to determine training and job changes needed to implement
changes in technology.
Lump-sum payments in lieu of wage increases also were
a feature of a settlement between Martin Marietta Corp. and
the Auto Workers for 3,500 workers in Denver, Baltimore,
and Orlando ( f l ). In the first year of the 3-year contract,
workers will receive a payment equal to 4.5 percent of their
earnings during the preceding 12 months, followed by a
second-year payment of 3.5 percent of earnings, and a thirdyear specified wage increase of 3 percent.
Canadian members to leave uaw
In a move that could have a major effect on bargaining
in the industry, the uaw rejected a request from the union’s
Canadian section for a more independent role within the
union. Immediately after the decision by the union’s Inter
national Executive Board, uaw President Owen Bieber and
Canadian Director Robert White announced that a com
mittee would be formed to oversee a separation of the Ca
nadian members from the union. The separation entails such
issues as apportioning the union’s property and its $600
million strike fund.
The split betweeen the U.S. and Canadian sections of the
union can be traced to the changing economic relationship
between the two nations and resulting differences in collec
tive bargaining goals. In 1980, the Canadians objected to
the concessions agreed to by U.S. employees of Chrysler
Corp., and in 1982 struck the company to obtain more
favorable terms for Canadian and U.S. employees. In 1984,
the Canadians balked at accepting the settlement pattern for
U.S. employees of Ford and gm and struck gm for 12 days
before gaining a larger wage increase than their U.S. coun
terparts. The stoppage caused some turmoil within the union
because it shut off the flow of some parts from gm ’s Ca
nadian plants, leading to the layoff of 90,000 GM workers
in the United States.
Despite the differences, Bieber said he believed the union
will be able to carry out the split “ in an orderly and proper
fashion. . . .We are friendly, and we’ll continue to be
friendly.”
Similar sentiments were expressed by White, who said
the split doesn’t represent “ a war between our two countries
or memberships or the leaderships of the two countries. We
expect to have in the end two different organizations with
close . . . ties.”
Executives of the auto companies were less hopeful, say
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
ing that the breakup might prompt them to line up alternate
sources of supply for parts currently made only in their
Canadian plants. White said he did not believe this would
be a serious problem because the companies will base de
cisions on production sources on “ where they can make
money” rather than “ whether we’re an international union
or not.”
The Canadian section of the union comprises 120,000
workers or about 10 percent of total uaw membership.
Food store accords
More than 5,700 employees of 70 Kroger Co. super
markets in Atlanta and elsewhere in Georgia were covered
by a 42-month accord that established a two-tier pay system
under which employees hired after September 8, 1984, will
start at $4 an hour and progress to a maximum of $7.30.
Current employees will continue to progress to their existing
$10.30 maximum rate, but it will now take longer. After
they reach $6.79 an hour, they will receive increases of 50
cents an hour at 6-month intervals until a final 51-cent in
crease brings them to the $10.30 top rate. Previously, em
ployees moved to the $10.30 rate 6 months after reaching
$6.79.
The agreement, negotiated by Local 1063 of the Food
and Commercial Workers, did not provide for any general
pay increases, but full-time employees who were on the
payroll and at the top of their pay range on September 8
will receive four bonus payments totaling $ 1,000 over the
contract term. The payments are contingent on the employ
ees remaining in the same job classification.
The contract, which was retroactive to May 20, 1984,
also provided for an $8 a month increase in Kroger’s fi
nancing of health and welfare benefits in December 1984
and a $9 increase in June 1986, bringing the total contri
bution to $146.
In Ohio, Local 880 of the Food and Commercial Workers
negotiated a 3-year contract with eight major food store
chains that provided for no wage increase in the first year,
bonus payments of $500 for full-time workers in the second
year, and a 27-cent-an-hour pay increase in the final year.
The accord, covering 14,000 workers in Cleveland, Akron,
and Canton, also provided for a 10-cent-an-hour increase
in the pay progression rate, with 5 cents subject to use for
health and welfare benefits.
Chicago teachers get 1-year contract, end strike
A 2-week strike against the Nation’s third largest public
school system ended when the Chicago Board of Education
and the American Federation of Teachers agreed on a 1year contract. The stoppage involved 28,000 teachers and
12,000 members of 17 other unions who accepted similar
terms.
The teachers’ contract called for a 4.5-percent salary in
crease effective December 17 and a one-time bonus in March
59
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Developments in Industrial Relations
1985 equal to 2.5 percent of earnings during 1984. The
board also agreed to resume paying the full cost of medical
insurance, as it had done since 1971. Earlier, the board had
moved to ease its fiscal problems by requiring the employees
to begin paying 25 percent of the cost, which became a
major issue in the dispute. To some extent, medical cost
will be moderated by a new plan under which the board
will contract with certain hospitals to treat employees. If
the employees use other hospitals, they will have to pay
higher deductibles.
In another cost-containment move, the parties agreed to
make up only 5 of the 10 school days lost due to the strike.
The board also voted to cut the number of teaching positions,
reduce funds for maintenance and supplies, and eliminate
a proposed plan to improve academic standards.
Western Union employees take pay cut
Western Union Corp., which has been experiencing fi
nancial difficulties, and the United Telegraph Workers and
the Communications Workers unions agreed on a 10-percent
pay cut during the balance of their current 3-year contracts,
60
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
scheduled to expire in July 1985. The cut affected 8,000
union members plus 4,000 nonunion employees who had
earlier agreed to the plan.
The company, which lost $15.5 million in the third quarter
of 1984, attributed its difficulties to lack of finances and
management talent to carry out a diversification plan.
Keebler contract calls for pay raise
More than 3,500 workers at seven cookie and cracker
plants in six states were covered by a settlement between
the Keebler Co. and the Bakery and Confectionery Workers.
Straight-time pay, which reportedly averaged $10.71 an
hour, was raised by 55 cents on November 1, 1984, with
a 50-cent increase to be effective a year later.
Other provisions included a 41-cent-an-hour increase in
the company’s $1,145 payment to the health benefit fund;
a 13-cent-an-hour increase in the company’s $1.30 payment
to the pension fund; a 10-cent-an-hour payment to a separate
fund to maintain health benefits for retirees; and a lowering
of the requirement for 6 weeks of vacation to 25 years of
service, from 30.
Book Reviews
Unsung heroines
Women Veterans By June A. Willenz. New York, The
Continuum Publishing Co., 1983. 252 pp. $19.50.
This remarkable book is worth reading on several counts.
Among them is the fact that nothing as comprehensive about
women veterans exists in print. Also, the military and post
military experiences of these women illustrate that without
even knowing it, many were pioneers in redefining women’s
role in contemporary society.
June A. Willenz decided to write this book after spending
20 years in the veteran’s field of study and wondering where
the women veterans were and why they were not visible.
She discovered that officially there were 1.2 million women
veterans as of April 1982 but could find no further Gov
ernment statistics about them, nor any academic studies.
Why is it, she asks, that neither the dedication nor willing
ness of over a million women to give themselves to their
country was included in veterans’ literature or official re
ports?
We are fortunate that Willenz persevered in completing
this book, for she does a superb job of pushing aside many
myths and stereotypes and providing the reader with solidly
based historical material on women’s formal and informal
participation in U.S. military service since Colonial times.
This is followed by richly detailed profiles of individual
women who served in the military at some time between
the 1940’s and 1970’s, emphasizing what happened to them
when they returned to civilian life. The book concludes with
a description of the current situation for women veterans,
including their medical, educational, and other benefits, and
several governmental policy initiatives.
The chapter devoted to historical background points out
that women’s official participation in the Armed Forces be
gan with the formation of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901,
followed by the Navy Nurse Corps in 1903. Women, how
ever, have had roles with the military services, if not in the
services, since our country was founded. The support ser
vices and even more direct roles women provided in the
Army and militia units of the Revolutionary War are often
overlooked in the literature on that largely guerilla war.
George Washington’s “ Women of the Army’’ served as
nurses and orderlies in his often chaotic hospital system and
also did washing, cooking, and mending, frequently riding
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
in baggage wagons much to his consternation. Other women
served as water carriers for artillery units, an essential func
tion because after a cannon was fired, it had to be swabbed
with water before it was reloaded. It turns out that “ Molly
Pitcher’’ was not a single woman, but represented a group
of women, much like “ gi Joe” represented American sol
diers during World War II.
The historical chapter also recounts many equally fasci
nating events and anecdotes from the War of 1812 and the
Civil and Spanish American Wars. World War I is reviewed
as the first war in which women were actually recruited into
the military services other than the Nurse Corps. While
nurses remained the most numerous group in the services,
the Navy recruited women to serve as Naval Reserve Yeo
men, filling mostly clerical and administrative jobs. Also,
a very small number of women served in the Marine Re
serve, performing clerical duties and doing some messenger
and recruiting work. Willenz contends that one of the by
products of women’s World War I military activities was
the passage of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution
in 1920, which gave women the opportunity to vote in
national elections.
Less than 25 years later, the outbreak of World War II
produced the same need for women’s participation in both
the civilian and military sectors. What transpired reflects
society’s view of women at the time. Their entry into mil
itary service is described as meeting strong resistance from
the War Department, Congress, and society in general. It
took from 1941 to 1942 for the bill authorizing the waac
(Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps) to be passed. Recruiters
were then faced with the fact that although patriotism was
the overwhelming sentiment across the country, there was
no great enthusiasm in most families to send their daughters
off to war. Recruiters had to promise that new skills and
training would be available to those who signed up.
Willenz does well in characterizing the times. “ Young
women with high school educations were likely to be en
gaged in routine clerical positions or in unskilled factory
jobs. They were easily impressed by the new kinds of ex
perience the services were publicizing. The film industry,
meanwhile, was turning out romanticized versions of what
war was like, shrouding its realities in Hollywood tinsel.”
. . . “ As was true with many men, there were those who
enlisted because of personal trauma, the loss of a loved one,
61
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Book Reviews
or the breakup of a romance. Certainly the sense of adven
ture motivated some young women.” . . . ‘‘Signing up for
military service was an acceptable means of going out into
the world. It was a permissible way for a woman to spread
her wings and contribute to the national purpose.” Some
women joined because they had special skills, such as nurses,
or were older women with professional training and expe
rience, such as writers, broadcasters, public relations work
ers, teachers, linguists, scientists, and engineers. Most of
these latter women became officers, even if they didn’t in
itially enter as officers.
Willenz maintains that World War II was the last one for
which patriotism was the dominant reason for going into
the military. Neither the Korean nor Vietnam War was pop
ular, and with Vietnam, the disinterest was compounded by
the hostility of large segments of the population toward the
war. During the 1970’s, the All Volunteer Force changed
the character of the military services to an occupational
model. Since then, Willenz believes that the major attrac
tions for both men and women have been job possibilities
and post-service benefits.
A 100-page section of the book, entitled Profiles, consists
of the compelling personal stories of women aviators, the
mechanically inclined, the adventurers, the ones who sought
and got specific training, the dreamers, and the disap
pointed. Included are interviews with over 20 women vet
erans whose collective military service spans the years from
World War II through the post-Vietnam era. We meet women
who extol their participation, while others criticize the racial
barriers or are bitter about the indignities of communal living
and their often sex-segregated assignments and training.
Some allowed their real names to be used, such as Sarah
McClendon, currently a Washington journalist. There are
stories of “ bad apples” in the barracks and of being the
object of deeply rooted prejudice against servicewomen,
especially in the South. Some women say that they still
don’t let most people know they are veterans.
In another section of the book, the service-related benefits
received by women veterans are described as ranging from
very little for the majority of World War II veterans to close
to parity for those who served during the Vietnam War or
afterwards. Based on her research and interviews, Willenz
believes that most women veterans of World War II probably
did not use their gi Bill benefits because such a great number
married and raised families and had neither the time, energy,
nor inclination to use them. This, of course, is all specu
lation because no data exist on the subject. Willenz states
that it seems unlikely that we will ever be able to determine
how meaningful the gi Bill was to the World War II ser
vicewomen, “ because the Veterans Administration (va ) kept
only a 2-percent sampling of information on all veterans.
Since women were less than 2 percent of the Armed Forces,
they fell by the wayside in va sampling procedures.”
Health and hospital care are described as by far the weak
est, most deficient, and for many years, practically unde
62
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
liverable benefits to which women veterans were entitled.
In theory, female veterans were always entitled to the same
medical benefits as male veterans; in practice, this entitle
ment was given short shrift. Willenz points out that from
the 1940’s through the 1960’s, nearly all va hospitals lacked
facilities for women veterans. Moreover, these women were
virtually disregarded as outpatients. That the situation has
changed somewhat since 1970, especially for post-Vietnam
veterans, only became known in 1982 when the va pub
lished the first report in va history on “ Women Veterans
Usage of va Hospital Facilities.” (This report was updated
by the va in 1984.)
Willenz sees today’s situation as one in which women
who served in the Armed Forces are emerging out of a long
period of isolation and neglect to achieve legitimacy as
veterans. They are becoming visible in the media and are
finally being heard by government agencies that are sup
posed to service them. Policymakers have heard women
veterans speak out about the Vietnam Veterans Readjust
ment Counseling program, exposure to Agent Orange, ob
taining spousal and pregnancy benefits, and receiving the
same treatment men receive in the va medical system for
nonservice connected health problems. (Most va medical
treatment for male veterans today is for nonservice con
nected problems.) Also, in contrast to women veterans in
the past, who tended to shun general veterans organizations
and to join specific groups like the wac Veterans or the
Women Marines, if they joined at all, those who served
during the Vietnam conflict have been joining veterans or
ganizations in sizable numbers.
The book concludes with a warning that the current trend
of interest in women veterans will come to nothing unless
it is translated into public policy, and a plea that the va
continue its relatively new Advisory Committee on Women
Veterans.
— Elizabeth Waldman
Office of Employment and
Unemployment Analysis
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Publications received
Agriculture and natural resources
Antle, John M., “ The Structure of U.S. Agricultural Technology,
1910-78,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics,
November 1984, pp. 414-21.
Cumberland, John H., Alternative Scenarios for the Future of the
Chesapeake Bay. College Park, m d , University of Maryland,
Department of Economics and Bureau of Business and Eco
nomic Research, 1984, 17 pp. (Working Paper, 84-12.)
Loyns, R. M. W. and Colin A. Carter, Grains in Western Ca
nadian Economic Development to 1990. Ottawa, Ontario,
Economic Council of Canada, 1984, 162 pp., bibliography.
(Discussion Paper, 272.)
Education
Miller, Paul W., “ The Causes and Consequences of Interruptions
to Full-Time Education,” Australian Economic Papers, June
1984, pp. 61-70.
Zumeta, William, Extending the Educational Ladder: The Chang
ing Quality and Value of Postdoctoral Study. Lexington, m a ,
D.C. Heath and Co., Lexington Books, 1985, 254 pp. $25.
Industrial relations
Farber, Henry S. and Max H. Bazerman, The General Basis of
Arbitrator Behavior: An Empirical Analysis of Conventional
and Final-Offer Arbitration. Cambridge, m a , National Bu
reau of Economic Research, Inc., 1984, 46 pp. ( n b e r Work
ing Paper Series, 1488.) $1.50, paper.
Fujita, Yoshitaka, Employee Benefits and Industrial Relations.
Tokyo, The Japan Institute of Labour, 1984, 47 pp. (Japanese
Industrial Relations Series, 12.)
Lawler, John J., “ The Influence of Management Consultants on
the Outcome of Union Certification Elections,” Industrial
Relations Review, October 1984, pp. 38-51.
Livemash, E. Robert, ed., Comparable Worth: Issues and Alter
natives. 2d ed. Washington, Equal Employment Advisory
Council, 1984, 299 pp. $11, e e a c members; $18.95, non
members, paper.
Schuster, Michael H., Union-Management Cooperation: Struc
ture, Process, and Impact. Kalamazoo, m i , W. E. Upjohn
Institute for Employment Research, 1984, 235 pp. $17.95,
cloth; $12.95, paper.
Voos, Paula B., “ Trends in Union Organizing Expenditures, 1953—
1977,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, October 1984,
pp. 52-63.
Industry and government organization
Brown, Thomas J., The Commercial Printing Industry: A Leader
in New Jersey’s Changing Economy. Trenton, n j , Department
of Commerce and Economic Development, Office of Eco
nomic Research, 1984, 30 pp.
Hess, Stephen, The Government!Press Connection: Press Officers
and Their Offices. Washington, The Brookings Institution,
1984, 160 pp. $22.95, cloth; $8.95, paper.
McKenzie, Richard B., ed., Plant Closings: Public or Private
Choices. Rev. ed. Washington, The Cato Institute, 1984, 333
pp. $9.50, paper.
International economics
Crawford, Vincent P ., Joel Sobel, Ichiro Takahashi, “ Bargaining,
Strategic Reserves, and International Trade in Exhaustible
Resources,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics,
November 1984, pp. 472-80.
Helbum, I. B. and John C. Shearer, “ Human Resources and
Industrial Relations in China: A Time of Ferment,” Industrial
and Labor Relations Review, October 1984, pp. 3-15.
“ Special Issue of Third World Industrialisation in the 1980’s: Open
Economies in a Closing World,” The Journal of Development
Studies, October 1984, pp. 1-133.
Labor force
Abraham, Katharine G. and James L. Medoff, “ Length of Service
and Layoffs in Union and Nonunion Work Groups,” Indus
trial and Labor Relations Review, October 1984, pp. 87-97.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Great Britain, Department of Employment, “ First Employment of
Young People,” Employment Gazette, October 1984, pp. 44548.
---------“ Regional Labour Force Estimates for 1983,” Employ
ment Gazette, October 1984, pp. 453-59.
--------- Women’s Participation in Paid Work: Further Analysis of
the Women and Employment Survey. By Heather Joshi. Lon
don, Department of Employment, Research Administration,
1984, 81 pp. (Research Paper, 45.)
Leonard, Jonathan S., The Impact of Affirmative Action on Em
ployment. Reprinted from the Journal of Labor Economics,
October 1984, pp. 439-63. Cambridge, m a , National Bureau
of Economic Research, Inc., 1984. ( n b e r Reprint Series,
535.) $1.50, paper.
Leuthold, Jane H., “ Income Splitting and Women’s Labor-Force
Participation,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Oc
tober 1984, pp. 98-105.
Rosen, Benson and Thomas H. Jerdee, Older Employees: New
Roles for Valued Resources. Homewood, il , D ow JonesIrwin, 1985, 201 pp.
Schmid, Gunther and Renate Weitzel, eds., Sex Discrimination
and Equal Opportunity: The Labor Market and Employment
Policy. New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1984, 308 pp. $29.95.
Monetary and fiscal policy
Drabenstott, Mark and Anne O’Mara McDonley, “ Futures Mar
ket: A Primer for Financial Institutions,” Economic Review,
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, November 1984, pp. 1733.
Morris, Charles, “ The Competitive Effects of Interstate Banking,”
Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City,
November 1984, pp. 3-16.
Wisley, Thomas O., “ The Effectiveness of Fiscal Policy Under a
Consumption Tax,” The Quarterly Review of Economics and
Business, Spring 1984, pp. 33-41.
Wages and compensation
Great Britain, Department of Employment, “ Statutory Wage Reg
ulation in 1 9 8 3 Employment Gazette, October 1984, pp. 451—
52.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Area Wage Surveys: Hartford,
Connecticut, Metropolitan Area, July 1984 (Bulletin 302535, 28 pp., $1.75); Northeast Pennsylvania Metropolitan Area,
August 1984 (Bulletin 3025-36, 28 pp., $1.75); Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, Metropolitan Area, August 1984 (Bulletin
3025-37, 28 pp., $1.75); Paterson-Clifton-Passaic, New
Jersey, Metropolitan Area, June 1984 (Bulletin 3025-38,
42 pp., $2.25); Chattanooga, Tennessee—Georgia, Metro
politan Area, September 1984 (Bulletin 3025-40, 42 pp.,
$2.25); Nassau-Suffolk, New York, Metropolitan Area, Sep
tember 1984 (Bulletin 3025-41,52 pp., $2.25); Gainesville,
Florida, Metropolitan Area, September 1984 (Bulletin 302542, 24 pp., $1.50); Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York,
Metropolitan Area, September 1984 (Bulletin 3025-43, 30 pp.,
$1.75); Cleveland, Ohio, Metropolitan Area, September 1984
(Bulletin 3025-44, 41 pp., $2.25). Available from the Su
perintendent of Documents, Washington 20402, g p o book
stores, or b l s regional offices.
------Industry Wage Survey: Basic Iron and Steel, August 1983.
Prepared by Carl Barsky. Washington, 1984, 39 pp. (Bulletin
63
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Book Reviews
2221.) Stock No. 029-001-02829-6. $2.25, Superintendent
of Documents, Washington 20402.
------ Electric and Gas Utilities, October 1982. Prepared by Carl
Barsky and Jonathan W. Kelinson. Washington, 1984, 126 pp.
(Bulletin 2218.) Stock No. 029-001-02828-8. $4.75, Su
perintendent of Documents, Washington 20402.
“ Wages in the Postal Service—Two Views: The Effect of Gender
and Race Differentials on Public-Private Wage Comparisons:
A Study of Postal Workers,” by Martin Asher and Joel Popkin; “ Wage Comparability in the U.S. Postal Service,” by
Jeffrey M. Perloff and Michael L. Wachter; “ Comments by
the Authors,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Oc
tober 1984, pp. 16-37.
Worker training and development
Ashenfelter, Orley and David Card, Using the Longitudinal Struc
ture of Earnings to Estimate the Effect of Training Programs.
Cambridge, m a , National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.,
1984, 32 pp. ( n b e r Working Paper Series, 1489.) $1.50,
paper.
Bresnick, David, Youth Jobs: Toward a PrivateIPublic Partner
ship. Westport, ex, Quorum Books, 1984, 151 pp., bibli
ography. $29.95.
A note on communications
The Monthly Labor Review welcomes communications that supple
ment, challenge, or expand on research published in its pages. To be
considered for publication, communications should be factual and an
alytical, not polemical in tone. Communications should be addressed
to the Editor-in-Chief, Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Statis
tics, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. 20212.
64
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Current
Labor Statistics
Notes on Current Labor Statistics......................................
Schedule of release dates for major BLS statistical series
Employment data from household survey. Definitions and notes .........................................................................
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 ad ju sted ..................................................................................
Duration of unemployment, seasonally adjusted...............................................................................................................................
Employment, hours, and earnings data from establishment surveys. Definitions and notes
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Employment, by industry, selected years, 1950-83 ......................................................................................................................
Employment, by State ............................................................................................................................................................................
Employment, by industry, seasonally adjusted .................................................................................................................................
Average hours and earnings, by industry, 1968-83 ........................................................................................................................
Average weekly hours, by industry, seasonally a d ju sted ...............................................................................................................
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 ...........................................................
Unemployment insurance data. Definitions...............................................................................................................................
67
67
68
69
70
70
71
71
71
72
73
73
74
75
76
77
78
78
....................................................................................................
79
79
........................................................................................................................................................
Consumer Price Index, 1967-83 ..........................................................................................................................................................
Consumer Price Index, U .S. city average, general summary and selected it 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 groupings .............................................................................................................
Producer Price Indexes, by durability of product .............................................................................................................................
Producer Price Indexes for the output of selected SIC industries
.........................................................................
80
81
81
87
88
89
90
92
92
93
Productivity data. Definitions and notes ..........................................................................................
94
Annual indexes of multifactor productivity and related measures, selected years, 1950-83 .................................................
Annual indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs,and prices, selected years, 1950-83 ...........................
Annual changes in productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices, 1973-83 ....................................................
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.................
95
95
96
18. Unemployment insurance and employment service operations
Price data. Definitions and notes
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
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, 1978 to d a te .......................................................
Effective wage adjustments in collective bargaining units covering 1,000 workers or more, 1978to date .......................
Work stoppage data. Definition
..........................................................................................................................................................
38. Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more, 1947 to date ...............................................................................................
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
102
103
103
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.
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 CPI. Only seasonally adjusted percent
changes are available for this series.
Adjustments for price changes. Some data are adjusted to eliminate the
effect o f changes in price. These adjustments are made by dividing current
dollar values by the Consumer Price Index or the appropriate component
o f 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.
Seasonal adjustment. 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 R e v ie w , to reflect experience through 1984.
Beginning in January 1980, the BLS 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/
ARIMA, which was developed at Statistics Canada as an extension of the
standard X -11 method. A detailed description of the procedure appears in
T h e X - I I A R IM A S e a s o n a l A d ju s tm e n t M e th o d by Estela Bee Dagum
(Statistics Canada Catalogue No. 12-564E, February 1980). 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-December period. Revisions of historical
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, and 15 were made in July 1984 using the X -11 ARIMA 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
Availability of information. Data that supplement the tables in this section
are published by the Bureau o f 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 E m p lo y m e n t a n d E a rn in g s , a monthly publication o f the
Bureau. Comparable household information is published in a two-volume
data book - L a b o r F o r c e S ta tis tic s D e r iv e d F ro m th e C u r r e n t P o p u la tio n
S u r v e y , Bulletin 2096. Comparable establishment information appears in
two data books - E m p lo y m e n t a n d E a r n in g s , U n ite d S ta te s , and E m p lo y
m e n t a n d E a r n in g s , S ta te s a n d A r e a s , and their annual supplements. More
detailed information on wages and other aspects of collective bargaining
appears in the monthly periodical, C u r r e n t W a g e D e v e lo p m e n ts . More
detailed price information is published each month in the periodicals, the
C P I D e ta ile d R e p o r t and P r o d u c e r P r ic e s a n d P r ic e I n d e x e s .
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.
S ch ed u le of release dates for BLS statistical series
S e r ie s
R e le a s e
P e r io d
R e le a s e
P e r io d
R e le a s e
P e r io d
M L R t a b le
d a te
co v e re d
d a te
c o v e re d
d a te
c o v e re d
num ber
Employment situation
......................................
February 1
January
March 8
February
April 5
March
1-11
Producer Price Index
......................................
February 15
January
March 15
February
April 12
March
23-27
Consumer Price In d e x ......................................
February 26
January
March 22
February
April 23
March
19-22
Real e arn ings......................................................
February 26
January
March 22
February
April 23
March
12-16
April 26
1st quarter
36-37
April 25
1st quarter
29-32
April 30
1st quarter
33-35
Maior collective bargaining settlements . . . .
Productivity and costs:
Nonfarm business and manufacturing . . .
Nonfinancial corpo rations............................
66
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February 28
4th quarter
EMPLOYMENT DATA FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
E m p l o y m e n t 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 of Labor
Statistics. The sample consists of about 60,000 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.
Definitions
Employed persons 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.
Unemployed persons 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 layoff or waiting to start new jobs within
the next 30 days are also counted among the unemployed. The overall
unemployment rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of
the labor force, including the resident Armed Forces. The unemployment
1.
rate for all civilian workers represents the number unemployed as a percent
o f the civilian labor force.
The labor force consists of all employed or unemployed civilians plus
members of the Armed Forces stationed in the United States. Persons not
in the labor 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 noninstitutional population 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 of the
Armed Forces stationed in the United States. The labor force participation
rate is the proportion of the noninstitutional population that is in the labor
force. The employment-population 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 o f 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 rn in g s .
Data in tables 2 - 8 are seasonally adjusted, based on the seasonal ex
perience through December 1984.
E m ploym ent status of th e noninstitution al population, 16 years and over, selected years, 1 9 5 0 -8 4
[Numbers in thousands]
L a b o r fo rc e
E m p lo y e d
U n e m p lo y e d
N o n in s t i
Year
t u tio n a l
p o p u la tio n
Num ber
p o p u la tio n
N o t in
C iv ilia n
P e rc e n t of
T o ta l
P e rc e n t of
p o p u la tio n
R e s id e n t
P erc e n t of
N o n a g r i-
A rm e d
F o rc e s
T o ta l
A g r ic u lt u r e
Num ber
c u ltu r a i
la b o r f o r c e
la b o r
fo rc e
i n d u s tr ie s
1950
1955
1960
................
................
................
106,164
111,747
119,106
63,377
67,087
71,489
59.7
60.0
60.0
60,087
64,234
67,639
56.6
57.5
56.8
1,169
2,064
1,861
58,918
62,170
65,778
7,160
6,450
5,458
51,758
55,722
60,318
3,288
2,852
3,852
5.2
4.3
5.4
42,787
44,660
46,617
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
................
................
................
................
................
128,459
130,180
132,092
134,281
136,573
76,401
77,892
79,565
80,990
82,972
59.5
59.8
60.2
60.3
60.8
73,034
75,017
76,590
78,173
80,140
56.9
57.6
58.0
58.2
58.7
1,946
2,122
2,218
2,253
2,238
71,088
72,895
74,372
75,920
77,902
4,361
3,979
3,844
3,817
3,606
66,726
68,915
70,527
72,103
74,296
3,366
2,875
2,975
2,817
2,832
4.4
3.7
3.7
3.5
3.4
52,058
52,288
52,527
53,291
53,602
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
................
................
................
................
................
139,203
142,189
145,939
148,870
151,841
84,889
86,355
88,847
91,203
93,670
61.0
60.7
60.9
61.3
61.7
80,796
81,340
83,966
86,838
88,515
58.0
57.2
57.5
58.3
58.3
2,118
1,973
1,813
1,774
1,721
78,678
79,367
82,153
85,064
86,794
3,463
3,394
3,484
3,470
3,515
75,215
75,972
78,669
81,594
83,279
4,093
5,016
4,882
4,355
5,156
4.8
5.8
5.5
4.8
5.5
54,315
55,834
57,091
57,667
58,171
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
................
................
................
................
................
154,831
157,818
160,689
163,541
166,460
95,453
97,826
100,665
103,882
106,559
61.6
62.0
62.6
63.5
64.0
87,524
90,420
93,673
97,679
100,421
56.5
57.3
58.3
59.7
60.3
1,678
1,668
1,656
1,631
1,597
85,845
88,752
92,017
96,048
98,824
3,408
3,331
3,283
3,387
3,347
82,438
85,421
88,734
92,661
95,477
7,929
7,406
6,991
6,202
6,137
8.3
7.6
6.9
6.0
5.8
59,377
59,991
60,025
59,659
59,900
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
................
................
................
................
................
169,349
171,775
173,939
175,891
178,080
108,544
110,315
111,872
113,226
115,241
64.1
65.2
64.3
64.4
64.7
100,907
102,042
101,194
102,510
106,702
59.6
59.4
58.2
58.3
59.9
1,604
1,645
1,668
1,676
1,697
99,303
100,397
99,526
100,834
105,005
3,364
3,368
3,401
3,383
3,321
95,938
97,030
96,125
97,450
101,685
7,637
8,273
10,578
10,717
8,539
7.0
7.5
9.5
9.5
7.4
60,806
61,460
62,067
62,665
62,839
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67
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Household Data
2.
E m ploym ent status of the population, in cluding A rm ed Forces in the United S tates, by sex, seaso n ally adjusted
[Numbers in thousands]
A n n u al a v e ra g e
1983
1983
1984
D ec.
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
176,809
113,925
64.4
104,717
59.2
1,688
103,029
3,329
99,700
9,208
8.1
62,884
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
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
1984
E m p lo y m e n t s t a tu s a n d s e x
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
177,219
114,006
64.3
104,980
59.2
1,686
103,294
3,294
100,000
9,026
7.9
63,213
177.363
114,408
64.5
105,572
59.5
1,684
103.888
3.364
100,524
8,836
7.7
62,955
177,510
114.592
64.6
105.809
59 6
1.686
104.123
3.305
100.818
8.783
7.7
62.918
177.662
114.895
64.7
106.095
59.7
1.693
104.402
3.379
101.023
8.800
7.7
62.767
177.813
115,412
64 9
106.852
60.1
1.690
105.162
3.367
101.795
8.560
7.4
62,401
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
84,506
64,846
76.7
59,608
70.5
1,537
58,071
5,238
8.1
84,745
64,966
76.7
59,843
70.6
1,542
58,301
5,123
7.9
84,811
65,081
76.7
60,113
70.9
1,540
58,573
4,968
7.6
84,880
65,151
76.8
60,262
71.0
1,542
58,720
4,889
7.5
84,953
65,200
76.7
60,289
71.0
1,548
58,741
4,911
7.5
85,024
65,304
76.8
60,578
71.2
1,545
59,033
4,726
7.2
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
92,302
49,079
53.2
45,109
48.9
151
44,958
3,970
8.1
92,474
49,040
53.0
45,137
48.8
144
44,993
3,903
8.0
92,552
49,327
53.3
45,459
49.1
144
45,315
3,868
7.8
92,630
49,441
53.4
45,547
49.2
144
45,403
3,894
7.9
92,709
49,695
53.6
45,806
49.4
145
45,661
3,889
7.8
92,789
50,108
54.0
46,274
49.9
145
46,129
3,834
7.7
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
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
D ec.
TO TAL
Noninstitutional population1' 2 .........................
Labor force2 ...................................................
Participation rate3 ............................
Total employed2
Employment-population rate4 . . . .
Resident Armed Forces1 ......................
Civilian e m p lo y e d ...................................
Agriculture .........................................
Nonagricultural in d u s trie s ................
U n e m p lo ye d ................................................
Unemployment rate5 .........................
Not in labor force .........................................
M e n , 16 y e a rs and o ver
Noninstitutional population1' 2 .........................
Labor force2 ...................................................
Participation rate3 ............................
Total employed2 .........................................
Employment-population rate4 . . . .
Resident Armed Forces1 ......................
Civilian e m p lo y e d ...................................
Unemployed ...............................................
Unemployment rate5 .........................
W o m e n , 16 yea rs an d o ver
Noninstitutional population1' 2 .........................
Labor force2 ...................................................
Participation rate3 .............................
Total employed2 .........................................
Employment-population rate4 . . . .
Resident Armed Forces1 ......................
Civilian e m p lo y e d ...................................
U n e m p lo ye d ................................................
Unemployment rate5 .........................
1The population and Armed Forces figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation.
in c lu d e s members of the Armed Forces stationed In the United States.
3 Labor force as a percent of the noninstitutional population.
68
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4Total employed as a percent of the noninstitutional population.
5 Unemployment as a percent of the labor force (Including the resident Armed Forces).
NOTE: Monthly data have been revised based on the seasonal experience through December 1984.
3.
E m ploym ent status of th e civilian population by sex, age, race, and H ispanic origin, seaso n ally adjusted
[N um bers in thousands]
A n n u al av e ra g e
1983
1984
D ec.
1983
1984
Jan.
Feb.
A p r.
M a r.
M ay
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
D ec.
TO TAL
Civilian nonlnstitutlonal population1 ................
Civilian labor f o r c e .........................................
Participation r a t e ................................
Employed ...................................................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
U n e m p lo ye d ................................................
Unemployment rate .........................
Not in labor force .........................................
174,215
111,550
64.0
100,834
57.9
10,717
9.6
62,665
176,383
113,544
64.4
105,005
59.5
8,539
7.5
62,839
175,121
112,237
64.1
103,029
58.8
9,208
8.2
62,884
175,533
112,320
64.0
103,294
58.8
9,026
8.0
63,213
175,679
112,724
64.2
103,888
59.1
8,836
7.8
62,955
175,824
112,906
64.2
104,123
59.2
8,783
7.8
62,918
175,969
113,302
64.3
104,402
59.3
8,800
7.8
62,767
176,123
113,722
64.6
105,162
59.7
8,560
7.5
62,401
176,284
113,619
64.5
105,391
59.8
8,228
7.2
62,665
176,440
113,868
64.5
105,377
59.7
8,491
7.5
62,572
176,583
113,629
64.3
105,148
59.5
8,481
7.5
62,954
176,763
113,764
64.4
105,394
59.6
8,370
7.4
62,999
176,956
114,016
64.4
105,649
59.7
8,367
7.3
62,940
177.135
114,074
64.4
105,932
59.8
8,142
7.1
63,061
177,306
114,464
64.6
106.273
59 9
8,191
7.2
62,842
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
75,433
59,097
78.3
54,715
72.5
2,367
52,348
4,382
7.4
75,692
59,285
78.3
55,012
72.7
2,367
52,645
4,273
7.2
75,786
59,372
78.3
55,233
72 9
2,399
52,834
4,139
7.0
75,880
59,400
78.3
55,352
72.9
2,382
52,970
4,048
6.8
75,973
59,474
78.3
55,387
72.9
2,446
52,941
4,087
6.9
76,073
59,572
78.3
55,663
73.2
2,443
53,220
3,909
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
55,075
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
249.4
53,878
3,759
6.3
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
84,666
45,099
53.3
41,872
49.5
647
41,225
3,227
7.2
84,860
45,031
53.1
41,840
49.3
621
41,219
3,191
7.1
84,962
45,313
53.3
42,178
49.6
627
41,551
3,135
6.9
85,064
45,482
53.5
42,334
49.8
587
41,747
3,148
6.9
85,168
45,685
53.6
42,524
49.9
613
41,911
3,161
6.9
85,272
46,130
54.1
43,003
50.4
603
42,400
3,127
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
52.2
569
42,521
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
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
15,022
8,041
53.5
6,442
42.9
315
6,127
1,599
19.9
14,981
8,004
53.4
6,442
43.0
306
6,136
1,562
19.5
14,931
8,039
53.8
6,477
43.4
338
6,139
1,562
19.4
14,880
8,024
53.9
6,437
43.3
336
6,101
1,587
19.8
14,828
8,043
54.2
6,491
43.8
320
6,171
1,552
19.3
14,778
8,020
54.3
6,496
44.0
321
6,175
1,524
19.0
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
150,805
97,021
64.3
88,893
58.9
8,128
8.4
152,347
98,492
64.6
92,120
60.5
6,372
6.5
151,484
97,751
64.5
90,857
60.0
6,894
7.1
151,939
97,824
64.4
91,068
59.9
6,756
6.9
152,079
98,121
64.5
91,494
60.2
6,627
6.8
152,285
98,343
64.6
91,750
60.2
6,593
6.7
152,178
98,419
64.7
91,852
60.4
6,567
6.7
152,229
98,749
64,9
92,330
60.7
6,419
6.5
152,295
98,690
64.8
92,516
60.7
6,174
6.3
152,286
98,627
64.8
92,389
60.7
6,238
6.3
152,402
98,223
64.4
91,951
60.3
6,272
6.4
152,471
98,426
64.6
92,177
60.5
6,249
6.3
152,605
98,631
64.6
92,407
60.6
6,224
6.3
152,659
98,630
64.6
92,587
60.6
6,043
6.1
152,734
99,005
64.8
92,884
60.8
6,121
6.2
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
19,086
11,684
61.2
9,620
50.4
2,064
17.7
19,196
11,712
61.0
9,721
50.6
1,991
17.0
19,222
11,890
61.9
9,928
51.6
1,962
16.5
19,248
11,845
61.5
9,878
51.3
1,967
16.6
19,274
11,898
61.7
9,913
51.4
1,985
16.7
19,302
11,968
62.0
10,053
52.1
1,915
16.0
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
9,632
6,142
63 8
5,303
55.1
839
13.7
9,881
6,356
64.3
5,679
57.5
676
10.6
9,735
6,256
64.3
5,535
56.9
721
11.5
9,778
6,309
64.5
5,601
57.3
708
11.2
9,906
6,271
63.3
5,626
56.8
645
10.3
10,080
6,410
63.6
5,692
56.5
718
11.2
10,072
6,387
63.4
5,654
56.1
733
11.5
10,026
6,331
63.1
5,658
56.4
673
10.6
9,824
6,304
64.2
5,660
57.6
644
10.2
9,738
6,301
64.7
5,635
57.9
666
10.6
9,785
6,302
64.4
5,633
57.6
669
10.6
9,713
6,345
65.3
5,675
58.4
670
10.6
9,794
6,342
64.8
5,662
57.8
680
10.7
9,901
6,449
65.1
5,799
58.6
650
10.1
9,959
6,529
65.6
5,865
58.9
664
10.2
M e n , 2 0 y e a rs and o ver
Civilian noninstitutional population1 ................
Civilian labor f o r c e .........................................
Participation r a t e ................................
Employed ...................................................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
A gricu lture................................................
Nonagricultural industries ...................
U n e m p lo ye d ................................................
Unemployment rate .........................
W o m e n , 2 0 y e a rs and o ver
Civilian noninstitutional population1 ................
Civilian labor f o r c e .........................................
Participation r a te ................................
Employed ...................................................
Employment-population ratio2 ..........
A gricu lture................................................
Nonagricultural industries ...................
U n e m p lo ye d ................................................
Unemployment rate .........................
B o th s e x e s , 1 6 t o 1 9 y e a r s
Civilian noninstitutional population1 ................
Civilian labor f o r c e .........................................
Participation r a t e ................................
Employed ...................................................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
A gricu lture................................................
Nonagricultural industries ...................
U n e m p lo ye d ................................................
Unemployment rate .........................
W h it e
Civilian noninstitutional population1 ................
Civilian labor f o r c e .........................................
Participation r a t e ................................
Employed ...................................................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
U n e m p lo ye d ................................................
Unemployment rate .........................
B la c k
Civilian noninstitutional population1 ................
Civilian labor f o r c e .........................................
Participation r a t e ................................
Employed ...................................................
Employment-population ratio2 . . . .
U n e m p lo ye d ................................................
Unemployment rate .........................
H is p a n ic o r ig in
Civilian noninstitutional population1 ................
Civilian labor f o r c e .........................................
Participation r a t e ................................
Employed ...................................................
Employment-population ratio2 . .
U n e m p lo ye d ................................................
Unemployment rate .........................
1The population figures are not seasonally adjusted.
C ivilia n employment as a percent of the civilian noninstltutional population.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
NOTE: Monthly data have been revised based on the seasonal experience through December 1984.
Detail for the above race and Hispanlc-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other
races" groups are not presented and Híspanles are Included in both the white and black population groups.
69
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Household Data
4.
S elected em p lo ym en t indicators, seasonally adjusted
[In thousands]
A n n u al av e ra g e
1983
1983
1984
D ec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
J u ly
Aug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
D ec.
100,834
56,787
44,047
37,967
24,603
5,091
105,005
59,091
45,915
39,056
25,636
5,465
103,029
58,071
44,958
38,525
25,121
5,301
103,294
58,301
44.993
38,676
24,991
5,328
103.888
58.573
45,315
38.859
25,244
5.373
104.123
58,720
45.403
38.895
25.286
5,449
104,402
58,741
45,661
391012
25.468
5,482
105,162
59.033
46.129
39.060
25.658
5.606
105.391
59.213
46.178
39.060
25.734
5.622
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
Agriculture:
Wage and salary w o r k e r s ...................................
Self-employed workers ......................................
Unpaid family w o rk e rs .........................................
1,579
1,565
240
1,555
1,553
213
1,509
1,589
240
1,468
1,608
234
1,547
1.598
230
1.522
1,579
211
1,627
1,545
215
1.580
1.549
239
1.578
1.566
211
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
Nonagricultural industries:
Wage and salary w o r k e r s ...................................
G overnm ent...................................................
Private in d u s trie s .........................................
Private households ............................
Other ......................................................
Self-employed workers ......................................
Unpaid family w o rk e rs .........................................
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
91,531
15,547
75,984
1,232
74,752
7,735
434
91,812
15,562
76,250
1,216
75,034
7,663
361
92,374
15,773
76,601
1,235
75,366
7,824
331
92,747
15,765
76,982
1,164
75,818
7,769
332
92,908
15,765
77,143
1,280
75,863
7,812
341
93,780
15,744
78,036
1,327
76,709
7,745
323
93,845
15,713
78,132
1,297
76,835
7,815
347
93,768
15,639
78,129
1,238
76,891
7,744
318
93,680
15,758
77,922
1,199
76,723
7,807
321
94.140
15,881
78,259
1,198
77,061
7,752
318
94,415
15,997
78,418
1,213
77,205
7,782
314
94,442
15,785
78,657
1,228
77,429
7,731
357
94,725
15,858
78,867
1,257
77,610
7,786
357
92,038
73,624
5,997
1,826
4,171
12,417
96,246
78,030
5,512
1,623
3,889
12,704
94,348
76,020
5,677
1,662
4,010
12,656
94,773
76,389
5,719
1,733
4,081
12,570
95,151
76,810
5,697
1,613
4,126
12,602
95,162
77,084
5,465
1,519
3,967
12,592
96,274
77,785
5,520
1,559
4,006
12,924
96,279
78,060
5,377
1,580
3,840
12,799
96.465
78,343
5,549
1,643
3,858
12,621
96,668
78,503
5,482
1,608
3,771
12,786
96,757
78,676
5,384
1,702
3,632
12,747
96,540
78,403
5,449
1,649
3,819
12,669
96,767
78,592
5,483
1,622
3,874
12,679
96,839
78,754
5,413
1,596
3,819
12,670
97,311
78,943
5,596
1,625
3,965
12,778
1984
S e le c t e d c a t e g o r ie s
C H A R A C T E R IS T IC
Civilian employed, 16 years and over ......................
M e n .........................................................................
W o m e n ...................................................................
Married men, spouse p re s e n t.............................
Married women, spouse present ......................
Women who maintain families .........................
M A J O R IN D U S T R Y A N D C L A S S O F W O R K E R
PERSONS AT W O R K 1
Nonagricultural in d u s trie s ............................................
Full-time schedules ............................................
Part time for economic reaso ns.........................
Usually work full time ................................
Usually work part t im e ...............................
Part time for noneconomic reasons...................
1 Excludes persons “ with a job but not at w ork" during the survey period for such reasons as
vacation, illness, or industrial disputes.
5.
NOTE:
Monthly data have been revised based on the seasonal experience through December 1984.
S elected unem ploym ent indicators, seasonally adjusted
[U nem ploym ent rates]
A n n u al ave ra g e
1983
1983
1984
D ec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
May
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
D ec.
Total, all civilian w o rk e rs ............................................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 y e a r s ................................
Men, 20 years and o v e r ......................................
Women, 20 years and o v e r ................................
9.6
22.4
8.9
8.1
7.5
18.9
6.6
6.8
8.2
19.9
7.4
7.2
8.0
19.5
7.2
7.1
7.8
19.4
7.0
6.9
7.8
19.8
6.8
6.9
7.8
19,3
6.9
6.9
7.5
19.0
6.6
6.8
7.2
18.1
6.4
6.5
7.5
18.4
6.5
6.8
7.5
18.4
6.4
7.0
7.4
19.0
6.4
6.6
7.3
18.7
6.2
6.9
7.1
17.8
6.2
6.5
7.2
18.8
6.3
6.4
White, t o t a l............................................................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years ......................
Men, 16 to 19 years .........................
Women, 16 to 19 years ...................
Men, 20 years and o v e r ............................
Women, 20 years and over ......................
8.4
19.3
20.2
18.3
7.9
6.9
6.5
16.0
16.8
15.2
5.7
5.8
7.1
16.8
17.4
16.1
6.5
6.0
6.9
16.4
17.7
14.9
6.3
6.0
6.8
16.5
16.8
16.1
6.1
5.9
6.7
16.9
17.3
16.4
5.9
5.9
6.7
16.2
16.8
15.7
5.9
6.0
6.5
16.2
16.9
15.5
5.7
5.8
6.3
15.8
16.6
15.1
5.4
5.6
6.3
15.2
17.4
12.9
5.5
5.8
6.4
16.0
16.7
15.4
5.5
5.9
6.3
16.3
17.0
15.5
5.5
5.7
6.3
15.9
16.6
15.2
5.4
5.8
6.1
15.1
16.2
13.9
5.4
5.5
6.2
15.9
16.2
15.5
5.4
5.5
Black, t o t a l ............................................................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years ......................
Men, 16 to 19 years .........................
Women, 16 to 19 years ...................
Men, 20 years and o v e r ............................
Women, 20 years and over ......................
19.5
48.5
48.8
48.2
18.1
16.5
15.9
42.7
42.7
42.6
14.3
13.5
17.7
47.8
45.0
50.8
15.1
15.9
17.0
47.4
46.6
48.2
15.1
14.6
16.5
43.8
46.0
41.4
14.6
14.4
16.6
46.6
44.3
49.4
15.1
13.8
16.7
44.3
42.9
45.9
15.6
13.6
16.0
44.4
41.4
48.1
14.3
13.7
15.2
37.1
38.2
35.8
14.6
12.6
16.6
42.3
42.3
42.2
15.5
13.8
15.8
41.3
40.5
42.2
14.1
13.8
15.1
41.9
41.0
43.0
13.5
12.6
15.3
40.2
43.8
36.2
13.4
13.4
15.1
41.2
42.0
40.2
12.8
13.5
15.0
42.1
43.8
40.1
13.3
12.7
Hispanic origin, to ta l............................................
13.7
10.6
11.5
11.2
10.3
11.2
11.5
10.6
10.2
10.6
10.6
10.6
10.7
10.1
10.2
Married men, spouse p re s e n t............................
Married women, spouse present ......................
Women who maintain families .........................
6.5
7.0
12.2
4.6
5.7
10.3
5.2
6.2
10.9
5.0
6.0
10.7
4.9
5.9
10.8
4.7
5.8
10.8
4.7
5.8
10.5
4.6
5.8
10.0
4.6
5.7
9.8
4.5
5.8
9.8
4.5
5.8
10.3
4.6
5.7
10.1
4.5
5.7
10.4
4.4
5.4
10.8
4.4
5.4
9.6
Full-time w o rk e rs ...................................................
'Part-time workers ...............................................
Unemployed 15 weeks and over ......................
Labor force time lost1 .........................................
9.5
10.4
3.8
10.9
7.2
9.3
2.4
8.6
8.0
9.7
3.0
9.4
7.8
9.4
2.8
9.1
7.6
9.4
2.7
9.0
7.5
9.3
2.6
8.9
7.5
9.3
2.5
8.8
7.2
9.4
2.5
8.6
6.7
10.0
2.3
8.4
7.2
9.6
2.3
8.5
7.1
9.6
2.3
8.5
7.1
9.3
2.3
8.5
7.1
9.1
2.2
8.4
6.9
8.6
2.1
8.2
6.9
8.8
2.1
8.3
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
8.3
12.6
16.3
8.3
8.3
8.3
6.4
8.7
6.5
4.9
15.3
7.9
11.3
15.2
8.2
8.0
8.6
5.2
8.4
6.2
4.9
15.1
7.8
11.8
14.9
7.7
7.5
8.0
5.9
8.3
6.3
4.5
14.1
7.7
10.8
13.6
7.6
7.7
7.5
5.4
8.2
6.3
4.5
14.6
7.7
10.1
14.4
7.7
7.5
8.0
5.5
8.7
6.1
4.4
12.7
7.3
8.8
14.7
7.2
7.1
7.3
5.7
8.0
5.7
4.7
13.8
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
1984
C H A R A C T E R IS T IC
IN D U S T R Y
Nonagricultural private wage and salary workers . .
Mining ...................................................................
Construction .........................................................
Manufacturing ......................................................
Durable goods ............................................
Nondurable goods ......................................
Transportation and public u tilitie s ......................
Wholesale and retail tr a d e ...................................
Finance and service industries .........................
Government workers ...................................................
Agricultural wage and salary workers ......................
1Aggregate hours lost by the unemployed and persons on part time for economic reasons as a percent
of potentially available labor force hours.
70
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NOTE:
Monthly data have been revised based on the seasonal experience through December 1984.
6.
U nem p loym ent rates by sex and age, seasonally adjusted
[Civilian w orkers]
A n n u al av e ra g e
1983
1983
1984
D ec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
1984
J u ly
Aug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
D ec.
Total, 16 years and over ............................................
16 to 24 years .........................................................
16 to 19 y e a r s ......................................................
16 to 17 y e a rs ...................................................
18 to 19 y e a rs ...................................................
20 to 24 y e a r s ......................................................
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
8.2
14.8
19.9
22.7
18.5
12.3
6.4
6.8
4.9
8.0
14.7
19.5
22.2
17.8
12.3
6.2
6.5
4.7
7.8
14.3
19.4
22.1
17.8
11.7
6.1
6.4
4.4
7.8
14.4
19.8
22.7
18.1
11.7
6.0
6.3
4.4
7.8
14.5
19.3
22.1
17.6
12.1
6.0
6.3
4.3
7.5
14.1
19.0
20.6
17.9
11.6
5.8
6.0
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
Men, 16 years and o v e r ......................................
16 to 24 y e a rs ...................................................
16 to 19 years ............................................
16 to 17 y e a r s .........................................
18 to 19 y e a r s .........................................
20 to 24 years ............................................
25 years and over ............................................
25 to 54 y e a r s .........................................
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
8.3
15.6
20.3
23.5
18.5
13.2
6.5
6.7
5.2
8.1
15.4
20.5
22.5
19.4
12.9
6.2
6.5
4.9
7.8
14.7
19.9
22.2
18.3
12.2
6.1
6.4
4.6
7.7
14.7
20.0
23.0
18.2
12.0
5.9
6.1
4.7
7.7
14.9
19.7
23.3
17.7
12.6
5.9
6.2
4.5
7.4
14.3
19.5
21.7
18.1
11.7
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
Women, 16 years and o v e r ................................
16 to 24 y e a rs ...................................................
16 to 19 years ............................................
16 to 17 y e a r s .........................................
18 to 19 y e a r s .........................................
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
8.1
14.0
19.4
21.8
18.5
11.2
6.3
6.8
4.4
8.0
14.0
18.4
22.0
16.0
11.6
6.2
6.5
4.5
7.9
13.8
18.9
22.1
17.2
11.1
6.1
6.5
4.1
7.9
14.1
19.6
22.3
17.9
11.2
6.1
6.5
4.0
7.8
14.0
18.8
20.8
17.6
11.4
6.0
6.4
4.0
7.7
13.9
18.4
19.4
17.7
11.5
5.9
6.2
4.3
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
S ex and age
7.
U nem p loyed persons by reason fo r unem ploym ent, seasonally adjusted
[N um bers in thousands]
1984
A n n u al ave ra g e
1983
1983
1984
D ec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
D ec.
6,258
1,780
4,478
830
2,412
1,216
4,421
1,171
3,250
823
2,184
1,110
5,039
1,304
3,735
836
2,205
1,170
4,829
1,257
3,572
810
2,199
1,185
4,739
1,271
3,468
786
2,171
1,102
4,622
1,248
3,374
777
2,208
1,200
4,531
1,117
3,414
792
2,301
1,197
4,373
1,187
3,186
812
2,184
1,170
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
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
54.5
14.1
40.4
9.0
23.8
12.6
100.0
53.5
13.9
39.6
9.0
24.4
13.1
100.0
53.9
14.4
39.4
8.9
24.7
12.5
100.0
52.5
14.2
38.3
8.8
25.1
13.6
100.0
51.4
12.7
38.7
9.0
26.1
13.6
100.0
51.2
13.9
37.3
9.5
25.6
13.7
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
5.6
.7
2.2
1.1
3.9
.7
1.9
1.0
4.5
.7
2.0
1.0
4.3
.7
2.0
1.1
4.2
.7
1.9
1.0
4.1
.7
2.0
1.1
4.0
.7
2.0
1.1
3.8
.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
R e a s o n f o r u n e m p lo y m e n t
Job losers ......................................................................
On layoff ................................................................
Other job losers ...................................................
Job leave rs......................................................................
R e e n tra n ts......................................................................
New e n tra n ts...................................................................
P E R C E N T D IS T R IB U T IO N
Total u n e m p lo y e d .........................................................
Job losers ......................................................................
On layoff ...............................................................
Other job losers ...................................................
Job leave rs......................................................................
R e e n tra n ts......................................................................
New e n tra n ts...................................................................
PERCENT OF
C IV IL IA N L A B O R F O R C E
Job losers ......................................................................
Job leave rs......................................................................
R e e n tra n ts......................................................................
New e n tra n ts...................................................................
8.
D uration o f unem ploym ent, seasonally adjusted
[Num bers in thousands]
1984
A n n u al av e ra g e
1983
1983
1984
D ec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
Dec.
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
3,393
2,499
3,351
1,276
2,075
19.6
8.9
3,298
2,529
3,201
1,194
2,007
19.9
8.9
3,359
2,482
3,002
1,172
1,830
19.0
8.4
3,378
2,514
2,894
1,122
1,772
18.9
8.4
3,407
2,485
2,842
1,102
1,740
18.7
8.1
3,275
2,440
2,833
1,173
1,660
18.5
8.3
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
W e e k s o f u n e m p lo y m e n t
Less than 5 w e e k s .........................................................
5 to 14 w e e k s ................................................................
15 weeks and over ......................................................
15 to 26 w eeks......................................................
27 weeks and o v e r ................................................
Mean duration in w e e k s ................................................
Median duration in w e e k s ............................................
NOTE: Monthly data shown in tables 6, 7, and 8 have been revised based on the seasonal experience
through December 1984.
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71
EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS DATA FROM ESTABLISHMENT SURVEYS
E mployment , hours , and earnings data in this section are com
piled 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 establishments are
therefore in the sample. (An establishment is not necessarily a
firm; it may be a branch plant, for example, or warehouse.) Selfemployed 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 sur
veys.
Definitions
Employed persons 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.
Production workers 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 o f the total
employment on private nonagricultural payrolls.
Earnings 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.
Real earnings 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 (CPI-W). The
Hourly Earnings Index is calculated from average hourly earnings data
adjusted to exclude the effects of two types of changes that are unrelated
to underlying wage-rate developments: fluctuations in overtime premiums
72
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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.
Hours represent the average weekly hours of production or nonsuper
visory workers for which pay was received and are different from standard
or scheduled hours. Overtime hours represent the portion of gross average
weekly hours which were in excess of regular hours and for which overtime
premiums were paid.
The Diffusion Index, 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 1984 data, published in the July 1984 issue of the R e v ie w . Con
sequently, data published in the R e v ie w prior to that issue are not necessarily
comparable to current data. Unadjusted data have been revised back to
April 1982; seasonally adjusted data have been revised back to January
1979. Unadjusted data from April 1983 forward, and seasonally adjusted
data from January 1980 forward are subject to revision in future bench
marks. Earlier comparable unadjusted and seasonally adjusted data are
published in a S u p p le m e n t to E m p lo y m e n t a n d E a rn in g s (unadjusted data
from April 1977 through February 1984 and seasonally adjusted data from
January 1974 through February 1984) and in E m p lo y m e n t a n d E a rn in g s ,
U n ite d S ta te s , 1 9 0 9 - 7 8 , BLS Bulletin 1312-11 (for prior periods).
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,” M o n th ly
L a b o r R e v ie w , December 1969, pp. 9 -2 0 . See also B L S H a n d b o o k o f
M e th o d s , Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982).
9.
E m ploym ent, by industry, selected years, 1 9 5 0 -8 3
[Nonagricultural payroll data, in thousands]
G o o d s -p r o d u c in g
S e r v ic e - p r o d u c in g
T ra n s p o r
Year
T o ta l
P r iv a te
s e c to r
T o ta l
M in in g
C o n s tru c
M a n u fa c
t io n
t u rin g
t a tio n
T o ta l
W h o le
and
s a le
p u b lic
tra d e
G o v e rn m e n t
F in a n c e ,
R e t a il
in s u r a n c e ,
tra d e
an d real
S e r v ic e s
T o ta l
F e d e ra l
S t a te
Local
e s t a te
u t il it ie s
1950 ...................................
1955 ...................................
I9 6 0 2 ................................
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
1 9 7 1 ...................................
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
1 9 8 1 ...................................
1982 ...................................
1983 ...................................
91,156
89,566
90,138
75,126
73,729
74,288
25,497
23,813
23,394
1,139
1,128
957
4,188
3,905
3,940
20,170
18,781
18,497
65,659
65,753
66,744
5,165
5,082
4,958
5,358
5,278
5,259
15,189
15,179
15,545
5,298
5,341
5,467
18,619
19,036
19,665
16,031
15,837
15,851
2,772
2,739
2,752
3,640
3,640
3,660
9,619
9,458
9,439
1 Not available.
2 Data include Alaska and Hawaii beginning in 1959.
10.
NOTE:
See "Notes on the data" for a description of the most recent benchmark revision.
E m p lo y m e n t, b y S ta te
[N onagricultural payroll data, in thousands ]
State
November 1983
October 1984
November 1984P
State
A lab am a............................................................
A la s k a ................................................................
Arizona ............................................................
Arkansas .........................................................
California .........................................................
1,336.6
211.7
1,105.0
762.5
10,130.9
1,354.1
224.1
1,172.0
789.0
10,490.7
1,356.0
217.6
1,187.8
782.7
10,530 2
M ontana.........................................................
Nebraska .........................................................
Nevada .........................................................
New H am pshire...............................................
273.3
620.5
417.9
418.5
276.7
639.9
424.3
441.2
275.4
640.3
425.5
440.8
Coorado .........................................................
C o n n e cticu t......................................................
Delaware .........................................................
District of Columbia ......................................
F lo rid a ................................................................
1,345.9
1,475.8
272.4
596.7
4,008.8
1,374.5
1,505.0
277.2
599 0
4,191.4
1,385.3
1,515.5
278.8
602.3
4,238.7
New M e x ic o ......................................................
New Y o r k ............................................
North Carolina ................................................
North D a k o ta ...................................................
O h io ..................................................................
484.9
7,421.1
2,471.1
254.4
4,177.5
504.9
7,552.5
2,523.4
256 3
4,242.1
504.2
7,570.5
2,526.1
254.4
4,244.5
Georgia ............................................................
H a w a ii................................................................
Idaho ...............................................................
Illin o is ................................................................
Indiana ............................................................
2,331.2
404.4
326.5
4,545.3
2,042.0
2,466.5
400.9
332.9
4,618.6
2,097.7
2,481.9
407.0
329.9
4,626.0
2,095.2
O kla hom a.........................................................
Oregon ............................................................
Pennsylvania ............................................
Rhode Is la n d ...................................................
South Carolina ...............................................
1,173.8
982.4
4,606.1
401.7
1,208.7
1,186.7
1,017.8
4,668.1
408.6
1,241.9
1,186.8
1,008.3
4,670.5
409.6
1,240.7
Io w a ...................................................................
Kansas ............................................................
Kentucky .........................................................
Louisiana .........................................................
M a in e ...............................................................
1,043.2
929.5
1,177.3
1,580.1
425.6
1,049.2
951.5
1,209.1
1,579.6
441.1
1,047.3
955 1
1,213.4
1,582.1
437.0
South D a k o ta ...................................................
237.0
241.5
241.6
Texas ...............................................................
U ta h ..................................................................
V e rm o n t............................................................
6,248.5
584.7
207.8
6,398.7
611.6
214.7
6,413.4
614.7
212.2
Maryland .........................................................
Massachusetts ...............................................
Michigan .........................................................
Minnesota .........................................................
Mississippi ......................................................
M is s o u ri............................................................
1,730.5
2,728.6
3,263.0
1,760.3
803.3
1,944.3
1,762.7
2,763.9
3,354.9
1,878.6
816.3
1,980.0
1,774.5
2,778.1
3,347.0
1,876.2
816.0
1,977.5
Virginia ............................................................
W a sh ington......................................................
West V ir g in ia ...................................................
W isco nsin.........................................................
Wyoming ......................................................
2,242.0
1,604.3
592.3
1,895.0
203.0
2,319.7
1,672.2
590.9
1,954.9
205.9
2,324.9
1,665.8
593.9
1,954.3
202.4
Virgin Is la n d s ...................................................
35.7
33.6
34.1
November 1983
October 1984
November 1984P
p = preliminary.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
73
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Establishment Data
11.
E m ploym ent, by industry, seasonally adjusted
[Nonagricultural payroll data, In thousands]
A n n u al av e ra g e
1983
1982
D ec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
May
1984
In d u s tr y d iv is io n a n d g ro u p
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov. F
O ec. F
89,566
90,138
92,026
92,391
92,846
93,058
93,449
93,768
94,135
94,350
94,523
94,807
95,154
95,489
95,798
73,729
74,288
76,157
76,533
76,971
77,185
77,546
77,864
78,241
78,422
78,566
78,698
79,054
79,368
79,674
23,813
23,394
24,198
24,383
24,577
24,595
24,760
24,851
24,974
25,059
25,098
25,010
25,080
25,113
25,248
1,128
708
957
600
969
607
975
608
978
607
978
607
984
612
995
619
1,002
623
1,007
629
1,017
636
1,020
642
1,012
643
1,009
648
1,005
645
3,905
991
3,940
1,015
4,086
1,077
4,154
1,100
4,226
1,111
4,151
1,099
4,246
1,110
4,286
1,126
4,343
1,135
4,356
1,133
4,356
1,132
4,374
1,140
4,382
1,140
4,393
1,144
4,447
1,160
18,781
12,742
18,497
12,581
19,143
13,145
19,254
13,234
19,373
13,326
19,466
13,388
19,530
13,443
19,570
13,465
19,629
13,492
19,696
13,541
19,725
13,558
19,616
13,448
19,686
13,497
19,711
13,502
19,796
13,584
............................................
11,039
7,311
10,774
7,151
11,266
7,585
11,343
7,643
11,440
7,718
11,513
7,769
11,551
7,799
11,598
7,826
11,652
7,860
11,702
7,899
11,758
7,945
11,696
7,876
11,752
7,915
11,772
7,921
11,828
7,975
Lumber and wood products ................................
Furniture and fix tu r e s .............................................
Stone, clay, and glass p ro d u c ts .........................
Primary metal industries ......................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel products . . . .
Fabricated metal p rod ucts......................................
598
432
577
922
396
1,427
658
447
573
838
343
1,374
698
470
592
877
352
1,431
702
475
595
871
347
1,440
706
480
604
877
348
1,447
712
483
606
877
347
1,456
714
482
604
879
345
1,459
711
482
605
887
347
1,469
712
485
605
884
345
1,479
708
485
606
880
342
1,490
706
484
603
879
334
1,491
703
481
603
865
324
1,485
710
487
606
866
320
1,495
713
492
607
866
320
1,497
717
493
613
861
321
1,505
Machinery, except electrical ...............................
Electrical and electronic equipm ent......................
Transportation equipm ent......................................
Motor vehicles and equipment .........................
Instruments and related products ......................
Miscellaneous m anufacturing................................
2,244
2,008
1,735
699
716
382
2,038
2,024
1,756
758
695
371
2,122
2,132
1,855
843
707
382
2,137
2,152
1,876
858
711
384
2,151
2,175
1,898
865
715
387
2,166
2,202
1,905
863
718
388
2,189
2,212
1,905
857
719
388
2,203
2,228
1,906
848
722
385
2,226
2,237
1,917
855
723
384
2,242
2,252
1,926
858
727
386
2,252
2,267
1,961
894
726
389
2,243
2,263
1,939
864
726
388
2,255
2,269
1,945
865
729
390
2,250
2,274
1,954
877
731
388
2,252
2,281
1,983
901
733
390
............................................
7,741
5,431
7,724
5,430
7,877
5,560
7,911
5,591
7,933
5,608
7,953
5,619
7,979
5,644
7,972
5,639
7,977
5,632
7,994
5,642
7,967
5,613
7,920
5,572
7,934
5,582
7,939
5,581
7,968
5,609
Food and kindred p ro d u c ts ...................................
Tobacco manufactures .........................................
Textile mill p ro d u cts................................................
Apparel and other textile p ro d u c ts ......................
Paper and allied p ro d u c ts ......................................
1,636
69
749
1,161
662
1,622
69
744
1,164
662
1,631
67
762
1,202
675
1,638
66
758
1,207
676
1,637
65
767
1,213
680
1,638
66
769
1,218
680
1,648
67
766
1,226
680
1,643
67
762
1,217
681
1,644
67
759
1,209
685
1,655
66
755
1,206
687
1,642
65
751
1,200
686
1,630
69
744
1,181
680
1,640
69
735
1,178
684
1,645
66
731
1,177
683
1,657
63
730
1,188
686
Printing and p u b lis h in g .........................................
Chemicals and allied products ............................
Petroleum and coal p ro d u c ts ................................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products . .
Leather and leather p ro d u c ts ................................
1,272
1,075
201
697
219
1,296
1,047
195
718
208
1,321
1,052
191
766
210
1,328
1,053
191
774
210
1,333
1,054
190
784
210
1,339
1,054
190
790
209
1,348
1,057
189
790
208
1,356
1,057
188
795
206
1,362
1,062
188
797
204
1,368
1,064
187
801
205
1,371
1,067
187
800
198
1,375
1,063
186
798
194
1,380
1,065
185
805
193
1,387
1,065
185
809
191
1,389
1,067
185
813
190
65,753
66,744
67,828
68,008
68,269
68,463
68,689
68,917
69,161
69,291
69,425
69,797
70,074
70,376
70,550
5,082
2,789
2,293
4,958
2,739
2,219
5,055
2,776
2,279
5,095
2,816
2,279
5,105
2,828
2,276
5,112
2,839
2,273
5,129
2,862
2,267
5,144
2,871
2,273
5,163
2,883
2,280
5,175
2,896
2,279
5,202
2,924
2,278
5,213
2,937
2,276
5,225
2,951
2,274
5,224
2,953
2,271
5,238
2,966
2,272
5,278
11,039
7,741
5,259
10,774
7,724
5,371
11,266
7,877
5,406
11,343
7,911
5,438
11,440
7,933
5,457
11,513
7,953
5,473
11,551
7,979
5,492
11,598
7,972
5,502
11,652
7,977
5,528
11,702
7,994
5,544
11,758
7,967
5,588
11,696
7,920
5,612
11,752
7,934
5,623
11,772
7,939
5,653
11,828
7,968
15,179
2,184
2,478
1,632
4,831
15,545
2,161
2,560
1,667
5,007
15,857
2,189
2,600
1,710
5,095
15,914
2,210
2,618
1,725
5,111
15,980
2,211
2,626
1,740
5,121
16,030
2,230
2,626
1,748
5,136
16,095
2,251
2,635
1,743
5,154
16,166
2,273
2,630
1,751
5,183
16,245
2,295
2,641
1,751
5,199
16,283
2,301
2,648
1,762
5,211
16,295
2,303
2,640
1,758
5,238
16,342
2,318
2,648
1,755
5,255
16,468
2,334
2,677
1,763
5,280
16,639
2,390
2,697
1,771
5,306
16,650
2,374
2,705
1,778
5,327
5,341
2,646
1,714
981
5,467
2,740
1,721
1,005
5,546
2,789
1,730
1,027
5,573
2,797
1,737
1,039
5,593
2,812
1,741
1,040
5,613
2,831
1,742
1,041
5,640
2,851
1,742
1,047
5,662
2,863
1,746
1,053
5,676
2,854
1,752
1,066
5,676
2,854
1,759
1,063
5,679
2,850
1,763
1,066
5,684
2,856
1,766
1,062
5,705
2,865
1,774
1,066
5,728
2,876
1,779
1,073
5,748
2,890
1,784
1,074
19,036
3,286
5,812
19,665
3,539
5,973
20,130
3,758
6,026
20,162
3,798
6,030
20,278
3,845
6,040
20,378
3,875
6,052
20,449
3,912
6,062
20,549
3,979
6,073
20,681
4,014
6,064
20,701
4,035
6,079
20,748
4,069
6,034
20,861
4,085
6,085
20,964
4,110
6,087
21,041
4,144
6,104
21,137
4,161
6,123
15,837
2,739
3,640
9,458
15,851
2,752
3,660
9,439
15,869
2,762
3,668
9,439
15,858
2,760
3,670
9,428
15,875
2,763
3,682
9,430
15,873
2,770
3,686
9,417
15,903
2,771
3,693
9,439
15,904
2,767
3,699
9,438
15,894
2,777
3,699
9,418
15,928
2,779
3,697
9,452
15,957
2,785
3,714
9,458
16,109
2,804
3,725
9,580
16,100
2,790
3,719
9,591
16,121
2,793
3,728
9,600
16,124
2,794
3,738
9,592
TO TAL
........................................................................................
P R IV A T E S E C T O R
G O O D S -P R O O U C IN G
M in in g
......................................................................................................
Oil and gas e x tra c tio n .........................................
C o n s t r u c tio n
........................................................................................
General building contractors...............................
M a n u f a c t u r i n g ....................................................................................
Production workers
D u r a b le g o o d s
............................................
................................................................................
Production workers
N o n d u r a b le g o o d s
.......................................................................
Production workers
S E R V IC E -P R O D U C IN G
T r a n s p o r t a t io n a n d p u b lic u t i l i t i e s ...................................
Transportation.........................................................
Communication and public u tilitie s ......................
W h o le s a l e t r a d e ...............................................................................
Durable g o o d s .........................................................
Nondurable g o o d s ...................................................
R e t a il t r a d e
........................................................................................
General merchandise stores ................................
Food stores ............................................................
Automotive dealers and service s ta tio n s .............
Eating and drinking places ...................................
F i n a n c e , i n s u r a n c e , a n d r e a l e s t a te
F inance......................................................................
Insurance ...............................................................
Real e s ta te ...............................................................
S e r v ic e s
.................................................................................................
Business s e rv ic e s ...................................................
Health services ......................................................
G o v e rn m e n t
F e d e ra l......................................................................
State .........................................................................
L o c a l.........................................................................
p = preliminary.
74
1983
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
NOTE:
See "Notes on the data" tor a description of the most recent benchmark revision.
12.
A verage hours and earnings, by industry 1 9 6 8 -8 3
[Production or nonsupervisory workers on nonagricultural payrolls]
Year
A v e ra g e
A v e ra g e
A v e ra g e
A v e ra g e
A v e ra g e
A v e ra g e
A verag e
A v e ra g e
w e e k ly
h o u r ly
w e e k ly
w e e k ly
h o u r ly
w e e k ly
w e e k ly
h o u r ly
w e e k ly
h o u rs
e a r n in g s
e a r n in g s
h o u rs
e a r n in g s
e a r n in g s
h o u rs
e a r n in g s
e a r n in g s
M in in g
P r iv a t e s e c t o r
A v e ra g e
C o n s t r u c tio n
1968 .........................................................................
1969 .........................................................................
1970 .........................................................................
37.8
37.7
37.1
$2.85
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
1 9 7 1 .........................................................................
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
1 9 8 1 .........................................................................
1982 .........................................................................
1983 .........................................................................
35.2
34.8
35.0
7.25
7.68
8.02
255.20
267.26
280.70
43.7
42.7
42.5
10.04
10.77
11.27
438.75
459.88
478.98
36.9
36.7
37.2
10.82
11.63
11.92
399.26
426.82
443.42
M a n u f a c t u r in g
T r a n s p o r t a t io n a n d p u b lic u t il it ie s
W h o le s a l e t r a d e
1968 .........................................................................
1969 .........................................................................
1970 .........................................................................
40.7
40.6
39.8
$3.01
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
1 9 7 1 .........................................................................
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
1 9 8 1 .........................................................................
1982 .........................................................................
1983 .........................................................................
39.8
38.9
40.1
7.99
8.49
8.83
318.00
330.26
354.08
39.4
39.0
39.0
9.70
10.32
10.80
382.18
402.48
421.20
38.5
38.3
38.5
7.56
8.09
8.54
291.06
309.85
328.79
R e t a il t r a d e
F in a n c e , in s u r a n c e , a n d r e a l e s t a t e
S e r v ic e s
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
1 9 7 1 .........................................................................
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
1 9 8 1 .........................................................................
1982 .........................................................................
1983 .........................................................................
30.1
29.9
29.8
5.25
5.48
5.74
158.03
163.85
171.05
36.3
36.2
36.2
6.31
6.78
7.29
229.05
245.44
263.90
32.6
32.6
32.7
6.41
6.92
7.30
208.97
225.59
238.71
NOTE:
See "Notes on the data" for a description of the most recent benchmark revision.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
75
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Establishment Data
13.
A verage w eekly hours, by industry, seasonally adjusted
[Production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls]
A n n u al av e ra g e
1983
1982
1983
D ec.
34.8
35.0
35.2
35.4
35.3
35.3
35.4
35.3
35.3
35.2
35.2
35.4
38.9
2.3
40.1
3.0
40.6
3.4
40.9
3.5
40.9
3.5
40.7
3.5
41.1
3.7
40.6
3.3
40.6
3.3
40.5
3.3
40.5
3.3
Overtime h o u r s ............................................
39.3
2.2
40.7
3.0
41.3
3.5
41.6
3.7
41.7
3.8
41.4
3.7
41.8
4.0
41.3
3.5
41.2
3.5
41.2
3.5
Lumber and wood p ro d u c ts ................................
Furniture and fixtures .........................................
Stone, clay, and glass products ......................
Primary metal in d u strie s......................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel products . . . .
Fabricated metal p ro d u c ts ...................................
38.0
37.2
40.1
38.6
37.9
39.2
40.1
39.4
41.5
40.5
39.5
40.6
40.0
40.1
41.9
41.8
41.2
41.4
40.6
40.0
42.1
41.9
41.0
41.6
40.4
39.9
42.5
42.0
41.3
41.8
40.1
39.6
41.9
41.8
41.2
41.3
40.4
39.7
42.3
42.2
41.0
41.8
39.6
39.7
42.1
42.1
41.6
41.4
39.4
39.1
41.8
41.7
41.1
41.3
Machinery, except e le c tric a l................................
Electrical and electronic e q u ip m e n t...................
Transportation e q u ip m e n t...................................
Motor vehicles and equipm ent.........................
Instruments and related p ro d u c ts ......................
39.7
39.3
40.5
40.5
39.8
40.5
40.5
42.1
43.3
40.4
41.5
41.0
42.4
43.9
40.8
41.8
41.2
43.2
44.8
41.3
41.9
41.2
43.1
44.3
41.2
41.9
41.0
42.9
44.4
41.1
42.3
41.3
43.5
44.8
41.4
41.9
41.0
42.4
42.9
40.7
Overtime h o u r s ............................................
38.4
2.5
39.4
3.0
39.7
3.2
39.9
3.3
39.9
3.3
39.8
3.3
40.2
3.4
Food and kindred products ................................
Textile mill p ro d u c ts ............................................
Apparel and other textile products ...................
Paper and allied p ro d u c ts ...................................
39.4
37.5
34.7
41.8
39.5
40.5
36.2
42.6
39.5
40.7
36.6
43.1
39.7
40.6
36.6
43.2
39.7
40.8
36.9
43.2
39.8
40.6
36.7
43.0
Printing and publishing ......................................
Chemicals and allied p rod ucts............................
Petroleum and coal products ............................
Leather and leather products ............................
37.1
40.9
43.9
35.6
37.6
41.6
43.9
36.8
37.7
41.9
44.6
37.1
37.9
42.1
44.8
37.3
37.9
42.1
44.5
37.2
1984
In d u s tr y
P R IV A T E S E C T O R
M A N U F A C T U R IN G
Overtime h o u r s ............................................
D u r a b le g o o d s
................................................................................
N o n d u r a b le g o o d s
.......................................................................
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
May
N o v .P
D e c .F
35.1
35.2
35.3
40.6
3.3
40.4
3.3
40.5
3.4
40.7
3.4
41.2
3.4
41.5
3.5
41.3
3.5
41.2
3.6
41.5
3.6
39.3
39.8
41.9
41.5
39.9
41.3
39.4
39.1
41.7
41.0
39.6
41.1
40.2
39.9
42.0
41.3
40.0
41.5
39.7
39.6
41.8
41.3
40.1
40.3
39.6
39.8
41.8
41.6
41.1
41.1
40.4
39.6
41.7
41.7
40.8
41.7
42.0
40.8
42.3
43.1
41.3
41.8
40.8
42.2
42.4
41.3
42.0
40.9
42.4
43.3
41.1
42.0
41.2
42.8
43.9
41.5
41.9
40.9
42.4
43.3
41.2
41.7
41.0
42.4
43.3
41.4
41.8
41.0
42.8
44.1
42.2
39.6
3.1
39.6
3.2
39.4
3.1
39.5
3.1
39.4
3.0
39.3
2.9
39.5
3.2
39.6
3.1
40.1
41.2
37.4
43.2
39.7
40.0
36.5
43.1
39.8
40.0
36.4
42.9
39.5
39.8
35.8
43.3
39.7
39.4
36.0
43.1
39.6
39.2
35.9
43.1
39.6
38.7
35.9
43.0
39.6
39.1
36.1
43.2
39.9
39.4
36.3
43.2
37.9
42.0
44.7
36.7
38.2
42.0
43.7
37.5
38.0
41.8
43.5
36.5
37.7
41.9
43.1
36.7
37.7
41.9
43.2
37.0
37.8
42.0
43.9
36.0
37.9
41.8
43.1
36.5
37.8
41.6
43.5
36.4
38.0
41.6
43.4
36.5
37.6
42.1
42.6
37.2
June
J u ly
Aug.
S e p t.
O c t.
T R A N S P O R T A T IO N A N D P U B L IC U T IL IT IE S
39.0
39.0
39.4
39.5
39.3
39.2
39.5
39.4
39.6
39.8
39.4
39.8
39.1
39.4
39.6
W H O LE SA LE TRA DE
38.3
38.5
38.6
38.6
38.5
38.5
38.7
38.6
38.6
38.6
38.7
38.8
38.6
38.6
38.7
R E T A IL T R A D E
29.9
29.8
30.3
30.1
30.0
30.1
30.0
30.1
30.2
29.9
29.9
30.0
29.8
29.9
29.8
S E R V IC E S
32.6
32.7
32.6
32.8
32.7
32.8
32.8
32.7
32.7
32.7
32.6
32.8
32.7
32.7
32.7
p = preliminary.
76
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
NOTE: See "Notes on the data” for a description ot the most recent benchmark revision.
14.
A verage hourly earnings, by industry
[Production or nonsupervisory w orkers on private nonagricultural payrolls]
A nnu al a verag e
1983
1982
1983
D ec
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
1984
J u ly
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.P
Oec.P
$7.68
(1)
$8.02
Seasonally adju sted......................................
(1)
$8.16
8.17
$8.26
8.21
$8.24
8.23
$8.24
8.25
$8.29
8.31
$8.28
8.29
$8.29
8.33
$8.32
8.35
$8.30
8.34
$8.43
8 40
$8.40
838
$8.43
8.42
$8.47
8 48
.............................................................................................
10.77
11.27
11.41
11.54
11.49
11.60
11.62
11.56
11.57
11.57
11.57
11.66
11.52
11.57
11.68
11.63
11.92
12.02
12.08
11.99
11.97
11.95
11.99
11.94
11.97
12.01
12.15
12.14
12.00
12.16
8.49
8.83
9.04
9.08
9.06
9.09
9.11
9.11
9.14
9.18
9.14
9.23
9.22
9.30
9.39
Lumber and wood p ro d u c ts ......................
Furniture and fix tu re s ...................................
Stone, clay, and glass p ro d u c ts ................
Primary metal in d u s trie s .............................
Blast furnaces and basic steel products
Fabricated metal p ro d u c ts .........................
9.04
7.43
6.31
8.87
11.33
13.35
8.77
9.38
7.79
6.62
9.27
11.34
12.89
9.11
9.60
7.80
6.78
9.41
11.35
12.71
9.35
9.64
7.88
6.76
9.42
11.38
12.76
9.31
9.63
7.88
6.75
9.38
11.49
13.10
9.31
9 66
7.87
6.76
9.40
11.44
12.97
9.31
9.67
7.89
6.76
9.51
11.51
13.12
9.34
9.66
7.92
6.80
9 54
11.49
13.09
9.33
9.69
8.04
6.84
9.58
11.46
13.02
9.33
9.70
8.01
6.88
9.64
11.45
13.02
9.33
9.68
8.05
6.90
9.62
11.34
12.90
9.30
9.77
8.15
6.95
9.64
11.39
13.01
9.41
9.76
8.06
6.95
9.63
11.31
12.86
9.38
9.83
8.01
6.96
9.66
11.46
13.02
9.42
9.94
8.04
7.00
9.68
11.54
13.12
9.54
Machinery, except e le c tric a l......................
Electrical and electronic equipment . . . .
Transportation equipment .........................
Motor vehicles and e q u ip m e n t................
Instruments and related p ro d u c ts .............
Miscellaneous manufacturing ...................
9.26
8.21
11.11
11.62
8.06
6.42
9.55
8.65
11.66
12.12
8.46
6.80
9.85
8.84
12.04
12.47
8.65
6.95
9.85
8.88
12.06
12.53
8 68
7.00
9.87
8.86
12.00
12.41
8.66
6.97
9.90
8.88
12.12
12.62
8.71
6.97
9.91
8.89
12.06
12.56
8.73
6.97
9.90
8.89
12.04
12.51
8.71
6.99
9.93
8.91
12.14
12.67
8.78
6.98
9.96
8.95
12.13
12.61
8.83
7.02
9.92
9.00
12.13
12.59
8.85
6.97
10.01
9.08
12.23
12.69
8.92
7.01
10.01
9.09
12.29
12.81
8.89
7.02
10.06
9.16
12.42
12.97
8.92
7.05
10.18
9.25
12.58
13.22
9.00
7.13
N o n d u r a b le g o o d s ..................................................................
7.74
7.92
9.79
5.83
5 20
9.32
8.08
8.20
10.35
6.18
5.37
9.94
8.24
8.36
10.19
6.31
5.44
10.24
8.27
8.41
10.77
6.39
5.50
10.23
8.24
8.37
11.13
6.40
5.46
10.22
8.27
8.39
11.29
6.41
5.48
10.25
8.29
8.43
11.43
6.43
5.49
10.29
8.30
8.43
11.55
6.42
5.48
10.34
8.33
8.44
11.92
6.43
5.50
10.42
8.41
8.41
11.67
6.43
5.51
10.56
8.37
8.36
10.75
6.46
5.53
10.50
8.44
8.37
10.31
6.49
5.61
10.55
8.44
8.33
10.35
6.49
5.59
10.56
8.53
8.46
12.17
6.54
5.58
10.67
8.58
8.52
11.89
6.58
5.63
10.68
8.74
9.96
12.46
9.11
10.59
13.29
9.29
10.90
13.54
9.26
10.91
13.47
9.30
10.90
13.43
9.29
10.95
13.44
9.29
10.97
13.44
9.31
11.02
13.32
9.30
11.03
13.33
9.36
11.12
13.27
9.42
11.13
13.32
9.51
11.23
13.54
9.48
11.32
13.52
9.54
11.37
13.70
9.61
11.38
13.64
7.64
5.33
7.99
5.54
8.16
5.61
8.17
5.68
8.16
5.67
8.20
5.68
8.25
5.68
8.20
5.68
8.23
5.67
8.30
5.70
8.28
5.67
8.31
5.72
8.31
5.71
8.38
5.75
8.46
5.76
10.32
10.80
11.00
11.08
11.01
11.02
11.07
11.03
11.07
11.18
11.17
11.27
11.22
11.30
11.32
8.09
8.54
8.74
8.82
8.79
8.79
8.89
8.86
8.90
8.97
8.95
9.05
8.99
9.06
9.16
In d u s tr y
P R IV A T E S E C T O R
M IN IN G
..................................................................
C O N S T R U C T I O N ....................................................................................
M A N U F A C T U R IN G
D u r a b le g o o d s
Food and kindred products ......................
Tobacco m anu factures................................
Textile mill p ro d u c ts ...................................
Apparel and other textile p ro d u cts.............
Paper and allied products .........................
Printing and publishing................................
Chemicals and allied p ro d u c ts ...................
Petroleum and coal products ...................
Rubber and miscellaneous
plastics p ro d u c ts ......................................
Leather and leather products ...................
T R A N S P O R T A T IO N A N D P U B L IC U T IL IT IE S
W HOLESALE TRADE
R E T A IL T R A D E
5.48
5.74
5.78
5.89
5.89
5.89
5.90
5.88
5.88
5.87
5.84
5.89
5.88
5.93
5.89
F IN A N C E , IN S U R A N C E , A N D R E A L E S T A T E
6.78
7.29
7.43
7.55
7.54
7.54
7.62
7.55
7.58
7.60
7.57
7.76
7.67
7.73
7.82
S E R V IC E S
6.92
7.30
7.47
7.57
7.55
7.54
7.60
7.55
7.53
7.56
7.53
7.69
7.69
7.74
7.81
1Not available.
p = preliminary.
15.
NOTE:
See “ Notes on the data” for a description of the most recent benchmark revision.
T he H ourly Earnings Index, by industry
[Production o r nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls; 1977 = 100]
Not seasonally adjusted
Industry
PRIVATE SECTOR (in current dollars)
C o n s tru ctio n ...................................................
M an u fa ctu rin g ...............................................
Transportation and public utilities .............
Wholesale t r a d e ............................................
Retail tra d e ......................................................
Finance, insurance, and real esta te.............
Services .........................................................
PRIVATE SECTOR (in constant dollars)
Seasonally adjusted
Dec.
1983
Oct.
1984
Nov.
1984P
Dec.
1984P
Percent
change
from:
Dec. 1983
to
Dec. 1984
157.9
161.5
162 2
163.2
3.4
157.8
160.6
161.6
161.3
162.0
163.0
0.6
169.7
146.1
160.2
159.7
161.8
151.4
161.7
159.5
174.6
148.2
163.7
163.5
166.5
153.6
166.4
164.0
176.0
146.5
164.6
164.3
167 6
154.4
167.5
165.0
177.3
147.7
165.8
164.8
169.3
154.0
169.5
166.3
4.5
1.1
3.5
3.2
4.7
1.7
4.8
4.3
(1)
145.6
159.7
159.1
(1)
146.8
163.4
163.0
(1)
146.3
163.8
163.0
(1)
(1)
154.0
(1)
164.7
153.9
(1)
164.0
(1)
146.5
164.5
163.2
(1)
154.9
(1)
164.7
(1)
147.2
165.3
164.1
(1)
155.1
(1)
166.2
<1)
152.7
(1)
159.4
(1)
146.6
163.3
161.9
(1)
153.6
(1)
162.8
.5
.5
.6
(1)
.2
<1)
.9
95.0
93 9
94.4
(2)
<2)
94.9
94.1
94.2
93.9
94.2
(2)
<2)
1This series is not seasonally adjusted because the seasonal component is small relative to the trendcycle, irregular components, or both, and consequently cannot be separated with sufficient precision.
2Not available
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Percent
change
Dec.
1983
Aug.
1984
Sept.
1984
Oct.
1984
Nov.
1984P
Dec.
1984P
(1)
from:
Nov. 1984
to
Dec. 1984
p = preliminary,
NOTE:
See “ Notes on the data” for a description of the most recent benchmark revision.
77
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Establishment Data
16.
A verage w eekly earnings, by industry
[P roduction o r nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls]
A nnu al av e ra g e
1983
1982
1983
D ec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
1984
J u ly
Aug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov. F
D e c .P
$267.26
(1)
168.09
$280.70
(1)
171.37
$289.68
287.58
174.40
$289.10
290.63
173.32
$288.40
290.52
172.59
$288.40
291.23
172.59
$292.64
294.17
174.71
$291.46
292.64
173.18
$294.30
294.05
174.45
$296.19
293.92
174.85
$294.65
293.57
172.31
$299.27
297.36
173.99
$295.68
294.14
171.91
$295.89
296.38
172.23
$300.69
299.34
(1)
M IN IN G
459.88
478.98
495.19
499.68
492.92
496.48
499.66
499.39
505.61
497.51
503.30
513.04
497.66
502.14
509.25
C O N S T R U C T IO N
426.82
443.42
442.34
438.50
443.63
439.30
448.13
458.02
460.88
462.04
462.39
467.78
461.32
448.80
457.22
Current d o lla r s ......................................................
Constant (1977) d o lla r s ......................................
330.26
207.71
354.08
216.17
372.45
224.23
368.65
221.01
368.74
220.67
369.96
221.40
372.60
222.45
369.87
219.77
372.91
221.05
369.95
218.39
369.26
215.94
375.66
218.41
373.41
217.10
378.51
220.32
387.81
(1)
Durable g o o d s ...............................................................................
Lumber and wood products ................................
Furniture and fix tu r e s ............................................
Stone, clay, and glass products .........................
Primary metal industries ......................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel products.............
Fabricated metal p rod ucts......................................
355.27
282.34
234.73
355.69
437.34
505.97
343.78
381.77
312.38
260.83
384.71
459.27
509.16
369.87
403.20
311.22
277.98
394.28
478.97
526.19
395.51
398.13
311.26
263.64
386.22
476.82
521.88
385.43
398.68
313.62
263.93
389.27
482.58
539.72
386.37
399.92
314.01
267.02
389 16
480.48
534.36
384.50
402.27
317.18
267.02
401.32
488.02
549.73
387.61
399.92
317.59
268.60
404.50
481.43
540.62
386.26
402.14
324.01
270.86
407.15
480.17
536.42
388.13
396.73
316.40
269.70
406.81
472.89
524.71
380.66
396 88
322.00
273.24
405.96
462.67
506.97
381.30
405.46
329.26
278.70
408.74
472.69
524.30
389.57
403.09
320.79
279.39
405.42
462.58
506.68
387.39
406.96
314.79
279.10
405.72
475.59
528.61
389.05
419.47
323.21
284.20
403.66
485.83
537.92
405.45
Machinery except e le c tric a l...................................
Electrical and electronic equipm ent......................
Transportation equipm ent......................................
Motor vehicles and equipm ent.........................
Instruments and related products ......................
Miscellaneous m anufacturing................................
367.62
322.65
449.96
470.61
320.79
246.53
386.78
350.33
490.89
524.80
341.78
265.88
418.63
369.51
521.33
556.16
357.25
278.00
411.73
364 97
517.37
555.08
356.75
272.30
413.55
364.15
514.80
544.80
356.79
276.01
415.80
364.08
521.16
560.33
358.85
276.01
417.21
364.49
523.40
563.94
358.80
275.32
413.82
363.60
514.11
546.69
354.50
274.71
417.06
365.31
519.59
557.48
362.61
273.62
411.35
361.58
508.25
537.19
361.15
273 08
411.68
366.30
504.61
532.56
362.85
272.53
420.42
374.10
517.33
548.21
371.07
277.60
417.42
371.78
521.10
554.67
365.38
278.69
422.52
377.39
530.33
561.60
371.07
279.89
435.70
386.65
549.75
589.61
384.30
286.63
297.22
312.05
370.06
218.63
180.44
389.58
318.35
323.90
387.09
250.29
194.39
423.44
330.42
333.56
385.18
258.71
199.65
448.51
326.67
331.35
410.34
257.52
198.55
440.91
326.30
327.27
405.13
259.84
200.38
438.44
327.49
329.73
416.60
258.96
201.12
437.68
329.94
332.99
451.49
260.42
202.03
442.47
328.68
333.83
457.38
257.44
200.02
443.59
331.53
337.60
482.76
259.77
202.40
449.10
331.35
333.04
437.63
252.70
198.36
456.19
331.45
335.24
421.40
256.46
200.74
451.50
335.07
336.47
408.28
255.71
201.96
457.87
332.54
331.53
412.97
253.11
201.80
455.14
337.79
337.55
492.89
257.68
202.00
462.01
343.20
343.36
480.36
260.57
204.37
468.85
324.25
407.36
546.99
342.54
440.54
583.43
356.74
462.16
603.88
347.25
458.22
594.03
349.68
457.80
584.21
353.02
458.81
585.98
353.02
460.74
590.02
351.92
460.64
580.75
349.68
463.26
579.86
351.94
463.70
579.90
357.02
464.12
584.75
362.33
471.66
598.47
358.34
470.91
590.82
364.43
475.27
597.32
368.06
484.79
581.06
302.54
189.75
329.19
203.87
345.98
209.25
343.14
208.46
342.72
208.66
341.94
205.05
347.33
210.16
341.94
209.59
344.84
213.76
341.96
212.61
342.79
206 39
344.87
208.21
344.03
207.27
348.61
211.03
355.32
215.42
T R A N S P O R T A T IO N A N D P U B L IC U T IL IT IE S
402.48
421.20
436.70
434.34
429.39
429.78
435.05
432.38
440.59
447.20
443.45
449.67
439.82
446.35
451.67
W H O L E S A L E T R A D E ......................................................................
309.85
328.79
339.99
338.69
335.78
336.66
342.27
342.00
344.43
348.04
347.26
351.14
347.91
350.62
357.24
In d u s tr y
P R IV A T E S E C T O R
Current d o lla rs ......................................................
Seasonally a d ju s te d .........................................
Constant (1977) d o lla r s ......................................
M A N U F A C T U R IN G
N o n d u r a b le g o o d s
.......................................................................
Food and kindred p ro d u c ts ...................................
Tobacco manufactures .........................................
Textile mill p ro d u cts................................................
Apparel and other textile p ro d u c ts ......................
Paper and allied p ro d u c ts ......................................
Printing and p u b lis h in g .........................................
Chemicals and allied products .............................
Petroleum and coat p ro d u c ts ................................
Rubber and miscellaneous
plastics p ro d u c ts ...............................................
Leather and leather p ro d u c ts ................................
R E T A IL T R A D E
163.85
171.05
178.02
173.17
173.17
174.34
175.82
176.40
178.75
180.21
178.70
177.29
174.64
176.12
178.47
F IN A N C E , IN S U R A N C E , A N D R E A L E S T A T E
245.44
263.90
268.97
275.58
274.46
273.70
278.13
274.07
275.15
278.92
275.55
284 02
279.96
281.37
287.78
S E R V I C E S .................................................................................................
225.59
238.71
243.52
246.78
246.13
245.80
248.52
246.13
247.74
250.24
248.49
252.23
250.69
252.32
255.39
1 Not available.
p = preliminary.
17.
NOTE:
See “ Notes on the data” tor a description of the most recent benchmark revision.
Indexes of diffusion: industries in w hich em ploym ent increased, seasonally adjusted
[In percent]
T im e
Year
span
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
J u ly
Aug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
Dec.
Over
1-month
span
1982
1983
1984
....
....
....
27.6
54.3
71.1
47.6
46.5
73.2
35.7
60.8
67.0
31.1
68.9
63.8
41.1
69.5
64.1
33.5
64.6
63.0
34.6
74.3
62.4
32.4
68.6
57.6
37.3
69.5
40.8
28.9
75.4
65.7
32.4
69.7
P51.9
45.7
73.8
P66.5
Over
3-montn
span
1982
1983
1984
....
....
....
25.1
46.8
82.2
27.8
57.3
80.5
27.8
64.1
76.5
27.3
75.1
71.1
27.6
75.7
68.4
28.6
77.8
68.9
23.5
74.1
63.5
24.1
81.6
58.1
26.5
80.8
58.6
25.9
78.9
P53.8
27.8
79.5
P67.0
41.6
77.6
-
Over
6-month
span
1982
1983
1984
. . .
....
....
19.2
50.8
81.9
22.2
63.0
82.7
21.9
69.2
79.7
24.6
75.1
75.4
20.3
80.0
69.2
21.4
82.4
63.2
21.4
84.1
62.4
18.6
82.4
P62.4
23.2
84.6
P62.4
27.3
85.9
—
29.5
86.8
-
35.4
83.8
Over
12-month
span
1982
1983
1984
....
....
....
21.6
49.5
86.5
21.4
54.3
81.9
17.6
61.9
78.9
18.1
71.1
P76.8
16.2
77.3
P74.9
18.1
79.5
P74.9
21.1
83.8
—
21.1
88.1
—
25.1
86.8
—
31.6
87.3
—
34.1
85.4
40.3
87.3
—
p = preliminary
NOTE:
78
Figures are the percent of industries with employment rising. (Half of the unchanged components
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
—
-
are counted as rising.) Data are centered within the spans. See the “ Definitions" In this section.
See "Notes on the data" for a description of the most recent benchmark revision.
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DATA
N a t i o n a l u n e m p l o y m e n t i n s u r a n c e d a t a are compiled monthly
by the Employment and Training Administration of 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.
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 of insured unemployment expresses the number of in
sured unemployed as a percent of the average insured employment in a
12-month period.
Definitions
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
ment program.
Data for all programs 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.
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
excluded from the scope of the survey. Initial claims are notices filed by
18.
An application 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. Number of payments
are payments made in 14-day registration periods. The average amount
of benefit payment is an average for all compensable periods, not adjusted
for recovery of overpayments or settlement of underpayments. However,
total benefits paid have been adjusted.
U nem p loym ent insurance and em ploym ent service operations
[All items except average benefits amounts are in thousands]
1984
1983
It e m
Nov.
All programs:
Insured unem ploym en t............................
State unemployment Insurance program:1
Initial claims2 ............................................
Insured unemployment (average
weekly v o lu m e )......................................
Rate of insured unem ploym ent................
Weeks of unemployment compensated . .
Average weekly benefit amount
for total unemployment ......................
Total benefits paid ...................................
Jan.
D ec.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
N o v .F
3,374
3,174
2,958
2,613
2,290
2,166
2,327
2,184
2,083
1,424
1,429
1,368
1,387
r1,767
r1,459
1,260
1,674
2,843
3.3
11,339
2,515
2.9
9,695
2,215
2.6
9,304
2,111
2.5
8,053
2,270
2.6
r8,380
r2 ,129
2.5
r8,716
2,023
2.3
7,226
2,069
2.4
7,862
$124.30
$124.67
$125.26
$123.69
$122.19
$122.61
$123.60
$1,099,862 $1,203,605 $1,457,983 $1,400,458 $1,369,536 $1,173,601 $1,109,268
$121.96
$948,381
r$119.83
r$120.24
r$974,135 $1,017,804
$122.49
$855,460
$123.85
$939,653
2,620
State unemployment Insurance program:1
(Seasonally adjusted data)
Initial claims2 .............................................
Insured unemployment (average
weekly v o lu m e )......................................
Rate of insured unem ploym ent................
Unemployment compensation for exservicemen:3
Initial claims1 ............................................
Insured unemployment (average
weekly v o lu m e )......................................
Weeks of unemployment compensated . .
Total benefits paid ...................................
Unemployment compensation for
Federal civilian employees:4
Initial c la im s ................................................
Insured unemployment (average
weekly v o lu m e )......................................
Weeks of unemployment compensated . .
Total benefits paid ...................................
Railroad unemployment insurance:
A p p lic a tio n s ................................................
Insured unemployment (average
weekly v o lu m e )......................................
Number of p a y m e n ts ................................
Average amount of benefit payment . . .
Total benefits paid ...................................
Employment service:5
New applications and renew als................
Nonfarm placements ................................
2,915
1,757
r2 ,105
2,355
1,528
2,508
2.9
9,301
2,805
3.3
10,168
3,249
3.8
12,232
3,056
3.6
11,622
2,146
1,677
1,604
1,617
1,572
1,570
1,569
1,614
1,559
r1,661
r1,618
1,707
1,662
2,711
3.2
2,687
3.1
2,510
2.9
2,428
2.8
2,470
2.9
2,507
2.9
2,300
2.7
2,356
2.7
2,457
2.8
r2,355
r2.7
2,567
3.0
2,457
2.8
15
14
15
13
13
12
12
12
13
14
13
15
28
116
$15,121
27
113
$14,815
27
112
$14,532
24
96
$12,540
22
89
$11,813
20
78
$10,349
18
79
$10,577
18
71.1
$9,467
18
71
$9,573
19
r79
r$10,715
20
72
$9,853
21
86
$11,712
13
13
16
10
9
13
9
11
12
10
9
14
27
110
$12,415
29
119
$13,888
32
133
$15,588
31
129
$15,003
28
122
$14,778
23
98
$11,844
20
88
$10,529
19
76
$8,994
20
80
r$9,489
19
83
r$9,776
19
69
$8,198
21
82
$9,832
8
8
10
4
3
2
2
11
25
7
6
9
10
40
92
$212.36
$19,536
43
95
$213.71
$19,870
51
121
$210.73
$23,866
49
104
$209.56
$23,228
41
99
$208 96
$20,112
27
70
$196.32
$13,356
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
4,297
782
' Initial claims and State insured unemployment include data under the program for Puerto Rican
sugarcane workers.
9,517
1,810
8,231
1,469
4,132
1,000
^Cumulative total for fiscal year (October 1-September 30). Data computed quarterly,
E xclu des transition claims under State programs.
NOTE: Data for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands included. Dashes indicate data not available.
3 Excludes data on claims and payments made jointly with other programs.
p = preliminary.
E xclu des data or claims and payments made jointly with State programs.
r = revised.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
79
PRICE DATA
P r i c e 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 of 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,
transportation 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 o f prices
among cities. They only measure the average change in prices for each
area since the base period.
Producer Price Indexes 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.
80
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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.
Price indexes for the output of selected SIC industries measure av
erage price changes in commodities produced by particular industries, as
defined in the S ta n d a r d I n d u s tr ia l C la s s ific a tio n M a n u a l 1 9 7 2 (Washing
ton, U .S. Office of Management and Budget, 1972). These indexes are
derived from several price series, combined to match the economic activity
of the specified 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 R e v ie w . 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 Th e C o n s u m e r
P r ic e In d e x : C o n c e p ts a n d C o n te n t O v e r th e Y e a rs, 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 e ta ile d R e p o r t and P r o d u c e r P r ic e s a n d P r ic e I n d e x e s , both monthly
publications of the Bureau.
For a discussion of the general method of computing producer, and
industry price indexes, see B L S H a n d b o o k o f M e th o d s , Bulletin 2134-1
(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 7. For consumer prices, see
B L S H a n d b o o k o f M e th o d s f o r S u rv e y s a n d S tu d ie s (1976), chapter 13.
See also John F. Early, ‘‘Improving the measurement of producer price
change,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , April 1978. For industry prices, see also
Bennett R. Moss, ‘‘Industry and Sector Price Indexes,” M o n th ly L a b o r
R e v ie w , August 1965.
19.
C onsum er P rice Index for Urban W age Earners and C lerical W orkers, annual averages and changes, 1 9 6 7 -8 3
[1967 = 100]
Food and
A ll H e m s
A p p a re l and
H o u s in g
b ev e ra g e s
T r a n s p o r t a t io n
upkeep
M e d ic a l c a r e
O th e r g o o d s
E n t e r t a in m e n t
a n d s e r v ic e s
Year
In d e x
P e rc e n t
change
In d e x
P e rc e n t
change
In d e x
P e rc e n t
In d e x
change
P e rc e n t
In d e x
change
P e rc e n t
In d e x
change
P e rc e n t
change
In d e x
P e rc e n t
In d e x
change
P e rc e n t
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
...................
...................
...................
272.3
288.6
297.4
10.2
6.0
3.0
267.8
278.5
284.7
7.7
4.0
2.2
293.2
314.7
322.0
11.4
7.3
2.3
186.6
190.9
195.6
5.2
2.3
2.5
281.3
293.1
300.0
12.3
4.2
2.4
295.1
326.9
355.1
10.4
10.8
8.6
219.0
232.4
242.4
7.5
6.1
4.3
233.3
257.0
286.3
9.2
10.2
11.4
20. C o n su m er P rice Index fo r All Urban C onsum ers and revised CPI fo r Urban W age E arners and C lerical W orkers,
U.S. city averag e — general sum m ary and groups, subgroups, and selected item s
[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
A ll U r b a n C o n s u m e r s
U r b a n W a g e E a r n e r s a n d C l e r ic a l W o r k e r s
1984
1983
G e n e ra l s u m m a ry
1983
1984
J u ly
Aug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
Nov.
June
J u ly
Aug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
310.7
311.7
313.0
314.5
315.3
315.3
301.4
306.2
307.5
310.3
312.1
312.2
311.9
294.3
336.2
197.4
313.1
378.0
254.5
304.4
295.3
338.1
196.6
312.9
380.3
255.3
306.5
296.9
339.5
200.1
312.9
381.9
256.4
307.2
296.4
341.4
204.2
313.7
383.1
257.3
314.6
296.6
341.2
205.7
315.5
385.5
258.3
315.8
296.3
340.9
205.2
316.1
387.5
259.0
316.5
285.6
324.5
199.7
308.2
362.9
245.7
295.5
294.3
326.2
196.1
315.5
376.3
250.7
302.1
295.3
328.7
195.3
315.2
378.5
251.4
304.5
296.9
334.2
199.0
315.2
380.1
252.5
305.3
296.3
336.8
203 3
316 0
381.2
253.4
310.9
296.5
335.5
204.8
317.8
383.7
254.2
311.9
296.2
334.4
204.2
318.3
385.6
254.8
312.6
275.2
266.3
274.5
261.0
280.6
269.6
275.4
267.8
280.6
269.0
274.3
267.8
281.4
269.3
274.8
267.8
282.3
271.0
277.2
268.7
283.1
272.1
278.6
269.3
283.0
272.2
278.2
270.0
276.2
267.5
276.6
258.7
279.7
268.7
277.2
260.3
280.1
268.8
276.2
261.3
281.4
270.0
276.6
263.0
282.5
271.8
279.0
264.4
283.1
272.5
280.3
264.6
282.8
272.3
279.9
264 5
351.0
241.3
104.2
310.1
395.0
286.5
361.9
248.4
108.5
319.6
408.4
293.6
364.5
249.7
109.7
321.4
410.9
294.2
366.5
251.1
110.5
323.8
412.7
295.5
368.9
252.4
111.0
324.6
413.9
302.5
369.7
253.8
109.9
327.5
416.5
304.2
369.9
254.8
348.2
240 7
355.2
247.7
358.2
249.0
363.9
250.3
366.8
251.7
366.3
253.1
365.9
254.0
328.9
418.5
305.2
306.0
392.3
283.6
315.7
406.1
290.9
317.4
408 6
291.5
319.6
410.4
292.8
320.7
411.5
299.0
323.7
414.1
300.6
325.1
416.1
301.5
303.9
103.6
311.0
106.2
312.0
106.5
313.2
106.9
315.2
107.4
316.1
107.6
316.2
107.6
Nov.
June
A ll i t e m s ...............................................................................................................................................................
303.1
Food and beverages ...............................................................................................
Housing ..................................................................................................................
Apparel and u p k e e p ...............................................................................................
T ran s p o rta tio n .........................................................................................................
Medical care
Entertainment .........................................................................................................
Other goods and s e rv ic e s .....................................................................................
285.3
327.0
200.7
306.3
364.9
249.5
298.1
C om m odities............................................................................................................
Commodities less food and be ve ra g e s......................................................
Nondurables less food and beve ra g e s...................................................
D u ra b le s .....................................................................................................
Services ..................................................................................................................
Rent, residential ............................................................................................
Household services less rent of shelter (12/82 = 1 0 0 ) .........................
Transportation services ...............................................................................
Medical care services ..................................................................................
Other services ...............................................................................................
S p e c ia l in d e x e s :
All items less fo o d ..................................................................................................
All Items less homeowners' costs ......................................................................
All items less mortgage interest c o s t s ...............................................................
Commodities less food .........................................................................................
Nondurables less food .........................................................................................
Nondurables less food and appa rel......................................................................
N ond urables............................................................................................................
Services less rent of shelter (12/82 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................................
Services less medical care ..................................................................................
Domestically produced farm fo o d s ......................................................................
Selected beef c u t s ..................................................................................................
Energy .....................................................................................................................
Energy commodities .........................................................................................
All items less energy ...................................... .....................................................
All items less food and e n e rg y.........................................................................
Commodities less food and e n e r g y ............................................................
Services less e n e rg y...............................................................................................
Purchasing power of the consumer dollar, 1967 = $1
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
...................................
264.1
269.5
309.3
281.1
104.7
344.1
267.7
265.3
419.9
414.4
294.4
293.2
248.9
344.9
267.4
270.5
312.9
286.0
108.3
354.5
278.0
273.7
428.5
414.4
301.9
300.2
252.8
354.7
266.8
269.5
311.9
286.0
109.0
357.1
279.0
271.9
428.3
408.9
303.1
301.3
253.0
356.8
267.1
270.0
311.0
287.1
109.7
359.2
281.4
274.2
427.3
404.2
304.6
302.8
254.2
358.6
268.8
272.3
312.3
288.0
110.5
361.7
280.0
271.5
429.0
405.4
306.1
304.9
256.0
361.0
269.8
273.6
313.5
288.8
110.6
362.3
279.7
271.0
426.7
408.2
307.1
306.1
256.8
362.7
269.9
273.3
313.4
288.5
110.5
362.3
278.8
271.6
421.8
407.2
307.7
306.9
257.0
364.0
$0.330
$0.322
$0.321
$0.319
$0.318
$0.317
$0.317
302.3
306.0
307.3
310.4
312.7
312.9
312.6
288.3
265.3
271.5
310.9
282.1
294.0
266.6
272.4
314.3
286.9
294.9
266.7
271.4
313.3
286.8
296.4
267.8
271.8
312.2
287.8
297.9
269.6
274.1
313.5
288.8
298.4
270 3
275.4
314.8
289.5
298.2
270.1
275.0
314.5
289.2
341.3
266.7
266.4
420.8
415.8
291.8
290.3
247.8
341.6
347.6
276.4
274.9
428.2
415.0
296.3
293.6
249.3
347.2
350.5
277.4
272.8
427.8
409.5
297.8
295.1
250.1
349.7
356.6
279.8
275.5
426.5
404.9
301.0
298.7
252.0
355.5
359.6
278.3
273.2
428.3
406.3
302.7
301.0
253.8
358.4
358.9
278.0
272.2
426.1
408.9
303.1
301.5
254.3
358.9
358.2
277.2
273.0
421.5
407.8
303.2
301.6
254.2
359.4
$0.332
$0.327
$0.325
$0.322
$0.320
$0.320
$0.321
81
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Consumer Prices
20.
C o n tin u ed — C onsum er P rice In d ex— U.S. city A verage
[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
A ll U r b a n C o n s u m e r s
G e n e ra l s u m m a ry
FO OD A N D BEVERAG ES
........................................................................................................................
1983
U r b a n W a g e E a r n e r s a n d C l e r ic a l W o r k e r s
1984
1983
1984
Nov.
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
Nov.
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
285.3
294.3
295.3
296.9
296.4
296.6
296.3
285.6
294.3
295.3
296.9
296.3
296.5
296.2
292.5
302.0
303.2
304.8
304.2
304.4
304.1
292.6
301.8
302.8
304.5
303.8
304.0
303.7
Food at home .........................................................................................................
Cereals and bakery products ......................................................................
Cereals and cereal products (12/77 = 100) ...................................
Flour and prepared flour mixes (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
Cereal (12/77 = 100) ...............................................................
Rice, pasta, and cornmeal (12/77 = 100) .............................
Bakery products (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .........................................................
White b r e a d ..................................................................................
Other breads (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................................
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 912/77 = 100)
Frozen and refrigerated bakery products and
fresh pies, tarts, and turnovers (12/77 = 100) ................
281.4
295.7
157.9
140.8
177.3
146.1
156.0
257.0
151.9
155.7
157.9
157.0
147.8
156.8
291.4
304.9
164.2
146.2
185.7
150.1
160.4
260.2
154.8
158.7
161.3
165.8
157.9
162.1
292.5
306.6
164.5
147.2
185.7
150.3
161.5
260.9
155.7
158.7
163.9
166.1
160.7
163.0
294.4
307.8
165.0
148.3
185.9
150.5
162.2
262.6
154.9
159.3
164.9
167.9
162.0
163.4
293.4
307.9
164.5
146.3
186.1
150.4
162.4
263.2
155.8
159.7
165.9
167.3
161.7
162.9
293.4
308.7
163.6
145.2
186.2
148.5
163.3
264.3
155.7
160.7
167.4
168.3
162.7
163.8
292.4
309.0
163.8
143.9
186.7
149.3
163.4
265.8
155.4
161.1
166.4
168.5
160.9
163.9
280.5
294.3
158.6
141.3
179.4
147.2
154.8
252.7
154.1
151.7
156.2
158.4
149.2
159.6
290.0
303.4
164.8
146.5
188.0
151.2
159.1
256.0
157.0
154.5
159.3
166.7
159.2
164.9
291.0
304.9
165.2
147.5
188.0
151.4
160.1
256.6
157.8
154.6
161.8
167.1
162.0
165.6
292.9
306.3
165.7
148.6
188.2
151.7
160.9
258.5
157.3
155.1
162.7
168.9
163.4
166.3
291.9
306.3
165.1
146.6
188.3
151.5
161.1
258.8
158.0
155.6
163.6
168.3
163.0
165.9
291.8
307.1
164.3
145.6
188.4
149.7
161.9
260.1
158.0
156.4
165.0
169.5
164.2
166.6
290.9
307.4
164.4
144.4
189.0
150.5
162.1
261.3
Î57.6
157.0
164.1
169.6
162.4
166.7
160.6
166.6
169.0
168.9
169.3
170.0
171.1
154.0
159.8
162.1
161.8
162.0
162.7
163.8
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs ..................................................................
Meats, poultry, and f i s h ......................................................................
Meats ............................................................................................
Beef and veal 1
Ground beef other than cann ed .........................................
Chuck roast .........................................................................
Round r o a s t .........................................................................
Round s te a k .........................................................................
Sirloin s te a k .........................................................................
Other beef and veal (12/77 = 100) ................................
P o rk ............................................................................................
Bacon ..................................................................................
Chops ...................................................................................
Ham other than canned (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .........................
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) .........................
P o u ltry ............................................................................................
Fresh whole c h ick e n ............................................................
Fresh and frozen chicken parts (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .............
Other poultry (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................
Fish and seafood .........................................................................
Canned fish and seafood ...................................................
Fresh and frozen fish and seafood (12/77 = 100) . . .
E g g s .........................................................................................................
256.6
260.8
258.6
265.7
251.6
266.2
235.3
250.0
265.3
163.2
241.1
253.7
222.3
109.1
305.0
248.0
131.5
262.6
259.7
152.8
135.8
134.6
201.7
207.6
134.1
120.6
374.9
132.6
148.8
208.2
263.9
270.3
266.8
274.2
255.1
272.1
238.3
254.2
284 6
170.9
250.5
262.8
234.4
110.7
319.3
248.3
139.1
267.5
265.8
155.0
138.2
137.1
219.6
223.7
147.6
131.6
382.3
133.0
153.1
185.8
264.6
271.4
267.3
272.1
253.0
269.1
231.4
250.6
286.5
170.5
255.5
272.4
242.4
111.4
322.0
246.5
142.0
268.0
265.3
154.8
138.2
139.0
221.3
228.1
146.6
132.7
387.0
134.4
155.1
182.7
265.7
272.7
269.9
274.3
254.8
272.7
235.7
254.7
287.7
171.2
259 9
272.3
250.7
113.5
322.9
248.1
146.1
268.4
267.8
154.8
138.2
138.6
216.5
218.6
144.1
133.3
387.0
134.4
155.1
179.3
264.5
271.6
268.0
271.9
252.9
271.8
234.3
252.4
286.1
169.0
257.5
270.3
242.3
116.8
321.2
251.4
142.5
268.7
267.6
155.6
138.8
137.3
217.2
220.2
144.7
132.7
390.6
133.7
157.7
178.6
263.5
270.4
267.1
271 3
252.4
276.6
236.5
251.3
273.9
168.5
255.0
271.1
235.9
117.2
319.0
252.6
139.0
270.0
269.6
156.2
139.4
138.2
214.0
213.8
141.4
135.1
390.6
132.9
158.2
177.8
262.4
269.4
266.1
271.9
254.3
280.9
234.1
248.4
271.6
168.8
251.2
266.5
232.7
115.6
315.3
246.8
137.0
269.4
265.0
155.8
138.6
141.1
213.1
215.4
140.4
132.6
389.2
133.0
157.3
175.6
256.1
260.2
258.1
266.1
252.5
274.0
238.1
248.6
266.9
161.8
240.7
256.8
220.3
106.4
305.9
254.3
131.1
262.4
258.8
152.8
133.9
137.8
199.7
205.1
132.1
120.3
373.4
132.1
148.5
209.3
263.3
269.6
266.1
274.6
256.3
280.9
242.6
251.3
285.9
169.3
249.9
266.7
232.4
107.6
319.8
253.3
138.3
267.1
264.4
154.7
136.4
140.3
217.7
221.5
145.7
131.0
380.9
132.5
152.9
186.7
263.9
270.4
266.6
272.4
253.7
277.3
235.1
247.7
288.4
169.1
254.8
276.3
240.1
108.3
322.9
252.0
141.1
267.5
263.8
154.8
136.4
142.0
218.8
225.4
144.4
131.5
385.5
133.9
154.8
183.7
265.2
272.1
269.4
274.9
256.0
280.4
239.9
254.4
288.9
169.8
259.2
276.3
248.3
110.4
323.6
253.4
145.3
268.0
266.3
154.7
136.4
141.7
214.0
216.1
141.8
132.3
385.7
133.9
155.0
180.4
264.1
271.0
267.7
272.8
254.4
280.6
237.8
251.4
288.7
167.8
257.0
274.2
240.6
113.6
322.7
256.0
141.7
268.2
266.1
155.4
137.0
140.1
214.7
217.5
142.4
131.8
389.1
133.2
157.5
179.7
262.9
269.7
266.6
271.9
253.5
285.1
240.3
248.3
275.3
167.2
254.3
275.0
234.0
113.8
319.6
258.4
138.5
269.5
268.0
156.0
137.5
141.0
211.6
211.4
139.2
134.3
389.1
132.5
157.9
178.7
261.8
268.7
265.5
272.5
255.7
289.9
237.9
246.4
273.6
167.3
250.3
270.4
230.4
112.5
315.5
250.4
136.4
268.6
263.3
155.7
136.7
143.9
210.9
213.0
138.4
131.9
388.2
132.5
157.3
176.4
Dairy p ro d u c ts ...............................................................................................
Fresh milk and cream (12/77 = 1 0 0 )...............................................
Fresh whole milk .........................................................................
Other fresh milk and cream (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................
Processed dairy products ..................................................................
Butter ............................................................................................
Cheese (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................................................
Ice cream and related products (12/77 = 1 0 0 )......................
Other dairy products (12/77 = 100) ......................................
250.2
135.9
222.1
136.4
149.3
254.8
146.8
155.3
145.7
251.7
136.6
223.2
137.3
150.2
254.1
147.4
156.6
148.5
252.2
136.7
223.3
137.5
150.8
261.2
147.9
155.8
148.3
252.7
136.7
223.2
137.7
151.5
264.4
148.2
157.4
148.1
254.9
137.7
224.7
138.7
153.1
266.0
149.1
160.9
149.9
256.1
138.7
226.8
139.0
153.3
268.8
149.5
160.0
150.0
257.2
139.8
228.7
140.0
153.3
268.7
150.1
158.1
150.9
249.3
135.3
221.2
135.8
149.5
257.4
147.1
154.2
146.1
250.6
135.9
222.1
136.6
150.5
256.7
147.8
155.5
148.8
251.1
136.0
222.2
136.8
151.0
263.8
148.2
154.8
148.6
251.7
136.0
222.0
137.0
151.8
266.7
148.6
156.5
148.6
253.8
136.9
223.5
138.0
153.4
268.6
149.4
159.9
150.4
255.1
137.9
225.6
138.3
153.7
271.4
149.9
159.0
150.4
256.2
139.1
227.5
139.3
153.6
271.5
150.5
157.1
151.3
Fruits and vegetables ..................................................................................
Fresh fruits and vegetables ...............................................................
Fresh fruits ..................................................................................
Apples ..................................................................................
Bananas ...............................................................................
Oranges ...............................................................................
Other fresh fruits (12/77 = 1 0 0 )......................................
Fresh vegetables .........................................................................
P o ta to e s ...............................................................................
L e ttu c e ..................................................................................
Tomatoes ............................................................................
Other fresh vegetables (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................
288.9
288 7
279.5
265.9
233.1
307.8
148.5
297.4
305.0
329.8
243.0
163.0
318.1
329.7
343.3
315.5
277.9
452.5
169.6
317.1
391 4
262.6
262.3
174.6
320.0
332.4
346.9
329.9
271.8
486.5
163.6
318.8
455.6
246.0
237.3
167.1
327.7
345.7
353.3
341.8
257.0
530.8
160.4
338.7
478.1
316.6
310.4
157.1
319.7
332.5
364.8
337.9
249.9
553.6
170.4
302.3
354.1
337.8
252.9
152.1
318.4
329.3
354.3
298.0
242.1
538.4
172.7
306.0
324.3
363.6
255.1
158.7
314.8
323.4
343.9
302.8
234.9
473.6
175.3
304.4
313.1
350.5
245.3
164.3
285.1
283.4
269.3
267.3
230.7
279.3
142.9
296.2
300.1
330.0
246.9
162.3
313.1
322.5
328.8
315.2
275.5
413.0
162.6
316.8
387.6
264.6
267.4
174.1
315.1
325.2
333.5
330.6
269.5
448.5
157.0
317.8
451.1
246.2
242.1
166.1
322.4
337.6
338.8
342.8
254.7
487.7
153.6
336.7
470.0
319.1
314.3
155.3
313.6
323.0
349.6
339.6
248.4
507.1
163.6
299.2
344.5
338.0
256.2
150.2
312.3
319.9
337.4
299.9
240.6
489.1
165.2
304.2
318.4
365.1
259.9
157.0
308.9
314.6
329.3
304.5
232.7
434.1
168.1
301.5
305.1
349.2
249.7
162.6
Processed fruits and vegetables.........................................................
Processed fruits (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................................
Frozen fruit and fruit juices (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ...................
Fruit juices other than frozen (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ................
Canned and dried fruits (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .........................
291.6
151.2
143.3
155.5
153.2
308.0
163.2
164.8
165.2
159.6
309.2
163.6
163.9
165.7
161.2
310.7
164.3
166.2
165.3
161.5
308.4
163.1
165.2
165.1
159.3
309.2
164.5
166.3
168.0
159.2
308.0
163.5
165.0
166.8
158.7
289.5
150.8
142.6
154.6
153.5
305.3
162.7
164.1
164.3
159.9
306.5
163.1
163.1
164.8
161.4
308.0
163.7
165.5
164.1
161.8
305.6
162.6
164.5
163.9
159.5
306.5
164.0
165.6
167.1
159.3
305.2
162.9
164.2
165.7
158.8
F ood
82
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
20.
C o n tin u ed — C onsum er Price In dex— U.S. city average
[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
A ll U r b a n C o n s u m e r s
G e n e ra l s u m m a ry
U r b a n W a g e E a r n e r s a n d C l e r ic a l W o r k e r s
1984
1983
1983
1984
Nov.
June
J u ly
Aug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
Nov.
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
Fruits and vegetables— Continued
Processed vegetables (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................
Frozen vegetables (12/77 = 100) ...................................
Cut corn and canned beans except lima (12/77 = 100)
Other canned and dried vegetables (12/77 = 100) . . . .
141.8
151.8
143.2
136.0
146.5
155.6
150.7
139.8
147.2
155.1
152.3
140.6
148.1
157.0
153.1
141.2
146.9
156.2
150.9
140.2
146.5
157.1
149.8
139.4
146.1
156.9
149.7
138.9
140.7
153.4
140.8
134.5
145.3
157.2
148.0
138.1
146.0
156.7
149.7
138.9
146.9
158.6
150.5
139.5
145.7
157.7
148.3
138.6
145.3
158.9
147.2
137.8
145.0
158.7
147.1
137.3
Other foods at h o m e ......................................................................................
Sugar and sweets ...............................................................................
Candy and chewing gum (12/77 = 100) ................................
Sugar and artificial sweeteners (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
Other sweets (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................................
Fats and oils (12/77 = 100) ............................................................
M a rg a rin e .....................................................................................
Nondairy substitutes and peanut butter (12/77 = 100) . . .
Other fats, oils, and salad dressings (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .............
Nonalcoholic beverages .....................................................................
Cola drinks, excluding diet cola ...............................................
Carbonated drinks, including diet cola (12/77 = 100) . . . .
Roasted coffee ............................................................................
Freeze dried and instant c o ffe e ..................................................
Other noncarbonated drinks (12/77 = 100) .........................
Other prepared fo o d s ............................................................................
Canned and packaged soup (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................
Frozen prepared foods (12/77 = 100) ...................................
Snacks (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................................................
Seasonings, olives, pickles, and relish (12/77 = 100) . . .
Other condiments (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................
Miscellaneous prepared foods (12/77 = 100) ......................
Other canned and packaged prepared foods (12/77 = 100) . .
343.4
376.0
152.0
170.4
151.7
275.4
268.9
151.8
143.8
435.2
315.7
149.4
355.4
352.4
141.8
277.9
142.0
156.4
158.6
160.7
155.4
152.8
147.0
352.1
391.2
160.5
172.4
158.3
285.4
285.6
152.3
149.1
442.3
317.1
150.1
372.8
363.5
146.2
285.3
144.6
160.4
165.1
163.8
158.4
156.0
152.1
353.1
391.8
161.3
171.0
159.4
291.4
293.2
153.2
152.7
442.7
315.1
150.5
374.8
366.9
147.4
285.4
145.6
159.1
166 0
163.8
160.0
154.9
151.6
354.0
392.6
161.6
171.0
160.1
295.4
296.0
154.9
155.2
441.5
313.3
149.2
375.9
369.6
147.6
286.9
146.4
162.0
166.5
164.4
159.9
155.5
152.1
355.1
393.7
162.1
172.3
159.7
295.1
296.6
156.3
154.2
444.0
316.8
149.4
376.3
369.2
148.3
287.3
146.4
161.6
166.9
165.6
159.5
155.9
152.8
356.1
393.3
161.3
172.5
160.2
294.9
297.5
157.5
153.3
446.8
319.8
149.9
377.7
371.9
148.9
287.8
146.5
162.9
167.8
166.2
159.3
155.9
151.9
355.0
390.9
161.6
170.3
158.0
293.0
292.9
157.3
152.7
445.5
317.3
148.8
376.0
372.7
150.5
287.5
148.1
162.6
167.4
164.9
158.8
155.6
152.1
344.2
375.7
151.8
171.7
149.5
275.5
267.1
150.1
144.5
437.3
313.2
147.5
350.2
351.6
142.1
279.4
143.9
155.7
160.7
159.9
157.2
153.0
148.2
352.5
390.5
160.3
173.6
155.8
284.9
283.2
150.5
149.4
443.7
314.5
147.6
367.1
362.9
146.4
286.9
146.4
159.6
167.4
163.0
160.2
156.2
153.2
353.5
391.1
161.0
172.2
157.0
291.0
291.1
151.3
153.2
444.0
312.4
148.1
369.0
366.3
147.7
287.0
147.6
158.3
168.3
162.9
161.9
154.9
152.8
354.3
391.9
161.3
172.3
157.6
295.0
293.6
153.1
155.7
442.8
310.7
147.0
369.9
368.9
147.9
288.5
148.4
161.2
168.8
163.5
161.7
155.6
153.2
355.4
393.1
161.8
173.5
157.2
294.6
294.3
154.2
154.7
445.2
314.1
147.1
370.2
368.2
148.7
288.7
148.2
160.4
169.2
164.7
161.4
155.9
153.9
356.5
392.8
161.2
173.7
157.7
294.4
295.0
155.3
153.8
448.2
317.0
147.7
371.5
371.2
149.3
289.3
148.3
162.0
170.0
165.2
161.2
156.0
153.0
355.3
390.5
161.5
171.5
155.5
292.5
290.6
155.3
153.2
446.7
314.4
146.6
369.8
371.9
150.8
288.8
149.8
161.5
169.7
164.0
160.7
155.6
153.1
Food away from home .........................................................................................
Lunch (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................................................................
Dinner (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................................................................
Other meals and snacks (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................................
324.8
157.1
156.2
160.8
333.1
160.7
160.3
165.3
334.4
161.5
161.0
165.5
335.5
161.9
161.7
166.0
335.8
162.4
161.8
165.7
336.6
162.8
162.2
166.0
337.7
163.2
162.8
166.5
328.0
158.7
157.9
161.2
336.3
162.3
162.0
165.8
337.7
163.0
162.8
166.0
338.8
163.5
163.5
166.5
339.0
163.9
163.6
166.3
339.8
164.3
163.9
166.6
340.9
164.7
164.6
167.1
A lc o h o lic b e v e r a g e s
...............................................................................................................................
218.6
222.4
222.5
222.9
223.1
224.2
223.8
221.5
225.6
225.8
226.2
226.4
227.5
227.1
Alcoholic beverages at home (12/77 = 100) ..................................................
Beer and aie ..................................................................................................
W hiskey............................................................................................................
Wine ...............................................................................................................
Other alcoholic beverages (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................................
Alcoholic beverages away from home (12/77 = 100) ...................................
140.9
225.9
152.9
234.8
121.5
149.9
142.8
231.2
153.8
234.0
122.5
154.8
142.8
231.5
153.5
232.5
122.7
155.5
142.9
231.1
154.0
234.2
122.6
156.4
142.8
231.5
153.8
231.8
123.4
157.2
143.7
232.7
154.6
234.8
123.2
157.7
143.2
231.9
154.3
233.0
123.5
158.2
143.0
225.2
153.4
242.3
121.5
150.9
145.0
230.2
154.1
241.8
122.4
155.9
145.0
230.6
153.9
240.1
122.4
156.6
145.1
230.3
154.3
241.6
122.4
157.8
145.1
230.5
154.1
239.5
123.2
158.6
145.8
231.7
154.9
242.5
122.9
159.1
145.4
230 7
154.6
241.3
123.3
159.5
H O U S IN G
327.0
336.2
338.1
339.5
341.4
341.2
340.9
324.5
326.2
328.7
334.2
336.8
335.5
334.4
S h e l t e r ( C P I - U ) .............................................................................................................................................
351.1
360.2
362.7
364.6
366.5
367.8
368.9
Renters’ c o s ts .........................................................................................................
Rent, residential ............................................................................................
Other renters' costs ......................................................................................
Flomeowners' c o s t s ...............................................................................................
Owners' equivalent r e n t ...............................................................................
Household insurance.....................................................................................
Maintenance and repairs .....................................................................................
Maintenance and repair services ...............................................................
Maintenance and repair com m odities.........................................................
105.0
241.3
359.8
373.0
106.1
160.4
353.4
398 5
262.3
108.2
248.4
371.5
106.8
106.8
106.6
358.9
409.8
262.2
108.9
249.7
375.7
107.6
107.7
106.7
360.3
411.6
263.1
109.6
251.1
380.7
108.1
108.1
108.0
360.1
412.3
262.2
110.2
252.4
384.3
108.7
108.7
108.6
362.7
414.3
264.8
110.7
253.8
382.6
109.1
109.1
108.7
361.6
414.4
262.9
110.9
254.8
379.1
109.4
109.4
108.8
362.9
412.6
266.5
S h e l t e r ( C P I - W ) .............................................................................................................................................
347.1
344.6
347.9
356.1
359.3
358.3
357.7
Rent, re s id e n tia l.....................................................................................................
240.7
247.7
249.0
250.3
251.7
253.1
254.0
Other renters' costs ...............................................................................................
Lodging while out of to w n ............................................................................
Tenants' insurance (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................................
H om eow nership.....................................................................................................
Heme purchase ............................................................................................
Financing, taxes, and insurance..................................................................
Property in s u ra n c e ...............................................................................
Property taxes .....................................................................................
Contracted mortgage interest c o s t s ...................................................
Mortgage interest ra te s ...............................................................
Maintenance and re p a irs...............................................................................
Maintenance and repair services.........................................................
Maintenance and repair com m odities.........................................................
Paint and wallpaper, supplies, tools, and
equipment (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................................
Lumber, awnings, glass, and masonry (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .............
Plumbing, electrical, heating, and cooling
supplies (12/77 = 100) ............................................................
Miscellaneous supplies and equipment (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .............
357.3
370.9
159.4
384.9
300 0
499.2
438.0
239.6
632.2
208.6
349 1
393.3
255.9
370.8
393 9
160.1
378.8
291.7
490.6
441.5
245.9
616.0
209.3
356.0
403.1
257.2
375.1
400.6
160.4
382.7
294.9
496.5
441.6
246.4
624.9
210.1
357 3
405.2
257.1
380.2
407.6
162.6
393.4
299.8
519.0
441.8
248.9
658.4
217.4
357.4
405.4
256.9
383.6
404.8
163.4
397.2
302.5
524.9
442.4
251.4
666.4
218.6
359 4
407.9
258.1
381.9
399.8
163.4
395.5
302.4
520.5
443.2
252.2
659.3
216.8
358.9
408.1
256.2
378.7
394.8
163.3
394.4
301.0
519.5
446.6
252.9
657.1
216.9
358.5
406.6
257.8
147.3
123.8
148.0
124.1
147.2
123.1
147.4
123.3
147.8
123.5
147.0
123.1
149.1
122.4
139.1
144.0
142.5
143.0
142.1
146.3
142.8
144.2
142.7
146.7
141.5
144.0
142.0
145.5
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
83
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Consumer Prices
20.
C o n tin u ed — C onsum er Price in dex— U.S. city average
[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
A ll U r b a n C o n s u m e r s
G e n e ra l s u m m a ry
1983
U r b a n W a g e E a r n e r s a n d C l e r ic a l W o r k e r s
1984
1983
Nov.
June
J u ly
Aug.
S e p t.
O c t.
F u e l a n d o t h e r u t i l i t i e s ......................................................................................................................
371.3
390.0
393.9
395.5
397.0
392.4
387.5
F u e ls ........................................................................................................................
Fuel oil, coal, and bottled g a s ......................................................................
Fuel oil ..................................................................................................
Other fuels (6/78 = 100) ..................................................................
Gas (piped) and electricity............................................................................
E le c tric ity ...............................................................................................
Utility (piped) gas ...............................................................................
468.1
623 9
631.5
191.4
428.2
331.8
576.3
490.7
646.0
656.2
194.1
450.6
358.6
585.9
496.5
637.4
646.2
193.7
459.1
368.7
589.7
498.6
625.5
632.4
193.3
463.9
374.3
592.2
500.1
622.1
628.4
193.1
466.4
374.9
598.4
492.1
626.8
633.6
193.7
456.0
361.0
597.1
482.6
626.9
633.0
194.9
444.7
350.9
584.9
Other utilities and public services .....................................................................
Telephone servic es.........................................................................................
Local charges (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................................
Interstate toll calls (12/77 = 100) ..................................................
Intrastate toll calls (12/77 = 100) ...................................................
Water and sewerage m aintenance...............................................................
217.3
175.4
143.8
121.5
119.8
363.6
229.4
187.1
160.1
118.5
124.8
374.6
230.6
188.1
162.3
116.2
125.9
376.6
231.3
188.4
163.3
116.1
124.9
378.9
232.7
189 8
165.3
116.1
124.8
380.2
232.9
190.0
165.5
116.3
124.8
380 5
234.4
191.1
166.9
116.2
125.4
382.8
H o u s e h o ld f u r n is h in g s a n d o p e r a t io n s
Nov.
Nov.
1984
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
372.8
391.4
467.8
626.4
633.9
192.4
427.5
330.8
574.0
490.4
648.4
658.6
194.8
449.7
358.7
581.6
395.4
396.9
398.4
393.6
388.7
496 1
640 0
648.8
194.4
458.2
369.0
585.1
498.2
628.1
635.1
193.9
463.0
374 8
587.1
499.8
624.5
630.8
193.6
465.5
375.5
593.2
491.4
629.4
636.3
194.3
454.7
360.8
592.1
482.1
629.3
635.6
195.4
443.7
350.5
580.9
218.4
176.0
144.4
121.9
119.8
367.8
230 4
187.6
160.8
118.9
124.6
378.9
231.7
188.7
163.1
116.6
125.7
381.0
232.4
189.1
164.0
116.5
124.8
383.2
233.7
190.4
166.0
116.5
124.6
384.5
233.9
190.5
166.1
116.6
124.6
384.8
235.3
191.6
167.4
116.6
125.2
386.8
...................................................................................
239.9
242.3
241.9
242.2
244.1
244.3
244.2
236.7
238.9
238.3
238.6
240.6
240 7
240.6
Housefurnishings ..................................................................................................
Textile housefurnishings...............................................................................
Household linens (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................................
Curtains, drapes, slipcovers, and sewing
materials (12/77 = 100) ...............................................................
198.4
229.6
135.7
199.1
234.7
138.2
197.9
232.9
136.6
198.1
238.6
143.1
200 6
245 6
146.8
200.5
242.7
147.1
200.2
240.5
145.2
196.4
233.0
136.4
196 9
238.4
139.4
195.6
236.4
137.7
195.9
242.0
144.1
198.3
249.9
148.1
198.2
247.1
148.8
197.6
244.6
146.6
151.1
154.9
154.2
154.7
159.8
155.8
154.9
155.6
159.5
158.6
158.8
164.8
160.2
159.4
Furniture and b e d d in g ............................................................................................
Bedroom furniture (12/77 = 100) ...................................................
Sofas (12/77 = 100) .........................................................................
Living room chairs and tables (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................
Other furniture (12/77 = 100) .........................................................
Appliances including TV and sound equipment ......................................
Television and sound equipment ......................................................
Television .....................................................................................
Sound equipment (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................
Household appliances .........................................................................
Refrigerators and home fre e z e rs ...............................................
Laundry e q u ip m e n t......................................................................
Other household appliances (12/77 = 100) .........................
Stoves, dishwashers, vacuums, and sewing
machines (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................................
Office machines, small electric appliances, and
air conditioners (12/77 = 100) ......................................
Other household equipment (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................
Floor and window coverings, infants’ , laundry,
cleaning, and outdoor equipment (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
Clocks, lamps, and decor items (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................
Tableware, serving pieces, and nonelectric
kitchenware (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................................
Lawn equipment, power tools, and other
hardware (12/77 = 100) ...............................................................
220.1
152.6
119.8
125.6
141.4
151.0
105.0
98.8
111.6
189.2
193.0
144.1
125.9
223.3
154.1
121.3
126.8
144.8
148.8
102.0
95.9
108.4
189.7
196.8
145.0
125.4
222.1
151.5
121.9
126.3
144.7
147.2
101.3
94.5
108.2
187.1
194.2
145.5
123.2
220.8
151.7
120.6
127.1
142.2
147.2
101.0
94.1
108.1
187.5
194.6
145.4
123.6
225.5
156.6
121.7
126.8
146.9
147.7
100.8
93.5
108.3
189.4
196.8
146.9
124.8
228.2
160.2
121.6
128.1
148.1
147.1
100.4
92.5
108.4
188.4
197.6
147.7
123.5
227.4
160.7
122.2
127.5
145.9
146.0
99.9
92.1
107.7
186.7
197.3
148.1
121.8
217.1
149.5
120.0
126.6
137.1
151.6
104.1
97.4
110.7
190.1
198.9
145.2
124.6
219.5
149.6
121.6
127.6
140.4
150.1
101.0
94.5
107.4
191.0
202.5
145.8
124.2
218.7
148.1
122.1
127.2
140.2
148.4
100.2
93.0
107.2
188.4
199.8
146.0
121.4
217.9
148.4
120.7
128.1
138.4
148.5
100.0
92.7
107.1
188.9
200.6
146.3
121.7
222.2
153.5
121.6
127.8
142.1
149.4
99.8
92.2
107.2
190.9
202.6
147.6
123.2
224.5
155.9
121.8
129.0
143.5
148.8
99.5
91.1
107.4
190.2
203.5
148.0
121.7
223.4
156.3
122.0
127.9
141.4
148.0
98.9
90.7
106.6
189.2
203.2
149.1
119.9
125.8
127.0
121.7
123.6
127.5
124.4
122.4
124.6
125.8
120.0
121.6
125.5
122.6
120.6
126.2
142.1
124.4
142.2
124.9
142.1
123.9
141.7
122.8
141.9
122.9
141.2
121.5
142.8
124.6
139.7
122.4
139.6
122.9
139.5
121.8
138.9
120.6
139.1
120.6
138.5
119.0
139.8
147.3
135.5
147.8
134.3
147.0
135.5
147.7
134.3
146.7
137.1
147.9
135.6
148.4
137.4
138.8
131.0
138.8
129.7
137.8
130.7
137.3
129.8
136.2
132.8
138.2
130.8
137.8
132.6
146.2
147.9
147.2
147.0
145.5
143.5
147.6
142.4
143.9
143.3
143.1
141.5
139.8
143.4
136.6
134.6
135.2
134.4
135.5
135.5
134.8
141.8
140.0
140.7
139.8
141.4
141.1
140.2
Housekeeping supplies .........................................................................................
Soaps and d e te rg e n ts..................................................................................
Other laundry and cleaning products (12/77 = 100) ............................
Cleansing and toilet 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 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................................
297.0
296.7
151.5
148.2
140.9
155.5
143.0
303.0
299.3
155.1
152.9
143.5
160.1
144.7
303.8
299.8
154.9
153.7
143.7
161.2
144.9
304.2
298.8
154.9
153.6
144.2
162.0
145.7
304.9
299.1
155.8
155.2
144.2
162.2
144 8
305.4
299.9
156.6
156.5
144.8
161.7
143.5
306.2
302.3
157.1
156.1
145.5
162.1
143.4
293.9
292.7
150.2
148.3
144.0
150.0
136.0
300.1
294.8
153.8
152.9
146.7
154.7
138.7
301.0
295.3
153.6
153.7
147.1
155.9
138.7
301.1
294.2
153.4
153.4
147.7
156.6
139.1
302.0
294.8
154.3
155.2
147.9
156.7
138.3
302.5
295.4
155.1
156.4
148.4
156.2
137.1
303.5
297.6
155.7
155.8
149.1
156.7
137.5
Housekeeping services .........................................................................................
P ostage............................................................................................................
Moving, storage, freight, household laundry, and
drycleaning services (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................................
Appliance and furniture repair (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .........................................
322.3
337.5
327.0
337.5
327.6
337.5
328.2
337.5
329.4
337.5
330.2
337.5
330.3
337.5
322.3
337.5
327.5
337.5
328.2
337.5
328.8
337.5
330.0
337.5
330.8
337.5
330.9
337.5
168.1
146.2
173.7
150.2
174.5
150.9
174.6
152.2
175.9
153.4
176.3
154.7
176.0
155.4
168.2
144.3
174.1
148.2
174.9
148.9
175.1
150.0
176.4
151.0
176.8
152.2
176.4
152.9
A PPAREL AN D UPKEEP
200.7
197.4
196.6
200.1
204.2
205.7
205.2
199.7
196.1
195.3
199.0
203.3
204.8
204.2
A p p a r e l c o m m o d i t i e s ...............................................................................................................................
188 6
184.0
183.0
186 6
191.2
192.6
191.9
188.2
183.3
182.4
186.1
190.9
192.3
191.6
Apparel commodities less fo o tw e a r............................................................
185.2
179.8
178.9
183.1
187.8
189.2
188.3
184.5
178.7
177.9
182.2
187.3
188.7
187.8
Men’s and b o y s '............................................................................................
Men’s (12/77 = 100) .........................................................................
Suits, sport coats, and jackets (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
Coats and ja c k e ts .........................................................................
Furnishings and special clothing (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ...................
Shirts (12/77 = 100) ...............................................................
Dungarees, jeans, and trousers (12/77 = 100) ...................
Boys' (12/77 = 100) .........................................................................
Coats, jackets, sweaters, and shirts (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............
Furnishings (12/77 = 100) ......................................................
Suits, trousers, sport coats, and jackets (12/77 = 100) . .
193 0
121.6
114.8
105.5
147.3
125.2
113.9
125.2
119.9
137.6
124.4
190.3
120.0
113.0
96 2
148.0
126.9
111.4
123.0
118.2
137.1
121.2
189.8
119.3
113.2
96.1
145.6
125.6
111.3
124.1
120.8
136.5
121.8
192.6
121.2
113.5
100.9
147.6
127.3
113.7
125.5
125.5
134.7
121.8
195.6
123.2
115.6
105.7
150.9
128.2
114.5
126.9
127.0
135.8
123.3
197.6
124.3
116.4
107.9
151.8
129.5
115.5
128.6
126.8
136.8
126.7
197.8
124.5
115.7
106.6
152.0
129.4
117.6
128.5
125.9
138.9
126.4
193.4
122.2
107.7
108.8
143.6
127.8
120.1
123.8
122.1
133.3
121.6
190.3
120.3
105.8
99.4
143.8
129.2
117.5
121.6
120.4
132.7
118.4
189.9
119.6
106 2
99.6
141.8
127.7
117.2
122.7
123.1
132.2
119.0
193.0
121.7
106.8
104.0
143.3
130.0
120.0
124.3
128.0
130.5
119.1
196.2
123.9
108.9
109.0
146.6
131.0
120.9
125.7
129.8
131.8
120.4
198.1
125.0
109.7
111.1
147.7
132.1
122.0
127.2
129.2
132.7
123.8
198.6
125.4
109.2
109.9
147.8
132.2
124.3
127.1
128.3
134.4
123.7
84
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
20.
C o n tin u ed — C o n su m er P rice In dex— U.S. city average
[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
A ll U r b a n C o n s u m e r s
G e n e ra l s u m m a ry
1983
U r b a n W a g e E a r n e r s a n d C l e r ic a l W o r k e r s
1984
1983
1984
Nov.
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
Nov.
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
Women's and girls' .....................................................................................
Women's (12/77 = 100) ..................................................................
Coats and ja c k e ts .........................................................................
Dresses .........................................................................................
Separates and sportswear (12/77 = 100) ............................
Underwear, nightwear, and hosiery (12/77 = 100) ............
Suits (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................................................
Girls' (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................................................
Coats, jackets, dresses, and suits (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ................
Separates and sportswear (12/77 = 100) ............................
Underwear, nightwear, hosiery, and
accessories (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ...................................................
Infants' and toddlers' ..................................................................................
Other apparel commodities .........................................................................
Sewing materials and notions (12/77 = 100) ................................
Jewelry and luggage (12/77 = 100) ...............................................
167.0
110.9
173.3
171.9
102.0
136.1
85.7
111.8
106.2
107.6
157.9
105.2
154.6
172.1
91.1
137.0
71.3
104.3
95.0
99.0
156.2
103.7
156.8
163.7
88.2
136.7
74.4
104.6
99.7
96.9
163.1
108.6
167.7
172.0
92.9
138.0
85.1
107.7
101.0
103.1
170.5
114.4
181.1
178.3
102.5
139.4
93.5
108.6
98.6
106.7
172.2
115.0
181.7
179.9
104.3
138.5
94.1
112.3
106.2
108.2
170.4
113.4
181.9
175.8
103.6
138.5
87.6
112.7
106.8
107.7
168.6
112.4
177.4
158.0
102.4
135.7
105.8
110.8
103.3
108.3
159.2
106.2
159.1
160.5
91.4
136.6
85.8
104.3
93.7
100.7
157.4
104.8
162.4
153.1
88.6
136.2
97.1
104.0
98 4
96.7
164.1
109.5
176.1
159.9
93.1
137.5
96.5
107.5
100.4
103.5
172.1
115.8
185.2
165.5
102.9
138.9
112.1
108.6
98.3
107.5
173.8
116.4
186.3
165.8
104.7
138.0
114.0
112.0
105.0
108.9
171.9
114.9
186.0
162.4
104.1
138.1
106.6
111.8
105.8
106.9
128.7
288.7
216.6
118.6
149.2
129.3
278.3
217.7
122.4
148.5
127.1
281.2
218.0
122.5
148.8
127.4
288.7
216.3
123.8
146.7
128.3
291.3
216.5
122.8
147.3
130.0
291.6
216.0
120.6
147.7
131.6
290.2
215.4
120.1
147.4
127.5
298.1
205.2
116.8
140.0
127.8
289.2
205.7
120.9
138.5
125.7
292.0
206.0
120.7
138.9
126.0
298.9
204.9
122.3
137.1
127.0
303.2
205.0
121.5
137.6
128.7
302.5
204.0
119.0
137.8
130.2
302.1
203.1
118.4
137.2
F o o tw e a r..................................................................................................................
Men's (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................................................................
Boys' and girls' (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................................................
Women’s (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................................................
209.1
135.8
131.8
126.7
209.6
136.7
132.1
126.7
208.0
137.5
131.0
124.2
207.7
137.4
131.9
123.4
211.1
138.0
133.5
127.0
212.9
138.3
136.0
128.0
212.9
138.4
136.3
127.6
209.1
137.6
134.0
122.9
210.0
138.7
134.5
123.2
208.7
139.6
133.7
120.8
208.5
139.4
134.8
119.9
211.6
139.8
136.3
123.3
213.2
140.1
138.7
124.1
213.1
140.2
139.0
123.6
A p p a r e l s e r v ic e s
.........................................................................................................................................
296.2
304.4
305.1
307.5
307.6
309.5
310.8
294.3
302.4
303.0
305.5
305.6
307.4
308.8
Laundry and drycleaning other than coin operated (12/77 = 100) .............
Other apparel services (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................................................
177.0
154.5
182.9
157.0
183.4
157.2
184.1
159.9
184.3
159.7
185.5
160.4
186.3
161.1
175.4
155.6
181.2
158.3
181.7
158.5
182.3
161.3
182.6
161.0
183.8
161.7
184.4
162.5
T R A N S P O R T A T IO N
313.7
315.5
316.1
308.2
315.5
315.2
315.2
316.0
317.8
318.3
306.3
313.1
312.9
312.9
P r i v a t e .............................................................................................................................................
301.7
308.1
307.5
307.5
308.4
310.2
310.8
304.9
311.7
311.2
311.1
312.1
313.9
314.4
New c a r s ..................................................................................................................
Used cars ...............................................................................................................
Gasoline ..................................................................................................................
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 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................................
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) .........................
T ir e s ...............................................................................................
Other parts and equipment (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................
Other private transportation s e rv ic e s .........................................................
Automobile insurance .........................................................................
Automobile finance charges (12/77 = 100) ...................................
Automobile rental, registration, and other fees (12/77 = 100) .
State registration .........................................................................
Drivers' licenses (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................................
Vehicle inspection (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................
Other vehicle-related fees (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ................................
206.2
356.1
378.1
335.2
169.5
207.7
382.0
374.9
340.7
172.6
208.1
383.2
369.8
341.6
172.6
208.1
383.8
365.9
342.7
173.5
208.2
384.2
368 8
344.2
174.7
209.6
384.6
370.3
345.3
175.6
211.4
383.6
369.2
345.8
175.8
205.7
356.1
380.1
335.6
168.2
207.1
382.0
376.4
341.5
171.3
207.6
383.2
376.4
342.3
171.6
207.6
383.8
367.4
343.4
172.1
207.6
384.2
369.4
344.9
173.1
209.0
384.6
371.7
346.2
174.1 ,
210.8
383.6
370.5
346.7
174.3
163.4
152.7
160.2
265.6
209.2
152.9
132.7
183.1
133.0
283.1
312.8
159.1
147.3
195.4
154.5
139.8
160.5
166.2
154.6
163.4
271.5
202.0
154.1
127.3
172.0
134.1
292.5
324.2
164.1
151.1
199.4
157.8
139.9
165.1
166.5
155.3
163.5
272.4
200.6
154.3
126.2
169.6
134.7
294.1
324.8
166.2
152.0
199.8
161.0
139.9
166.5
167.2
155.9
163.9
274.9
200.8
153.6
126.4
170.4
133.9
297.2
325.2
168.7
156.8
209.7
161.3
139.9
170.0
168.1
156.3
164.7
275.9
201.2
155.1
126.5
170.9
133.3
298.4
326.9
169 9
156.4
212.2
163.7
139.9
166.4
169.2
156.5
164.9
278.7
199.0
153.2
125.1
168.3
133.2
302.5
332.3
172.0
157.6
213.5
163.7
140.0
168.3
169.6
156.8
164.9
280.7
201.0
155.3
126.4
170.2
134.1
304.6
335.9
172.2
158.0
213.5
163.7
142.2
169.1
167.2
151.9
159.5
266.6
211.7
151.7
134.6
187.0
132.9
283.7
312.1
158.7
148.3
195.2
154.8
140.5
167.7
170.2
153.8
163.1
272.4
204.5
153.5
129.0
175.5
133.9
293.0
323.1
163.5
152.4
199.6
158.1
140.4
172.6
170.6
154.5
163.2
273.4
202.9
153.8
127.8
173.0
134.1
294 6
323.9
165.7
153.1
200.0
161.2
140.4
173.8
171.3
155.0
163.5
275.8
203.2
153.2
128.1
174.0
133.3
297.5
324.2
168.2
157.4
208.8
161.5
140.5
176.4
172.2
155.5
164.3
277.0
203.4
154.5
128.0
174.2
132.7
299.1
325.9
169.5
157.7
211.7
164.1
140.5
173.8
173.4
155.8
164.6
279.8
201.0
152.6
126.5
171.5
132.5
303.3
331.3
171.7
158.9
212.9
164.1
140.5
176.0
173.8
156.1
164.6
281.9
203.5
154.4
128.1
174.0
133.5
305 3
334.9
171.9
159.2
212.9
164.1
142.3
176.7
P u b lic
................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................
Airline f a r e ...............................................................................................................
Intercity bus fare ...................................................................................
Intracity mass t r a n s it ............................................................................................
Taxi fare ............................................................................................
Intercity train f a r e ......................................................................................
370.3
385.2
389.3
390.8
389.5
391.1
391.8
359.9
377.4
380.7
381.6
380.4
381.6
382.4
431.6
416.0
324.3
304.7
364.8
442.0
426.2
346.5
30Q.7
381.5
450.1
438.9
346.6
310.4
381.9
454.1
441.1
345.7
310 4
381.9
450.1
442.2
346.5
310.8
381.9
453.5
445.3
346.6
311.1
382.0
455.4
447.0
345.9
311.3
383.5
427.2
416.9
322.5
313.5
365.6
438.2
425.8
346.5
319.0
381.9
446 6
438.7
346.6
319.7
382.1
450.5
441.3
345.8
319.7
382.2
445.4
442.6
346.5
319.8
382.2
448.8
445.4
346.6
320.0
382.2
450.6
447.8
345.9
320.1
383.8
380.1
381.2
383.7
385.6
M E D IC A L C A R E ...................................................................................................................
364.9
378.0
380.3
381.9
383.1
385.5
387.5
362.9
376.3
378.5
M e d ic a l c a r e c o m m o d H i e t ..................................................................................................................
228.9
239.4
240.7
241.6
242.4
244.1
245.6
229.1
239.5
240.7
241.5
242.3
244.1
245.6
Prescription d ru g s ..................................................................................................
Anti-infective drugs (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................................
Tranquilizers and sedatives (12/77 = 100) ............................................
Circulatories and diuretics (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................................
Hormones, diabetic drugs, biologicals, and
prescription medical supplies (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................
Pain and symptom control drugs (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................
Supplements, cough and cold preparations, and
respiratory agents (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .........................................................
226.8
159.1
186.9
159.9
233.5
164.9
204.0
169.0
234.9
166.1
205.1
170.4
236.6
167.7
207.6
171.3
238.0
168.4
208.7
171.7
240.2
170.5
212.7
172.8
242.2
171.0
216.2
174.4
222.1
161.5
186.7
159.7
234.9
167.3
204.0
168.3
236.3
168.3
205.1
169.5
237.9
170.0
207.5
170.4
239.4
171.0
208.6
170.9
241.7
173.3
212.7
172.1
243.8
173.8
216.3
173.7
204.0
180.5
214.7
188.3
216.2
189.7
218.1
191.0
220.7
192.0
222.3
192.7
223.8
194.4
206.1
182.4
217.0
190.3
218.4
191.7
220.4
192.8
223.2
193.8
224.7
194.7
226.1
196.3
164.7
174.5
175.9
175.5
176.1
176.9
178.3
165.1
176.1
176.5
176.2
176.9
177.7
179.0
Nonprescription drugs and medical supplies (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .........................
Eyeglasses (12/77 = 100) .........................................................................
Internal and respiratory over-the-counter d r u g s ......................................
Nonprescription medical equipment and supplies (12/77 = 100) . . .
157.9
137.8
256.4
152.7
163.5
140.0
268.2
156.4
164.3
140.6
269.5
157.0
164.4
140.5
269.4
157.9
164.5
141.4
269.5
157.1
165.4
141.9
271.3
157.7
166.0
142.2
271.5
159.8
158.8
136.6
257.7
154.1
164.4
138.8
269.3
157.9
165.1
139.5
270.6
158.4
165.2
165.3
140.4
139.3
270.4
270.5
159.4 I 158.6
166.3
140.8
272.4
159.1
166.9
141.2
272.7
161.5
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
85
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Consumer Prices
20.
C o n tin u ed — C onsum er Price In d ex— U.S. city average
[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
A ll U r b a n C o n s u m e r s
G e n e ra l s u m m a ry
1983
Nov.
U r b a n W a g e E a r n e r s a n d C l e r ic a l W o r k e r s
1984
June
J u ly
A ug.
1983
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
1984
Nov.
June
J u ly
Aug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
M e d ic a l c a r e s e r v i c e s ............................................
395.0
408.4
410.9
412.7
413.9
416.5
418.5
392.3
406.1
408.6
410.4
411.5
414.1
416.1
Professional s e rv ic e s ...............................................
Physicians’ s e rv ic e s ...............................................
Dental services.........................................................
Other professional services (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
331.7
360.5
312.9
155 9
345.8
377.1
326.2
159.9
347.0
378.1
327.9
160.1
348.2
379.5
329.1
160.3
349.8
380.8
331.9
160.0
351.8
382.2
334.8
160.8
353.1
383.0
336.6
161.5
332.0
364.3
310.7
152.5
346.2
381.1
324.0
156.1
347.4
382.1
325.7
156.4
348.6
383.6
326.8
156.6
350.1
384.8
329.5
156.2
352.1
386.2
332.4
157.1
353.4
387.0
334 3
157.8
Other medical care services .........................................
Hospital and other medical services (12/77 = 100) .
Hospital r o o m ......................................................
Other hospital and medical care services (12/77 = 100) .
471.5
201.0
641.9
197.1
484.1
208.4
662.0
205.2
488.3
210 9
672.9
207.0
490.7
212.5
678.1
208 5
491.5
213.0
679.5
209.1
494.7
215.0
687.1
210.7
497.7
217.2
691.3
213.6
467.9
199.0
633.9
195.4
480.9
206.3
654.4
203 4
485.2
208.9
664.6
205.4
487.7
210.4
669.5
206.8
488.4
210.9
670.8
207.4
491.7
212.9
677.3
209.3
494 6
214.7
680 8
211.7
E N T E R T A IN M E N T
249.5
254.5
255.3
256.4
257.3
258.3
259.0
245.7
250.7
251.4
252.5
253.4
254.2
254.8
E n t e r t a in m e n t c o m m o d it ie s
249.0
252.4
253.3
254.5
254.8
255.9
256.0
243.4
246.9
247.8
248.8
249.2
249.6
250.2
Reading materials (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................
Newspapers ...............................................
Magazines, periodicals, and books (12/77 = 100) . .
162.9
307.7
170.2
163.7
313.3
168.7
164.5
315.0
169.4
166.0
315.2
172.5
166.3
315.4
173.0
167.7
317.5
174.7
167.8
319.2
174.1
162.3
307.8
170.4
163.3
313.4
168.7
164.0
315.1
169.3
165.4
315.3
172.4
165.6
315.6
172.8
167.0
317.7
174.6
167.2
319 4
173.7
Sporting goods and equipment (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
Sport vehicles (12/77 = 100) ......................................
Indoor and warm weather sport equipment (12/77 = 100) .
Bicycles ..................................................................
Other sporting goods and equipment (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .............
134.7
137.8
118.1
198.6
134.5
137.5
142.2
117.7
201.1
134.2
137.8
142.9
117.7
200.2
134.3
138.3
143.9
117.9
198.3
134.8
138.7
144.4
117.3
198.9
135.5
138.8
144.5
117.2
198.8
135.6
140.0
146.0
118.2
198.1
137.3
128.7
128.5
116.0
199.3
134.4
131.2
132.2
116.0
202.0
134.0
131.4
132.6
115.9
201.2
134.2
131.9
133.7
115.9
199.4
134.0
132.3
134.0
115.5
200.3
135.0
132.2
133.9
115.3
200.0
135.1
133 6
135 8
116.4
199 1
136.5
Toys, hobbies, and other entertainment (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
Toys, hobbies, and music equipment (12/77 = 100) .............
Photographic supplies and equipment (12/77 = 100) . . . . . .
Pet supplies and expenses (12/77 = 100) ................
139.1
136.7
131.7
148.8
141.1
138.8
133.7
150.5
141.7
139.3
134.2
151.4
141.9
138.6
135.0
153.1
142.0
138.3
135.2
153.7
141.9
138.2
135.1
153.5
141.8
138.1
134.9
153.4
137.8
132.8
132.7
149.9
140.1
135.5
135.0
151.6
140.7
135.9
135.6
152.7
141.0
135.2
136.3
154.2
141.1
135.1
136.4
153.6
263 4
165.0
156 1
154.7
140 9
134 8
136 2
154.5
E n t e r t a in m e n t s e r v i c e s .........................................................
250.5
258.1
258.5
259.7
261.3
262.8
263 8
251.0
258.5
258.8
260.1
262.0
263.4
264.0
Fees for participant sports (12/77 = 100) ...................
Admissions (12/77 = 100) ...................................
Other entertainment services (12/77 = 100) . . . .
156.4
146.6
133.3
159.7
155.3
135.1
159.7
156.0
135.3
160.1
157.3
136.1
162.3
156.9
136.2
163.6
157.2
137.0
165.1
156.8
136.7
157.7
145.6
134.4
160.7
154.3
135.7
160.4
155.0
136.0
161.0
156.1
136.8
163.2
155.7
137.1
165.0
156.1
137.6
166 2
155 6
137.0
O T H E R G O O D S A N D S E R V IC E S
298.1
304.4
306.5
307.2
314.6
315.8
316.5
295.5
302.1
304.5
305.3
310.9
311.9
312.6
T o b a c c o p ro d u c ts
299.9
308.1
313.2
313.9
314.1
314.6
314.7
299.7
307.8
312.9
313.5
313.7
314.2
314.3
Cigarettes ......................................................................
Other tobacco products and smoking accessories (12/77 = 100)
308.2
152.7
316.3
158.9
322.0
159.3
322.6
159.7
322.8
159.9
323.3
160.0
323.4
160.6
307.3
152.7
315.3
159.0
320.9
159.4
321.5
159.8
321.7
159.9
322.2
160.1
322.2
160.6
P ers o n a l c are
..................................................................
265.6
270.6
271.8
272.6
273.6
274.7
276.3
263.7
268.5
269.7
270.5
271.6
272.4
274.0
Toilet goods and personal care appliances .........................
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 care appliances (12/77 = 100) . . .
265.7
154.5
166.7
268.5
154.8
166.5
270.2
156.1
167.2
270.6
156.2
167.6
271.6
156.1
167.9
272.0
155.9
168.2
273.4
156.9
170.9
266.6
153.6
165.1
269.3
154.1
164.7
270.9
155.1
165.2
271.4
155.3
165.6
272.5
155.3
165.8
272.6
155.0
166.0
274 0
156 2
168 9
148.9
150.5
153.0
151.7
154.0
152.7
153.2
154.2
154.5
155.0
154.9
155.4
154.9
155.5
150.1
154.1
154.0
155.5
155.1
156.4
154.5
158.0
155.9
158 7
155.9
159.0
155 8
159.1
Personal care services ............................................
Beauty parlor services for women ................................
Haircuts and other barber shop services for men (12/77 = 100) . . .
266.6
269.8
147.5
273.4
276.4
151.7
274.3
277.3
152.1
275.4
278.4
152.8
276.4
279.2
153.6
278.0
281.2
154.0
279.9
283.1
155.0
261.1
262.9
146.3
268.2
269.3
150.5
269.0
270.2
150.9
270.0
271.2
151.6
271.1
272.0
152.4
272.6
274.0
152.8
274.4
275 8
153.8
P e r s o n a l a n d e d u c a t io n a l e x p e n s e s
351.3
357.9
358.6
359.3
381.9
384.0
384.1
352.9
360.7
361.3
362.1
384.1
386.0
386.2
Schoolbooks and supplies ...................................................
Personal and educational s e rv ic e s ............................
Tuition and other school fe e s ...................
•College tuition (12/77 = 100) ...............................
Elementary and high school tuition (12/77 = 100) . . . .
Personal expenses (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .........................
308.8
361.0
182.9
182.7
183.9
194.6
318.5
367.1
184.5
184.8
183.9
204.2
318.8
367.9
184.8
185.2
183.9
205.0
319.2
368.7
185.0
185.3
184.3
206.4
331.5
393.1
200.7
200 1
201.1
207.3
333.7
295.2
201.3
201.4
201.3
208.5
333.8
395.4
201.3
201.4
201.3
208.9
313.0
362.6
183.3
182.6
184.9
195.2
323.1
370.1
185.4
185.7
185.0
204.8
323.4
370.8
185.6
186.0
185.0
205.6
323.8
371.6
185.8
186.1
185.4
207.0
336 4
395.6
201.4
201.1
202.6
207.9
338.6
397 4
202.3
202.3
202.8
208.8
338 7
397 6
202 3
202 3
202.8
209.2
373.7
370.7
365.9
362.4
364.3
366.6
365.6
340.7
364.2
358.0
370.0
362.9
370.9
365.6
371.6
367.0
373.0
362.8
373.7
358.5
373.7
375.5
419.8
339.4
370.4
372.2
417.7
357.1
378.4
367.3
422.0
362.0
379.9
363.8
437.3
364.6
380.3
365.7
441.6
366.1
382.3
367.9
440.3
361.5
382.7
366 8
440.4
357 1
381.9
S p e c i a l in d e x e s :
Gasoline, motor oil, coolant, and other p ro d u cts......................
Insurance and finance ............................................
Utilities and public transportation ......................................
Housekeeping and home maintenance se rv ic e s ............................
86
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
21. C onsum er Price Index fo r Ail Urban C onsum ers: C ross classification of region and population size class by expenditure
categ o ry and co m m o d ity and service group
[Decem ber
1977 = 100]
S iz e c la s s A
S iz e c la s s B
S iz e c la s s C
S iz e c la s s D
( 1 . 2 5 m il li o n o r m o r e )
( 3 8 5 , 0 0 0 - 1 , 2 5 0 m il li o n )
(7 5 ,8 0 0 - 3 8 5 ,0 0 0 )
( 7 5 , 0 0 0 o r le s s )
C a t e g o r y a n d g ro u p
1984
June
A ug.
1984
O c t.
June
A ug.
1984
O c t.
June
1984
A ug.
O c t.
June
A ug.
O c t.
N o rth e a s t
E X P E N D IT U R E C A T E G O R Y
All items ...........................................................................................................................................
Food and beverages ...............................................................................................................
H o u s in g .....................................................................................................................................
Apparel and upkeep ...............................................................................................................
Transportation ........................................................................................................................
Medical care ...........................................................................................................................
Entertainm ent...........................................................................................................................
Other goods and services .....................................................................................................
161.2
153.0
165.9
122.2
171.4
174.0
146.6
171.1
162.6
154.2
167.4
125.7
172.0
176.8
149.7
172.3
163.5
153.7
168.2
128.2
172.0
178.3
150.9
178.1
167.2
151.0
177.3
125.5
176.2
179.2
143.8
170.0
168.9
152.0
180.6
125.6
175.6
181.0
148.2
172.0
170.0
152.6
180.9
129.0
176.9
182.7
149.9
177.4
171.7
156.0
184.0
131.1
175.5
177.7
152.3
172.5
173.7
157.5
187.7
131.1
176.2
178.9
153.9
176.6
175.3
156.1
190.1
139.0
176.3
182.7
155.3
180.7
167.2
152.6
173.4
136.4
175.1
183.0
153.6
174.6
167.2
152.7
172.3
138.5
175.7
184.9
153.6
175.6
169.8
152.0
177.4
141.4
176.2
188.7
154.8
181.1
154.2
154.6
169.8
154.9
154.6
172.0
155.3
156.1
173.4
159.8
163.7
178.2
159.8
163.1
182.3
161.0
164.7
183.3
159.8
161.5
190.4
160.2
161.0
195.0
160.9
162.8
198.0
159.1
160.8
179.1
158.7
161.0
179.1
159.1
162.2
185.2
C O M M O D IT Y A N D S E R V IC E G R O U P
C o m m o d itie s.....................................................................................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages ...............................................................................
Services...............................................................................................................................................
N o r t h C e n t r a l R e g io n
E X P E N D IT U R E C A T E G O R Y
All items ...........................................................................................................................................
Food and beverages ..............................................................................................................
H o u s in g .....................................................................................................................................
Apparel and upkeep ...............................................................................................................
Transportation ........................................................................................................................
Medical care ............................................................................................................................
Entertainm ent...........................................................................................................................
Other goods and services .....................................................................................................
171.3
149.0
190.7
117.8
172.3
178.5
145.7
166.8
172.3
150.2
192.0
120.2
171.9
180.0
146.4
168.7
173.4
150.0
192.2
122.9
174.0
181.5
148.3
172.9
167.7
148.5
176.7
130.8
174.1
179.4
140.7
180.5
168.1
149.4
177.3
131.7
173.4
182.0
139.6
180.6
168.9
149.2
178.1
134.4
173.9
183 0
140.3
184.7
164.7
149.1
171.6
128.3
176.2
172.7
152.9
164.3
166.6
150.7
175.3
130.2
175.1
175.2
153.9
167.1
167.2
150.2
175.8
132.0
176.7
175.6
153.4
169.4
164.8
156.9
166.4
124.6
174.7
184.0
140.5
177.4
166.6
158.4
170.0
124.9
174.9
185.1
142.5
178.4
167.5
157.8
171.3
128.7
175.1
185.6
143.3
181.4
158.0
162.2
190.7
158.6
162.4
192.3
159.4
164.0
193.7
157.5
161.1
184.1
157.2
160.2
185.3
157.7
161.1
186.7
155.4
158.3
179.6
155.8
157.9
183.6
156.4
159.1
184.3
155.6
155.0
179.2
156.3
155.3
182.8
156.4
155.7
184.7
C O M M O D IT Y A N D S E R V IC E G R O U P
C o m m o d itie s.....................................................................................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages ...............................................................................
Services...............................................................................................................................................
S o u th
E X P E N D IT U R E C A T E G O R Y
All items ...........................................................................................................................................
Food and beverages ...............................................................................................................
H o u s in g .....................................................................................................................................
Apparel and upkeep ..............................................................................................................
Transportation ........................................................................................................................
Medical care ...........................................................................................................................
Entertainm ent...........................................................................................................................
Other goods and services .....................................................................................................
167.6
152.6
174.5
132.2
173.9
179.1
144.7
170.8
168.7
157.3
175.4
131.5
175.6
180.6
147.7
172.5
170.2
157.2
176.9
137.6
176.7
182.2
148.7
176.7
169.1
155.3
174.7
128.3
178.0
180.4
160.0
173.0
170.6
157.2
176.5
127.8
179.0
183.5
161.9
174.8
171.9
157.5
177.0
132.8
180.2
184.9
162.7
179.9
167.1
152.5
172.6
126.4
176.0
188.0
152.8
172.1
168.6
154.0
174.1
127.4
177.5
188.6
153.4
174.5
169.5
153.9
174.2
131.5
179.0
191.0
154.1
177.6
168.4
156.1
176.4
113.6
174.3
193.4
150.7
169.9
168.7
157.8
177.0
110.8
173.8
193.4
151.7
171.3
170.1
158.3
177.1
117.4
174.8
197.7
152.8
174.5
159.1
160.2
179.1
159.4
160.0
181.3
.160.7
162.2
183.1
160.6
162.7
181.6
161.3
162.7
184.2
162.6
164.5
185.5
158.0
160.5
181.2
159.2
161.6
182.9
160.0
162.9
184.2
158.2
159.0
183.5
158.5
158.4
184.1
159.8
160.2
185.6
C O M M O D IT Y A N D S E R V IC E G R O U P
C o m m o d itie s.....................................................................................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages ...............................................................................
S ervices..............................................................................................................................................
W est
E X P E N D IT U R E C A T E G O R Y
All items ...........................................................................................................................................
Food and beverages ...............................................................................................................
H o u s in g .....................................................................................................................................
Apparel and upkeep ...............................................................................................................
Transportation ........................................................................................................................
Medical care ...........................................................................................................................
Entertainm ent...........................................................................................................................
Other goods and services .....................................................................................................
168.6
154.6
176.3
121.4
179.5
183.3
194.9
171.5
170.3
156.5
179.3
126.5
177.6
185.7
144.8
173.7
172.2
156.8
180.5
129.3
181.0
188.0
145.7
182.7
169.1
158.8
174.3
127.2
180.5
181.5
148.9
173.0
169.5
159.8
174.7
130.5
178.6
182.7
148.8
174.7
170.6
159.7
175.0
131.2
181.2
183.6
152.6
179.3
160.9
154.5
158.7
122.7
176.3
187.5
154.8
169.4
161.4
155.4
159.9
122.5
174.5
189.5
157.9
170.1
162.7
155.8
161.1
127.7
176.3
190.5
154.0
174.4
167.2
161.6
167.3
142.9
173.5
186.6
162.0
175.3
167.8
163.0
167.8
145.1
172.6
188.2
163.2
176.0
170.1
164.2
172.2
147.1
172.7
188.7
165.9
179.3
155.7
156.3
185.0
155.8
155,3
188.4
158.0
158.7
190.1
159.7
159.9
181.8
159.5
159.0
182.7
160.3
160.4
184.2
157.6
158.8
164.6
157.1
157.2
166.5
158.2
158.6
168.0
157.0
154.6
182.2
157.6
154.7
182.8
158.7
155.8
186.7
C O M M O D IT Y A N D S E R V IC E G R O U P
C o m m o d itie s.....................................................................................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages ...............................................................................
Services...............................................................................................................................................
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
87
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Consumer Prices
22.
C o n su m er Price In dex— U.S. city average, and selected areas
[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
A ll U r b a n C o n s u m e r s
A re a 1
U r b a n W a g e E a r n e r s a n d C l e r ic a l W o r k e r s
1984
1983
1983
1984
Nov.
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
Nov.
June
J u ly
A ug.
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
U.S. city average2 ..................................................................................................
303.1
310.7
311.7
313.0
314.5
315.3
315.3
301.4
306.2
307.5
310.3
312.1
312.2
311.9
Anchorage, Alaska (10/67 = 1 0 0 ) .....................................................................
Atlanta, Ga.................................................................................................................
Baltimore. V d ............................................................................................................
Boston, Mass.............................................................................................................
Buffalo, N.Y...............................................................................................................
295.4
303.2
264.0
275.5
314.0
304.7
294.7
305.9
316.8
Detroit, Mich..............................................................................................................
Honolulu, Hawaii ..................................................................................................
Houston, Tex.............................................................................................................
Kansas City, M o .-K a n sa s .....................................................................................
Los Angeles-Long Beach, Anaheim, Calif.............................................................
299.9
Miami, Fla. (11/77 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................................................................
Milwaukee, W is.........................................................................................................
Minneapolis-St. Paul, M inn .-W is..........................................................................
New York, N.Y.-Northeastern N.J........................................................................
Northeast, Pa. (S cran ton)......................................................................................
164.0
312.5
Philadelphia, P a.-N .J..............................................................................................
291.7
Portland, Oreg.-W ash.......................................... ..................................................
St. Louis, M o - III.....................................................................................................
San Diego, Calif........................................................................................................
293.9
299.6
342.3
San Francisco-Oakland, Calif..................................................................................
Seattle-Everett, Wash...............................................................................................
Washington, D .C .-M d .-V a ....................................................................................
301.7
298.9
310.0
310.8
323.3
296.5
293.9
288.5
349.9
306.3
284.7
330.5
310.8
305.6
307.7
305.9
300.0
319.7
302.9
297.3
301.4
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
302.9
319.1
302.4
293.2
313.9
325.4
295.7
316.0
311.6
310.2
311.9
287.4
334.4
314.1
311.9
306.9
298.2
303.9
328.0
306.6
303.7
321.1
302.5
311.4
357.1
349.4
338.4
301.8
311.8
297.8
168.3
324.3
164.9
328.9
308.0
301.1
287.3
290.9
306.0
294.8
304.8
309.1
363.7
289.6
299.3
323.7
318.1
315.8
297.0
303.0
327.5
316.5
313.0
311.6
300.8
298.3
299.0
314.4
301.2
298.3
300.3
302.7
301.4
304.3
320.9
294.7
295.9
304.3
301.3
306.1
303.3
302.6
319.3
304.2
345.1
302.9
294.5
334.4
307.7
302.6
169.7
347.9
332.5
297.1
294.6
301.4
324.6
299.9
297.7
308.5
299.8
304.3
169.6
342.7
327.0
300.4
308.7
304.2
293.7
308.0
330.7
322.7
303.2
310.8
301.8
324.4
328.2
346.1
298.9
293.6
333.6
304.5
305.1
168.0
341.6
328.9
293 0
315.1
306.5
292.0
328.1
324.8
315.1
is used for New York and Chicago.
2AUpranp nt RS ritipq
316.4
305.3
347.1
297.0
290.9
329.5
299.9
303.4
270.9
318.2
288.6
321.9
318.7
308.7
270.9
315.0
287.3
340.1
333.7
323.4
314.3
308.3
314.1
167.9
324.0
324.8
305.0
300.9
308.7
351.3
318.7
315.3
307.8
351.3
308.0
286.0
332.0
311.2
308.6
167.0
321.3
324.1
301.6
315.1
325.2
337.3
329.8
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
88
313.4
266.8
310.9
296.1
294.5
336.7
325.7
339.8
317.8
316.4
307.4
313.0
304.9
292.5
Chicago, III.-Northwestern Ind...............................................................................
Cincinnati, Ohio—Ky.—Ind........................................................................................
Cleveland, Ohio .....................................................................................................
Dallas-Ft. Worth, Tex...............................................................................................
Denver-Boulder, Colo...............................................................................................
277.9
315.9
301.2
300.6
309.2
295.7
307.1
328.8
319.3
305.3
317.9
305.5
319.8
23.
P roducer P rice Indexes, by stage of processing
[1967 = 100]
Annual
C o m m o d it y g r o u p in g
1983
1984
av e ra g e
Jan.
D ec.
1983
D ec.
Finished g o o d s ..................................................................................
285.2
287.2
289.5
290.6
291.4
291.2
291.1
290.9
292.3
r291.3
289.8
291.6
292.3
292.4
Finished consumer goods ......................................................
Finished consumer foods ...................................................
Crude ..................................................................................
Processed .........................................................................
Nondurable goods less f o o d s ............................................
Durable goods ......................................................................
Consumer nondurable goods less food and energy . . .
Capital e q u ip m e n t......................................................................
284.6
261.8
258.7
260.0
335.3
233.1
231.5
287.2
286.3
264.3
266.0
262.0
335.2
235.9
234.0
290.4
288.9
272.2
306.9
266.9
335.0
235.9
236.0
291.6
290.1
274.7
313.6
269.0
336.1
236.1
236.5
292.3
291.1
276.6
323.7
270.2
336.7
236.6
237.1
292.3
290.3
274.3
299.0
269.9
336.4
236.7
237.9
294.5
290.3
271.7
270.7
269.6
338.9
236.6
238.7
293.9
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
r290.4
r274.0
r274.6
r271.7
r336.9
r236.7
'240.1
r294.6
288.9
273.4
274.7
271.0
336.9
232.5
240.9
292.9
290.3
271.8
277.2
269.1
337.7
237.9
240.4
296.0
291.1
272.3
265.5
270.7
339.1
238.4
241.3
296.3
291.3
274.4
270.8
272.5
337.2
238.8
241.1
296.4
Intermediate materials, supplies, and com ponents......................
312.3
315.7
316.3
317.6
319.7
320.3
320.9
321.6
321.7
321.1
320.3
319.9
320.5
319.8
Materials and components for m anufacturing......................
293.4
297.6
298.9
299.8
301.8
302.9
303.3
303.4
303.2
r302.5
301.7
301.2
301.8
301.1
food m a n u fa ctu rin g ......................................
nondurable manufacturing .........................
durable manufacturing ................................
for m a n u fa ctu rin g .........................................
258.4
280.0
319.4
280.4
262.9
285.7
322.8
283.5
268.6
286.6
323.4
284.5
268.3
287.0
325.6
285.2
269.6
290.3
328.2
285.6
271.4
291.8
329.1
286.2
276.0
292.8
327.2
287.0
275.2
292.8
326.9
287.5
276.4
292.7
325.4
287.9
'272.4
r291.3
r325.1
r288.4
269.9
291.1
323.2
288.5
267.2
290.3
321.9
289.2
269.2
290.1
323.2
289.8
268.4
289.3
321.8
289.7
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
J u ly
A u g .1
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
F IN IS H E D G O O D S
IN T E R M E D IA T E M A T E R IA L S
Materials for
Materials for
Materials for
Components
Materials and components for co n s tru ctio n .........................
301.8
304.9
305.5
307.8
309.6
310.5
309.8
310.3
310.9
r312.0
311.3
311.6
311.6
312.3
Processed fuels and lu b ric a n ts...............................................
Manufacturing ind u strie s......................................................
Nonmanufacturing industries ............................................
564.8
479.0
640.0
561.7
478.8
634.0
556.4
474.2
628.0
561.3
477.9
634.1
567.8
483.4
641.4
562.9
480.6
634.5
567.2
485.5
638.2
575.2
490.4
649.1
576.6
491.4
650.9
r569.2
r484.7
643.0
567.6
485.0
639.6
564.2
483.6
634.1
566.2
485.8
636.0
561.1
482.9
628.9
C ontainers............................................................................
286.6
289.9
292.3
294.8
297.3
299.4
300.9
301.8
303.0
304.1
304.7
307.9
309.4
309.3
S u p p lie s ......................................................................................
Manufacturing in d u strie s......................................................
Nonmanufacturing industries ............................................
Feeds ..................................................................................
Other s u p p lie s ..................................................................
277.1
269.9
281.1
225.9
292.8
281.6
273.3
286.1
243.9
295 5
282.6
274.5
287.0
243.7
296.6
282.2
276.0
285.7
227 7
298.0
283.0
276.4
286.7
232.2
298.4
284.2
277.8
287.8
233.5
299.5
284.3
278.4
287.6
229.2
300.0
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
r208.3
'302.2
283.3
280.3
285.1
202.9
302.1
283.1
281.0
284.5
195.4
302.8
283.1
281.9
284.0
192.4
302.8
283.1
282.2
283.8
191.1
302.8
C R U D E M A T E R IA L S
Crude materials for further processing
.........................................
323.6
327.5
333.5
332.6
338.8
339.4
338.0
333.0
334.1
r328.9
326.7
320.0
323.7
323.1
Foodstuffs and fe e d s tu ffs .........................................................
252.2
256.0
264.0
260.5
269.9
269.7
266.4
260.3
263.6
r256.5
253.1
245.5
253.4
253.7
Nonfood m aterials......................................................................
477.4
481.6
483.4
488.1
487.5
490 1
492.3
489 6
486.4
'485.0
485.1
480.2
475.4
473.0
Nonfood materials except f u e l............................................
Manufacturing industries ................................................
C o n s tru ctio n ................................................................
372.2
381.9
270.6
379.1
389.4
272.7
380.1
390.4
273.7
385.5
395.5
280.3
387.8
398.8
276.5
388.8
399.5
279.2
389.9
400.2
282.7
386.1
395.7
283.5
380.9
390,1
282.0
r376.8
'386 1
'277.6
379.8
389.1
280.2
374.8
384.0
276.4
369.4
377.9
276.2
367.2
375.4
276.2
Crude f u e l.........................................................................
Manufacturing industries ...............................................
Nonmanufacturing in d u s trie s .........................................
931.5
1,094.5
816.3
921.1
1,079.0
810.1
926.1
1,086 5
813.2
926.6
1,086 3
814.2
910.6
1,064.8
802.6
920.8
1,079.6
809.1
928 4
1,088.1
816.1
932.6
1,094.5
818.4
940.2
1,103.5
825.1
r953.1
r1,120.1
r835.1
938.8
1,101.4
824.3
935.0
1,097.6
820 4
934.1
1,095.8
820.3
930.9
1,091.1
818.3
Finished goods excluding f o o d s ............................................
Finished consumer goods excluding foods .........................
Finished consumer goods less e n e rg y ...................................
290.8
291.4
249.9
292.6
292.5
252.6
292.9
292.5
256.1
293.6
293.1
257.2
294.0
293.6
258.2
294.6
293.5
257.8
295.3
294.9
257.1
295.4
294.9
256.7
295.7
295.0
258.9
'294.8
'293.8
'258.5
292.9
291.9
257.2
295.9
294.8
258.2
296.7
295.7
258.9
296 1
294.9
259.6
Intermediate materials less foods and feeds ................................
Intermediate materials less e n e rg y ............................
317.1
295.2
320.2
299 4
320.6
300.5
322.3
301.5
324.4
303.3
325.0
304.4
325.4
304.6
326.4
304.7
326.7
304.7
326.3
r304 7
325.7
304.0
325.6
303.8
326.1
304.3
325.5
304.0
S P E C IA L G R O U P IN G S
Intermediate foods and feeds
............................................
Crude materials less agricultural products ...................................
Crude materials less energy ............................................
247.9
256.9
260.7
255.1
257.5
259.1
260.8
257.8
255.3
'251.4
248.0
243.8
244 1
243.1
538.6
246.5
543.2
252.0
546.3
258.3
552.0
257.3
550.0
265.1
553.0
265.4
554.0
263.3
552.5
257.6
549.8
258.5
'548.8
'251.9
547.3
250.1
542.3
243.0
536.6
248.3
533.4
248.3
1Data for August 1984 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.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
r = revised.
89
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Producer Prices
24.
P roducer P rice Indexes, by com m o dity group ings
[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
Annual
A ll c o m m o d it ie s
..................................................................................................................
A ll c o m m o d it ie s ( 1 9 5 7 - 5 9
=
1 0 0 ) ......................................................................
F a rm p ro d u c ts a n d p r o c e s s e d f o o d s a n d f e e d s
1984
1983
av e ra g e
C o m m o d it y g ro u p a n d s u b g r o u p
Code
........................................
In d u s t r ia l c o m m o d i t i e s .....................................................................................................
1983
D ec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
J u ly
A u g .1
O c t.
Nov.
D ec.
303.1
321.5
306.1
324.8
308.0
326.8
308.9
327.7
311.0
330.0
311.3
330.3
311.5
330.5
311.3
330 3
311.9
330 9
r310 7
r329 7
309 5
328 4
309 4
328 3
310 4
329 3
309 9
328 8
253.9
315.7
257.9
318.4
264.4
319.1
263.4
320.6
267.9
321 9
267.3
322 6
265.8
323 2
262 8
323 8
264 9
323 9
r261 4
r323 3
259 6
322 3
255 8
323 2
258 4
323 8
259 2
323 0
S e p t.
FA R M PR O D U C TS A N D PRO CESSED FO ODS
A N D FEEDS
01
01-1
01-2
01-3
01-4
01-5
0 1 -6
01-7
01-8
01-9
Farm p ro d u cts.........................................................................................
Fresh and dried fruits and vegetables............................................
G ra in s ..................................................................................................
L iv e s to c k ............................................................................................
Live p o u ltry .........................................................................................
Plant and animal fibers ..................................................................
Fluid m i l k ............................................................................................
E g g s ......................................................................................................
Hay, hayseeds, and oilseeds .........................................................
Other farm p ro d u c ts .........................................................................
248.2
262.1
240.4
243.1
206.5
227.0
282.0
(2)
246.8
282.1
254.0
276.1
243.6
238.2
241.2
244.1
281.4
(2)
282.2
276.9
263.4
291.2
245.5
250.7
252.6
229.3
279.1
282.4
287.3
280.2
261.6
312.2
235.3
251.9
251.3
232.7
275.7
280.7
265.4
278.9
267.4
308.0
250.9
260.8
258.4
250.3
274.2
(2)
281.4
277.7
265.4
263.8
262.1
260.8
240.8
252.3
272.7
264.4
282.1
279.7
260.8
251.9
256.2
254.8
240.6
259.1
271.7
201.0
297.0
288.2
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
r253.3
r293.7
236.9
253.7
218.6
211.3
276.8
181.2
242.6
r284 3
249 7
289.7
231.4
244.9
239.7
210.3
282.1
177.6
228.4
296.1
240.1
266.8
219.0
233.9
219.2
202.8
286.7
179.9
219.1
293.8
245 5
251.0
219.7
247.7
247.1
201.4
287.6
176.0
227.3
295.2
245.7
251.7
212.5
252.3
231.7
203.0
287.5
187.5
227.4
293.8
02
02-1
02-2
02-3
02-4
02-5
02-6
02-7
02-8
02-9
Processed foods and fe e d s ..................................................................
Cereal and bakery p ro d u c ts ............................................................
Meats, poultry, and f i s h ..................................................................
Dairy p ro d u c ts ...................................................................................
Processed fruits and vegetables......................................................
Sugar and confectionery...................................................................
Beverages and beverage materials ................................................
Fats and oils ......................................................................................
Miscellaneous processed f o o d s ......................................................
Prepared animal fe e d s ......................................................................
255.9
261.0
249.0
250.6
277.4
292.8
263.6
238.8
254.8
228.8
259.0
265.1
242.3
248.9
282.9
297.5
266.5
271.7
266.2
245.6
263.8
266.6
255.8
248.4
287.7
299.9
268.7
278.3
266.8
245.2
263.4
267.1
254.6
248.4
292.8
300.5
270.2
273.3
275.4
231.1
267.1
267.4
264.4
248 8
295.4
301.1
269.9
286.2
275.2
235.3
267.2
268.3
261.7
248.9
295.1
301.9
271.4
293.4
276.3
236.3
267.5
268.7
257.1
248.9
297.7
303.8
273.5
328.5
276.2
232.3
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
r264.8
r271.7
r252.2
r251.2
r295.7
r303.7
r274.6
r305.9
r280.4
r213.9
264.0
272.0
251.0
255.2
292.0
302.7
274.7
297.2
280.8
209.0
263.3
272.7
247.2
256.7
295.5
300.2
276.8
302.2
282.2
202.4
264.4
272.6
252.5
257.4
291.7
297.1
276.2
310.9
282.0
199.7
265.5
273.7
258.8
255.9
292.6
296.3
275.9
297.6
282.2
198.8
03
03-1
03-2
03-3
03-4
03-81
03-82
Textile products and a p p a re l...............................................................
Synthetic fibers (12/75 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................................
Processed yarns and threads (12/75 = 100) .............................
Gray fabrics (12/75 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................................
Finished fabrics (12/75 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................................
A p p a re l...............................................................................................
Textile housefurnishings...................................................................
205.1
156.7
138.5
147.0
123.1
197.4
235.1
207.8
158.1
142.9
152.0
124.8
199.0
235.3
208.2
159.2
142.3
151.1
124.8
200.1
236.0
209.6
161.4
144.0
152.8
126.3
200.5
236.6
209.9
160.7
144.0
153.2
127.0
200.7
237.6
209.9
160.7
143.6
153.0
126.9
200.7
238.1
210.5
160.6
144.3
153.7
127.3
201.3
238.8
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
r210.1
159.9
142.1
154.4
r127.1
r201.0
r240.0
210.6
159.2
142.2
154.5
127.0
202.3
240.5
209.6
158.2
141.3
154.7
126.2
200.5
242.4
210.0
157.5
140.9
154.7
126.1
201.6
241.4
209.8
157.4
140.7
153.7
125.8
201.8
241.3
04
04-2
04-3
04-4
Hides, skins, leather, and related p ro d u c ts ......................................
Leather ...............................................................................................
Footwear ............................................................................................
Other leather and related products ...............................................
271.1
330.7
250.1
252.7
277.3
344.1
250.3
255.6
279.1
346.2
250.9
257.2
283.3
362.0
252.5
257.3
286.7
378.0
253.5
257.3
286.8
386.7
251.6
258.1
288.5
390.7
251.5
259.8
290.1
387.8
250.5
267.9
288.9
383.2
250.1
267.2
r298.7
r378.1
250.9
r267.7
290.3
372.6
252.1
271.7
288.9
368.9
252.2
272.4
283.2
360.1
249.1
272.1
282.9
353.1
249.6
271.0
05
05-1
0 5 -2
0 5 -3
0 5 -4
05-61
05-7
Fuels and related products and p o w e r...............................................
C o a l.....................................................................................................
C o ke .....................................................................................................
Gas fuels3 .........................................................................................
Electric power ..................................................................................
Crude petroleum4 ............................................................................
Petroleum products, refined5 .........................................................
664.7
537.4
444.6
1,146.9
417.9
681.4
684.3
06
06-1
06-21
06-22
06-3
06-4
06-5
06-6
06-7
Chemicals and allied p ro d u c ts ............................................................
Industrial chemicals6 .........................................................................
Prepared paint
Paint m a te ria ls ..................................................................................
Drugs and pharmaceuticals ............................................................
Fats and oils, in e d ib le ......................................................................
Agricultural chemicals and chemical p ro d u c ts ............................
Plastic resins and m a te ria ls ............................................................
Other chemicals and allied products ............................................
293.0
342.9
264.7
305.8
226.1
285.6
280.5
291.5
273.6
297.7
349.2
264.9
315.5
230.9
318 8
281.9
301.5
273.6
298.1
347.4
265.6
316.6
232.9
334.2
278.5
305.2
274.9
296.5
337.6
267.3
314.2
234.4
349.0
285.9
305.0
273.3
300.1
344.7
267.3
317.9
237.6
366.7
288 1
306.2
275.2
302.0
345.4
268.7
328.7
239.8
383.2
288.4
307.8
277.0
302.7
345.3
270.0
337.6
240.1
399.2
286.8
310.6
277.2
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
r301.1
r340.9
276.4
r334.3
r240.7
r350.1
r283.0
r310.3
r278.3
301.4
338.1
277.4
333.5
242.8
359.4
285.1
311.3
278.7
301.0
336.4
278.1
332.3
245.2
365.4
284.7
308.9
278.4
301.6
334.7
277.0
334.1
247.7
378.7
281.8
308.8
281.2
301.0
335.2
277.3
334.6
245.4
376.2
282.6
307.2
280.4
07
07-1
07-11
07-12
07-13
07-2
Rubber plastic products ......................................................................
Rubber and rubber p rod ucts............................................................
Crude rubber .....................................................................................
Tires and tu b e s ..................................................................................
Miscellaneous rubber products ......................................................
Plastic products (6/78 = 100) ......................................................
243.2
266.0
280.8
245.3
284.8
135.3
243.8
264.6
282.2
242.3
284.6
136.8
244.8
266.6
282.9
244.1
287.1
136.9
246.2
266.8
282.8
243.7
288.4
138.4
246.4
265.5
283.0
241.7
287.4
139.4
247.3
267.2
282.3
243.5
289.8
139.4
247.5
266.3
277.7
243.2
289.3
140.2
247.6
266.5
277.2
243.0
290.5
140.2
247.5
266.5
275.6
243.5
290.0
140.2
r247.7
r267 6
r273.0
r243.7
r293.7
r139.7
247 9
268.1
273.5
244.7
293.5
139.7
248.1
267.6
271.5
245.8
291.3
140.2
247.7
266.7
270.3
243.9
292.0
140.2
247.5
267.1
272.2
243.7
292.7
139.8
08
08-1
08-2
08-3
08-4
Lumber and wood products ...............................................................
L u m b e r...............................................................................................
M illw o rk ...............................................................................................
P lyw o o d ...............................................................................................
Other wood p ro d u cts.........................................................................
307.1
352.6
302.3
244.1
230.6
308.7
351.3
308 5
247.2
230.6
309.1
352.6
308.6
248 2
230.0
315.7
364 9
308.8
249.5
230.8
316.8
370.5
309.9
248.6
231.8
315.1
369.4
307.2
243.6
233.3
308.5
355.6
304.2
235.4
234.7
307.1
350.5
305.3
236.3
235.0
304.4
342.6
306.8
237.2
235.2
r304.7
342.3
r307.2
r245.9
236.5
303.4
338.4
307.0
243.4
235.9
300.2
334.4
306.6
240.1
236.5
301.1
336.8
309.8
235.0
236.6
303.3
339.6
312.5
235.8
238.8
I N D U S T R IA L C O M M O D IT IE S
See footnotes at end of table.
90
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
658.0
652.1
541.4
543.9
415.4
418.3
1,120.4 1,123.0
417.3
420.5
674.4
675.6
678.3
663.2
658.7
654.7
660.6
665.9
665.0 r657.9
656.0
654.8
654.5
655.3
648.9
544.7
546.2
542.0
547.4
544.3
548.1
r550.0
543.7
546.4
548.2
549.6
441.9
435.4
437.9
438.9
442.8
441.6
442.9
437.3
432.4
432.8
435.0
1,107.8 1,091.0 1,102.1 1,104.1 1,109.1 1,110.8 r1,116.9 1,119.1 1,113.1 1,110.1 1,101.8
424.4
426.7
431.5
433.1
446 7
453.5 r456.7
443.4
456.8
445.8
441.2
675.6
675.6
673.9
673.9
673.3
672.6 r671.1
672.0
670.8
658.5
652.6
680.2
667.0
679.7
669.8
677.6
673.3 r654.8
647.5
655.7
661.8
652.5
24.
C o n tin u ed — P roducer Price Indexes, by com m odity groupings
[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
1984
1983
Code
C o m m o d it y g r o u p a n d s u b g r o u p
a verag e
D ec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
J u ly
A u g .1
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
D ec.
298.1
271.4
346.9
<2)
282.0
250.9
265.3
250.0
304.0
277.4
355.5
211.5
289.3
260.9
268.0
250 4
309.1
280.8
366.2
211.5
294.2
262.2
270.6
251.9
312.0
285.0
374.2
229.3
296.6
271.8
273.7
255.1
314.0
288.3
378.6
242.9
299.8
275.6
276.5
258 6
316.3
291.5
401.1
258.8
300.4
277.1
279.1
263 8
317.7
292.7
407.9
259 3
301.3
277.8
280.1
265 2
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
r321.3
296.3
r410 2
254 5
r307.0
r285 1
282.4
r259.8
321 2
297.2
409 5
249.6
306.7
288 2
283.8
258.1
322 6
298 3
399.5
235.6
308.0
291 8
285.8
257 3
323.8
299 4
398 4
221 4
308 2
293 4
288.1
253.5
323.2
298.4
392.7
206.0
307.1
292 4
288.0
253.6
311.9
350.9
360 0
278.2
340.3
293.5
294 0
245.7
306.0
289.6
312.9
353.8
362.5
276.8
344.1
293.3
293.9
247.3
306.5
290.3
314.8
356.2
363.6
280.2
344.8
294.0
296.4
248.1
307.0
291.1
316.8
356.5
363.6
286.1
345.4
294.4
299.9
248.5
308.3
292.1
317.9
356.5
364.2
289.1
345.3
294.6
301.5
250.3
309.3
293.1
317.4
357.3
364.7
284.1
348.0
295.3
301.6
252.4
310.6
293.4
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
r316.2
r357.4
r368.1
r275.3
r352.0
r298.0
r304.6
255.5
312.3
295.0
315.3
357.6
367.9
271.3
352.6
297.3
299.0
257.5
312.1
295.6
315.4
358.9
368.9
266.1
358.0
299.0
300.6
258.2
314.0
297.7
316.2
357.7
368.1
269.5
357.5
299.1
301.4
256.3
313.0
301.3
315.3
357.4
368.0
265.6
3 5 /.5
300.2
302.7
256.4
313.2
301.6
294.0
338.6
358.3
334.2
315.2
351.9
249.4
274.2
r294.1
r338.8
r356.9
r334.7
r315.5
r352.8
r249.4
r274.1
294.5
337.9
359.0
335.5
315.8
350.3
249.3
276.6
295.0
338.0
359.1
336.2
316.1
350.5
250.4
276.3
295.7
337.2
360.1
337.8
316.5
351.0
251.2
276.9
295.6
337.6
358.2
338.2
316.5
351.8
¿51.5
275.7
219.2
242.2
298.1
192.7
211.5
84.2
318.6
r219.2
r242.7
298.4
r192.6
r211.9
r83.8
r316.8
218.9
243.0
298.5
191.4
211.8
83.5
315.9
219.0
243.9
298.0
192.7
211.9
81.8
317.0
219.6
244.9
301.0
189.2
211.8
83.1
319.2
219.7
245.4
299.8
189.3
212.0
82.7
320.1
1983
IN D U S T R IA L C O M M O D IT IE S — C o n t in u e d
09
09-1
09-11
09-12
09-13
09-14
09-15
09-2
Pulp, paper, and allied p ro d u c ts .........................................................
Pulp, paper,and products,excluding building paper and board
10
10-1
10-17
10-2
10-3
10 4
10-5
10-6
10-7
10-8
Metals and metal p ro d u c ts ..................................................................
Plumbing fixtures and brass fittings ............................................
Heating e q u ip m e n t............................................................................
Fabricated structural metal products ............................................
Miscellaneous metal p ro d u c ts .........................................................
307.2
343.4
352.8
276.1
335.4
290.7
289.3
243.6
303.5
283.6
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 equipm ent.........................................
Metalworking machinery and equipment ......................................
General purpose machinery and equipment ...............................
Special industry machinery and equipm ent...................................
Electrical machinery and equipm ent...............................................
Miscellaneous machinery ...............................................................
286.4
326.3
351.9
326.5
308.2
337.1
240.1
274.1
288.8
330.1
353.6
328.7
309.8
342.0
243.8
273.9
289.7
331.0
354.2
329.2
310.7
342.0
244.7
275.5
290.2
331.4
355.9
330.2
310.9
343.2
245.7
274.3
291.0
332.9
355.3
330.6
311.7
344.6
246.7
274.5
292.2
335.5
357.5
332.6
313.1
346.8
247.7
274.6
292.6
338.2
357.8
333.5
313.2
348.2
248.1
273.7
293.1
337.8
358.1
333.4
314.0
348 6
249.1
273.9
12
12-1
12-2
12-3
12-4
12-5
12-6
Furniture and household d u ra b le s ......................................................
Household furniture .........................................................................
Commercial fu rn itu re .........................................................................
Floor co v e rin g s ..................................................................................
Household appliances ......................................................................
Home electronic e q u ip m e n t............................................................
Other household durable g o o d s ......................................................
214.0
234.7
286.3
185.4
206 9
86.1
313.1
215.7
237.2
289.5
189.4
208.5
84.5
315.2
216.8
237.9
293.4
188.2
209.8
84.4
318.0
217.2
239.1
294.7
188.4
210.7
84.1
316.8
217.4
240.0
294.7
188.3
210.9
84.0
316.7
218.2
240.8
296.1
188.2
210.9
84.9
319.1
219.1
241.5
297.4
191.7
210.8
84.5
321.6
219.1
242.3
297.0
192.7
211.1
83.9
319.9
13
13-11
13-2
13-3
13-4
13-5
13-6
13-7
13-8
13-9
Nonmetallic mineral products ............................................................
Flat g la s s ............................................................................................
Concrete in g re d ie n ts .........................................................................
Concrete products ............................................................................
Structural clay products, excluding refractories .........................
R efractories.........................................................................................
............................................................
325.2
229.7
313.3
302.0
277.8
341.3
384.0
286.0
352.4
480.2
328.9
229.9
314.6
304.2
284.2
353.3
384.2
322.6
350.4
486.8
330.1
229.5
315.6
304.9
284.3
353.9
385.0
328.6
350.6
486.4
332.2
229.9
319.9
305.9
283.7
356.0
392.3
339.4
350.6
488.1
333.4
229.1
324.2
306.3
284.3
361.1
385.6
339.6
351.6
490.8
335.8
230.2
324.3
308.8
285.0
361.8
396.2
353.0
358.0
491.3
337.6
226.1
328.0
309.4
285.6
361.8
398.7
360.9
361.9
494.9
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
r340.8
r219.6
r328.4
311.3
r288.2
r361.6
r408.4
r359.5
r366.1
r511.4
340.4
217.9
328.8
311.4
288.7
362.7
406.7
356.1
364.6
510.1
339.6
218.0
328.0
311.5
288.8
362.7
410.3
339.4
364.8
507.4
339.5
217.4
329.5
311.4
288.4
366.6
410.6
332.3
364.9
505.5
339.9
218.1
329.3
312.1
289.0
366.6
412.0
329.3
364.1
507.2
14
14-1
14-4
Transportation equipment (12/68 = 1 0 0 ) .........................................
Motor vehicles and equipm ent.........................................................
Railroad equipm ent............................................................................
256.7
256 8
350.2
260.7
260.6
350.5
261.5
261.1
351.5
262.2
261.2
351.5
262.4
261.5
352.0
263.4
261.9
380.8
262.5
261.5
354.4
262.2
261.1
354.4
262.5
261.4
356.5
r262.3
r261.1
r357.7
257.4
254.6
364.6
264.8
263.3
364.6
265.2
263.6
358.8
265.4
263.9
358.8
15
15-1
15-2
15-3
15-4
15-5
15-9
Miscellaneous p ro d u cts.........................................................................
Toys, sporting goods, small arms, a m m u n itio n .........................
Tobacco products ............................................................................
289.6
225.2
365.4
280.1
215.7
163.4
351.8
292.8
225.3
377.1
280 1
216.8
165.1
353.2
294.5
227.4
389.4
281.4
(2)
162.2
350.8
294.9
227.8
390.3
282.2
217.9
162.4
350.5
294.9
227.6
390.4
282.2
212.7
162.5
354.2
294.6
226.5
390.4
283.0
213.6
163.8
351.9
294.3
226.8
390.6
283.9
213.6
163.7
350.4
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
r298.2
r226.5
406.7
283.9
r215.5
r163.2
r353.2
296.4
226.9
406.7
283.9
215.5
163.3
346.6
297.0
227.2
406.8
283.5
215.5
163.2
348.2
297.0
227.4
407.1
283.5
212.8
164.8
349.3
297.1
227.5
406.9
283.6
212.9
164.7
349.3
W astepaper.........................................................................................
Paperboard .........................................................................................
Converted paper and paperboard p ro d u c ts ...................................
Building paper and board ...............................................................
Steel mill p ro d u c ts ............................................................................
Nonferrous m e ta ls ............................................................................
Metal containers ...............................................................................
Gypsum products
............................................................................
Other nonmetallic minerals
Photographic equipment and supplies .........................................
Mobile homes (12/74 = 1 0 0 ) .........................................................
Other miscellaneous p ro d u c ts .........................................................
1Data for August 1984 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.
2 Not available.
3 Prices for natural gas are lagged 1 month.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
\
^Includes only domestic production.
5 Most prices for refined petroleum products are lagged 1 month.
6Some prices for industrial chemicals are lagged 1 month.
r = revised.
91
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Producer Prices
25.
P roducer P rice Indexes, fo r special com m o dity group ings
[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
Annual
C o m m o d it y g r o u p in g
1983
1984
a v e ra g e
1983
D ec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
May
June
J u ly
A u g .1
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
D ec.
306.6
257.5
258.7
309.4
260.2
260.4
310.7
268.3
266.2
311.9
270.2
267.0
313.6
272.9
271.2
314.2
270.6
270.9
314.7
268.9
271.4
314.8
267.5
269.0
315.3
271.7
272.8
'314.4
'269.6
'270.0
313.4
268.9
269.5
314.1
267.2
269.1
314.7
267.9
270.9
314.3
269.5
272.4
Industrial commodities less f u e l s ...................................................
Selected textile mill products (Dec. 1975 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
Hosiery ...............................................................................................
Underwear and nightwear ...............................................................
Chemicals and allied products, including synthetic rubber
and fibers and y a rn s ......................................................................
279.3
138.2
144.7
223.8
282.9
140.1
145.6
225.4
284.3
140.0
145.8
228.6
285.5
141.3
147.3
229.8
286.7
141.7
147.4
'230.9
287.8
141.7
147.4
229.8
287.8
142.7
147.4
230.9
288.0
142.7
147.4
228.8
288.2
142.7
147.9
230.2
'288.3
'142.9
'148.1
'230.3
287.5
142.7
147.9
230.2
288.5
142.6
148.1
230.3
289.1
288.9
141.7
147.9
230.5
283.5
287.4
287.6
286.2
289.1
290.6
291.1
290.5
291.3
'290.2
290.2
289.7
290.0
289.6
Pharmaceutical prep arations............................................................
Lumber and wood products, excluding m illw o rk .........................
Steel mill products, including fabricated wire products .............
Finished steel mill products, excluding fabricated wire
products .........................................................................................
Finished steel mill products, including fabricated wire
products .........................................................................................
224.8
321.2
351.2
231.8
321.4
357.8
233.9
322.6
360.1
235.9
331.4
361.1
238.8
334.9
361.2
241.5
332.5
361.8
241.9
320.4
362.4
240.6
317.2
363.1
244.6
312.2
365.2
'245.1
'315.0
'365.8
245.7
311.4
365.6
249.0
307.6
366.7
252.2
307.5
366.0
250.8
309.7
365.8
351.5
359.2
361.7
363.2
363.1
363.6
364.1
364.8
367.0
'367.5
367.2
368.4
367.6
367.4
349.9
356.9
359.2
360.5
360.5
361.0
361.6
362.4
364.4
'365.0
364.8
366.7
365.3
365.1
Special metals and metal products ...............................................
Fabricated metal p ro d u c ts ...............................................................
Copper and copper p ro d u cts............................................................
Machinery and motive p ro d u c ts ......................................................
Machinery and equipment, except electrical ...............................
292.6
294.3
196.6
279.8
313.6
297.0
298.4
185.0
283.0
315.3
297.8
299.3
182.1
283.9
316.3
299.0
300.0
185.1
284.5
316.5
300.3
301.1
192.9
285.0
317.1
301.2
301.9
199.4
286.2
318.5
300.8
302.9
191.8
285.9
318.8
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
296.7
305.0
182.1
284.7
321.1
300.4
307.3
176.6
288.3
321.3
301.0
308.1
183.4
288.9
322.0
300.6
308.5
179.3
289.0
321.7
Agricultural machinery, including tractors ...................................
Metalworking m a c h in e ry ..................................................................
Total tr a c to r s ......................................................................................
Agricultural machinery and equipment less p a rts .........................
341.5
357.1
'369 7
330.0
346.4
358.2
373.8
334.2
347.1
359.3
374.0
335.2
347.5
362.1
374.5
335.7
349.3
361.6
376.1
337.4
352.9
363.0
384.1
340.4
357.0
363.2
386.8
343.6
356.5
363.3
386.7
343.0
357.2
364.6
386.9
344.0
'357.5
'365.1
'385.7
'344.3
356.0
366.5
386.4
343.0
355.5
368.6
386.2
342.7
354.3
370.6
381.6
341.7
354.7
371.4
379.7
342.1
Farm and garden tractors less parts ............................................
Agricultural machinery, excluding tractors less parts ................
Construction m a te ria ls ......................................................................
347.2
337.1
297.7
352.0
342.2
301.3
352.2
343.3
302.3
352.9
343.4
305.0
355.1
344.9
306.6
362.1
345.7
307.1
365.8
350.1
306.2
365.7
349.2
306.3
366.0
350.4
306.7
'367.0
'350.1
'307.6
364.8
349.2
306.7
364.6
348.5
307.1
357.6
351.7
306.6
358.0
352.2
307.3
A ll c o m m o d it ie s — l e s t f a r m p r o d u c ts
A ll f o o d s
................................................................................................................................
P r o c e s s e d f o o d s ..............................................................................................................
'Data for August 1984 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.
148.1
229.9
r = revised.
P roducer P rice Indexes, by d urability of product
[1 9 6 7 = 1 0 0 ]
Annual
C o m m o d it y g r o u p in g
1983
1984
ave ra g e
1983
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
M ay
June
J u ly
A u g .1
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
D ec.
Total durable goods .........................................................................
Total nondurable goods ..................................................................
286.7
315.7
290.1
318.4
291.0
321.2
292.2
321.9
293.2
324.8
294.2
324.7
293.8
325.3
293.8
324.9
293.8
326.0
293.9
'323.7
292.5
322.6
294.2
321.0
294.8
322.3
294.8
321.5
Total m anu factures............................................................................
Durable ......................................................................................
Nondurable ...............................................................................
295.7
287.3
304.4
298.8
290.5
307.5
300.0
291.3
309.1
301.2
292.4
310.4
302.8
293.3
312.7
303.2
294.3
312.5
303.8
293.9
314.1
303.9
294.0
314.2
304.3
294.2
314.8
'303.3
294.5
'312.6
302.1
293.0
311.7
303.0
294.8
311.5
303.9
295.5
312.5
303.5
295.5
311.8
Total raw or slightly processed goods .........................................
Durable .....................................................................................
Nondurable ...............................................................................
339.8
249.3
345.4
341.8
263.3
346.5
348.4
267.4
353.3
347.6
275.2
351.8
352.4
278.7
356.7
352.4
280.6
356.5
350.1
277.9
354.3
348.0
273.3
352.3
349.6
264.5
354.7
'346.9
259.6
'352.2
345.8
260.6
351.0
339.9
255.9
345.0
341.6
254.1
347.0
340.7
252.1
346.1
1Data for August 1984 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.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
r = revised.
27.
P roducer P rice Indexes for th e output of selected SIC industries
[1967 = 100 unless otherwise specified]
1972
S IC
Industry description
code
Annual
average
1983
1983
D ec.
Jan.
Feb.
M a r.
A p r.
May
June
J u ly
A u g .1
S e p t.
O c t.
Nov.
D ec.
177.1
269.7
921.4
177.1
277.0
909.4
177.1
275.8
914.3
177.1
245.4
913.0
177.1
250.0
902.7
177.1
267.9
909.2
177.1
273.7
914.1
177.1
271.6
918.4
177.1
264.6
921.6
177.1
249.1
r928.3
177.1
257.1
919.4
177.1
271.6
917.1
177.1
276.6
908.6
177.1
267.9
904.4
1984
M IN IN G
1011
1092
1311
Iron ores (12/75 = 1 0 0 ) ................................................
Mercury ores (12/75 = 100) ......................................
Crude petroleum and natural gas ...............................
M A N U F A C T U R IN G
2067
2074
2083
2091
2098
Chewing g u m ...................................................................
Cottonseed oil m ills .........................................................
Malt ..................................................................................
Canned and cured seafoods (12/73 = 100) .............
Macaroni and sp a g h e tti...................................................
326.8
204.1
234.1
174.1
256.8
327.5
223.3
241.6
169.7
261.9
328.0
229.2
241.6
169.0
261.9
328.1
201.7
241.6
168.8
261.9
328.7
212.7
241.6
168.6
261.9
328.8
222.6
241.6
167.0
261.9
328.9
245.3
241.6
169.3
261.9
328.9
243.1
241.6
169.0
261.9
329.1
223.2
241.6
167.9
261.9
329.2
r210.2
241.6
167.9
261.9
329.2
205 0
241.6
167.1
261.9
329.2
172.9
241.6
167.0
261.9
329.1
166.9
234.5
166.9
261.9
329.2
177.7
234.5
167.4
258.6
2298
2361
2381
2394
2448
Cordage and twine (12/77 = 100) ............................
Children's dresses and blouses (12/77 = 100) . . . .
Fabric dress and work gloves ......................................
Canvas and related products (12/77 = 1 0 0 ) .............
Wood pallets and skids (12/75 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
139.3
116.6
293.3
147.0
149.2
139.0
117.0
297.6
147.8
153.6
139.0
118.2
295.2
150.6
154.0
139.2
117.8
299.1
150.6
156.0
139.2
117.8
302.3
150.6
157.9
139.3
118.6
304.8
150.6
161.6
139.4
118.6
315.6
150.6
165.1
139.4
118.6
315.6
150.6
165.4
138.6
118.6
315.6
150.6
168.6
r138.5
118.6
315.6
r150.6
r168.6
137.4
117.8
315.6
152.9
166.4
137.4
116.7
315.6
152.9
166.0
138.6
116.7
315.6
152.9
168.2
138.6
116.7
315.6
152.9
168.5
2521
2654
2655
2911
3251
Wood office fu rn itu r e ......................................................
Sanitary food containers ...............................................
Fiber cans, drums, and similar products (12/75 = 100)
Petroleum refining (6/76 = 100) ...............................
Brick and structural clay t i l e .........................................
281.3
266.1
186.5
253.8
332.3
283.6
269.0
189.6
249.7
339.9
285.1
269.1
189.6
244.4
340.2
289.1
273.4
189.7
246.7
339.9
289.1
278.4
191.4
249.8
341.1
289.2
280.6
193.1
244.9
342.6
289.2
280.6
193.1
248.1
343.8
289.2
280.7
193.1
248.8
345.0
289.1
280.6
194.7
246.5
345.3
r289.2
r280 7
194.7
r240.1
r345.3
292.2
282.9
194.7
238.3
348.7
292.3
283.0
194.7
241.0
348.9
296.3
283.2
197.8
242.8
349.1
299.8
283.1
197.7
239.4
349.3
3253
3255
3259
3261
3263
Ceramic wall and floor tile (12/75 = 100) ................
Clay refractories...................... .........................................
Structural clay products, n.e.c........................................
Vitreous plumbing fix tu r e s ............................................
Fine earthenware food u te n s ils ......................................
146.0
355.6
230.2
278.1
366.5
149.6
366.5
235.0
285.4
368.5
149.6
367.2
235.0
285.6
383.6
149.6
367.7
232.1
287.0
384.0
149.6
369.3
232.4
290.1
375.9
149.6
371.5
232.4
290.4
382.6
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
r153.4
r371.4
r232.3
293.9
r374.0
150.5
373.4
232.9
295.5
372.8
150.5
373.4
233.0
297.6
373.1
150.5
380.9
233.0
297.5
376.3
150.5
380.8
233.0
298.0
380.9
3269
3274
3297
3482
3623
Pottery products, n.e.c. (12/75 = 100) ...................
Lime (12/75 = 100) ......................................................
Nonclay refractories (12/74 = 1 0 0 ) ............................
Small arms ammunition (12/75 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
Welding apparatus, electric (12/72 = 1 0 0 ) ................
187.1
185.7
205.2
180.5
243.6
189.9
182.5
212.8
181.6
244.7
191.9
182.8
213.1
190.3
246.0
192.2
184.4
215.4
190.3
246.7
191.9
183 9
220.6
190.3
247.2
192.2
184.1
220.1
190.3
248.7
192.2
184.2
220.1
190.3
248.8
186.3
183.3
220.1
190.3
250.4
187.6
180.3
219.9
190.3
250.7
M87.6
M79.6
219.9
r190 3
r250.8
189.0
187.3
220.3
196.6
245.9
195.1
180.7
220.0
196.6
247.3
195.3
182.2
220.2
196.6
247.5
195.4
183.1
220.3
196.6
248.0
3648
3671
3942
3944
3955
Lighting equipment, n.e.c. (12/75 = 1 0 0 ) ................
Electron tubes, receiving type ......................................
Dolls (12/75 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................................
Games, toys, and children's v e h ic le s .........................
Carbon paper and inked ribbons (12/75 = 100) . . .
172.8
435.4
137.5
238.7
139.2
172.6
469.8
137.7
236.2
139.3
173.5
490.6
137.6
239.3
144.3
173.5
490.8
137.8
240.6
149.0
184.9
490.8
137.7
240.1
149.0
185.0
490.9
131.6
239.7
149.1
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
r188.1
r491.6
r133.6
r239.1
146.7
188.3
491.6
133.3
234.8
146.7
194.3
492.0
133.3
235.0
139.7
196.9
527.2
133.3
234.9
139.7
196.9
527.2
133.3
234.9
139.7
3995
3996
Burial caskets (6/76 = 1 0 0 ) .........................................
Hard surface floor coverings (12/75 = 1 0 0 ) .............
153.5
161.5
156.0
163.5
156.0
165.2
157.2
165.2
157.3
165.2
158.8
166.3
158.8
166.4
158.8
166.4
158.8
168.7
158.8
M68.8
158.5
168.8
158.5
169.7
158.5
169.7
158.5
169.7
1Data for August 1984 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.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
r = revised.
t
93
PRODUCTIVITY DATA
P roductivity data 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
Output is the constant dollar gross product produced by the particular
sector. Output per hour of all persons (labor productivity) measures the
value o f goods and services in constant prices produced per hour of labor.
Output per unit of capital services (capital productivity) measures the
value o f goods and services in constant dollars per unit of capital services
input.
Multifactor productivity 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.
Compensation per hour includes wages and salaries of 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. Real compensation per hour is com
pensation per hour adjusted by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers.
Unit labor costs measure the labor compensation costs required to
produce a unit o f output and is derived by dividing compensation by output.
Unit nonlabor payments include profits, depreciation, interest, and in
direct taxes per unit o f output. They are computed by subtracting com
pensation o f all persons from current dollar gross product and dividing by
output. Unit nonlabor costs contain all the components of unit nonlabor
payments except unit profits. Unit profits include corporate profits and
the value o f inventory adjustments per unit of output.
The implicit price deflator 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.
Hours of all persons measures the labor input of payroll workers, selfemployed persons, and unpaid family workers. Output per all employee
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
hour describes labor productivity in nonfinancial corporations where there
are no self-employed. The capital services 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. Combined units
of labor and capital input are computed by combining changes in labor
and capital inputs with weights which represent each component’s share
of 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 o f 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 of 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.
A nnual indexes of m ultifactor produ ctivity and related m easures, selected years, 1 9 5 0 -8 3
[1977 = 100]
It e m
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 B U S IN E S S S E C T O R
Productivity:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............................
Output per unit of capital s e r v ic e s ......................
Multifactor p ro d u c tiv ity .........................................
O u tp u t............................................................................
Inputs:
Hours of all perso ns...............................................
Capital services ......................................................
Combined units of labor and capital input . . . .
Capital per hour of all persons ................................
P R IV A T E N O N F A R M B U S IN E S S S E C T O R
Productivity:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............................
Output per unit of capital s e rv ic e s ......................
Multifactor p ro d u c tiv ity .........................................
O u tp u t............................................................................
Inputs:
Hours of all p erso ns...............................................
Capital services ......................................................
Combined units of labor and capital input . . . .
Capital per hour of all persons ................................
M A N U F A C T U R IN G
Productivity:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s ............................
Output per unit of capital s e rv ic e s ......................
Multifactor productivity .........................................
O u tp u t............................................................................
Inputs:
Hours of all perso ns................................................
Capital services ......................................................
Combined units of labor and capital input . . . .
Capital per hour of all persons ................................
29.
A nnual indexes of productivity, hourly com pensation, unit costs, and prices, selected years, 1 9 5 0 -8 3
[1977 = 100]
It e m
Business sector:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............................
Compensation per h o u r .........................................
Real compensation per hour ................................
Unit labor c o s t s ......................................................
Unit nonlabor paym ents.........................................
Implicit price d e fla to r ............................................
Nonfarm business sector:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s ............................
Compensation per h o u r .........................................
Real compensation per hour ................................
Unit labor c o s t s ......................................................
Unit nonlabor paym ents.........................................
Im plicit price d e fla to r ............................................
Nonfinancial corporations:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s ............................
Compensation per h o u r .........................................
Real compensation per hour ................................
Unit labor c o s t s ......................................................
Unit nonlabor paym ents.........................................
Im plicit price d e fla to r ............................................
Manufacturing:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s ............................
Compensation per h o u r .........................................
Real compensation per hour ................................
Unit labor c o s t s ......................................................
Unit nonlabor paym ents.........................................
Implicit price d e fla to r ............................................
1950
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1976
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
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
97.6
92.9
98.9
95.1
94.0
94.7
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
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
97.8
93.0
99.0
95.1
93.5
94.6
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
(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
98.2
92.9
98.9
94.6
95.0
94.7
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
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
97.6
92.3
98.3
94.6
93.9
94.4
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
1 Not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
95
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Productivity
30.
A nnual changes in productivity, hourly com pensation, unit costs, and prices, 1 9 7 3 -8 3
A n n u a l r a te
Year
of change
Ite m
1973
Business sector:
Output per hour of all persons ................
Compensation per h o u r ............................
Real compensation per hour ...................
U n it la b o r c o s ts .........................................
Unit nonlabor p a y m e n ts ............................
Im plicit price deflator ................................
Nonfarm business sector:
Output per hour of all persons ................
Compensation per h o u r .............................
Real compensation per hour ...................
Unit labor costs .........................................
Unit nonlabor p a ym e n ts.............................
Implicit price deflator ................................
Nonfinancial corporations:
Output per hour of all em ployees.............
Compensation per h o u r .............................
Real compensation per hour ...................
Unit labor costs .........................................
Unit nonlabor p a y m e n ts ............................
Implicit price deflator ...............................
Manufacturing:
Output per hour of all persons ................
Compensation per h o u r ............................
Real compensation per hour ...................
Unit labor costs .........................................
Unit nonlabor p a y m e n ts ............................
Im plicit price deflator ................................
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1980
1981
1982
1983
1 9 5 0 -8 3
1 9 7 3 -8 3
2.6
8.0
1.6
5.3
5.9
5.5
-2 .4
9.4
-1 .4
12.1
4.4
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
2.7
4.3
1.1
1.6
6.3
3.0
2.2
6.5
2.0
4.2
3.7
4.1
0.9
8.5
0.1
7.6
r6.8
r7.3
2.4
7.6
1.3
5.0
1.3
3.8
-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
3.5
4.9
1.6
1.4
7.4
3.2
1.9
6.3
1.8
4.3
3.8
4.1
1.2
8.5
0.1
7.6
7.5
7.6
2.4
7.5
1.2
4.9
1.5
3.8
- 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
3.3
4.2
0.9
0.8
7.9
3.1
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
1.1
8.5
0.1
7.4
7.1
7.3
5.4
7.2
0.9
1.7
- 3 .3
0,3
-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
6.0
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
3.4
0.2
-0 .8
16.5
3.3
2.5
6.3
1.9
3.8
2.6
3.4
1.8
9.0
0.5
7.0
6.2
6.8
1 Not available.
31.
1979
r = revised.
Q uarterly indexes of productivity, hourly com pensation, unit costs, and prices, seaso n ally adjusted
[1977 = 100]
Business sector:
Output per hour of all persons .........................
Compensation per hour ......................................
Real compensation per h o u r ................................
Unit labor c o s ts ......................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ......................................
Im plicit price d e fla to r............................................
Nonfarm business sector:
Output per hour of all persons .........................
Compensation per hour ......................................
Real compensation per h o u r ................................
Unit labor c o s ts ......................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ......................................
Implicit price d e fla to r............................................
Nonfinancial corporations:
Output per hour of all e m p lo ye e s......................
Compensation per hour ......................................
Real compensation per h o u r ................................
Total unit c o s ts ......................................................
Unit labor c o s ts ............................................
Unit nonlabor c o s ts ......................................
Unit profits ............................................................
Implicit price d e fla to r............................................
Manufacturing:
Output per hour of all persons .........................
Compensation per hour ......................................
Real compensation per h o u r ................................
Unit labor c o s ts ......................................... ...
96
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Q u a r t e r ly In d e x e s
Annual
a verag e
Ite m
1982
I
II
1983
1984
1982
1983
100.9
155.0
97.3
153.6
136.8
147.9
103.7
161.7
98.4
156.0
145.5
152.4
100.9
151.4
96.9
150.0
138.0
145.9
100.3
153.9
97.2
153.4
137.0
147.9
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
98 0
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
107.3
169.4
98.4
157.9
158.3
158.0
100.0
154.5
97.0
154.5
136.9
148.6
103.4
162.0
98.6
156.6
147.0
153.4
99.8
151.0
96.7
151.4
136.9
146.5
99.4
153.2
96.8
154.2
137.5
148.6
100.3
156.0
96.9
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
98.2
157.1
151.4
155.2
105.2
166.5
98.5
158.3
152.2
156.3
106.6
168.0
98.5
157.6
156.8
157.3
106.4
169.5
98.5
159.4
157.8
158.8
102.6
154.6
97.0
154.3
150.6
164.8
84.6
146.3
106.1
161.0
97.9
155.2
151.8
164.9
117.2
150.9
102.2
151.1
96.7
151.5
147.9
161.6
89.4
144.3
102.1
153.5
97.0
154.0
150.3
164.3
86.8
146.3
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
98.0
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
108.3
167.2
97.2
157.2
154.4
165.2
146.5
156.0
107.1
158.0
99.2
147.6
111.6
163.4
99.4
146.4
105.5
154.3
98 8
146.2
106.3
157.2
99.4
148.0
108.8
159 8
99.2
146.9
107.8
161.0
99.6
149.3
109.1
162.7
100.6
149.1
110.8
163.0
99.7
147.0
113.4
163.5
99.0
144.1
113.1
164.6
98.6
145.5
114.2
167.1
98.9
146.4
115.3
168.3
98.7
146.0
117.5
169.9
98.7
144.5
III
IV
1
II
III
IV
I
II
III
32. P ercent ch an g e from preceding q uarter and year in productivity, hourly com pensation, unit costs, and prices,
seaso n ally adjusted at annual rate
________________________________________________________________________________
P e rc e n t c h a n g e fro m s a m e q u a rte r a y e a r a g o
Q u a r t e r ly p e r c e n t c h a n g e a t a n n u a l r a te
Business sector:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............
Compensation per h o u r .........................
Real compensation per h o u r ................
Unit labor c o s ts ......................................
Unit nonlabor payments ......................
Im plicit price d e fla to r............................
Nonfarm business sector:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............
Compensation per h o u r .........................
Real compensation per h o u r ................
Unit labor c o s ts ......................................
Unit nonlabor payments ......................
Implicit price d e fla to r............................
Nonfinancial corporations:
Output per hour of all employees . . .
Compensation per h o u r .........................
Real compensation per h o u r ................
Total units costs ...................................
Unit profits ............................................
Im plicit price d e fla to r............................
Manufacturing:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............
Compensation per h o u r..........................
Real compensation per h o u r ................
Unit labor c o s ts ......................................
11983
I1 1983
III 1 9 8 3
IV 1 9 8 3
11984
I1 1984
I1 1982
III 1 9 8 2
IV 1 9 8 2
11983
I1 1983
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
II 1 9 8 3
I II 1 9 8 3
IV 1 9 8 3
1 1984
I1 1984
I II 1 9 8 4
I1 1983
III 1 9 8 3
IV 1 9 8 3
11984
I1 1984
III 1 9 8 4
5.9
2.2
- 2 .1
-3 .5
14.5
1.9
2.8
2.0
- 2 .1
-0 .8
9.5
2.5
1.4
6.1
1.6
4.6
3.1
4.1
4.0
6.2
1.2
2.1
7.0
3.7
4.9
1.9
-1 .8
- 2 .9
15.4
2.9
0.9
4.5
0.9
3.6
2.8
3.3
3.3
4.6
1.3
1.3
5.5
2.6
3.4
3.3
0.7
- 0 .1
8.9
2.7
3.1
3.7
0.3
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
2.8
4.7
0.5
1.8
7.0
3.5
8.1
3.5
-0 .8
-4 .2
17.8
2.2
2.1
2.2
-1 .9
0.1
8.4
2.7
1.0
4.1
- 0 .3
3.0
5.3
3.7
2.9
6.1
1.0
3.1
2.3
2.8
5.5
3.7
4.3
5.4
2.0
1.1
6.5
2.8
3.9
4.1
1.5
0.2
9.2
3.0
3.9
3.9
0.6
-1 .7
12.5
2.8
-0 .7
3.8
0.2
4.5
2.5
3.8
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
2.2
4.4
0.2
2.2
5.6
3.3
7.5
3.5
-0 .8
- 3 .9
- 3 .7
- 4 .5
112.8
2.3
5.3
3.1
- 1 .0
- 2 .0
- 2 .1
- 1 .7
64.8
2.8
- 0 .2
2.0
-2 .4
0.8
2.1
-2 .6
32.6
3.6
3.6
5.7
0.7
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 .1
3.3
-0 .3
5.7
5.5
6.2
- 1 1 .7
3.6
3.7
4.6
1.3
0.8
0.9
0.5
28.7
2.7
3.8
3.6
1.0
- 0 .2
- 0 .2
46.3
3.0
3.9
3.1
-0 .2
-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
1.0
3.3
r -0 .8
1.8
2.3
0.5
15.7
3.1
6.4
0.6
- 3 .5
- 5 .5
9.7
1.3
- 2 .8
- 7 .7
-1 .0
2.9
-1 .5
3.9
3.7
6.2
1.1
2.3
4.0
2.9
- 0 .8
- 1 .1
7.8
3.6
0.1
-3 .8
4.3
3.6
0.3
-0 .6
4.3
2.3
- 0 .3
- 1 .9
4.9
2.2
-1 .0
-2 .6
4.7
2.7
-1 .7
-1 .9
4.1
3.3
-1 .0
-0 .7
3.6
3.9
-0 .3
0.3
0.0
0.0
0.0
III 1 9 8 3
r = revised.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
97
WAGE AND COMPENSATION DATA
D ata for the employment cost index are reported to the Bureau
of 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 Employment Cost Index (ECI) 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
ECI, 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 o f 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 o f 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.
Wages and salaries consist of earnings before payroll deductions, ex
cluding premium pay for overtime, work on weekends and holidays, and
shift differentials. 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. B e n e fits
include supplemental pay, insurance, retirement and savings plans, and
hours-related and legally required benefits.
Data on negotiated wage changes 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. F ir s t-y e a r wage or compensation changes refer to average
negotiated changes for workers covered by settlements reached in the period
98
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
and implemented within the first 12 months after the effective date o f the
agreement. C h a n g e s o v e r th e life o f th e a g r e e m e n t 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.
W a g e - r a te c h a n g e s are expressed as a percent o f straight-time hourly earn
ings; c o m p e n s a tio n c h a n g e s are expressed as a percent of total wages and
benefits.
Effective wage adjustments 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 ECI 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 ECI. Additional occupation and industry detail are pro
vided 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 o f changes
presented in the ECI are also available.
For a more detailed discussion of the ECI, see chapter 11, “ The Em
ployment Cost Index,’’ of the BLS H a n d b o o k o f M e th o d s (Bulletin 2134—
1), and the M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w 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 ECI and other measures of wage and compen
sation changes appear in C u r r e n t W a g e D e v e lo p m e n ts , a monthly publi
cation of the Bureau.
33. E m ploym ent C ost Index, by occupation and industry group
[June 1981 = 100]
P e rc e n t ch an g e
1! 82
S e r ie s
C i v il ia n w o r k e r s 1
.......................................................................
1983
1984
S e p t.
D ec.
M a rc h
June
S e p t.
110.1
111.4
113.2
114.5
116.5
D ec.
M a rc h
June
S e p t.
3 m o n th s
1 2 m o n th s
ended
ended
S e p te m h e r 1 9 8 4
Workers, by occupational group
White-collar w o rk e rs ...................................................
Blue-collar workers .........................................
Service workers .........................................
Workers, by industry division
Manufacturing ...................................................
N onm anufacturing............................................
Servies ...............................................
Public administration2 ...................................................
117.8
119.8
120.8
122.4
1.3
5.1
110.7
109.2
110.8
111.9
110.5
112.4
113.7
112.3
114.3
114.9
113.6
115.1
117.6
114.8
116.7
118.9
115.8
119.1
120.9
117.7
122.0
122.1
118.6
122.1
124.0
119.6
124.6
1.6
0.8
2.0
54
4.2
6.8
109.3
110.5
113.5
112.8
110.4
111.8
115.0
113.6
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
11
1.4
26
2.6
47
52
64
5.9
P r iv a t e in d u s tr y w o r k e r s ............................................
109.3
110.7
112.6
113.9
115.6
117.0
119.0
120.1
121.1
.8
4.8
109.5
109.0
109.6
110.8
110.3
111.8
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
8
8
1.7
51
4 1
7.0
109.3
109.3
110.4
110.8
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
11
.7
47
4.8
114.3
115.1
116.5
117.1
120.8
122.0
123.9
124.4
128.8
3.5
6.6
114.9
112.7
115.8
113.0
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
38
2.2
67
5.9
114.9
114.8
115.6
115.3
112.8
115.9
115.8
116.6
116.0
113.6
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
3.9
47
51
18
2.6
67
71
71
Workers, by occupational group
White-collar workers ...................................
Blue-collar w o r k e r s .........................................
Service w o rk e rs ................................
Workers, by industry division
M anu facturing...................................
N onm anufacturing...............................................
S t a te a n d lo c a l g o v e r n m e n t w o r k e r s
.
Workers, by occupational group
White-collar workers ......................
Blue-collar w o r k e r s ................................
Workers, by industry division
Services ...................................................
S c h o o ls ................................................
Elementary and secondary ................
Hospitals and other services3 .........................
Public administration2 ...................................
---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
5.9
1 Excludes farm, household, and Federal workers.
2Consists of legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory activities.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
3 Includes, for example, library, social, and health services.
99
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Wage and Compensation Data
34. E m ploym ent C ost Index, w ages and salaries, by occupation and industry group
[June 1981 = 100]
Percent change
1983
1982
S e r ie s
1984
3 months
ended
S e p t.
D ec.
M a rc h
June
S e p t.
Dec.
March
June
Sept.
12 months
ended
September 1984
................................................................................................................................
109.7
110.9
112.2
113.4
115.3
116.5
117.9
118 8
120.3
1.3
4.3
Workers, by occupational group
White-collar w o rk e rs ...............................................................................
Blue-collar workers ...............................................................................
Service workers ......................................................................................
110.4
108.6
110.1
111.4
109.8
111.8
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
1.5
0.8
2.1
4.7
3.4
6.3
Workers, by industry division
Manufacturing .........................................................................................
N onm anufacturing..................................................................................
Services ...............................................................................................
Public administration2 .....................................................................
108.8
110.1
113.2
111.9
109.8
111.3
114.4
112.6
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
1.0
1.3
2.7
2.6
4.1
4.5
5.9
5.2
P r iv a t e I n d u s tr y w o r k e r s ..........................................................................................................
109.0
110.3
111.6
112.9
114.5
115.8
117.2
118.2
119.2
.8
4.1
109.4
111.8
108.5
104.5
110 3
108.5
109.6
108.3
106.0
106.5
109.3
110.6
112.9
109.3
106.2
111.6
109.7
111.2
109.3
106.9
107.8
111.4
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
.8
1.1
1.5
-1 .3
1.1
.7
.6
.7
.6
.5
1.6
4.3
4.4
5.4
1.9
4.5
3.4
3.2
3.8
2.4
3.5
6.6
108.8
109.0
108.5
109.1
109.1
109 5
106.5
109.0
105.5
106.1
112.5
109.8
110.3
109.1
110.5
109.7
111.1
107.2
109.8
106.1
109.0
114.3
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
1.0
9
1.3
.8
.3
.5
.4
.6
.4
- 1 .4
1.9
4.1
4.3
4.1
4,1
1.9
3.6
4.5
4.3
4.5
1.6
5.6
C i v il ia n w o r k e r s 1
Workers, by occupational group
White-collar workers .........................................................................
Professional and technical w o r k e r s ............................................
Managers and administrators ......................................................
S a le sw o rke rs..................................................................................
Clerical w o rke rs...............................................................................
Blue-collar workers ............................................................................
Craft and kindred w o r k e r s ............................................................
Operatives, except tra n s p o rt.........................................................
Transport equipment o p e ra tive s...................................................
Nonfarm la b o re rs ............................................................................
Service w o rk e rs ..................................................................................
Workers, by industry division
M anu facturing......................................................................................
Durables............................................................................................
Nondurables ..................................................................................
N onm anufacturing...............................................................................
Construction ..................................................................................
Transportation and public u tilitie s ...............................................
Wholesale and retail tr a d e ............................................................
Wholesale trade .........................................................................
Retail tra d e ..................................................................................
Finance, insurance, and real e s ta te ............................................
S e rvic e s............................................................................................
S t a t e a n d lo c a l g o v e r n m e n t w o r k e r s
Workers, by occupational group
White-collar workers .........................................................................
Blue-collar w o r k e r s ............................................................................
Workers, by industry division
Services ...............................................................................................
S c h o o ls ............................................................................................
Elementary and secondary ......................................................
Hospitals and other services3 ......................................................
Public administration2 ......................................................................
113.5
114.0
115.1
115.7
119.2
120.0
121.6
122.0
126.1
3.4
5.8
114.2
111.5
114.6
112.0
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
3.8
1.9
6.1
4.7
114.2
114.2
114.9
114.3
111.9
114.6
114.5
115.1
114.9
112.6
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
3.8
4.5
5.1
1.6
2.6
6.2
6.6
6.8
4.5
5.2
Excludes farm, household, and Federal workers.
C onsists of legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory activities.
100
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
in clu d e s, for example, library, social, and health services.
35.
E m ploym ent C ost Index, private industry w orkers, by bargaining status, region, and area size
(June 1981 = 100]
P e rc e n t ch an g e
1982
S e r ie s
1983
1984
3 m o n th s
1 2 m o n th s
ended
ended
S e p t.
D ec.
M a rc h
June
S e p t.
D ec.
M a rs h
June
S e p t.
Workers, by bargaining status1
Union ............................................................................................................
Manufacturing .........................................................................................
N onm anufacturing..................................................................................
110.6
110.3
111.0
112.3
111.8
112.8
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
0.7
.9
.7
4.1
4.6
3.7
Nonunion .....................................................................................................
Manufacturing .........................................................................................
N onm anufacturing..................................................................................
108.5
108.4
108.6
109.7
109.2
109.9
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
.9
1.2
.8
5.2
4.8
5.2
111.7
110.6
108.6
112.9
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
1.4
.0
1.5
.2
5.5
4.4
5.1
3.8
109.4
108 6
110.9
109.1
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
.7
1.4
4.7
4.9
Workers, by bargaining status1
Union ............................................................................................................
Manufacturing .........................................................................................
N onm anufacturing..................................................................................
110.3
109.5
111.1
111.8
110.8
112.7
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
.7
.9
.5
3.3
3.9
2.5
Nonunion .....................................................................................................
Manufacturing .........................................................................................
N onm anufacturing..................................................................................
108.3
108.2
108.3
109.5
109.1
109.6
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
.8
1.2
.8
4.5
4.3
4.6
Workers, by region1
Northeast .....................................................................................................
South ............................................................................................................
North Central ...............................................................................................
W e s t...............................................................................................................
109.7
108.8
107.6
110.7
111.5
109.8
108.6
112.0
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
1.3
.0
1.6
.3
4.5
4.1
4.4
3.0
Workers by area size1
Metropolitan areas ......................................................................................
Other areas ..................................................................................................
109.1
108.3
110.5
108.8
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
.8
1.3
4.0
4.6
S e p te m b e r 1 9 8 4
C O M P E N S A T IO N
Workers, by region1
Northeast .....................................................................................................
South ............................................................................................................
North Central ...............................................................................................
W e s t...............................................................................................................
Workers, by area size1
Metropolitan areas .....................................................................................
Other areas ..................................................................................................
W A G E S A N D S A L A R IE S
1The indexes are calculated differently from those for the occupation and industry groups. For a
detailed description of the index calculation, see BIS H a n d b o o k o l M e th o d s , Bulletin 1910.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
101
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1985 • Current Labor Statistics: Wage and Compensation Data
36. W age and com pensation change, m ajor co llective bargaining settlem ents, 1979 to date
[In percent]
Q u a r t e r ly a v e r a g e
M e a s u re
1982
1979
1980
9.0
6.6
10.4
7.1
First year of contract ......................
Annual rate over life of contract. . .
7.4
6.0
Manufacturing:
First year of contract ......................
Annual rate over life of contract. . .
1981
1982
1983
10.2
8.3
3.2
2.8
9.5
7.1
9.8
7.9
6.9
5.4
7.4
5.4
Nonmanufacturing (excluding
construction):
First year of contract ......................
Annual rate over life of contract. . .
7.6
6.2
Construction:
First year of contract ......................
Annual rate over life of contract. . .
8.8
8.3
1983
I II
IV
3.4
3.0
6.2
4.7
3.3
4.8
3.8
3.6
2.6
2.8
5.4
4.5
7.2
6.1
2.8
2.6
0.4
2.1
9.5
6.6
9.8
7.3
4.3
4.1
13.6
11.5
13.5
11.3
6.5
6.3
1
19849
II
I II
IV
1
II
-1 .6
1.4
4.4
3.6
5.0
4.3
4.9
3.1
5.1
4.7
3.5
3.2
2.9
3.3
3.8
4.8
-1 .2
2.2
2.7
2.8
3.7
3.6
4.2
2.8
2.9
3.2
2.6
2.7
2.3
2.7
5.1
1.7
4.1
3.9
-3 .4
4.5
1.3
.9
3.4
3.5
2.9
3.1
2.5
2.5
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.4
5.0
3.7
5.5
4.8
3.6
5.2
3.3
5.3
5.9
5.2
5.8
4.3
4.8
2.7
4.4
4.8
4.3
4.2
2.4
3.1
1.5
2.4
6.3
5.9
3.4
2.9
.7
2.4
1.7
2.1
1.5
2.9
1.1
2.6
-3 .5
-2 .8
1.0
1.4
2.0
2.1
I II
Total compensation changes, covering
5,000 workers or more, all
industries:
First year of contract ......................
Annual rate over life of contract. . .
Wage rate changes covering at least
1,000 workers, all industries:
p = preliminary.
37.
E ffective w age adjustm ents in collective bargaining units covering 1,000 w orkers or m ore, 1979 to date
Y e a r a n d q u a rte r
Year
M e a s u re
1982
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1983
I II
IV
1
II
1984P
III
IV
1
||
I II
Average percent adjustment (including no change):
All in d u strie s............................................................................
Manufacturing ..................................................................
Nonmanufacturing ............................................................
9.1
9.6
8.8
9.9
10.2
9.7
9.5
9.4
9.5
6.8
5.2
7.9
4.0
2.7
4.8
2.4
1.7
2.9
1.3
1.5
1.2
0.3
-.5
.9
1.3
1.1
1.5
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.1
.9
1.2
0.9
1.2
.7
1.0
1.0
.9
1.1
.9
1.3
From settlements reached in period ...................................
Deferred from settlements reached in earlier period . . . .
From cost-of-living c la u s e s ...................................................
3.0
3.0
3.1
3.6
3.5
2.8
2.5
3.8
3.2
1.7
3.6
1.4
.8
2.5
.6
.5
1.3
.6
.6
.4
.3
-.2
.4
.1
.3
1.0
.1
.2
.8
.2
.6
.3
.2
.1
.4
.4
.1
.7
.2
.2
.7
.3
Total number of workers receiving wage change
(in thousands)1 ..................................................................
—
—
8,648
7,852
6,530
3,760
3,441
2,875
3,061
3,025
2,887
2,855
2,656
2,326
—
—
2,270
1,907
2,327
620
825
448
561
599
996
293
343
383
—
—
—
—
6,267
4,593
4,846
3,830
3,260
2,327
2,400
2,251
860
1,970
812
1,938
1,405
1,299
1,317
1,218
669
1,290
990
1,616
1,175
1,301
1,578
1,172
—
—
145
483
1,187
4,575
4,895
4,842
4,656
4,693
4,830
4,668
4,867
5,198
From settlements reached
in period ............................................................................
Deferred from settlements
reached in earlier p e rio d ...................................................
From cost-of-living c la u s e s ...................................................
Number of workers receiving no adjustments
(in thousands) ..................................................................
1 The total number of workers who received adjustments does not equal the sum of workers that received
each type of adjustment, because some workers received more than one type of adjustment during the
period.
102
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
p = preliminary.
WORK STOPPAGE DATA
W ork 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.
38.
Estimates of days idle as a percent of 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.
W o rk stoppages involving 1,000 w orkers or m ore, 1947 to date
N u m b e r o t s to p p a g e s
M o n th a n d y e a r
W o r k e r s in v o lv e d
B e g in n in g in
In e ffe c t
m o n th o r y e a r
d u r in g m o n th
B e g in n in g in
m o n th o r y e a r
( in t h o u s a n d s )
D a y s i d le
In e ffe c t
d u r in g m o n th
( in t h o u s a n d s )
Num ber
( in t h o u s a n d s )
P e rc e n t ot
e s t im a t e d
w o r k in g t im e
..................................................................................................
..................................................................................................
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
270
245
262
424
1,629
1,435
2,537
1,698
25
26
43
30
720
127
420
390
22
38
26
1 9 5 1 .........................................................................................................
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
48
18
16
21
26
10
17
60
13
070
820
130
630
180
840
340
900
850
260
12
38
14
13
16
20
07
13
43
09
1 9 6 1 ........................................................................................................
1962 ........................................................................................................
1963
.....................................................................................
1964 .........................................................................................................
1965
.....................................................................................
1966
..................................................................................
1967
..................................................................................................
1968
............................................................................................
1969
.....................................................................................
1970
..................................................................
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
11
10
16
15
16
31
35
29
52
140
760
020
220
140
000
320
567
397
761
07
08
07
11
10
10
18
20
16
29
1 9 7 1 .........................................................................................................
1972 ........................................................................................................
1973
.........................................................................................
1974 ........................................................................................................
1975 ........................................................................................................
1976
............................................................
1977
............................................................................................
1978
.........................................................
1979 ........................................................................................................
1980
.........................................................................................
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
16
16
31
17
23
21
23
20
20
538
764
260
809
563
962
258
774
409
844
19
09
08
16
12
10
11
09
09
1 9 8 1 ........................................................................................................
1982 ........................................................................................................
1983 ........................................................................................................
145
96
81
729
656
909
16 908
9 061
17 461
07
04
08
1947
1948
1949
1950
1983
January ............................................................................
F ebruary............................................................................
M a r c h ...............................................................................
A p r i l ..................................................................................
May ..................................................................................
J u n e ..................................................................................
July ..................................................................................
A u g u s t...............................................................................
Septem ber.........................................................................
October ............................................................................
N o ve m b e r.........................................................................
D e ce m b e r.........................................................................
1
5
5
2
12
16
10
7
7
12
4
—
3
7'
10
9
17
25
23
19
19
19
12
8
1.6
14.0
10.5
2.8
24.9
63.3
64.5
615.8
20.8
68.4
22.8
—
38.0
50.4
54.9
52.4
34.2
81.2
99.8
669.7
49.5
84.7
41.5
30.9
794.8
844.4
1,131.5
789.5
488.5
689.1
1,270.1
8,673.2
567.1
1,143.3
605.0
464.2
.04
.05
.05
.04
.03
.03
.07
.41
.03
.06
.03
.02
1984s
January ............................................................................
February ............................................................................
M a r c h ...............................................................................
A p r i l ..................................................................................
May ..................................................................................
J u n e ..................................................................................
July ..................................................................................
A u g u s t...............................................................................
Septem ber.........................................................................
October ............................................................................
N o ve m b e r.........................................................................
D e ce m b e r.........................................................................
6
2
2
7
5
5
8
4
9
4
4
3
12
12
9
13
15
14
20
18
17
15
15
13
28.9
8.7
3.0
28.5
8.1
23.7
68.4
21.5
103.6
15.8
12.0
42.7
43.0
37.2
14.6
38.1
39.2
45.7
104.1
100.9
117.9
33.7
30.7
59.2
507.3
365.5
284.2
651.0
581.2
754.8
1,221.7
1,623.3
716.4
498.7
482.1
684.9
.03
.02
.01
.03
.03
.04
.06
.07
04
.02
.02
.04
p= preliminary.
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