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MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Stat sties
February 1986
In this issuer
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A special section on employment
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
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BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
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WAR 0 5
1
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
1986
FEBRUARY 1986
VOLUME 109, NUMBER 2
Henry Lowenstern, Editor-in-Chief
Robert W. Fisher, Executive Editor
A SPECIAL SECTION ON EMPLOYMENT
S. E. Shank, P. M. Getz
3
Employment and unemployment: developments in 1985
Last year, the economy completed its third year of strong postrecession growth,
but the expansion has not dropped most jobless rates to the lows of late 1970’s
Thomas J. Nardone
13
Part-time workers: who are they?
A new definition of part-timers, utilizing data from the Current Population Survey,
yields a more accurate estimate of the number of these workers in the labor force
E. F. Mellor, S. E. Haugen
20
Hourly paid workers: who they are and what they earn
More than half of the wage and salary workers were paid hourly in 1984;
their median earnings were $5.95, but varied among groups of workers
J. A. Alio, M. C. Harris
27
Employment lessons from the electronics industry
The industry’s less skilled workers are the group most likely to lose jobs
because of technology, imports, or the offshore manufacture of products
REPORTS
Shirley J. Smith
Howard Hayghe
C. J. Hobson, J. B. Dworkin
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37
43
46
Work experience profile, 1984: the effects of recovery continue
Rise in mothers’ labor force activity includes those with infants
West German labor unrest: are unions losing out to worker councils?
DEPARTMENTS
2
37
46
49
51
53
57
Labor month in review
Research summaries
Foreign labor developments
Major agreements expiring next month
Developments in industrial relations
Book reviews
Current labor statistics
Labor M onth
In Review
SEX SEGREGATION. The National
Academy of Sciences published a study
examining the cause, the extent, and the
future direction of sex segregation in the
workplace. The study, sponsored by the
U.S. Departments of Labor and Educa
tion and the Carnegie Corporation,
was conducted for the Academy by a
14-member committee of academic and
business experts, chaired by Alice S.
Ilchman, president of Sarah Lawrence
College. Excerpts:
Measuring sex segregation. During the
past decade, women’s occupational op
tions have unquestionably expanded.
Their participation has increased sharply
in several occupations previously
predominantly male by tradition or
policy: for example, lawyers, bank
managers, insurance adjusters, postal
clerks, bus drivers, and janitors, among
others. In other occupations, women’s
representation is small but increasing
rapidly, for example: coal miners, police
officers, and engineers. The overall in
dex of occupational sex segregation
declined by nearly 10 percent between
1972 and 1981, more than it had during
any previous decade in this century.
Much of this decline was due to
women’s increased participation in
many occupations that were 20 to 60
percent female in 1970 as well as to the
decline in the size of some femaledominated occupations, rather than to
the entry of women (or men) into the
most atypical jobs for their sex.
Nevertheless, sex segregation con
tinues to characterize the American
workplace, despite the changes that have
occurred in some occupations. Millions
of women continue to work in a small
number of almost totally female clerical
and service occupations, and men con
tinue to make up the majority of workers
in the majority of occupations.
Explaining sex segregation. Several ex
planations have been proposed to ac
count for the persistence of sex segrega
tion in the workplace; they emphasize
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different factors and differ strongly in
the interventions they imply. Not sur
prisingly, the evidence neither provides
full confirmation nor warrants full rejec
tion of any single explanation. However,
reviewed scientific evidence fails to sup
port the argument that women’s occupa
tional outcomes result primarily from
free choices that they make in an open
market. It suggests rather that women
face discrimination and institutional bar
riers in their education, training, and
employment. Often the opportunities
that women encounter in the labor
market and in premarket training and
education constrain their choices to a
narrow set of alternatives.
The weight of scientific evidence in
dicates that discrimination has played a
significant role in maintaining a sexsegregated work force. That women
believe they face discrimination is
evidenced by the thousands of sex
discrimination complaints filed under Ti
tle VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
(which prohibits sex discrimination in
many employment practices). A number
of statistical studies of large employers
show, that equally qualified men and
women are often assigned different jobs,
with long-term effects on their subse
quent careers. Case studies of some
employers against which complaints
have been filed and of certain industries
provide corroborative evidence of the
occurrence of sex discrimination in
employment practices.
Responsibility for the daily care of
family members, which women bear
more than men, also undoubtedly af
fects labor market outcomes in many
ways, but its link specifically to sexsegregated occupations is less clear. One
hypothesis, based on human capital
theory, is that women choose femaledominated occupations because those
occupations are more compatible with
child-rearing (by penalizing work inter
ruptions less than male-dominated oc
cupations); this hypothesis has found
equivocal empirical support. Further
research is warranted on connections
between employment opportunities and
family responsibilities for both sexes.
Reducing sex segregation. Laws and
regulations of the 1960’s and 1970’s pro
hibit sex discrimination in employment
and apprenticeship programs and man
date sex equity in federally funded job
training programs and vocational and
general education. Women have made
substantial progress in entering some
predominantly male occupations and
training and educational programs.
Definitively establishing that women’s
gains were caused directly by interven
tions is quite difficult, however. On one
hand, the very existence of anti-dis
crimination laws or regulations may con
tribute to change. According to one
theory underlying law enforcement,
most change occurs through voluntary
compliance by establishments against
which no action has been taken, either
out of the desire to avoid sanctions or
because laws help to reshape employers’
opinions about acceptable behavior. At
the same time, laws encourage women to
believe that they will not face discrimina
tion and hence to train for and pursue
sex-atypical occupations. On the other
hand, important changes—including
women’s heightened consciousness of
their rights and possibilities, prompted
by the feminist movement—occurred
during the period in which most in
terventions were implemented and were
an important force for their enactment.
Obviously, disentangling such cultural
changes is difficult. Some of the studies
that attempt to demonstrate the impact
of specific laws or regulations are im
perfect. Taken together, however, the
case studies and statistical research pre
sent a compelling case for the long-term
effectiveness of legislative remedies.
The 173-page report, Women’s Work,
M en’s Work: Sex Segregation on the
Job, is available ($15.50) from National
Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Ave.,
N.W., Washington, DC 20418.
□
Employment and unemployment:
developments in 1985
Last year, the economy completed its third
year of strong postrecession growth; however,
the expansion has not been sufficient
to return factory employment to its prerecession level
or to drop most jobless rates to the lows of the late 1970’s
S usan E. S hank and Patricia M. Getz
Employment continued to increase in 1985, as the economy
completed its third year of recovery from the 1981-82 re
cession. However, job growth slowed from the rapid pace
recorded in the previous 2 years— a moderation that is typ
ical in the third year after a business cycle trough.1 Con
struction, as well as most industries in the service-producing
sector, showed robust job gains throughout the year. In
contrast, manufacturing employment, which had rebounded
during 1983 and most of 1984, decreased in 1985— espe
cially in the durable goods industries.
The civilian unemployment rate edged down in the sec
ond half of the year to 7.0 percent in the fourth quarter. The
jobless rate had declined sharply in the first year and a half
of recovery, then leveled off at about 7.3 percent from
mid-1984 to mid-1985. By the fourth quarter of 1985, job
less rates for most worker groups had fallen to or below
those of the July 1981 prerecession peak but remained above
those in 1979— the last year that the unemployment rate had
averaged less than 6 percent. All of the decline in unemploy
ment during 1985 took place among adult workers.
This article describes labor market developments in 1985
for major age-sex, race-ethnic, industrial, and occupational
groups. It also examines the performance of key employ
ment and unemployment indicators in cyclical terms and
evaluates selected developments from a secular perspective.
Data discussed in this article come from two sources: house-
Susan E. Shank and Patricia M. Getz are economists in the Office of
Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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hold interviews and reports from employers.2 Unless other
wise noted, over-the-year changes are based on fourth
quarter-to-fourth quarter movements, and all data are sea
sonally adjusted.
Total employment
Civilian employment rose by 2.0 million in 1985 to
108 million at yearend. The increase took place entirely
among adults— about 1.4 million women and 700,000 men.
(See table 1.) The number of persons employed in agricul
ture decreased to approximately 3.1 million in the second
half of 1985, after holding in the 3.3 to 3.4 million range
over the previous decade. High levels of production world
wide contributed to sharply lower prices for U.S. farm prod
ucts in 1985.3 The unexpected deflation put many farmers in
a severe credit squeeze and led to a large number of foreclo
sures on farm properties. Employment fell by similar
amounts (about 100,000 persons) for both hired farmwork
ers and self-employed farmers.
Over the entire 3-year expansion (fourth-quarter 1982 to
fourth-quarter 1985), civilian employment rose by almost
9 million, or 8.9 percent. The increase for adult men (about
8 percent) was the largest recorded in any 3-year recovery
period since World War II; this reflected both the severity of
the 1979-82 employment drop and the strength of the subse
quent rebound. Employment rose even more rapidly for
women (11 percent) during the 3 years of expansion. How
ever, in contrast to the pattern for men, employment among
women had continued to rise throughout the early 1980’s,
3
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Employment and Unemployment in 1985
Table 1. Selected labor force indicators by sex, age, race,
and Hispanic origin, seasonally adjusted quarterly averages,
1982-85
[Numbers in thousands]
1982
1983
1984
IV
IV
IV
Characteristic
1985
1
II
III
IV
Total
Civilian labor force . . . .
Percent of
population .........
Employed.................
Agriculture.............
Nonagriculture___
Employmentpopulation ratio..
Unemployed.............
Unemployment rate
110,926 112,142 114,235 115,024 115,206 115,468 116,158
64.1
64.1
64.5
64.7
64.8
64.7
64.9
99,135 102,600 105,959 106,618 106,804 107,200 107,996
3,475
3,308
3,325
3,319
3,259
3,077
3,093
95,660 99,292 102,634 103,298 103,545 104,123 104,903
57.3
11,791
10.6
58.6
9,541
8.5
59.8
8,276
7.2
60.1
8,406
7.3
60.0
8,402
7.3
60.1
8,268
7.2
60.4
8,162
7.0
58,340
59,026
59,981
60,063
60,217
60,278
60,542
78.7
52,552
78.4
54,427
78.2
56,234
78.2
56,305
78.1
56,439
78.0
56,597
78.0
56,909
70.9
5,788
9.9
72.3
4,599
7.8
73.4
3,747
6.2
73.3
3,757
6.3
73.2
3,778
6.3
73.2
3,681
6.1
73.4
3,633
6.0
44,115
45,057
46,366
46,900
47,123
47,363
47,749
52.9
40,139
53.3
41,761
54.0
43,280
54.5
43,744
54.6
43,947
54.7
44,210
54.9
44,716
48.2
3,976
9.0
49.4
3,296
7.3
50.4
3,086
6.7
50.8
3,156
6.7
50.9
3,176
6.7
51.0
3,153
6.7
51.5
3,033
6.4
8,471
8,059
7,888
8,061
7,866
7,828
7,867
54.3
6,445
53.5
6,412
54.1
6,445
55.2
6,568
54.2
6,418
54.2
6,393
54.4
6,371
41.3
2,027
23.9
42.5
1,647
20.4
44.2
1,443
18.3
45.0
1,493
18.5
44.2
1,448
18.4
44.2
1,434
18.3
44.0
1,496
19.0
96,604
97,662
98,798
99,611
99,672
99,900 100,515
64.4
87,466
64.5
90,471
64.7
92,622
65.0
93,357
64.9
93,392
64.9
93,706
65.2
94,487
58.3
9,138
9.5
59.8
7,192
7.4
60.7
6,175
6.3
60.9
6,254
6.3
60.8
6,280
6.3
60.9
6,195
6.2
61.3
6,028
6.0
11,500
11,617
12,242
12,299
12,351
12,340
12,464
61.4
9,150
61.0
9,550
62.8
10,393
62.9
10,402
63.0
10,498
62.6
10,520
63.0
10,580
48.9
2,350
20.4
50.1
2,067
17.8
53.3
1,849
15.1
53.2
1,897
15.4
53.5
1,853
15.0
53.4
1,821
14.8
53.5
1,883
15.1
6,723
6,982
7,392
7,341
7,383
7,525
7,538
63.6
5,693
63.9
6,142
65.4
6,619
64.4
6,587
64.3
6,603
65.0
6,729
64.6
6,730
53.9
1,030
15.3
56.2
839
12.0
58.6
772
10.4
57.8
755
10.3
57.5
779
10.6
58.1
796
10.6
57.7
808
10.7
Men, 20 years and
over
Civilian labor force . . . .
Percent of
population .........
Em ployed.................
Employmentpopulation ratio..
Unemployed.............
Unemployment rate
Women, 20 years
and over
Civilian labor force . . . .
Percent of
population .........
Employed.................
Employmentpopulation ratio..
Unemployed.............
Unemployment rate
Both sexes, 16 to
19 years
Civilian labor force . . . .
Percent of
population .........
Employed.................
Employmentpopulation ratio..
Unemployed.............
Unemployment rate
White
Civilian labor force . . . .
Percent of
population .........
Employed.................
Employmentpopulation ratio..
Unemployed.............
Unemployment rate
Black
Civilian labor force . . . .
Percent of
population ........
Employed.................
Employmentpopulation ratio..
Unemployed.............
Unemployment rate
Hispanic origin
Civilian labor force . . . .
Percent of
population ........
Employed.................
Employmentpopulation ratio..
Unemployed.............
Unemployment rate
Note: 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.
4
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despite the occurrence of back-to-back recessions in 1980
and 1981-82.
Employment-population ratios.
The proportions of the
civiliar 'oninstitutional population that are employed have
moved «.. fferently for men, women, and teenagers in the
first half of the 1980’s. As the tabulation below shows, the
long-term decline in the ratio for men accelerated during the
recessions of the early 1980’s. The ratio only partially re
bounded in 1983 and 1984, and then showed little change in
1985.
Men
Women
Teenagers
1979 annual average .. . 76.5
47.7
48.5
Fourth-quarter:
1982 ............................
70.9
48.2
41.3
1983 ............................ . 72.3
49.4
42.5
1984 ............................ . 73.4
50.4
44.2
1985 ............................ . 73.4
51.5
44.0
In contrast, the employment-population ratio for women
continued the steady increase that has been evident since the
mid-1950’s. The increases slowed somewhat during reces
sions— as was the case in the early 1980’s— and then re
sumed a strong uptrend in recoveries. The ratio for teenagers
followed a pattern similar to that for men in the 1980’s, but
has not shown a consistent long-term trend.
Employment-population ratios for whites, blacks, and
persons of Hispanic origin all declined during the recessions
of the early 1980’s and then rebounded in the 1983-85
period. However, as the following tabulation shows, only
the ratio for whites stood above its 1979 level by late 1985.
1979 annual average ..
Fourth-quarter:
1982 ............................
1983 ............................
1984 ............................
1985 ............................
White
. . 60.6
Black
53.8
Hispanic
58.3
..
..
..
..
48.9
50.1
53.3
53.5
53.9
56.2
58.6
57.7
58.3
59.8
60.7
61.3
The ratio for whites reached an all-time high in the fourth
quarter of 1985, while that for blacks was slightly below the
1979 high. The stonger performance of the ratio for white
women in the 1980’s was a major factor in the overall
difference; it also reversed the long-term pattern of higher
ratios for black than for white women. In 1979, the ratio for
black women (49 percent) exceeded that for their white
counterparts (47 percent), but by the 1981-82 recession
trough, the black ratio had declined to 47 percent, while that
for whites had edged up to 48 percent. Both ratios increased
to about 51 percent by late 1985. In contrast, the wide gap
between the employment-population ratios of black and
white teenagers narrowed very little in the 1980’s. Only 1
out of 4 blacks aged 16 to 19 was employed in 1985, com
pared to about 1 out of 2 white teenagers.
The employment-population ratio for persons of Hispanic
origin has remained between those of whites and blacks
over the last decade. As the above tabulation shows, the
Hispanic ratio, like that for blacks, fell sharply during the
recession years of the early 1980’s. The greater drop and
subsequent rebound for minorities reflects, among other
things, their heavier concentration in cyclically sensitive
manual occupations.
Occupational changes.
Employment growth between
1984 and 1985 was greatest for office workers, particularly
highly skilled executives, administrators, and managers.
The service occupations and technical, sales, and adminis
trative support positions grew at a slightly faster pace than
total employment. However, as the tabulation below shows,
there was an over-the-year decrease for operators, fabrica
tors, and laborers, as well as a sharp drop in farming,
forestry, and fishing occupations.
Percent change
Fourth quarter Fourth quarter
1984-85
1983-84
2.0
3.3
T o ta l........................................
4.3
5.1
Managerial and professional..........
2.7
3.2
Technical, sales, and administrative
2.6
.9
Service occupations........................
Precision production,
craft, and repair..........................
Operators, fabricators, and laborers.
Farming, forestry, and fishing . . . .
3.5
3.1
.8
1.4
-1 .0
-7 .9
While slower employment growth was evident in most
major occupational groups from 1984 to 1985, the change
was especially marked for nonfarm manual workers at all
skill levels. In 1984, when construction and manufacturing
rebounded strongly, job gains for skilled craft workers and
for medium and low-skilled manual workers equaled the rise
in total employment; in 1985, however, the increase slowed
sharply for the former group and turned to a decrease for the
latter. In fact, employment fell by about 3 percent over the
year for machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors,
most of whom are employed in manufacturing. Only man
agerial and professional occupations registered aboveaverage employment increases in both 1984 and 1985.
Nonfarm payroll employment
Total nonagricultural payroll employment, as measured
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics business survey, also con
tinued to post substantial gains throughout 1985. This
marked the third straight year of strong growth, which has
resulted in an increase of 10 million jobs during the current
recovery.4 At 98.8 million in the fourth quarter of 1985,
nonfarm employment had increased by about 3 million over
the year. (See table 2.)
However, even a quick look beyond the total figure re
veals marked differences among industries. All of the major
divisions which make up the service-producing sector
posted employment increases, with the largest gains coming
in retail trade and services. Among the goods-producing
industries, only construction produced a gain in employ
ment. Significant and pervasive declines in employment
characterized both mining and manufacturing. (See chart 1.)
The widespread declines in manufacturing, which were con
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centrated in the first three quarters of 1985, reversed the
strong growth trend of the previous 2 years.
Chart 2 illustrates the relative strength of the serviceproducing versus the goods-producing sector over the long
term. Employment in the service-producing sector has been
on an almost continuous upward climb for the past 40 years.
Even during recessionary periods, growth slowed only tem
porarily, and there were no significant or prolonged declines
in service-related employment during the postwar years. In
marked contrast, the goods-producing sector showed only
moderate overall employment growth throughout the post
war period, and each of the industries within the sector was
substantially affected by recessions. Over the entire 194585 period, the service-producing sector gained approxi
mately 51 million jobs, compared to l \ million jobs in the
goods-producing sector. As a result, service-producing em
ployment grew from 57 to 75 percent of total payroll em
ployment.
Viewed from a cyclical perspective, employment gains
during the past 3 years were among the strongest in any
comparable postwar period. The current expansion has al
ready lasted longer than 3 of the 7 previous recoveries, and
the growth in total nonfarm employment has outpaced that
in 2 of the other 4 recoveries. (See table 3.) This has been
the strongest recovery in the postwar period for construction
and for most industries in the service-producing sector. For
manufacturing, however, the recovery has been relatively
modest, much of its earlier strength having dissipated in
1985.
Service-producing industries.
In 1985, service-producing
industries continued to add jobs at about the same rapid pace
as during the first 2 years of the recovery, with employment
in the sector increasing by 2.8 million.
The services division showed the largest increase, gaining
well over a million jobs in 1985, with business services
leading the way. Within business services, the “temporary
help supply services” industry has been the strongest gainer,
although there has been some moderation from the phenom
enal growth rates evidenced earlier in the recovery. Health
services employment continued its strong secular growth
trend in 1985, and large increases were also registered in
personal services and in amusement and recreation.
Retail trade also showed marked growth in 1985, as retail
sales remained strong. Eating and drinking places and food
stores continued their long-term uptrends, with sizable gains
in each quarter. Auto dealers and service stations, which
have had a strong cyclical recovery, also grew throughout
1985. Although small in terms of employment level, “radio,
television, and music stores” posted the largest percentage
increase— about 15 percent. This is linked to the rapidly
increasing demand for video cassette recorders and the ser
vices of video clubs.
Wholesale trade employment continued to grow during
1985, particularly among wholesalers of machinery, equip5
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Employment and Unemployment in 1985
ment, and supplies. Employment in this industry grew de
spite declines in machinery and electrical equipment manu
facturing jobs. Some of this strength can be attributed to the
industry’s strong ties to the construction industry and to
large volumes of imports.
Finance, insurance, and real estate continued the healthy
growth pace shown throughout the recovery. While the in
creases were not as spectacular as in retail trade and ser
Table 2.
vices, they have been very steady— between 40,000 and
80,000 jobs each quarter. One of the fastest-growing indus
tries within this division has been “credit agencies other than
banks,” that is, savings and loan institutions, credit unions,
and the like. This growth is tied to recent banking deregula
tion which has lowered barriers to entry and encouraged
growth and competition in the savings and lending industry.
Transportation and public utilities employment increased
Employees on nonagricultural payrolls by industry, seasonally adjusted quarterly averages, 1982-85
[In thousands]
1982
1983
1984
IV
IV
IV
I
II
III
T o ta l......................................................................................................................................................
88,721
91,804
95,849
96,640
97,338
97,933
98,786
Total p riva te .............................................................................................................................................
72,891
75,932
79,745
80,522
81,143
81,578
82,295
Goods-producing ...................................................................................................................................
22,982
23,938
24,973
25,077
25,055
24,983
25,088
Mining .................................................................................................................................................................
Oil and gas extraction .....................................................................................................................................
1,029
651
955
596
977
624
976
620
979
622
965
616
955
606
Construction........................................................................................................................................................
General building contractors ..........................................................................................................................
3,836
959
4,098
1,084
4,432
1,180
4,537
1,219
4,646
1,230
4,690
1,241
4,755
1,267
Industry
1985
IV1
Manufacturing......................................................................................................................................................
18,117
18,885
19,564
19,564
19,430
19,328
19,378
Durable goods..................................................................................................................................................
Lumber and wood products ........................................................................................................................
Furniture and fixture s...................................................................................................................................
Stone, clay, and glass products ..................................................................................................................
Primary metal industries..............................................................................................................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel products...................................................................................................
Fabricated metal products ..........................................................................................................................
Machinery, except electrical ........................................................................................................................
Electrical and electronic equipment.............................................................................................................
Transportation equipment............................................................................................................................
Motor vehicles and equipment..................................................................................................................
Instruments and related products ...............................................................................................................
Miscellaneous manufacturing ......................................................................................................................
10,485
596
425
558
825
344
1,349
2,050
1,954
1,663
660
699
367
11,082
692
469
584
860
350
1,410
2,088
2,089
1,815
815
698
377
11,673
709
494
599
848
318
1,486
2,232
2,250
1,947
877
722
386
11,676
705
499
601
839
313
1,483
2,224
2,248
1,972
878
725
382
11,585
695
495
599
819
305
1,476
2,200
2,215
1,984
875
725
377
11,491
700
496
599
799
294
1,465
2,161
2,186
1,987
865
724
373
11,508
712
497
602
801
296
1,464
2,140
2,182
2,013
869
724
373
Nondurable g o o d s...........................................................................................................................................
Food and kindred products..........................................................................................................................
Tobacco manufactures.................................................................................................................................
Textile mill products.....................................................................................................................................
Apparel and other textile products...............................................................................................................
Paper and allied products............................................................................................................................
Printing and publishing.................................................................................................................................
Chemicals and allied products ....................................................................................................................
Petroleum and coal products ......................................................................................................................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products..............................................................................................
Leather and leather products ......................................................................................................................
7,631
1,627
68
729
1,140
654
1,271
1,055
200
679
209
7,803
1,615
65
757
1,191
670
1,324
1,041
192
743
204
7,891
1,622
66
726
1,182
683
1,395
1,052
187
796
182
7,888
1,635
66
713
1,175
682
1,405
1,052
184
798
177
7,846
1,636
66
702
1,153
682
1,415
1,045
181
792
174
7,838
1,634
65
696
1,156
683
1,427
1,039
175
790
175
7,869
1,640
64
699
1,163
686
1,438
1,034
170
800
174
Service-producing ................................................................................................................................
65,740
67,866
70,876
71,563
72,283
72,950
73,698
Transportation and public utilities........................................................................................................................
Transportation..................................................................................................................................................
Communications and public utilities ...............................................................................................................
5,023
2,736
2,288
5,040
2,782
2,258
5,233
2,995
2,238
5,267
3,024
2,243
5,291
3,049
2,243
5,301
3,059
2,242
5,342
3,104
2,238
Wholesale trade ..................................................................................................................................................
Durable goods..................................................................................................................................................
Nondurable g o o d s...........................................................................................................................................
5,214
3,034
2,179
5,362
3,142
2,220
5,649
3,334
2,315
5,699
3,367
2,332
5,750
3,401
2,348
5,789
3,433
2,355
5,840
3,464
2,376
Retail tra d e ..........................................................................................................................................................
General merchandise stores ..........................................................................................................................
Food stores......................................................................................................................................................
Automotive dealers and service stations.........................................................................................................
Eating and drinking places..............................................................................................................................
15,183
2,140
2,509
1,633
4,870
15,942
2,195
2,581
1,718
5,169
16,960
2,330
2,726
1,846
5,513
17,166
2,344
2,772
1,864
5,587
17,366
2,360
2,816
1,890
5,665
17,501
2,353
2,847
1,901
5,731
17,626
2,344
2,869
1,917
5,778
Finance, insurance, and real estate....................................................................................................................
Finance.............................................................................................................................................................
Insurance ........................................................................................................................................................
Real estate ......................................................................................................................................................
5,356
2,664
1,715
978
5,554
2,792
1,724
1,038
5,756
2,892
1,775
1,089
5,811
2,921
1,788
1,103
5,884
2,955
1,807
1,122
5,959
2,998
1,825
1,136
6,041
3,039
1,845
1,157
S ervices...............................................................................................................................................................
Business services ...........................................................................................................................................
Health services ................................................................................................................................................
19,133
3,289
5,891
20,096
3,755
6,044
21,174
4,233
6,139
21,502
4,332
6,186
21,797
4,422
6,234
22,045
4,479
6,285
22,358
4,578
6,362
Government ........................................................................................................................................................
Federal ............................................................................................................................................................
S ta te .................................................................................................................................................................
Local.................................................................................................................................................................
15,831
2,745
3,642
9,444
15,872
2,781
3,674
9,417
16,104
2,830
3,727
9,547
16,118
2,840
3,736
9,542
16,195
2,868
3,758
9,569
16,355
2,886
3,792
9,677
16,491
2,894
3,834
9,763
1 Data are preliminary.
6
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in 1985, though at a considerably slower pace than in the
year before. Within transportation, railroads continued their
long-term secular decline, while airlines and trucking con
tinued to post gains. Employment in communications and
other public utilities was about unchanged over the year, as
declines in communications were offset by slight growth in
the other public utilities. Increased competition in the tele
phone industry drove companies to streamline operations, in
part by reducing labor costs through job cuts.
Government employment also rose in 1985, as Federal,
State, and local governments each showed increases. Some
of the growth in local government may be related to in
creases in employment in public education resulting from
moves to improve the quality of education, and legislation
mandating education of handicapped children.
Goods-producing
industries. Employment trends for
1985 were mixed in the goods-producing sector; construc
tion continued to advance sharply but mining and manufac
turing lost jobs.
Construction employment rose by about 300,000 or
7 percent during the year, matching the growth rate in each
of the 2 previous years. The greatest strength was among
special trade contractors, which have increased their share
of total construction employment from approximately 50 to
57 percent over the past 5 years. This category spans the
entire spectrum of construction trades, from painting and
papering to plumbing, electrical work, stone masonry, and
roofing. Special trade contractors may be employed in new
construction, renovation, or maintenance and in both resi
dential and nonresidential construction.
Residential construction employment rose moderately,
helped by relatively low mortgage interest rates in 1985.
Demographic trends continued to be favorable for the indus
try, as the last of the baby-boom generation entered the
prime age group for first-time home buying. Nonresidential
construction remained strong in 1985. Despite increasing
office vacancy rates, incentives such as tax shelters and the
perceived security of real estate investment continued to
make nonresidential construction investment attractive.
Mining is the only major division in which employment
at the end of 1985 was below the 1982 recession trough
level. The last strong period for mining employment was
1981 through the first quarter of 1982, when increases in oil
and gas extraction associated with energy shortages fueled
job growth. Since then, a worldwide oil glut and resultant
price declines have had dampening effects on employment.
The year brought a reversal in employment trends in
manufacturing. What had been a relatively strong cyclical
recovery collapsed in the face of increasing import competi
tion and a slump in the computer-related industries. In the
fourth quarter, factory jobs stood at 19.4 million, 190,000
below the year-earlier level. Employment had increased by
1.4 million in the first 2 years of the recovery, but the 1985
weakness was pervasive, particularly during the first three
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quarters. By the fourth quarter, most of the declines had
flattened out and total manufacturing employment showed a
small increase.
A sharp turnaround in the nonelectrical machinery and
electrical and electronic equipment industries contributed
the most to manufacturing’s over-the-year decline. These
two industries showed considerable strength during the first
2 years of the recovery, gaining 185,000 and 300,000 jobs,
respectively. During 1985, however, nonelectrical machin
ery lost 90,000 jobs and electrical and electronic equipment,
70,000. The biggest reductions were registered in computerrelated industries, particularly electronic computing equip
ment and electronic components including semiconductors.
The computer industry has recently begun to face serious
import competition, particularly in the semiconductor mar
ket. In addition, earlier overprojections of product demand,
particularly in the personal computer market, were reflected
in production and employment cutbacks. Two other indus
tries, fabricated metals and miscellaneous manufacturing,
also had gained jobs earlier in the recovery but suffered
declines in 1985.
Six other industries had job losses in 1985— primary
metals, textiles, apparel, chemicals, petroleum, and leather.
With the exception of apparel, these industries had fewer
jobs at the end of 1985 than at the trough of the 1981-82
recession. Their continuing weakness is largely a reflection
of long-term structural adjustment problems, aggravated in
recent years by increased import competition. These six
industries had a combined loss of 140,000 jobs over the
year.
Three manufacturing industries showed job gains over the
year— transportation equipment (70,000), printing and pub
lishing (40,000), and food processing (20,000). The growth
in transportation equipment was due mainly to increases in
aircraft, guided missiles, and spacecraft manufacturing. Au
tomobile employment, which advanced very strongly in
1983 and 1984, held about steady during 1985. Job levels in
the remaining manufacturing industries were also little
changed over the year.
Other economic indicators reflect the 1985 slump in man
ufacturing. Following growth during the first 1^ years of the
recovery, the index of industrial production has essentially
been at a standstill since mid-1984. Capacity utilization also
peaked in mid-1984 after steady increases during the first
2 years of recovery, and has since declined.
Hours of work
The workweek of production or nonsupervisory workers
on private nonagricultural payrolls remained in the narrow
range of 35.0-35.2 hours throughout 1985. Following a
modest decline during the recession, hours had peaked at
35.4 in early 1984, but declined slightly later that year
before stabilizing in 1985. Average weekly hours have
shown a long-term secular downtrend over the entire post
war period, declining nearly 5 hours between 1945 and
7
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Employment and Unemployment in 1985
1985. This has largely been due to increasing percentages of
employment concentrated in retail trade and services, indus
tries which have large— and growing— numbers of parttime employees.
Average weekly hours in manufacturing declined slightly
in the first half of 1985. That trend was reversed in the
second half, and the factory workweek rose to a very high
40.8 hours by yearend. Factory overtime followed the same
general pattern and reached 3.5 hours in the fourth quarter.
In 1985, the index of aggregate weekly hours, a more
comprehensive measure which takes into account both the
number of production workers and their average hours, rose
for the third straight year. Spurred by the strong employ
ment growth, it stood at 117.7 (1977 = 100) in the last
quarter, its highest level ever recorded. The aggregate hours
index for manufacturing fell slightly between the fourth
quarters of 1984 and 1985, reflecting the decline in
employment.
Unemployment
The number of unemployed persons declined in the sec
ond half of 1985 to about 8 million in December. Similarly,
the jobless rate, which had remained little changed from late
1984 through the first half of 1985, dipped to 7.0 percent in
the fourth quarter, down sharply from the recession high of
10.6 percent in late 1982. During the past 3 years of eco
nomic expansion, jobless rates for all civilians and for most
major labor force groups fell back to or below prerecession
peak (July 1981) levels. Despite these declines, jobless rates
for virtually all worker groups at year’s end were still above
those prevailing just before the onset of the 1980 recession.
As the tabulation below shows, the unemployment rate in
crease over the period was sharpest for men— especially
those in the 25-54 age group.
Fourth-quarter
Total, 16 years and over . . .
1979
5.9
1982
10.6
1985
7.0
Men:
16-24 years ............................
25-54 years ............................
55 years and o v er....................
11.6
3.6
2.8
20.3
9.1
5.8
14.0
5.4
4.0
Women:
16-24 years ............................ .
25-54 years ............................
55 years and o v er....................
12.5
5.1
3.1
17.0
8.5
5.0
13.1
5.8
3.7
The back-to-back recessions in 1980 and 1981-82 hit the
goods-producing industries extremely hard. In effect, the
sector experienced one deep and prolonged downturn, as
employment fell by about
million between the fourth
quarters of 1979 and 1982. Despite 3 full years of expan
sion, goods-related employment had recovered only about
80 percent of the jobs lost by the end of 1985. Weak em-
Chart 1. Employment changes by major industry division, fourth-quarter 1984-1985
Digitized for 8FRASER
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Thousands
_250
0
250
500
Thousands
750
1,000
1,250
Chart 2. Employment In the service-producing and goods-producing sectors,
seasonally adjusted, 1945-85
In millions
In millions
ployment demand in this sector thus far in the 1980’s has
had its most adverse effect on men of prime working age. As
the above tabulation shows, their jobless rate jumped from
3.6 percent in 1979 to 9.1 percent in 1982 before it began
to recover. However, with an incomplete recovery in goodsproducing employment, their rate was about l£ times higher
in 1985 than in 1979.
At the same time that employment weakened in goodsproducing industries, the supply of 25- to 44-year-old work
ers (both men and women) expanded rapidly. As the babyboom generation moved into adulthood in the 1980’s, the
work force aged 25 to 44 jumped by 12 million. In contrast,
the labor force of younger workers declined and that of
persons aged 45 and over was little changed between 1979
and 1985. The decrease (approximately 2 million over the
period) in the number of 16- to 24-year-olds in the labor
force helped to moderate unemployment problems for these
younger workers.
Women of prime working age were much less affected by
the cyclical swings of the 1980’s than were men, because
women’s employment is concentrated in the steadily ex
panding service-producing sector. The low proportion of
females employed in the goods-producing sector (20 percent
versus 43 percent for men) is a major reason that jobless
rates for 25- to 54-year-old women increased much less than
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those of their male counterparts in the early 1980’s. By
1985, the jobless rate for these women had decreased to a
level only moderately above the 1979 level.
Whites, blacks, and Hispanics.
The longstanding dispar
ity between white and black labor market success did not
change appreciably during the recessions of the early 1980’s
or the subsequent strong recovery. The black jobless rate
was about 15 percent at the end of 1985; the rate for whites
was 6 percent. Although both rates in 1985 were substan
tially below their 1982 highs, neither was back to its 1979
level— about 12 percent for black workers and 5 percent for
whites.
Adult men of both races accounted for most of the unem
ployment rate increases in the early 1980’s. Their 1985 rates
were still more than one-third higher than in 1979. In con
trast, jobless rates for black and white women in 1985 were
less than one-fourth above those of 1979. The rate for black
teenagers, which had been as high as 50 percent during
much of 1982 and 1983, declined to approximately 40 per
cent in 1985— marginally above that in 1979. For white
teenagers, the 1985 rate (16 percent) was also slightly above
the 1979 level.
The labor market experience for persons of Hispanic
origin essentially followed the business cycle swings during
9
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Employment and Unemployment in 1985
the 1980’s. Their unemployment rate rose from about
9 percent in 1979 to more than 15 percent in 1982 and then
decreased to the 10.5- to 11-percent range in 1984 and 1985.
The Hispanic population grew substantially in 1985 (more
than 3 percent on an annual basis), and their employment
also showed a large gain.
Industry and occupation.
Between 1983 and 1984, unem
ployment rates for workers in all major industry groups had
declined, with the goods-producing sector showing the
sharpest drop.5 However, while moderate declines contin
ued in most service-producing industries during 1985, the
jobless rate for workers in the goods-producing industries
was unchanged. The rate for factory workers, which had
fallen from 8.9 to 7.3 percent between 1983 and 1984,
edged up to 7.5 percent by the end of 1985— with all of the
increase occuring in durable goods industries. For wage and
salary workers in the service-producing sector, jobless rate
declines were most notable in services and government.
Unemployment rates for all major occupational groups
had dropped between 1983 and 1984, but showed little
further improvement in 1985.6 Among managerial and pro
fessional workers, where employment growth was strong,
the jobless rate declined from 2.4 to 2.2 percent between
1984 and 1985. Small declines also took place for adminis
trative support workers and skilled craft workers in the con
struction trades. However, the unemployment rate was vir
tually unchanged for machine operators, assemblers, and
inspectors, most of whom work in manufacturing.
Duration and reasons.
Total unemployment declined
only slightly in 1985, but the average duration of unemploy
ment dropped from about 17 to 15j weeks. Despite consid
erable improvement over the recession high of 21 weeks, the
average length of an ongoing unemployment spell was still
5 weeks longer than in 1979. Long-term (15 weeks or more)
and very long-term unemployment (27 weeks or more),
which tend to lag cyclical changes, continued to fall during
1985, while the number of persons jobless for less than
5 weeks rose slightly. However, in spite of sharp decreases
since 1983, the numbers of long-term and very long-term
unemployed in late 1985, at 2.2 and 1.2 million, respec
tively, remained very high by historical standards. •
Changes in the number of persons unemployed for differ
ent reasons were also comparatively small between 1984
and 1985. The most highly cyclical group— persons seeking
work because they had lost their last jobs— continued to
decline, although much more moderately than earlier in the
recovery. Their proportion of total unemployment dropped
from 61 percent at the 1982 recession trough to just below
50 percent at the end of 1985. There were small increases in
the number of persons unemployed because they had left
their last jobs or had reentered the labor market after a
period of absence.
Chart 3. Number of persons working part time involuntarily by major reason,
seasonally adjusted quarterly averages, 1965-85
Mi||i° ns
NOTE: Shaded areas indicate recessions as designated by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Digitized for10
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Millions
T ab le 3. P ercent change in n on ag ricu ltu ral payroll
employment from trough to 37 months after trough, five
postwar recessions
Industry
1982
1975
1954
1961
1949
trough trough trough trough trough
Total nonagricultural.........................................
Mining ..........................................................
Construction.................................................
Manufacturing...............................................
16.1
49.8
21.3
23.3
8.4
5.7
13.4
5.9
8.1
-6.7
9.0
6.6
12.6
17.9
19.8
11.8
11.7
-7.4
24.0
7.4
Transportation and public utilities ...............
Wholesale tra d e ...........................................
Retail trad e...................................................
11.5
8.5
10.3
4.0
6.2
6.7
0.4
5.7
7.0
7.2
11.9
15.1
6.7
12.3
16.5
Finance, insurance, and real estate.............
Services........................................................
Government.................................................
11.9
8.8
14.4
11.2
13.1
13.2
8.6
13.7
12.0
12.8
17.1
7.1
13.2
17.4
4.4
Note: Data are seasonally adjusted.
Short workweeks and discouragement
About
million persons worked part time but wanted
full-time work in 1985, down slightly from 1984. However,
the number of these economic (or involuntary) part-time
workers in 1985 was still 1 million above the prerecession
low and 2 million above the 1979 level. (See chart 3.)
The two major components of part-time employment for
economic reasons— slack work and inability to find full
time work— have behaved differently over the last several
years. Slack work, which refers to an employer-initiated
curtailment of hours, is highly cyclical and generally leads
changes in overall economic activity because employers
tend to reduce hours before laying off employees. Similarly,
as the economy recovers, employers tend to restore hours
before rehiring laid-off workers.7 As the chart shows, the
number on short workweeks because of slack work began to
rise before the start of the last three recessions. It also led the
recovery from the 1981-82 recession, falling from 3.7 mil
lion in September 1982 to 2.3 million by mid-1984. How
ever, since the second quarter of 1984, it has fluctuated
between 2.3 and 2.6 million.
Economic part-time employment stemming from an in
ability to find full-time work is less cyclical than slack work.
In addition to the general state of the economy, this “failure
to find work” series also reflects the experience, skills, and
training of jobseekers and the availability of work schedules
desired by workers. The number of persons who could only
find part-time employment rose from early 1980 through
mid-1983 and declined only slightly over the next 2\ years.
At 2.9 million in 1985, the failure-to-find component of
involuntary part-time employment was double the 1979
level and four times as high as in the late 1960’s.
Despite 3 years of strong economic expansion, the num
ber of discouraged workers— persons who report that they
want to work but are not looking for a job because they
believe they could not find one— has remained about un
changed since mid-1984. The number of discouraged work
ers rose from about 800,000 in 1979 to 1.8 million at the
recession trough in fourth-quarter 1982. However, after
dropping to 1.2 million by the third quarter of 1984, it has
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shown no further sustained improvement. As was true for
economic part-timers, the number of discouraged workers in
1985 exceeded the 1981 prerecession peak and was substan
tially above the 1979 level.
Most discouraged workers cite job market factors— rather
than personal factors, such as age or lack of skills, educa
tion, or training— as their reason for not seeking work. The
number of persons citing job market factors, which tracks
closely with business cycle swings, dropped from 1.4 mil
lion in late 1982 and early 1983 to just below 900,000 in the
third quarter of 1984, and declined to 800,000 by the fourth
quarter of 1985. The smaller group citing personal factors
has fluctuated between 325,000 and 425,000 for the past 3
years.
Labor force
The civilian labor force rose by about 2 million, or
1.7 percent, in both 1984 and 1985. These increases, while
larger than those which had occurred during the recession
years between 1980 and 1983, were well below the 2.7percent annual average gain during the 1970’s. The slower
pace of labor force growth thus far in the 1980’s reflects
both demographic changes and cyclical effects.
The civilian noninstitutional population aged 16 and over
had jumped by 3 million per year during the 1970’s, as most
of the baby-boom generation reached working age. How
ever, during the 1980’s, the population increase eased to an
average of 2.2 million, a slowdown that reflects the sharp
decline in birth rates beginning in the mid-1960’s. This
falloff in the potential labor supply in the early 1980’s, of
course, coincided with a period of very weak employment
demand. And as indicated earlier, the impact of 3 consecu
tive bad years was greatest in the cyclically sensitive goodsproducing industries, in which men are more likely to be
employed.
During the recessions of the early 1980’s, male labor
force participation rates decreased, after holding steady dur
ing the late 1970’s. Table 4 shows that annual average
participation rates for men and women moved differently in
the 1980’s, as had been the case throughout the postwar
period. The long-term decline in labor force participation
Table 4. Annual average labor force participation rates by
sex, selected years, 1950-85
Men
Women
1950 .................................................
1960 .................................................
1970 .................................................
86.4
83.3
79.7
33.9
37.7
43.3
1976
1977
1978
1979
.................................................
.................................................
.................................................
.................................................
77.5
77.7
77.9
77.8
47.3
48.4
50.0
50.9
1980 .................................................
19 8 1 .................................................
1982 .................................................
1983 .................................................
1984 .................................................
1985 .................................................
77.4
77.0
76.6
76.4
76.4
76.3
51.5
52.1
52.6
52.9
53.6
54.5
Year
11
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Employment and Unemployment in 1985
for men has been concentrated in the older age groups,
reflecting a movement toward early retirement. However,
this trend was interrupted in the late 1970’s, then resumed
during the 1980-82 downturn, and there was no rebound at
all during the 1983-85 expansion. The participation rate for
women continued its secular uptrend into the 1980’s, al
though the rate of growth moderated somewhat during the
recession years. As the economic recovery continued into its
second and third years, female participation accelerated,
reaching 54.5 percent by 1985.
T h e l a b o r m a r k e t e x p e r i e n c e in the 1980’s can be
viewed in terms of two sharply distinct periods. The first
3 years of the decade were characterized by severe and
protracted labor market problems— especially in the goodsproducing industries and for adult men. The 1983-85 recov
ery and expansion has been strong and widespread: Em
ployment recorded very large gains over these 3 years, and
unemployment fell more than in any 3-year recovery period
since the mid-1950’s. However, despite sustained improve
ments in overall labor market measures, certain areas, such
as manufacturing, remain weak. Factory employment in late
1985 was about 1 million below its 1981 prerecession peak
and 2 million below its 1979 high. Moreover, while jobless
rates for most worker groups fell substantially over the
1983-85 period, they had not yet returned to the lows that
prevailed in the late 1970’s.
□
FOOTNOTES
1 Business cycle peaks and troughs are designated by the National Bu
reau o f Economic Research. The three most recent recessions extended
from the following peak-to-trough dates: November 1973-March 1975,
January 1980-July 1980, and July 1981-November 1982.
shown more employment growth during the current recovery period, partic
ularly between 1984 and 1985. Although the precise reasons for this diver
gence are unclear, there are several factors which can contribute to different
survey results, including differences in definitions and coverage.
2 The Current Population Survey gathers data monthly from a sample of
about 60,000 households and provides information on the labor force,
employment, and unemployment by demographic and economic character
istics. The Current Employment Statistics program is a monthly survey of
approximately 280,000 nonagricultural establishments and provides infor
mation on the number o f persons on business payrolls, as well as on
average hours and earnings.
5 Unemployed persons are classified according to the industry and occu
pation o f their last full-time job lasting 2 weeks or more.
3 The Producer Price Index for crude foodstuffs and feedstuffs dropped
an average o f 2 percent per month in the first 9 months of 1985.
4 The long-term movements o f employment from the Current Population
Survey and the Current Employment Statistics survey are very similar.
Differences in short-run changes, especially over the course of a business
cycle, are not unusual. The Current Employment Statistics survey has
12
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6 Comparisons are based on unadjusted data averaged for the fourth
quarters. Beginning in January 1983, occupational data from the Current
Population Survey were coded and published according to the 1980 Census
system, which evolved from the Standard Occupational Classification sys
tem. Seasonal adjustment of data based on the new classification system
will not be possible until at least 5 years of data are available. For further
information on the change in occupational classification, see “Revisions in
the Current Population Survey Beginning in January 1983,” Employment
and Earnings, February 1983, pp. 7 -1 5 .
7 See Robert W. Bednarzik, “Short workweeks during economic down
turns,” Monthly Labor Review, June 1983, pp. 3 -1 1 .
Part-time workers:
who are they?
,
A new definition of part-timers
utilizing existing data
from the Current Population Survey,
gives a more accurate estimate of the
number of part-time workers
Thom as
J.
N
ardone
Although typically pictured as working 40 hours a week, the
American work force includes a substantial number of per
sons who put in far fewer hours. Young people working
while attending school, parents juggling childrearing and
career responsibilities, those in retirement wishing to remain
partly active in the work force, and workers whose hours
have been reduced because of economic conditions are ex
amples of persons who either choose or have to settle for
part-time employment.
Because of the variety of situations found in the work
place, labor market analysts who study part-time employ
ment have sometimes found it a difficult concept to define.
Although the official government definition of part-time
work is clear, estimating the number of part-time workers is
more complex. It depends on exactly what is being meas
ured— the total number of persons who worked part-time
hours during the survey reference week, the number who
choose to work part-time hours, or the number who typically
work part time.
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes data
on the number of hours worked by persons during the survey
reference week and considerable detail about persons who
work less than 35 hours a week— the official boundary
between full- and part-time employment.1 The data col
lected include both the reasons people work less than
35 hours as well as their usual full- or part-time status.
Thomas J. Nardone is an economist in the Division of Employment and
Unemployment Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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To reflect the diversity of the workplace, BLS disaggregates
the data about people at work less than 35 hours into
three subgroups: (1) those voluntarily at work part time,
(2) those working part time for economic reasons,
and (3) those who usually work full time but worked less
than 35 hours during the reference week because of holiday,
illness, vacation, or similar reasons. These data are com
bined with information on several other groupings— persons
at work more than 35 hours (full-time workers), employed
persons who were not at work during the survey reference
week, and unemployed persons— to yield estimates of the
full- and part-time labor forces. These categories are useful
for a variety of analyses. The number of persons at work
part time for economic reasons, for example, is of interest
as a measure of underutilization of human resources and also
is an important indicator of the cyclical movements in the
labor market.2 Data about the full- and part-time labor
forces are used for unemployment rate calculations and to
develop several of the alternative measures of unemploy
ment that enhance our understanding of the labor market.3
Despite their usefulness, none of these groupings actually
provides an estimate of the number of people who usually
work part time. For example, the concept of voluntary parttime employment excludes persons who want full-time work
but settle for a part-time job. The “at work” concept ex
cludes the people who have part-time jobs but were away
from their jobs during the survey reference week because of
vacation, illness, or other reasons. The labor force cate
gories classify some people according to the type of job they
13
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Part-Time Workers
want, not necessarily the type they have.
This article discusses available BLS data about part-time
workers, describing what information is published, and sug
gests a new combination of the data— all persons who usu
ally work part time— which would provide a more accurate
estimate of part-time employment. The data are based on the
Current Population Survey (C P S), a monthly sample survey
of about 60,000 households nationwide, which provides
information on the employment and unemployment status
and related characteristics of the civilian population 16 years
of age and over.
Defining full and part time
When defining the full- and part-time status of workers,
the first consideration is the number of hours worked during
the survey reference week. As mentioned previously,
35 hours is the boundary between full- and part-time em
ployment. Part-time work is defined as less than 35 hours a
week. Working less than 35 hours during the survey week,
however, is not a sufficient condition for classifying a per
son as a part-time worker. The worker’s usual schedule and
reason for working less than 35 hours a week also must be
considered.4 In addition to workers’ preference, reasons for
part-time hours can be economic— slack work, material
shortages, beginning or ending a job, or because only a
part-time job could be found— or noneconomic— holiday,
vacation, illness, or bad weather. Based on their usual
schedule and their reason for working a part-time schedule,
persons at work less than 35 hours a week are allocated
according to the pattern shown in table 1.
Those who usually work full time but during the survey
reference week worked less than 35 hours for noneconomic
reasons— 5.6 million in 1985— are combined with those
who worked more than 35 hours during the survey week
under the label “full-time schedules.” In terms of “labor
force” classification, persons at work on “full-time sched
T a b le 1 .
P e rs o n s a t w o rk 1 to 3 4 h o u rs b y re a s o n fo r
w o r k i n g le s s t h a n 3 5 h o u r s , a n d u s u a l s t a t u s , 1 9 8 5 a n n u a l
a v e ra g e s
[In thousands]
Reason fo r w o rking less than 35 hours
Total
Usually w o rk
fu ll tim e
Usually w ork
part tim e
Total, 16 years and o ld e r ...................
24,682
7,342
17,340
Economic reasons .........................................
Slack work .................................................
Material shortages or repairs to plant
and equipment ......................................
New job started during w e e k .....................
Job terminated during week .....................
Could find only part-time w o rk ...................
5,590
2,430
1,739
1,398
3,851
1,032
62
190
90
2,819
62
190
90
—
Other reasons ...............................................
Does not want, or unavailable for,
full-time w o rk ...........................................
Vacation......................................................
Illness..........................................................
Bad weather...............................................
Industrial dispute.........................................
Legal or religious holiday............................
Full time for this jo b ....................................
All other reasons.........................................
19,092
5,603
11,217
1,360
1,539
674
8
682
1,545
2,066
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—
1,360
1,395
674
8
682
—
1,484
—
—
—
2,819
13,489
11,217
—
144
_
—
—
1,545
582
ules” are combined with persons who are not at work during
the reference week but usually work more than 35 hours,
those working “part time for economic reasons,” and unem
ployed workers seeking full-time jobs to form the “full-time
labor force.” (See box.)
Components of the full- and
part-time labor forces
Full-time labor force:
• Employed persons on full-time schedules
• Employed persons working part time for economic
reasons
• Employed persons not at work, who usually work full
time
• Unemployed persons seeking full-time work
Part-time labor force:
• Employed persons working part time voluntarily
• Employed persons not at work, who usually work part
time
• Unemployed persons seeking part-time work
The workers who usually work part time for noneconomic
reasons— 13.5 million in 1985— are classified as the
“voluntary part-time employed,” a group that has been the
focus of several studies in recent years.5 They clearly are
part-timers. The vast majority of these workers do not want
or are unavailable for jobs which call for 35 hours or more
of work per week. The voluntary part-time group plus those
employed persons not at work during the reference week
who usually work less than 35 hours a week and unem
ployed workers who are seeking part-time jobs form the
“part-time labor force.” (See box.)
As stated above, workers who put in less than 35 hours a
week because of slack work, the inability to find full-time
work, or similar reasons— the 5.6 million workers on part
time for economic reasons in 1985— are included in the
full-time labor force. However, by treating them as a single
group, the usual full-time/part-time work status of such
workers is not readily identified. And, the two main compo
nents of the group— persons on slack work and persons who
could only find part-time jobs— are quite dissimilar in terms
of their usual work status.
Most of the workers on “part time for economic reasons”
due to “slack work” usually work full time, while all who
“could only find part-time work” usually work part time.
Persons who worked less than 35 hours during the reference
week because of slack work, but who usually work full
time, are workers who have full-time jobs but are on a
reduced work schedule temporarily because of low demand.
This group expects to return to a full-time schedule when
economic conditions improve, and thus it seems reasonable
to view such persons as full-time workers. Those who
worked less than 35 hours because they “could only find
part-time work,” however, present a somewhat different
situation. Despite their desire for full-time work, these per
sons only have part-time jobs. Their part-time status may or
may not change as economic conditions improve, because
they would have to find another job in order to become
full-time workers. Therefore, to arrive at a more accurate
estimate of the number of persons who typically work part
time, it is necessary to disaggregate those working part time
for economic reasons into two groups according to their
usual full- or part-time schedule.
Several characteristics of those working part time for
economic reasons illustrate the differences between the
usual full-time and usual part-time workers. The data sug
gest that those who normally work full time resemble work
ers on “full-time schedules,” whereas persons who normally
work part time are more like voluntary part-time workers.
One example is the number of hours worked. The following
tabulation shows the percent of workers on part-time sched
ules for economic reasons and those on voluntary part time
by the number of hours worked, 1985:
Part time for
economic reasons
Usually
Usually
full time part time
T o tal................................
100.0
100.0
1 to 4 h o u rs.......................
1.3
3.5
5 to 14 h o u rs......................
10.9
17.2
42.9
54.8
15 to 29 h o u rs.........................
30 to 34 h o u rs.........................
44.9
24.5
Voluntary
Part time
100.0
4.4
22.8
54.2
18.6
While close to half (45 percent) of the usual full-timers
worked 30 to 34 hours a week, only a quarter of the usual
part-timers did. More than half of the usual part-timers
worked the number of hours— 15 to 29 a week— typical for
the “voluntary part time.”
Another characteristic by which the two groups differ is
the distribution by sex. As is true for people on full-time
schedules, the majority of persons working part time invol
untarily who usually work full time are men. In contrast, the
majority of those who usually work part time— voluntarily
or involuntarily— are women.
Persons who usually work part time are also like volun
tary part-timers in their industrial and occupational distribu
tion. The services and retail trade industries account for the
vast majority of workers in both groups. The following
tabulation shows the distribution, by industry, of nonagricultural wage and salary workers on part time for economic
reasons and those on voluntary part time, 1985:
Part time for
economic reasons
T o tal........................
Retail trade ................
Services ......................
Other industries..........
Usually
full time
100.0
19.0
22.4
58.6
Usually
part time
100.0
40.3
35.4
24.3
Voluntary
part time
Characteristics of part-time workers
100.0
37.0
42.6
20.4
Among those part time for economic reasons who usually
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work full time, a sizable proportion are in the manufacturing
and construction industries. The occupational distributions
reflect these industry differences. “Sales” and “service” oc
cupations accounted for the largest part of both voluntary
and involuntary usual part-timers. In contrast, “precision
production, craft, and repair” and “operator, fabricator, and
laborer” occupations accounted for about half the economic
part-timers who usually are full time.
The inclusion of all persons usually working part time for
voluntary and economic reasons in the count of persons
employed part time also helps reconcile recent trends in
part-time employment and industry growth, and highlights
the importance of part-time workers in the labor market.
Between 1979 and 1985, employment in retail trade and
services increased by 7 million. Because firms in those
industries make extensive use of part-time workers, a signif
icant rise in part-time employment also should have
occurred during that period. Voluntary part-time employ
ment— the traditional measure of part-time employment—
increased by only 596,000. If all persons who usually work
part time are tallied, however, the increase for the period
would have been 2.4 million. This is more in line with the
growth in retail trade and service employment. Further, the
part-time employed measure shows that during the 1970’s
and early 1980’s, part-time employment grew more rapidly
than full-time employment. (See chart 1.) The rapid growth
of part-time employment has led to some restructuring of the
work force. Between 1968 and 1980, the proportion of
employed persons who work part time edged up from 14 to
17 percent. The proportion reached 18 percent in 1982 as the
recession forced more workers to settle for part-time em
ployment. However, as the economy recovered during the
1983-85 period, the percentage returned to 17 percent.
Based on the findings presented above, it would seem that
the most simple, straightforward answer to the question
“How many part-time workers are there?” is a tally of the
number of workers who usually work part time, regardless
of the reason for their short hours. It would more accurately
estimate the number of part-time workers according to the
kinds of jobs they typically have.6 Beginning with data for
January 1986, the Bureau is revising table A -9 in its
monthly periodical Employment and Earnings, to show em
ployment by usual full- and part-time status in line with the
concepts discussed in this article. Table 2 presents 1985
annual average data displayed by the format for the revised
monthly table. Historical data are presented in table 3.
Monthly and quarterly seasonally adjusted data series will
be available in April 1986.
Younger (ages 16 to 24) and older (65 and over) workers
account for a much higher proportion of the part- than full
time employed. (See table 4.) A part-time schedule allows
young people to attend school while working. The connec
tion between part-time work and school attendance is shown
15
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Part-Time Workers
ployed full time. This reflects the fact that female teenagers
are more likely to be part-timers.
While most women who are employed part time are mar
ried, most men are single. Men who work part time are three
times as likely as those employed full time to be single. This
difference results from the high proportion of very young
men working part time.
As shown in the tabulation below, a slightly higher pro
portion of whites than blacks were employed part time in
1985— 18 versus 16 percent. This difference was greater
among women than men. Women accounted for about twothirds of those usually employed part time among each racial
group. (Also see table 4.)
in the new BLS series on employment status by school en
rollment. In October 1985, 6.3 million people between the
ages of 16 and 24 were in school and employed. About fourfifths of these worked part time. By comparison, of the
13.8 million in that age group who worked but were not
enrolled in school, fewer than 15 percent were part-timers.7
Part-time schedules are attractive to older workers, who use
them to ease the transition into retirement. These jobs also
provide supplementary retirement income.
While age differences between part- and full-time work
ers occur among both sexes, differences are more pro
nounced among men. Nearly two-thirds of male part-timers
are 16 to 24 years old or 65 years and older, compared with
only one-third of their female counterparts.
Women make up the majority of the part-time em
ployed— two-thirds of the total in 1985. (See table 4.)
While full-time employment is the norm for both sexes,
about 27 percent of the women are employed part time,
compared with 10 percent of the men. This difference prob
ably reflects the higher proportion of women who also han
dle household and childrearing responsibilities and therefore
need flexibility in their work schedules.
About 6 of 10 women employed part time are married
with their spouse present, about the same proportion as
women who are employed full time. About 3 of 10 have
never been married, a higher ratio than among women em-
Percent of employed
persons usually working:
White ..........................................
Men ...................................
W omen....................................
Full time
82.4
90.2
72.4
Part time
17.6
9.8
27.6
Black ..........................................
Men ........................................
W omen....................................
84.0
88.1
79.9
16.0
11.9
20.1
Industry and occupational distribution
Part-time workers are more apt than their full-time coun
terparts to hold jobs in retail trade and services industries.
Chart 1. Index of full- and part-time employment and part-time employment as a proportion
of total employment, 1968-85
Percent
Percent
1968
Percent
Digitized for16
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
70
72
74
76
78
80
82
84
85
Percent
Table 2.
Employed and unemployed full- and part-time workers by sex, age, and race, 1985 annual averages
[In thousands]
Unemployed
Employed
Part time
Full time
Voluntary1
Part time for
economic
reasons,
usually work
part time
Looking for
full-time
work
Looking for
part-time
work
18,615
3,927
2,053
1,875
14,688
2,999
11,689
8,405
3,284
14,740
3,278
1,830
1,449
11,486
2,163
9,323
6,447
2,876
3,851
649
223
426
3,202
836
2,366
1,958
408
6,793
777
198
579
6,015
1,493
4,522
4,056
466
1,519
690
463
227
829
245
584
439
145
1,030
80
950
183
766
650
116
6,028
1,891
4,137
1,261
2,876
1,568
1,308
4,486
1,574
2,912
872
2,040
878
1,162
1,542
317
1,225
389
836
690
146
3,925
446
3,479
857
2,622
2,329
292
596
360
236
87
149
79
70
33,963
1,017
32,946
4,788
28,158
24,375
3,782
709
52
658
115
543
463
80
12,587
2,036
10,550
1,738
8,812
6,837
1,976
10,278
1,704
8,574
1,291
7,283
5,569
1,715
2,309
332
1,976
447
1,529
1,268
261
2,868
331
2,536
636
1,900
1,727
173
923
330
593
158
434
359
75
47,824
1,298
46,526
5,371
41,155
34,682
6,473
46,953
1,229
45,724
5,213
40,511
34,137
6,374
871
69
802
158
644
545
99
5,222
1,686
3,536
1,057
2,480
1,283
1,197
4,009
1,421
2,588
759
1,829
752
1,077
1,213
265
948
298
651
531
120
2,961
318
2,642
624
2,019
1,778
241
465
274
192
70
122
63
59
29,441
953
28,488
4,290
24,197
20,811
3,386
28,859
907
27,952
4,198
23,753
20,438
3,315
582
46
536
92
444
373
71
11,249
1,831
9,418
1,517
7,901
6,182
1,719
9,383
1,548
7,835
1,153
6,682
5,168
1,514
1,866
283
1,583
364
1,219
1,014
205
2,027
230
1,797
420
1,377
1,235
142
738
252
486
121
365
301
65
Men, 16 years and over .............................................................................
16 to 19 years ................................................................................................
20 years and over ..........................................................................................
20 to 24 years ............................................................................................
25 years and over ......................................................................................
25 to 54 years..........................................................................................
55 years and o v e r....................................................................................
4,641
118
4,524
567
3,957
3,429
528
4,506
108
4,399
546
3,853
3,341
512
135
10
125
21
104
88
16
629
161
468
159
310
221
89
341
115
226
75
152
85
67
288
46
242
84
158
136
22
839
119
719
209
510
465
45
112
74
38
15
23
14
9
Women, 16 years and o v e r.........................................................................
16 to 19 y e a rs ................................................................................................
20 years and over ..........................................................................................
20 to 24 years ............................................................................................
25 years and over ......................................................................................
25 to 54 years..........................................................................................
55 years and o v e r....................................................................................
4,180
92
4,086
501
3,585
3,200
385
4,073
87
3,985
481
3,504
3,125
379
107
5
101
20
81
75
6
1,051
161
890
171
720
499
221
665
117
548
95
453
281
172
386
44
342
76
267
218
49
757
95
662
199
445
435
10
156
69
87
32
55
45
10
Total
Full-time
schedules1
Part time for
economic
reasons,
usually work
full time
Total
Total, 16 years and o v e r.............................................................................
16 to 19 y e a rs ................................................................................................
16 to 17 years ............................................................................................
18 to 19 years ............................................................................................
20 years and over ..........................................................................................
20 to 24 years ............................................................................................
25 years and over ......................................................................................
25 to 54 years..........................................................................................
55 years and o v e r....................................................................................
88,535
2,507
440
2,066
86,029
10,981
75,047
64,044
11,003
86,795
2,375
412
1,962
84,421
10,683
73,737
62,931
10,806
1,740
132
28
104
1,608
298
1,310
1,113
197
Men, 16 years and over .............................................................................
16 to 19 y e a rs ................................................................................................
20 years and over ..........................................................................................
20 to 24 years ............................................................................................
25 years and over ......................................................................................
25 to 54 years..........................................................................................
55 years and o v e r....................................................................................
53,862
1,437
52,425
6,078
46,346
39,207
7,139
52,832
1,357
51,475
5,895
45,580
38,557
7,032
Women, 16 years and o v e r.........................................................................
16 to 19 years ................................................................................................
20 years and over ..........................................................................................
20 to 24 years ............................................................................................
25 years and over ......................................................................................
25 to 54 years..........................................................................................
55 years and o v e r....................................................................................
34,672
1,069
33,604
4,903
28,701
24,838
3,862
Men, 16 years and over .............................................................................
16 to 19 y e a rs ................................................................................................
20 years and over ..........................................................................................
20 to 24 years ............................................................................................
25 years and over ......................................................................................
25 to 54 years..........................................................................................
55 years and o v e r....................................................................................
Women, 16 years and o v e r.........................................................................
16 to 19 years ................................................................................................
20 years and over ..........................................................................................
20 to 24 years ............................................................................................
25 years and over ......................................................................................
25 to 54 years..........................................................................................
55 years and o v e r....................................................................................
Sex, age, and race
Total
White
Black
1 Employed persons with a job but not at work are distributed according to whether they
usually work full or part time.
Note: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
Together, these industries accounted for 79 percent of the
part-time nonagricultural wage and salary workers. This
concentration is mirrored in the occupational distribution;
nearly half of all part-timers are in sales or service jobs.
The high concentration of part-time workers in retail trade
and services reflects their importance in these industries. A
third o f the wage and salary workers in retail trade and a fifth
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of those in services are employed part time. The extensive
use of part-time workers in these industries results from the
need of such businesses to offer services to customers during
evenings and other times that are not readily staffed by
full-timers. In goods-producing industries where operations
generally are conducted in one 8-hour shift or more, the
usefulness of part-time workers is limited. As a result, these
17
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
Table 3.
February 1986
Part-Time Workers
•
Employed full- and part-time workers by sex and age, 1968-85 annual averages
[In thousands]
Men, 20 years and over
Total
Year
Total
Full
time
Part
time
Women, 20 years and over
Total
Full
time
Part
time
Total
Full
time
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Part
time
Total
Full
time
Part
time
1968 ...............................................................................
1969 ...............................................................................
1970 ...............................................................................
75,920
77,902
78,678
65,276
66,596
66,752
10,643
11,306
11,924
44,859
45,388
45,581
42,720
43,100
43,138
2,139
2,288
2,444
25,281
26,397
26,952
19,600
20,454
20,654
5,681
5,944
6,297
5,781
6,117
6,144
2,956
3,042
2,960
2,823
3,074
3,183
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
79,367
82,153
85,064
86,794
85,846
66,973
69,213
71,803
73,091
71,585
12,394
12,938
13,262
13,702
14,260
45,912
47,130
48,310
48,922
48,018
43,322
44,475
45,637
46,157
45,051
2,591
2,654
2,673
2,764
2,966
27,246
28,276
29,484
30,424
30,726
20,769
21,536
22,494
23,181
23,242
6,477
6,741
6,990
7,243
7,484
6,208
6,746
7,271
7,448
7,104
2,882
3,202
3,672
3,753
3,292
3,326
3,543
3,599
3,695
3,810
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
88,752
92,017
96,048
98,824
99,303
73,965
76,626
80,195
82,654
82,564
14,788
15,393
15,855
16,171
16,742
49,190
50,555
52,143
53,308
53,101
46,175
47,403
49,007
50,174
49,699
3,016
3,152
3,136
3,134
3,403
32,226
33,775
35,836
37,434
38,492
24,406
25,587
27,326
28,622
29,391
7,819
8,187
8,511
8,812
9,102
7,336
7,688
8,070
8,083
7,710
3,384
3,636
3,862
3,858
3,474
3,953
4,054
4,208
4,225
4,237
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
100,397
99,526
100,834
105,005
107,150
83,242
81,419
82,322
86,544
88,535
17,154
18,106
18,511
18,461
18,615
53,582
52,891
53,487
55,769
56,562
50,092
48,895
49,264
51,624
52,425
3,490
3,996
4,223
4,145
4,137
39,590
40,086
41,004
42,793
44,154
30,040
30,007
30,680
32,404
33,604
9,549
10,079
10,324
10,388
10,550
7,225
6,549
6,342
6,444
6,434
3,110
2,517
2,378
2,516
2,507
4,115
4,031
3,964
3,928
3,927
Note : Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
Table 4. Employed persons by usual status and age, sex,
and race, 1985
[In percent]
Employed
Characteristic
Usually
full time
Usually
part time
88,535
2.8
0.5
2.3
97.2
12.4
31.1
24.7
16.6
10.9
6.8
4.1
1.5
18,615
21.1
11.0
10.1
78.9
16.1
19.8
15.5
9.8
9.9
4.9
5.0
7.8
Total (in thousands).....................................................................
Men ..........................................................................................
Women ....................................................................................
88,535
60.8
39.2
18,615
32.4
67.6
White ....................................................................................
M en....................................................................................
Women .............................................................................
100.0
61.9
38.1
100.0
31.7
68.3
Black ....................................................................................
M e n ....................................................................................
Women .............................................................................
100.0
52.6
47.4
100.0
37.4
62.6
Age
16 years and over (in thousands)...............................................
16 to 19 ....................................................................................
16 and 1 7 .............................................................................
18 and 1 9 .............................................................................
20 and over .............................................................................
20 to 24 ...............................................................................
25 to 34 ...............................................................................
35 to 44 ...............................................................................
45 to 54 ...............................................................................
55 to 64 ...............................................................................
55 to 5 9 .............................................................................
60 to 6 4 .............................................................................
65 and o ve r...........................................................................
Sex and race
1 This definition has been in effect since 1947. Over the years some labor
market analysts have suggested this cutoff be revised, arguing that overall
hours o f work have declined over the long run, and thus the 40-hour
standard workweek, upon which the definition of the full-time workweek
is based, may no longer be the norm. The National Commission on Em
ployment and Unemployment Statistics addressed the issue in their report,
Counting the Labor Force. They found no evidence of a significant change
from the 40-hour standard and thus recommended that 35 hours continue
to be used as the dividing line between part- and full-time work. See
Counting the Labor Force, National Commission on Employment and
Unemployment Statistics (Washington, Government Printing Office,
1979), pp. 5 4 -5 5 .
18
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industries have very low percentages of part-time workers.
And, the occupations that are concentrated in those indus
tries such as precision production, craft, and repair and
operators, fabricators, and laborers have a very low percent
age of part-time workers. As expected, another occupational
group that typically has a low percentage of part-timers is
executive, administrative, and managerial.8
A n a l t e r n a t i v e w a y of combining existing data to esti
mate the number of part-time workers has been presented in
this article. Counting as “part-time employed” all persons
who usually work less than 35 hours a week appears to
reflect existing labor market conditions. However, there are
limitations to this estimate. To the extent that some workers
hold a full-time as well as a part-time job or combine two
separate part-time jobs in order to work more than 35 hours
a week, the suggested “part-time employed” figure underes
timates the number of part-time jobs. This problem occurs
because, in the CPS, multiple job-holders are counted only
once. Nevertheless, the CPS data are the only source of
current information about workers on part-time schedules,
and defining the part-time employed as suggested in this
article appears to be an accurate way to answer the oftenasked question: How many part-time workers are there? □
2 For a discussion of the cyclical sensitivity of this measure and its
component parts, see Robert W. Bednarzik, “Short workweeks during eco
nomic downturns,” Monthly Labor Review, June 1983, pp. 3 -1 1 .
3 Each month in the news release, “The Employment Situation,” BLS
publishes a set of alternative measures of unemployment. These measures,
labeled u - i through u -7 , are designed to reflect a wide range o f assumptions
about unemployment. Three of the alternatives involve the full-time/parttime concepts. U-4 is defined as unemployed full-time jobseekers as a
percent of the full-time labor force, u -6 is defined as total full-time job
seekers plus half of the part-time jobseekers plus half of the total working
part time for economic reasons as a percent of the civilian labor force less
half o f the part-time labor force, u -7 is the same as u -6 with the number of
discouraged workers added to the count of jobseekers and the civilian labor
force.
time workers: a growing part of the labor force,” Monthly Labor Review,
June 1978, pp. 3 -1 0 . The latter article dealt only with nonagricultural
employment.
4 Employed persons with a job but not at work during the survey refer
ence week are classified as full- or part-time workers according to whether
they usually work 35 hours or more. This group averaged 5.8 million in
1985, and ranged from a low of 3.9 million in November to a high of 11.8
million in July.
6 In terms of the existing classifications, a count of the part-time em
ployed would include voluntary part-timers, the part-timers for economic
reasons who usually work part time, and persons with a job but not at work
who usually work less than 35 hours a week.
5 See Carol Leon and Robert W. Bednarzik, “A profile of women on
part-time schedules,” Monthly Labor Review, October 1978, pp. 3-12; and
William V. Deutermann, Jr. and Scott Campbell Brown, “Voluntary part-
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7 See Anne McDougall Young, “New monthly data series on school age
youth,” Monthly Labor Review, July 1985, pp. 4 9 -5 0 .
8 Janice Neipert Hedges, “Job commitment in America: is it waxing or
waning?” Monthly Labor Review, July 1983, pp. 17-24.
Tenements house some hard numbers
During the winter of 1914-15 the Committee on Unemployment formed
by Mayor John P. Mitchell called upon the Bureau of Labor Statistics for
a series of field surveys of unemployment in New York City. The commit
tee had collected data from employers on the number employed in a week
of December 1914 and for the corresponding week of December 1913. At
about the same time, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, in cooper
ation with the Mayor’s Committee, had surveyed its industrial policyhold
ers in Greater New York. At the request of the committee, with personnel
borrowed from the U.S. Immigration Bureau and the New York City
Tenement House Inspection Service, the Bureau covered over 100 city
blocks and some 3,700 individual tenement houses in January and February
1915. It found an unemployment rate of 16.2 percent, which approximated
the 18-percent rate reported by Metropolitan. The results were published by
the Bureau in Unemployment in New York City, New York.
[BLS Commissioner] Meeker then contracted with Metropolitan for stud
ies in 16 cities in the East and Middle West and in 12 Rocky Mountain and
Pacific Coast cities. In August and September 1915, at the urging of the
Mayor’s Committee, both the Bureau and Metropolitan conducted surveys
in New York City for a second time. The results of this work were pre
sented in 1916 in a Bureau publication, Unemployment in the United
States.
— Joseph P. Goldberg and W illiam T. Moye
The First Hundred Years of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bulletin 2235 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 1985).
19
Hourly paid workers:
who they are and what they earn
More than half of all wage and salary workers
were paid by the hour during 1984;
median earnings were $5.95 per hour, but
a closer look reveals many variations among groups
Earl F. M ellor and Steven E. Haugen
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes several different
data series on the hourly earnings of workers, each high
lighting different worker and job-related characteristics. All
but one of these series are based on surveys of payroll and
other records of business establishments. Data from these
series contain considerable industrial detail. In contrast, the
remaining earnings series is based on a nationwide sample
survey of households, and provides detailed information on
hourly earnings by the demographic and social characteris
tics of the wage earners.1 (See the appendix on page 26.)
Moreover, the earnings obtained in the Current Population
Survey (CPS) of households represent only hourly wages
paid to the employee— stripped of any effects of tips,
premium pay for overtime, bonuses, and commissions.
More than half of all wage and salary workers are in this
category.
Earl F. Mellor and Steven E. Haugen are economists in the Division of
Employment and Unemployment Analysis, Office of Employment and
Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
20
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Who is paid by the hour
Altogether, 92 million American workers were paid
wages or salaries in 1984, and 54 million of them were paid
at hourly rates. The method of remuneration received by
workers is closely linked to the nature of jobs held. For
example, 80 percent of all part-time workers were paid by
the hour, compared with 54 percent of the full-time workers.
The fact that women were more likely than men to work part
time is reflected in the larger proportion of women who were
paid by the hour— 62 percent versus 56 percent (table 1).
The same explanation applies to younger versus older
workers. The proportion paid hourly rates was highest for
teenagers— 89 percent— and lowest for those in the central
prime age groups, comprising the 35 to 49 population. Even
for those aged 70 and over, the proportion was far below
that for teenagers and young adults. The high proportion of
young workers paid by the hour reflects their tendency to
work both part time and part year, and in occupations less
likely to be salaried even when they are employed all year
in full-time jobs.
Table 1.
Employed wage and salary workers paid hourly rates by selected characteristics, 1984 annual averages
[Numbers in thousands]
Workers paid hourly rates
All wage and salary workers
Characteristic
As a percent of
all workers
Number
Total
Men
Women
Total
Men
Women
Total
Men
Women
Race and Hispanic origin
92,194
80,071
9,699
5,271
50,022
43,932
4,819
3,067
42,172
36,139
4,880
2,204
54,143
46,098
6,623
3,643
28,140
24,084
3,346
2,165
26,003
22,014
3,277
1,479
58.7
57.6
68.3
69.1
56.3
54.8
69.4
70.6
61.7
60.9
67.2
67.1
19 years................................................................................................................................
24 years................................................................................................................................
29 years................................................................................................................................
34 years................................................................................................................................
39 years................................................................................................................................
44 years................................................................................................................................
6,243
13,661
14,559
12,917
11,222
8,917
3,171
7,189
8,021
7,164
6,107
4,811
3,072
6,472
6,539
5,754
5,115
4,107
5,552
10,092
8,667
6,898
5,658
4,535
2,787
5,442
4,756
3,744
2,838
2,214
2,765
4,650
3,911
3,154
2,820
2,321
88.9
73.9
59.5
53.4
50.4
50.9
87.9
75.7
59.3
52.3
46.5
46.0
90.0
71.8
59.8
54.8
55.1
56.5
45 to 49 years................................................................................................................................
50 to 54 years................................................................................................................................
55 to 59 years................................................................................................................................
60 to 64 years................................................................................................................................
65 to 69 years................................................................................................................................
70 years and o v e r..........................................................................................................................
7,097
6,391
5,694
3,599
1,148
743
3,887
3,561
3,176
1,947
591
398
3,211
2,832
2,517
1,652
557
345
3,586
3,302
2,954
1,894
606
398
1,766
1,687
1,506
935
267
198
1,820
1,615
1,448
959
340
200
50.5
51.7
51.9
52.6
52.8
53.6
45.4
47.4
47.4
48.0
45.2
49.7
56.7
57.0
57.5
58.1
61.0
58.0
17,282
5,368
11,914
13,880
4,243
9,637
80.3
79.0
80.9
16,366
2,599
12,667
279
475
270
76
53.7
54.4
59.7
54.6
41.2
27.6
19.7
53.5
55.6
61.0
55.4
43.3
29.1
20.1
54.1
53.8
57.9
53.1
35.1
21.8
17.7
Total, 16 years and o v e r...................................................................................................................
White .............................................................................................................................................
Black .............................................................................................................................................
Hispanic origin ..............................................................................................................................
Age
16 to
20 to
25 to
30 to
35 to
40 to
Hours usually worked
Part-time workers ..........................................................................................................................
74,912
6,961
52,307
1,517
5,327
6,076
2,723
44,654
2,132
30,426
992
3,972
4,838
2,294
30,258
4,829
21,882
525
1,355
1,238
429
40,262
3,784
31,238
829
2,195
1,678
537
23,896
1,185
18,571
550
1,721
1,409
461
Managerial and professional specialty..........................................................................................
Executive, administrative, and managerial ...............................................................................
Professional specialty ...............................................................................................................
20,817
9,314
11,504
11,412
5,879
5,533
9,404
3,434
5,970
4,641
1,670
2,972
1,636
755
881
3,005
914
2,091
22.3
17.9
25.8
14.3
12.8
15.9
32.0
26.6
35.0
Technical, sales, and administrative support ...............................................................................
Technicians and related support ..............................................................................................
Sales occupations......................................................................................................................
Administrative support, including clerical .................................................................................
29,135
3,090
9,916
16,130
9,689
1,578
4,806
3,305
19,446
1,510
5,111
12,825
16,373
1,763
5,220
9,390
4,157
766
1,439
1,952
12,217
998
3,781
7,438
56.2
57.1
52.6
58.2
42.9
48.5
29.9
59.1
62.8
66.1
74.0
58.0
Service occupations ......................................................................................................................
Private household ......................................................................................................................
Protective service ......................................................................................................................
Service, except private household and protective....................................................................
13,066
1,008
1,659
10,398
5,249
39
1,438
3,772
7,817
970
220
6,626
9,899
511
892
8,496
3,804
25
756
3,023
6,095
486
137
5,473
75.8
50.7
53.8
81.7
72.5
(1)
52.6
80.1
78.0
50.1
62.3
82.6
Full-time workers ..........................................................................................................................
35 to 39 ho u rs............................................................................................................................
40 hours .....................................................................................................................................
41 to 44 hou rs............................................................................................................................
45 to 48 ho u rs............................................................................................................................
49 to 59 ho u rs............................................................................................................................
60 hours or m ore........................................................................................................................
Occupation
Precision production, craft, and repair ..........................................................................................
11,188
10,224
964
8,521
7,742
778
76.2
75.7
80.7
Operators, fabricators, and laborers..............................................................................................
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors ......................................................................
Transportation and material moving occupations ....................................................................
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers ..............................................................
16,213
7,798
4,122
4,294
11,908
4,563
3,771
3,574
4,305
3,235
351
720
13,667
6,942
2,854
3,872
9,921
4,109
2,597
3,215
3,746
2,833
257
657
84.3
89.0
69.2
90.2
83.3
90.1
68.9
90.0
87.0
87.6
73.2
91.3
1,776
1,540
236
1,041
879
162
58.6
57.1
68.6
Farming, forestry, and fishing .......................................................................................................
'Data not shown where base is less than 50,000.
Note: Detail for the above race and Hispanic origin groups will not sum to totals because
Among white workers, women were more likely than
men to be paid hourly rates, while the reverse was true—
albeit to a lesser extent— for blacks and Hispanics. The
following tabulation shows, however, that the situation is
quite different when numbers are reported for full- and parttime workers.
P e rc e n t p a id h o u rly ra te s
F u ll tim e
W h ite ............................... . . . .
B lack ............................... . . . .
H isp an ic origin .......... . . . .
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P a r t tim e
M en
W om en
M en
W om en
5 2 .0
6 8 .3
6 9 .4
5 2 .5
6 4 .3
6 1 .6
7 9 .1
7 7 .5
8 0 .3
8 1 .2
7 7 .3
8 4 .7
data for the “other races” group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and
black population groups.
For full-time employees, the more hours people work, the
more likely they are to be in a salaried rather than in an
hourly paid position. About three-fifths of the men who
usually worked exactly 40 hours a week were paid hourly,
compared with just over two-fifths for those working 45 to
48 hours and one-fifth for those working 60 hours or more.
This pattern was similar for women working full time.
The occupational distribution of hourly paid workers
sheds further light on this relationship. As shown in table 1,
fewer than one-fifth of workers in executive, administrative,
and managerial occupations and about one-fourth of those in
professional specialty occupations were paid hourly rates. A
substantial number of employees in these occupations put in
21
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Hourly Paid Workers
long workweeks, with one-quarter of the two groups (com
bined) working 49 hours or more a week.2 In contrast, about
nine-tenths of workers employed as machine operators, as
semblers, and inspectors, and as handlers, equipment clean
Table 2. Median hourly earnings of workers paid hourly
rates by selected characteristics, 1984 annual averages
Median hourly earnings
Characteristic
Total
Men
Women
$5.95
6.02
5.43
5.39
$7.27
7.39
6.28
6.17
$5.08
5.09
4.99
4.73
...............................................
...............................................
...............................................
...............................................
...............................................
...............................................
3.64
4.94
6.52
7.23
7.37
7.17
3.80
5.31
7.50
8.63
9.48
9.75
3.50
4.43
5.52
5.81
5.81
5.51
45 to 49 years ...............................................
50 to 54 years ...............................................
55 to 59 years ...............................................
60 to 64 years ...............................................
65 to 69 years ...............................................
70 years and o v e r...........................................
7.23
7.20
6.85
6.45
4.95
4.38
9.96
9.65
9.15
8.68
5.23
4.82
5.46
5.63
5.40
5.30
4.71
4.21
Race and Hispanic origin
Total, 16 years and o ve r....................................
White ..............................................................
Black ..............................................................
Hispanic origin ...............................................
Age
16 to 19 years
20 to 24 years
25 to 29 years
30 to 34 years
35 to 39 years
40 to 44 years
Hours usually worked
Part-time w o rkers...........................................
4.04
3.92
4.10
Full-time workers ...........................................
35 to 39 hours.............................................
40 h o u rs ......................................................
41 to 44 hours.............................................
45 to 48 hours.............................................
49 to 59 hours.............................................
60 hours or m ore.........................................
6.80
5.20
6.95
7.35
7.40
7.45
7.14
8.03
6.04
8.12
8.32
8.05
7.84
7.38
5.59
5.04
5.74
5.94
5.91
5.91
4.96
Managerial and protessional specialty...............
Executive, administrative, and managerial . . .
Protessional specialty....................................
8.62
7.25
9.42
9.64
8.48
10.34
8.25
6.59
9.16
Technical, sales, and administrative support . . .
Technicians and related supp ort...................
Sales occupations .........................................
Administrative support, including c le ric a l___
5.45
7.79
4.18
5.95
6.85
9.29
4.99
7.62
5.26
7.15
4.01
5.71
Service occupations...........................................
Private household...........................................
Protective service...........................................
Service, except private household and
protective ...................................................
4.08
3.25
6.20
4.50
(1)
6.52
3.88
3.23
4.98
4.01
4.25
3.91
Precision production, craft, and repair...............
8.84
9.23
5.75
Operators, fabricators, and la borers.................
Machine operators, assemblers, and
inspectors...................................................
Transportation and material moving
occupations.................................................
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and
laborers .....................................................
6.38
7.20
5.15
6.59
8.04
5.18
7.51
7.77
6.01
5.28
5.39
4.74
4.35
4.40
4.07
Total, 25 years and ove r....................................
6.96
8.67
5.51
Less than 4 years of high school...................
Elementary, 8 years or le s s ........................
High school, 1 to 3 ye a rs............................
5.79
5.43
6.04
7.22
6.46
7.91
4.55
4.34
4.71
High school, 4 years or more ........................
High school, 4 years ..................................
College, 1 to 3 y e a rs ..................................
College, 4 years or m o re ............................
College, 4 years.......................................
College, 5 years or more ........................
7.30
6.97
7.80
8.37
8.18
9.14
9.28
9.17
9.52
9.44
9.34
9.90
5.91
5.41
6.47
7.68
7.38
8.48
Occupation
Farming, forestry, and fish in g ............................
Years of school completed
'Data not shown where base is less than 50,000.
Note : Data refer to persons 16 years and over, except years of school completed, which
refers to the population 25 years and over.
Digitized for
22 FRASER
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ers, helpers, and laborers were paid hourly wages, but fewer
than one-tenth put in 49 or more hours a week.
The data illustrate the inverse relationship between the
number of hours usually worked and the likelihood of being
paid at an hourly rate. It is beyond the scope of this article,
however, to fully explain the nature of this relationship,
because information is not collected in the CPS on several of
the factors which may be involved. These include data on
the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the
provisions of collective bargaining agreements, the extent
of nonpecuniary compensation derived from a job, and
productivity.
Median hourly earnings
Median hourly earnings for people who were actually
paid hourly rates in 1984 were $5.95— $7.27 for men and
$5.08 for women. (See table 2.) It is important to under
stand the significance of what these data represent: Hourly
earnings data are commonly calculated for all workers
(wage and salary) based on information on their weekly or
annual earnings. These figures will be typically higher than
would be the case for those whose pay rate is hourly. For
example, the median weekly earnings of all workers putting
in exactly 40 hours a week— a majority of all workers— was
$312 in 1984; when divided by 40, this turns out to be $7.80
an hour. The median hourly wage among workers actually
paid by the hour and reported as usually working 40 hours
a week was $6.95. This difference is to be expected, be
cause the weekly earnings data include components of earn
ings beyond straight-time wages and many higher-paying
jobs are salaried.
The overall female-to-male earnings ratio for full-time
workers paid hourly rates— 70 percent— is 5 percentage
points higher than that associated with the medians in the
weekly earnings series for all full-time workers (65 per
cent). This finding may be explained by the more homoge
neous universe for the hourly earnings data mentioned
above; that is, male-dominated higher-paying occupations
are more likely to be salaried.
Between 1979 and 1984, the female-to-male earnings
ratio for hourly paid workers rose considerably for whites,
blacks, and Hispanics, whereas the black-to-white and the
Hispanic-to-white earnings ratios were virtually unchanged.
(See table 3.) Regardless of race or ethnicity, the hourly
earnings of men rose by about 25 percent over the period
and those of women about 40 percent; the Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers rose 43 percent.
Among age groups, median hourly earnings ranged from
$3.64 for teenagers to highs in the $7.17-$7.37 range for
age groups within the 30- to 54-year bracket in 1984. Men’s
wages peaked at about $10 an hour for those between 40 and
54 years of age, while the peak for women— $5.81— was
not only much less, but also occurred at a younger age—
among those in their thirties. The female-to-male earnings
ratio, at about 90 percent for teenagers, declined with age to
the 45-to-49 group, and rose thereafter. The higher ratios at
both ends of the age spectrum may stem from the fact that
higher proportions of wage earners in these age groups are
paid at or near the minimum wage.
Hourly pay is wide-ranging among occupational and in
dustry groups. Median hourly pay ranged from $4.08 for all
service jobs to $9.42 among the professional specialty jobs.
In the latter group, the median for men was a little more
than a dollar higher per hour than that for women, a gap
much closer than the overall difference. Among the major
industrial groups, median hourly wages of both men and
women were highest in mining, construction, durable goods
manufacturing, and the transportation and public utilities
group. Wages were lowest in retail trade, private house
holds, personal services, entertainment and recreation, so
cial services, and agriculture.
Earnings distribution
Clearly, median earnings do not tell the whole story. The
median for two different groups could be similar; yet the
distribution of earnings of one group may be tightly clus
tered around the median, while that for another group may
be dispersed. Therefore, it is useful to look at distributions
as well. Table 4 shows the percent distribution of hourly
wages for major demographic groups. Regardless of the
median, each demographic group has some people with
earnings of less than $3 an hour and others with as much as
$15 or more. (It should be noted that for some population
groups, the extremes of the distribution may contain only a
small number of sample observations.) The following dis
cussion focuses briefly on the likelihood of wage earners
receiving $12 an hour or more, the figure that is roughly
twice the overall median of $5.95, and on those earning at
or below the prevailing minimum wage of $3.35, which is
a little more than half the median. Each of these high-paying
and low-paying categories accounts for roughly one-tenth of
all hourly paid workers.
Receiving $12 or more per hour.
The likelihood of earn
ing at least $12 an hour in 1984 was over 5 times as great
for men (about 17 percent) as for women (3 percent). The
proportion for white men was about half again as high as
that for black men; among women, both whites and blacks
were about equally as likely to earn this amount (each about
3 percent). Fewer than 2 percent of the workers under age
25 were in this higher paying category. Among workers 25
and over, the proportion rose from 6 percent for those with
only an elementary school education to 23 percent for those
completing 4 or more years of college. At each level of
schooling completed, men were more likely than women to
earn $12 an hour or more. However, the disparity narrowed
at successively higher educational levels, as men not com
pleting high school were more than 10 times as likely as
women to earn this amount. Among those with 4 years of
high school or more, men were 5 times as likely as women
to earn $12 per hour or more (26 versus 5 percent). The ratio
was 2 to 1 among college graduates (31 versus 16 percent).
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Table 3. Median hourly earnings of workers paid hourly
rates by sex, race, and Hispanic origin, 1979-84 annual
averages
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
Total .....................................................
Men ...................................................
Women .............................................
$4.48
5.73
3.66
$4.91
6.28
4.01
$5.27
6.72
4.35
$5.46
6.99
4.65
$5.66
7.06
4.89
$5.95
7.27
5.08
W h ite .................................................
Men ...............................................
W om en...........................................
4.55
5.89
3.66
4.97
6.42
4.02
5.30
6.84
4.36
5.51
7.14
4.66
5.74
7.21
4.89
6.02
7.39
5.09
Black .................................................
Men ...............................................
Women ...........................................
4.20
5.03
3.60
4.49
5.30
3.94
5.01
5.93
4.27
5.17
6.11
4.52
5.27
6.09
4.79
5.43
6.28
4.99
Hispanic origin ..................................
Men ...............................................
W om en...........................................
4.16
4.88
3.45
4.48
5.14
3.84
4.90
5.45
4.15
5.13
5.80
4.41
5.23
5.92
4.46
5.39
6.17
4.73
Female-to-male ................................
White .............................................
Black .............................................
Hispanic origin ..............................
63.9
62.1
71.6
70.7
63.9
62.6
74.3
74.7
64.7
63.7
72.0
76.1
66.5
65.3
74.0
76.0
69.3
67.8
78.7
75.3
69.9
68.9
79.5
76.7
Black-to-white....................................
Men ...............................................
W om en...........................................
92.3
85.4
98.4
90.3
82.6
98.0
94.5
86.7
97.9
93.8
85.6
97.0
91.8
84.5
98.0
90.2
85.0
98.0
Hispanic origin-to-white.....................
Men ...............................................
W om en...........................................
91.4
82.9
94.3
90.1
80.1
95.5
92.5
79.7
95.2
93.1
81.2
94.6
91.1
82.1
91.2
89.5
83.5
92.9
Characteristic
Median hourly earnings
Earnings ratios (percent)
About 13 percent of full-time wage earners made at least
$12— 19 percent of the men and 4 percent of the women—
but fewer than 3 percent of part-time workers earned this
amount. Among workers putting in more than 40 hours a
week, the proportion was 15 percent— 18 percent for men
and 6 percent for women.
Among the major occupational groups, 25 percent of both
professional specialty workers and those in the precision
production, craft, and repair group earned $12 an hour or
more in 1984. At the lower extreme, 2 percent or fewer of
those in sales; service (except protective service); and farm
ing, forestry, and fishery jobs earned this much.
Minimum and subminimum wage workers.
The prevailing
minimum wage, which has been $3.35 per hour since Janu
ary 1981, was established by the 1977 revisions to the Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938. About 4.1 million
workers were reported as earning exactly $3.35 an hour in
1984, and 1.8 million were reported as earning less than this
amount. Together, these workers constituted about 11 per
cent of all hourly paid workers.
It is important to note at the outset that the presence of a
sizable group of hourly paid workers receiving less than the
minimum wage does not necessarily indicate widespread
violations of the FLSA, as there are a number of exemptions
to its minimum wage provisions. These exemptions are
wide-ranging and include employees in outside sales work,
low volume retail trade and service firms, and seasonal
amusement establishments.3
For the most part, those earning $3.35 and hour or less
tend to be young. About 60 percent of those with these low
earnings were under age 25— one-third were teenagers.
23
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Hourly Paid Workers
Among teenagers alone, nearly 40 percent earned $3.35 or
less. Persons 65 and over— while representing only 3 per
cent of the total number of minimum wage earners— also
had a relatively high probability of earning at or below
$3.35, as nearly 1 out of 5 hourly paid persons in this age
group earned this amount. (See table 5.)
Nearly 15 percent of all women who were paid hourly
rates earned the prevailing minimum wage or below, which
was double the proportion for men. These percentages,
however, differed greatly according to whether the em
ployee usually worked full or part time, as shown in the
following tabulation:
time. Given the fact that women made up a disproportionate
share of part-time workers paid hourly rates (69 percent),
those working part time accounted for almost 45 percent of
all low-wage workers in 1984; men working part time ac
counted for about 21 percent.
An examination of minimum wage workers by race and
ethnicity shows that only a slightly higher proportion of
blacks than whites and Hispanics earned $3.35 or less.
Nearly 14 percent of the black population were in this earn
ings group, compared with 11 percent of both Hispanics and
whites.
Given the direct correlation of educational attainment and
earnings, the likelihood that a person had hourly earnings at
or below $3.35 per hour diminished with increased school
ing. Among hourly paid workers aged 25 years and over
with less than 4 years of high school, 10 percent were low
wage earners, compared with 6 percent who finished 4 years
of high school, and less than 4 percent of those with 4 years
or more of college.
Of the four major regions in the United States, the largest
proportion of those at or below the minimum wage lived in
the South (40 percent). Overall, 13 percent of all hourly paid
Percent at or below $3.35
T o tal....................................
Part-time workers ..........
Full-time workers ..........
35 to 39 h o u rs ............
40 h o u rs......................
41 hours or m o re........
Both sexes
11.0
28.0
5.2
12.1
4.6
3.7
Men
7.5
30.2
3.5
10.5
3.3
2.4
Women
14.8
27.0
7.6
12.8
6.5
8.5
The number of part-time workers earning $3.35 or less,
at 3.9 million, was nearly twice the number working full
Table 4.
Percent distribution of hourly earnings of workers paid hourly rates by selected characteristics, 1984 annual averages
Characteristic
Number
of
workers
(in thou
sands)
Percent distribution
Total
Under
$3.00
$3.00
to
$3.99
$4.00
to
$4.99
$5.00
to
$5.99
$6.00
to
$6.99
$7.00
to
$7.99
$8.00
to
$9.99
$10.00
to
$11.99
$12.00
to
$14.99
$15.00
or
more
Median
hourly
earnings
Sex and age
Total, 16 years and o ve r..................................
16 to 24 years .............................................
25 years and o v e r.........................................
54,143
15,644
38,499
100.0
100.0
100.0
2.2
4.4
1.3
18.9
37.2
11.4
15.3
21.6
12.7
14.1
14.9
13.7
10.2
8.1
11.1
8.2
5.1
9.4
11.7
4.9
14.4
9.4
2.3
12.2
7.0
1.1
9.4
3.2
.5
4.3
$5.95
4.30
6.96
Men, 16 years and over ..............................
16 to 24 ye a rs...........................................
25 years and o v e r ....................................
28,140
8,228
19,911
100.0
100.0
100.0
.8
1.8
.4
13.5
32.1
5.8
11.3
21.0
7.3
11.8
16.3
10.0
9.5
9.5
9.5
8.7
6.9
9.5
14.4
6.6
17.7
13.2
3.3
17.3
11.3
1.7
15.3
5.3
.7
7.2
7.27
4.66
8.67
Women, 16 years and o v e r..........................
16 to 24 ye a rs...........................................
25 years and o v e r ....................................
26,003
7,416
18,587
100.0
100.0
100.0
3.7
7.2
2.3
24.7
42.8
17.4
19.6
22.3
18.5
16.5
13.3
17.7
10.9
6.4
12.7
7.5
3.2
9.2
8.7
3.0
10.9
5.2
1.3
6.8
2.4
.3
3.2
.9
.2
1.2
5.08
3.99
5.51
W h ite ............................................................
Men ..........................................................
W om en.....................................................
46,098
24,084
22,014
100.0
100.0
100.0
2.4
.8
4.0
18.2
12.8
24.1
15.1
11.0
19.6
13.9
11.5
16.5
10.2
9.5
10.9
8.3
8.9
7.6
11.8
14.6
8.8
9.6
13.6
5.3
7.3
11.8
2.3
3.3
5.6
.8
6.02
7.39
5.09
Black ............................................................
Men ..........................................................
Women .....................................................
6,623
3,346
3,277
100.0
100.0
100.0
1.2
.7
1.7
23.5
18.4
28.8
16.2
13.0
19.5
15.2
14.2
16.3
10.1
9.5
10.7
7.6
8.3
6.8
11.0
13.9
8.0
8.2
11.2
5.0
5.2
8.0
2.3
1.9
2.7
.9
5.43
6.28
4.99
Hispanic origin .............................................
Men ..........................................................
W om en.....................................................
3,643
2,165
1,479
100.0
100.0
100.0
1.3
.6
2.3
21.6
16.2
29.7
18.5
16.1
21.9
15.6
14.5
17.3
11.0
11.0
10.9
8.0
8.9
6.6
9.7
12.1
6.1
6.3
8.4
3.2
5.7
8.6
1.6
2.4
3.6
.5
5.39
6.17
4.73
Full-time workers .........................................
Men ..........................................................
W om en......................................................
40,262
23,896
16,366
100.0
100.0
100.0
.9
.3
1.8
10.6
7.2
15.6
13.8
10.0
19.4
14.7
11.9
18.6
11.6
10.3
13.4
9.7
9.8
9.6
14.3
16.4
11.3
11.6
15.1
6.4
8.9
13.0
2.9
3.9
5.9
.9
6.80
8.03
5.59
Part-time w o rkers.........................................
Men ..........................................................
Women ......................................................
13,880
4,243
9,637
100.0
100.0
100.0
6.0
3.6
7.0
42.8
48.9
40.1
19.5
18.6
19.9
12.3
11.3
12.8
6.2
5.2
6.6
3.6
2.9
3.9
3.9
3.4
4.1
3.0
2.5
3.2
1.6
1.8
1.5
1.1
1.7
.9
4.04
3.92
4.10
Race, Hispanic origin, and sex
Full- or part-time status and sex
Note: 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.
Digitized for
24FRASER
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 5. Workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing minimum wage by selected characteristics, 1984
annual averages
Number of workers
(in thousands)
Characteristic
Total
paid
hourly
rates
Percent of all
workers paid hourly
rates
Percent distribution
At or below $3.35
Total
At
$3.35
Below
$3.35
Total
paid
hourly
rates
At or below $3.35
At or below $3.35
Total
At
$3.35
Below
$3.35
Total
At
$3.35
Below
$3.35
Sex and age
Total, 16 years and ov e r...........................................
16 to 24 years .....................................................
25 years and o v e r.................................................
54,143
15,644
38,499
5,963
3,582
2,381
4,125
2,539
1,586
1,838
1,043
795
100.0
28.9
71.1
100.0
60.1
39.9
100.0
61.6
38.4
100.0
56.7
43.3
11.0
22.9
6.2
7.6
16.2
4.1
3.4
6.7
2.1
Men, 16 years and over .......................................
16 to 24 ye a rs...................................................
25 years and o v e r .............................................
28,140
8,228
19,911
2,116
1,492
623
1,626
1,166
460
490
326
163
52.0
15.2
36.8
35.5
25.0
10.4
39.4
28.3
11.2
26.7
17.7
8.9
7.5
18.1
3.1
5.8
14.2
2.3
1.7
4.0
.8
Women, 16 years and o v e r..................................
16 to 24 ye a rs...................................................
25 years and o v e r .............................................
26,003
7,416
18,587
3,847
2,089
1,758
2,499
1,373
1,126
1,348
716
632
48.0
13.7
34.3
64.5
35.0
29.5
60.6
33.3
27.3
73.3
39.0
34.4
14.8
28.2
9.5
9.6
18.5
6.1
5.2
9.7
3.4
W h ite .....................................................................
Men ..................................................................
W om en..............................................................
46,098
24,084
22,014
4,923
1,684
3,239
3,293
1,273
2,020
1,630
411
1,219
85.1
44.5
40.7
82.6
28.2
54.3
79.8
30.9
49.0
88.7
22.4
66.3
10.7
7.0
14.7
7.1
5.3
9.2
3.5
1.7
5.5
Black .....................................................................
Men ..................................................................
Women ..............................................................
6,623
3,346
3,277
896
375
521
737
315
422
159
60
99
12.2
6.2
6.1
15.0
6.3
8.7
17.9
7.6
10.2
8.7
3.3
5.4
13.5
11.2
15.9
11.1
9.4
12.9
2.4
1.8
3.0
Hispanic origin ......................................................
Men ..................................................................
W om en..............................................................
3,643
2,165
1,479
415
179
236
314
143
171
101
36
65
6.7
4.0
2.7
7.0
3.0
4.0
7.6
3.5
4.1
5.5
2.0
3.5
11.4
8.3
16.0
8.6
6.6
11.6
2.8
1.7
4.4
Full-time workers .................................................
Men ..................................................................
W om en..............................................................
40,262
23,896
16,366
2,079
835
1,244
1,497
657
840
582
178
404
74.4
44.1
30.2
34.9
14.0
20.9
36.3
15.9
20.4
31.7
9.7
22.0
5.2
3.5
7.6
3.7
2.7
5.1
1.4
.7
2.5
Part-time w o rkers.................................................
Men ..................................................................
W om en..............................................................
13,880
4,243
9,637
3,883
1,280
2,602
2,627
969
1,658
1,256
311
944
25.6
7.8
17.8
65.1
21.5
43.6
63.7
23.5
40.2
68.3
16.9
51.4
28.0
30.2
27.0
18.9
22.8
17.2
9.0
7.3
9.8
Race, Hispanic origin, and sex
Full- or part-time status and sex
Note: 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.
workers in the South earned the minimum or less, compared
with 12 percent in the North Central region, 9 percent in the
Northeast, and 8 percent in the West.
Nearly half of all minimum wage workers held servicetype jobs in 1984. Service occupations with the highest
concentrations of low-paying jobs included private house
hold work, food services, and cleaning and building serv
ices. It is notable that persons employed as food service
workers accounted for 31 percent of all workers at or below
the minimum wage; of that number, roughly half worked at
the minimum of $3.35 and half worked below this level.
Another area in which there was a large proportion of per
sons working at or below $3.35 was in sales occupations,
particularly in retail sales, in which nearly 1 out of every
4 employees earned the minimum or less. It should be re
membered, however, that for many working in sales and
food service occupations, tips and commissions supplement
(to varying degrees) the hourly wages received.
t h i s a r t i c l e has focused on earnings as a pure wage paid
to the employee— stripped of any effects of tips, premium
pay for overtime, bonuses, and commissions. As the find
ings have suggested, the wealth of information available
from the Current Population Survey helps provide a founda
tion for further studies which can shed more light on the
conditions of workers paid hourly rates.
□
FOOTNOTES
1 See bls Measures o f Compensation, Bulletin 2239 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 1986), for a complete description of all b l s earnings series.
Among these are the Current Employment Statistics Survey, Area Wage
Surveys, and Industry Wage Surveys.
hours usually worked. In the case of workers with two or more jobs, the
data are tabulated according to the occupation at which the employee works
the most hours.
2 Data on workweeks by occupation refer to hours actually worked
during each month’s survey reference week rather than to the number of
3 See Report o f the Minimum Wage Study Commission, Volume 1,
p. 107, for a more complete list of full and partial exemptions.
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25
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
APPENDIX:
•
Hourly Paid Workers
Hourly earnings data from the CPS
The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly sample
survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census for the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, totaling about 59,500 house
holds, in 50 States and the District of Columbia. Data on
hourly earnings are collected from one-quarter of each
month’s CPS sample through questions 25B and 25C, which
read:
25B.
Is . . . paid by the hour on this job?
25C.
How much does . . . earn per hour?
Although data are collected monthly, the numbers are
aggregated into quarterly and annual averages to increase
their statistical reliability. On a quarterly basis, the data are
tabulated by sex, race, Hispanic origin, age, marital status,
major occupation and industry groups, and usual full- or
part-time status. Annual average data are also tabulated by
region of residence, number of hours usually worked, years
of school completed, and more occupational and industrial
detail. While both the quarterly and annual average tabula
tions provide distributional data (for example, the number of
workers earning between $5 and $5.99 per hour), the latter
show more wage categories, as well as data for minimum
wage workers.
Between 1973 and 1978, hourly earnings data were col
lected only once a year as part of a supplement to each
May’s CPS. Comparability between these and more recent
data is affected by changes in questionnaire design, the
coverage of the wage and salary worker universe, and the
handling of survey nonresponses. As a result, whereas esti
mates of the proportion of all workers paid hourly rates
between 1973 and 1978 ranged between 49 and 51 percent,
changes introduced in 1979 caused the proportion to jump to
26
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59 percent, where it has remained. In 1983, there were
changes to the entire occupational classification system
which preclude occupational comparisons with previous
years. In addition, a change in the method of estimating
medians introduced the same year affects the comparability
of any medians under $3.00 or over $5.99 per hour.
As is the case with estimates from any sample survey, the
results can vary by chance because a sample, rather than the
entire population, is surveyed. A measure of this variation
is called the standard error. If samples are repeatedly drawn
and estimates are computed from each sample, in approxi
mately 68 out of 100 samples the actual population value
will differ from the sample estimate by less than one stand
ard error. In approximately 90 out of 100 samples, the
population value will differ from the sample estimate by less
than 1.6 times the standard error. All statements of compari
son appearing in this article are significant at the 90-percent
level or higher. Users are cautioned against drawing conclu
sions from small differences among numbers for small pop
ulation groups because of the relatively large sampling
errors associated with estimates based on small sample
sizes. In addition, results are subject to errors of response
and nonreporting— errors possible even in a complete cen
sus. These can result from differences in the interpretation
of questions, the inability or unwillingness of respondents
to provide correct answers, the rounding of figures, errors
of processing, and errors made in estimating values for
missing data. For more information regarding the collec
tion, processing, merits, and limitations of CPS data on earn
ings, see Earl F. Mellor, Technical Description of the Quar
terly Data on Weekly Earnings from the Current Population
Survey, Bulletin 2113 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982).
Employment lessons
from the electronics industry
‘
’
,
Semiskilled and unskilled workers in semiconductors
computer manufacturing and consumer electronics industries
are more likely than other workers to lose jobs
because of technology imports and offshore production;
advances in technology create jobs for skilled workers
,
,
,
John A. A lic and M artha Caldwell Harris
In the U .S. electronics industry, competition— domestic as
well as international— has led to increases in labor produc
tivity through changes in product design and automation and
to transfers of manufacturing operations to low-wage devel
oping countries. For example, in the consumer electronics
industry, annual output of color television sets per produc
tion worker in the United States increased from 150 in 1971
to 560 in 1981. Total output nearly doubled, from 5.4
million sets to 10.5 million. At the same time, domestic
employment in color television manufacture dropped by
half— a result of greater foreign value-added, redesigned
televisions with fewer parts and less need for assembly
labor, and automation. The example is not atypical, the
implications are clear: new technology can cut into job op
portunities even though output rises substantially.
In two other sectors of the electronics industry— mi
croelectronics (which includes semiconductors) and com
puters— employment has grown rapidly. (The 1985 layoffs
will, as in earlier business slumps, prove temporary.) Mi
croelectronics technology made redesigned color television
sets possible, and far more Americans now work for semi
conductor manufacturers than were ever employed in con
sumer electronics. Skilled and professional jobs predomi
nate in microelectronics, accounting for nearly 60 percent of
employment, compared with about 30 percent in consumer
John A. Alic and Martha Caldwell Harris are staff members of the Office
o f Technology Assessment, U .S. Congress.
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electronics. Similar patterns exist elsewhere in high technol
ogy electronics: continuing advances in both products and
processes leave relatively fewer openings for unskilled and
semiskilled workers. Indeed, jobs for production workers in
U.S. computer firms declined slightly during 1984, al
though overall employment in the computer sector rose.
American consumer electronics firms have faced stiff for
eign competition since the latter part of the 1960’s. But only
in the last few years have U.S.-based microelectronics and
computer manufacturers found competitors from Japan able
to match their product offerings. Given declining advan
tages in product technology, and Japan’s proven capabilities
in process technology, American manufacturing companies
have been forced to change their priorities. Within any man
ufacturing organization, quality and productivity, hence
costs and competitiveness, depend on the integration of
workers and machines into an efficient and effective produc
tion system. Highly automated plants will demand new
ways of using skills, resolving conflicts, and making deci
sions. The emphasis on shared responsibility and decision
making in Japanese organizations appears to give them a
head start in integrated production systems. Japan’s manu
facturers are more adept at utilizing the skills and capabili
ties of their work force, and are further along at integrating
workers and machines— an important source of competitive
advantage.
In a given industry, job opportunities change with de
mand for the industry’s products, with shifting patterns of
international competition, and with increases in labor
27
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
Employment in Electronics
•
productivity. The latter stem not only from automation and
work reorganization, but from products redesigned for eas
ier, cheaper manufacture. Rising worldwide demand for the
output of a given industry will create new jobs only if
demand rises more rapidly than productivity. From the per
spective of a national economy, net job creation also de
pends on trends in imports and exports and on foreign and
domestic investments. Imports may displace domestic pro
duction; overseas investment by domestic companies may
do the same.
In any economy, new jobs are continually being created,
old jobs eliminated. At the level of the firms, jobs are
created as companies are established or expand, and jobs
disappear as companies atrophy and die or move production
overseas. Over time, automation, work redesign, and orga
nizational change help fewer workers produce more. If a
firm cannot sell enough of the additional output, it may have
to reduce its labor force. Even if it can increase sales,
improvements in efficiency necessarily cut into future job
opportunities. Aggregate economic growth provides the
gross context for job creation and job destruction; the
organization of work within the enterprise creates the fine
structure.
This article discusses factors which affect employment
in two components of the U.S. electronics industry1—
consumer electronics (SIC 3651) and microelectronics
(SIC 3674), touching briefly on computer manufacturing
(SIC 3573).2
Employment trends in electronics
Employment in U.S. manufacturing has been essentially
static since the late 1960’s, but declined relatively over the
1974-84 period from 26 to 21 percent of the nonagricultural
work force. However, in electronics, employment expanded
rapidly over the period— although not in all parts of the
industry. Employment has nearly doubled in microelectron
ics and has increased even faster in computers, while the
consumer electronics category (which includes many types
of products other than television sets) has shrunk. The fol
lowing tabulation shows the number of employees and the
percent of production workers in consumer electronics, mi
croelectronics, and computer and peripherals industries,
1974, 1984, and the first 6 months of 1985:
Number of employees
Industry
1974
1984
1985,
first half
C o n s u m e r e le c t r o n ic s
1 1 3 ,6 0 0
7 1 ,8 0 0
6 8 ,4 0 0
M ic r o e le c tr o n ic s
1 4 8 ,3 0 0
2 7 3 ,0 0 0
4 6 0 ,9 0 0
2 8 3 ,3 0 0
4 5 6 ,9 0 0
.............. .
......................... .
C o m p u te r s an d p e r ip h e r a ls . . .
2 1 7 ,0 0 0
Percent production workers
1974
1985,
first half
..............
74
68
66
.........................
51
43
41
39
37
35
C o n su m e r e le c t r o n ic s
M ic r o e le c tr o n ic s
1984
C o m p u te r s an d p e r ip h e r a ls
28
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..
By mid-1985, the 808,600 workers in consumer electron
ics, microelectronics, and computer firms accounted for
more than 4 percent of the U.S. manufacturing labor force.
Although these firms make up only a portion of the electron
ics industry, they employ more than twice as many workers
as the steel industry.3
Chart 1 compares trends in labor productivity and produc
tion employment over the past decade for each of the three
categories discussed in this article. (Productivity is plotted
as value-added per production worker hour in inflationadjusted terms.) Value-added productivity growth in con
sumer electronics— where employment declined— has
roughly paralleled the all-manufacturing average. In con
trast, computer manufacture shows a rapid rise in employ
ment, with productivity rising almost as fast until the
mid-1970’s. Many jobs have also been created in microelec
tronics, where productivity gains were again substantially
above the all-manufacturing average. With both computers
and microelectronics suffering from business slowdowns
during 1985, layoffs have been common and total employ
ment has dropped.4 No doubt these declines will prove tem
porary, with employment levels rebounding once the slump
has passed, as occurred twice during the 1970’s for both the
microelectronics and computer sectors. Over the long term,
however, employment prospects in the U.S. computer in
dustry appear far better than those in microelectronics.
Productivity trends are seldom unambiguous. Their sig
nificance can be questioned when technological change is as
rapid as it has been in computers and peripherals and in
microelectronics. In these sectors, product performance has
advanced rapidly; today’s dollar buys far more capability
than it did a few years ago.5 In color television manufacture,
technical change has been much slower, with intense price
competition depressing value-added productivity measures
compared with other U.S. industries over the 1965-82 pe
riod; the retail price index for color television sets increased
by less than 5 percent, while that for all consumer durables
more than doubled. Productivity on a unit output basis for
color television manufacture has, however, risen far more
rapidly than on a value-added basis.
As chart 1 demonstrates, the portions of the electronics
industry with the highest rates of value-added productivity
growth (microelectronics and computers) also experienced
the highest rates of employment growth. Rapid increases in
productivity were associated with the creation of jobs, not
their elimination. The reasons are straightforward: spurred
by technological changes opening vast new markets, export
as well as domestic, output in microelectronics and comput
ers has for many years grown at rates in the vicinity of
15 percent annually, far higher than the rate for all manufac
turing. In contrast, the domestic market for consumer elec
tronics grew less than half as fast, exports were small, and
import penetration was severe; the value-added productivity
measures for consumer electronics reflect the plight of an
Chart 1. Trends in productivity and production worker employment in consumer
electronics, microelectronics, and computers, 1965-82
Productivity1
C o n su m er ele ctro n ic s
Employment
(thousands)
1Value-added productivity per production worker hour (in 1972 dollars).
SOURCE: 1977 and 1982 Census of Manufactures.
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29
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Employment in Electronics
industry hard pressed by foreign competition and striving to
make relatively standard products more cheaply.
The examples of microelectronics and computers show
that when technological change is rapid, rates of productiv
ity increase may be high while employment nonetheless
rises. Similar correlations sometimes follow at the aggregate
level; rates of unemployment may drop nationwide while
productivity climbs, particularly if coupled with high invest
ment and the introduction of new technology.
Consumer electronics
In many respects, the manufacture of television sets, ac
counting for about half of U .S. consumer electronics em
ployment, can stand for the sector as a whole. Domestic
employment in television manufacturing has been falling
since the mid-1960’s. (See chart 2.) Jobs for production
workers dropped by half between 1971 and 1981, despite a
near doubling of output, from 5.4 million to 10.5 million
television sets. During this period, a dozen U .S. manufac
turers either merged with Japanese or European producers or
left the business; General Electric’s departure, announced
late in 1985, will leave only two major U.S. firms. The U.S.
industry now includes more than 10 foreign-owned compa
nies. While contributing to the employment totals in the
chart, U.S. production by foreign-owned companies such as
Sony or Gold Star tends to reflect higher fractions of foreign
value-added than the output of American-owned firms such
as Zenith or RCA.
As television sales grew, apparent productivity on a unit
output basis (measured as annual output divided by the
number of production workers) jumped from 150 sets per
worker in 1971 to 560 in 1981. In terms of value-added per
production worker, productivity was up by about 40 per
cent— a trend similar to that for consumer electronics as a
whole.6 The productivity improvements came from multiple
sources. As color television sets replaced black-and-white
receivers, manufacturers introduced more highly automated
production processes. Somewhat later, reductions in the
number of parts— resulting from solid-state chassis de
signs— meant reduced labor content. Only 6 percent of the
color television sets made in the United States were solidstate models in 1970, but by 1976 essentially all had been
redesigned around transistors. The number of parts dropped
by half or more— for example, from 1,023 components for
a Panasonic color model in 1972 to 488 in 1976.7 Often,
component insertion was mechanized at the same time. A
good deal of the productivity growth during the 1970’s
resulted from these interrelated changes in chassis design
and manufacturing methods. Clearly, the causes of the em
ployment declines in television manufacturing extend well
beyond import penetration or offshore assembly; the spread
Chart 2. U.S. employment in television manufacturing, 1966-81
Employment
(thousands)
Employment
(thousands)
60
50
40
30
20
10
NOTE: Data for the 1966-75 period are for all television employment; data for 1976-81 are for color television only.
SOURCE:
I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o m p e t i t i v e n e s s in E l e c t r o n i c s
1983), p. 354.
Digitized for30
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(Washington,dc, Office of Technology Assessment, November
of solid-state chassis designs and automated manufacturing
dramatically reduced labor requirements in this sector of the
electronics industry. Import competition did have the effect
of speeding the changes.
Over the same period, American consumer electronics
firms relocated many of their manufacturing operations to
low-wage developing countries. While there are no precise
numbers on foreign workers employed in these plants, the
U.S. Department of Labor believes there may be more than
30,000— a greater number than now employed in domestic
television manufacture. As a result, the proportion of do
mestic value-added dropped during the 1970’s; more parts
and subassemblies were produced overseas for final assem
bly in the United States, whether by American- or foreignowned companies. Given these trends, simply dividing the
total output of television sets by the number of employees
overstates productivity gains (although value-added produc
tivity adjusts for this). By 1980, the United States imported
more than $1 billion worth of circuit boards and picture
tubes for color television sets, about one-third of the total
value of domestic output. Two basic causes, then, account
for the employment decline in television manufacture:
greater labor productivity, achieved through product re
designs as well as automation; and transfers of laborintensive operations overseas. Intense competitive pres
sures, centered on manufacturing costs, drove both trends.
Improvements in productivity and manufacturing effi
ciency may eliminate jobs in the short term, but help to slow
down job losses over the longer term. In 1974, for example,
Matsushita, a Japanese company, bought Motorola’s money
losing Quasar television operations. Matsushita invested
heavily in automated manufacturing (some of it in Mexico);
redesigned Quasar’s product line; and reorganized shopfloor
operations, with particular emphasis on quality control and
employee participation programs. Greater labor productiv
ity and higher quality— stemming from new capital equip
ment and redesigned products as well as work reorganiza
tion— helped save the jobs of several thousand American
workers. At the same time, the production process was more
automated, cutting into job opportunities. Quasar’s invest
ments in Mexico also came at the expense of job opportuni
ties for Americans. But without these steps, Quasar’s U.S.
plants might have closed— at the cost of many more jobs.
In the Quasar example, impacts on manufacturing effi
ciency had many sources; it is impossible to isolate and
account with any precision for each. As chart 2 and the
Quasar example illustrate, rationalization of production may
improve manufacturing efficiency and keep some people at
work while making others redundant. Prospects for avoiding
displacement are far better in U .S. industries that are more
technologically dynamic and are expanding more rapidly
than consumer electronics. But nowhere can the tradeoffs
between productivity and job opportunities be avoided. In
general, productivity must rise to improve competitiveness.
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Unless output expands at least as fast, some jobs will
vanish.
Import and offshore production: How important?
The
U.S. consumer electronics industry has faced strong exter
nal competition since the late 1960’s, largely from produc
ers in the Far East. Half the U.S. consumer electronics
market has been taken by imports; most products still assem
bled in the United States contain many imported compo
nents. Penetration of consumer electronics markets coin
cided with employment decline. For example, imports of
black-and-white television sets rose from one-quarter to
three-quarters of U.S. sales over the 1967-77 period. Im
ports of color television sets peaked in 1976 at a level nearly
10 times greater than in 1967, then dropped because of
quotas termed Orderly Marketing Agreements negotiated
with Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.8 The quotas cut
imports roughly in half.
To what extent have imports cost U.S. jobs? First, we
must determine the causes of import penetration. Imports
may rise because demand exceeds domestic capacity or be
cause consumer preference shifts to foreign-made goods
(perhaps they are judged better values). In the first case—
exemplified by video cassette recorders, where U.S. capac
ity is zero— jobs may not be lost directly but the rate of
increase in job opportunities may slow. In the second case,
typified by imports of Japanese cars and to a lesser extent by
sales of television sets, immediate decreases in employment
are likely.
Nor are the consequences of offshore production straight
forward. Today, the remaining American-owned television
manufacturers all operate overseas production facilities. In
addition to the attraction of low-wage labor, the U.S. tariff
schedules serve to encourage offshore assembly. (Items
806.30 and 807 permit re-imports with duties computed
only on foreign value-added.) All wages and salaries paid
overseas could be viewed as a loss to American labor and
the U.S. gross domestic product. But what if American
firms can only lower their costs and maintain or expand their
markets by moving abroad? In some cases, American firms
may seek offshore production to take advantage of low-cost
labor. In other cases (computer plants in Western Europe,
for example), U.S. manufacturers may wish to manufacture
near their overseas customers.
It is oversimple to argue that the total number of foreign
workers engaged in production for shipment to the United
States— whether employed by U.S. or foreign firms— rep
resents domestic employment loss. In most cases, U.S. con
sumer electronics firms had little choice concerning offshore
production. Movement abroad was a defensive reaction, not
a strategy aimed at expanding markets and improving prof
itability. To assume that jobs overseas substitute directly for
U.S. employment is tantamount to assuming a stable com
petitive environment— not at all the case. Rather, employ
ment declines followed losses in competitiveness. American
firms had higher costs than their rivals. They pursued the
31
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Employment in Electronics
obvious route: increases in automation to raise productivity
at home, combined with transfers of labor-intensive opera
tions offshore. Only some companies survived; the others
left the industry or were purchased by more successful man
ufacturers. In this complex chain of events, then, import
competition must be counted as the primary cause of job
losses in the U.S. consumer electronics industry.
Microelectronics
Since the mid-1950’s, U.S. employment in semiconduc
tor manufacture has increased rapidly, from a few thousand
when production of transistors was just beginning, to more
than 280,000 by the first half of 1985. (See chart 3.) In
addition to merchant firms selling on the open market, the
totals in the chart include captive production by vertically
integrated manufacturers such as IBM and AT&T. During
two periods, 1969-71 and 1974-75, employment dropped
sharply as a result of recession. Since late 1984, total em
ployment in semiconductors has again been dropping, with
the number of production workers falling more sharply.
These recent declines come when the economy is not in
recession; given the new strength of Japanese competition,
it appears that the microelectronics sector has entered a new
phase in its evolution.
The proportion of production workers in the U .S. mi
croelectronics industry dropped from 66 percent of the total
work force in 1963 to slightly more than 40 percent in 1985.
American semiconductor manufacturers, particularly the
merchant firms, have been moving labor-intensive assembly
operations offshore for years; technological advance has
contributed to the shift toward skilled and professional jobs
in the United States. Demand for technicians and other
nonproduction workers has risen with each succeeding gen
eration of more sophisticated (and expensive) fabrication
equipment. With movement through large-scale and now
very large-scale integration, design and development of new
circuits has become far more complex and time consuming;
the ranks of engineering and R&D personnel have grown
much faster than those of unskilled and semiskilled produc
tion employees.
Imports and offshore manufacturing.
In comparing cur
rent layoffs, particularly for production workers, with those
in previous downturns, one major difference is this:
Japanese competition was not a factor during the 1970’s.
Today, Japanese firms account for substantial fractions of
world market share for some types of devices, holding 8 5 90 percent of the burgeoning worldwide merchant market
for 256 k RAM memory chips. (Note, however, that this
percentage excludes devices produced by such companies as
AT&T for internal use.) Furthermore, huge investments by
Japanese semiconductor manufacturers over the last few
years have created a great deal of overcapacity. This excess
Chart 3. U.S. employment in semiconductors and related devices, 1963-84
Employment
(thousands)
SOURCES:
Employment
(thousands)
I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o m p e t i t i v e n e s s in E l e c t r o n i c s
1983), p. 356; Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Digitized for32
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do,
Office of Technology Assessment, November
capacity, as much as 30 or 40 percent for some types of
chips, aggravated the price cutting that has been endemic in
the industry. After informal complaints against the Japanese
going back a number of years, U.S. semiconductor manu
facturers filed three major trade-related complaints with the
Federal Government over a 4-month period in 1985. Partly
in consequence, Japanese firms have been cutting back on
shipments to the United States, while also accelerating their
investments here— paralleling their earlier investments in
consumer electronics.
Imports are not new to this sector. In 1971, the United
States exported twice as many semiconductors as it im
ported, but by 1982 imports exceeded exports. Do the trends
now visible portend job losses? Will employment suffer
here as in consumer electronics? The answer is no, at least
not over the next decade. There are two reasons. First,
despite the current sales slump, worldwide demand for mi
croelectronic devices will continue to grow over the longer
term. Although the Japanese have made substantial inroads,
American firms retain more than half of worldwide sales,
and are still in a position of technical leadership in some if
not all varieties of integrated circuits. Second, U.S. semi
conductor firms have exported much more agressively than
consumer electronics manufacturers. Moreover, about
three-quarters of all U.S. imports of microelectronic devices
consist of intra-corporate transfers by American-owned
firms— that is, re-imports after offshore processing. Off
shore employment may continue to rise, and perhaps con
tinue to increase faster than domestic employment, but U.S.
jobs in microelectronics should rise as well. Nonetheless,
total employment in the sector could continue to grow while
the number of production jobs declines.
American semiconductor firms transferred labor-intensive
“back-end” operations overseas— primarily assembly steps
such as wire bonding and encapsulation— at a rapid pace
beginning in the 1960’s. During that decade alone, U.S.
companies established more than 50 foreign manufacturing
plants.9 Wafers, fabricated domestically, were shipped to
low-wage sites, mostly in Asia, for the final stages in proc
essing, then returned to the United States or sent on to other
markets. In recent years, U.S. merchant manufacturers have
carried out perhaps 90 percent of all assembly work over
seas.10
The reason is simple. Typical estimates for the 1970’s
indicated that production costs could be cut in half
through offshore assembly.11 Given these potential savings,
cost/price competition became the primary motive for such
investments; American semiconductor firms moved off
shore to reduce costs and expand markets. Once the first
U.S. manufacturer invested in low-wage countries, others
followed. With questionable prospects for automation dur
ing the 1960’s and early 1970’s, and a rate of technological
advance that threatened to render investments in automated
equipment obsolete, the choice was plain: move offshore or
be undersold. In contrast to consumer electronics, the com
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petitors in microelectronics were American firms almost
exclusively; large-scale foreign investments by U.S. manu
facturers predated Japanese thrusts in microelectronics by
more than a decade. If in the case of consumer electronics,
offshore manufacturing was a reaction to import competi
tion, in microelectronics the motives were offensive.
Because most offshore jobs are filled by assembly work
ers, overseas manufacturing has contributed to the declining
fraction of production employees in the United States. U.S.
firms employ perhaps three-quarters as many people in their
foreign operations as they do here; but, while only 40 per
cent of the domestic jobs are in production, the figure is
more than 80 percent for offshore plants.12 As a result,
American companies employ many more production work
ers overseas than at home— roughly 150,000, compared
with about 115,000. Although domestic jobs more than
doubled during the 1970’s, offshore employment grew even
faster.
To what extent do foreign workers employed in the over
seas operations of U.S. firms, or the employees of foreignowned companies which export to the United States, stand
for job opportunities lost to Americans? In contrast to off
shore facilities, most of which are in Asia, point-of-sale
plants in industrialized countries have been established
largely for strategic reasons: market access, customer li
aison, and, sometimes, the avoidance of import barriers.
While these point-of-sale plants have arguably small conse
quences for U.S. employment, offshore investments driven
by lower wages directly displace American workers, just as
in consumer electronics. Periodically, speculation arises
that advances in automated production equipment will mean
that American firms can return back-end processing to the
United States. With more automation, the labor cost advan
tages of offshore sites diminish, although they may not
vanish. But even when costs remain lower overseas, strate
gic advantages— similar to those for point-of-sale plants in
other industrialized countries— may mean that American
companies will bring some of their production back home.13
If they do (keeping in mind that it is automation that would
make this possible), the result is not likely to be an in
crease in jobs for production workers. Employment is far
more likely to increase for engineers, technicians, and
supervisors.
The production system. The picture outlined above is not
quite so simple as it might seem. Generalizations about the
microelectronics industry conceal a good deal of diversity
within. Low production costs are far more important for
some firms than for others. Companies that depend on
product leadership must develop manufacturing systems
geared to device technologies pushing the state of the art.
Those with broad product lines will place greater stress on
costs and quality. Needless to say, no microelectronics man
ufacturer can neglect costs or quality; the question is one of
priorities. Still, unique product designs— for example, a
33
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Employment in Electronics
microprocessor with capabilities outstripping those of the
rest of the industry— will generate competitive advantages
almost irrespective of manufacturing costs.
Nonetheless, in microelectronics as in any industry, uni
que products remain the exception; generally, manufactur
ing capabilities are critical for competitive success. Mi
croelectronics, first of all, is an industry where product and
process knowhow interact more closely than in perhaps any
other. As an example, in mid-1984, Trilogy Systems aban
doned its attempts to achieve wafer-scale integration, which
would have increased scale and complexity by factors of 100
or more— companies must be able not only to design but to
build new types of devices. More than this, quality has
become, since the end of the 1970’s, central to competitive
dynamics. As in many other industries, Japanese manufac
turers made quality and reliability a major element in their
export strategies. This helped Japanese semiconductor firms
penetrate U.S. markets. They concentrated on standard
devices such as memory chips, meeting or undercutting the
prices of American manufacturers while offering better
quality, hence better value.
What does it take to achieve high quality in the production
of integrated circuits? Certainly it takes good manufacturing
equipment. Japanese semiconductor firms purchased most
of their equipment from the same vendors that supplied the
U.S. industry; hence they had no advantage on the factory
floor as far as equipment was concerned. Integrated circuits
from different manufacturers do differ in design, even when
functionally identical. Design details influence costs and
quality; Japanese firms made design choices aimed at qual
ity and reliability, sometimes at the expense of cost or per
formance. But more than this, Japan’s factory system as a
whole— plant layout, integration of people into the produc
tion process, task allocations, management style, and inter
nal training and retraining programs— leads to high quality
as well as low costs. From a systems perspective, their
production processes helped Japan’s semiconductor manu
facturers to penetrate world markets, competing success
fully with American firms that had the lead— and still do—
in many functional aspects of circuit design.
Do imports, technology cost U.S. jobs?
Import competition, automation, and offshore investment
take place in a context of global shifts in market structure,
with long-term consequences for jobs and job opportunities
in a national economy, as well as immediate impacts on
workers, firms, and industries. In expanding markets, a firm
that can respond quickly to new opportunities anywhere in
the world may be able to increase exports and consolidate its
position. During the 1970’s, for example, American semi
conductor manufacturers capitalized on the shift toward
metal-oxide-semiconductor integrated circuits ahead of their
foreign rivals. In doing so, they created many new job
opportunities for Americans, unskilled as well as skilled.
34
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In consumer electronics, particularly television manufac
ture, the dynamic has been far different. Much of the
technology is conventional, accessible to firms in many
parts of the world. Markets grow more slowly. In the United
States, competition at the retail level has been fierce, with
prices declining relative to other consumer durables. As
productivity increased, employment declined. Overall,
then, while employment in the U.S. electronics industry has
grown, the increases have been far from uniform. Few of the
workers who once made vacuum tubes found work in
microelectronics.
Of course, growth and technological change in electron
ics also exert influences far beyond this industry. Computer
manufacturing, where U.S. competitiveness remains high,
has seen rapid employment increase with simultaneous pro
ductivity improvements. At the same time, advances in
computer systems have created and destroyed vast numbers
of jobs in other industries.
Chart 4 illustrates employment growth in computer man
ufacture, including peripherals. Even more than in mi
croelectronics, the trend has been away from production
employees and toward more skilled workers and profession
als. Unlike either semiconductors or consumer electronics,
neither imports nor offshore production has as yet affected
employment greatly. American computer firms have in
vested heavily overseas, but foreign plants generally serve
foreign markets. As in microelectronics, some foreign pro
duction may substitute for exports from the United States.
But in industrialized (and some developing) countries,
American firms often must invest in manufacturing facilities
if they expect to sell in volume, limiting the extent to which
point-of-sale plants can be viewed as displacing domestic
workers. Imports of peripherals and components have been
more important; many disc drives and terminals now come
from overseas.
In computers, competitive threats lie well in the future.14
But in consumer electronics, U.S. competitiveness began to
slip 20 years ago. Employment typically falls when indus
tries lose ground in either domestic or international markets.
Even if aggregate economic growth brings greater demand,
only the more efficient companies can take full advantage;
firms seldom have any choice but to adopt new technolo
gies, process as well as product, if they wish to remain
competitive. Those that move quickly (but not too quickly)
may be able to gain an edge over their rivals through effi
ciency improvements or differentiated product designs.
Companies may be forced to automate or pursue alternative
routes to lower costs and greater productivity simply to
survive. Such strategies have enabled Zenith and RCA, the
two largest American color television manufacturers, to
maintain their approximate market shares, but to do so, they
had to cut their payrolls. If modernizing production facilities
and moving offshore costs U.S. jobs in the short term, such
strategies may help maintain the total market for Americanmade products over the longer term.
Chart 4. U.S. employment in computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing, 1955-84
Employment
(thousands)
Employment
(thousands)
470
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
SOURCES:
I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o m p e t i t i v e n e s s in E l e c t r o n i c s
(Washington,
dc,
Office of Technology Assessment, November
1983), p. 359; Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Like all technical change, then, advances in electronics
will continue to bring a mix of positive and negative out
comes. Firms manufacturing electronics products will, for
some years, continue to create substantial numbers of new
jobs. In U.S. manufacturing as a whole, however, jobs— at
least for production workers— may go down in absolute
terms. A major source of decline in employment opportuni
ties will be redesigned production systems utilizing comput
ers and computer networks along with other tools for im
proving organizational efficiency.
For firms determined to maintain their competitiveness in
world markets while retaining a production base in highwage economies, computer-assisted automation will be nec
essary but not, by itself, sufficient. To be successful, these
companies will have to redesign their product lines with
greater manufacturing efficiency as a primary goal. Product
engineers will have to work more closely with manufactur
ing engineers. Technical staffs will have to work effectively
with shopfloor employees— learning from them during the
design stage and, at later stages, helping production em
ployees operate the system in something approximating op
timal fashion. In the recent past, Japanese companies have
done a better job at this than American (or European) firms.
Some Japanese firms have nearly erased the interface be
tween design and manufacturing, while building corporate
organizations that effectively utilize available human re
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sources, including the capabilities of “unskilled” workers.
This has been a major source of Japanese competitiveness in
consumer electronics and microelectronics.15 While we
prefer to stress similarities rather than differences between
Japanese and Western management styles, it seems clear
that the Japanese are well ahead in introducing more highly
integrated production systems. A major reason is decision
making processes that lend themselves to conflict resolution
and the development of shared values, necessary attributes
of integrated systems. Designing products for manufactur:
ing efficiency will be one of the keys to competitive success
for American firms over the next few decades. So will
integration of workers— at all levels, but particularly on the
shop floor— into the production process.
Only by using labor effectively and efficiently— which
often means changes both in product design and in the
production system— can firms in high-wage economies
maintain their international competitiveness. Not all firms
will be successful. Some workers, companies, industries,
and regions will lose out. Unskilled and semiskilled manu
facturing workers are in the greatest jeopardy.
How can the negative impacts be minimized, while capi
talizing on the potentials of new technology? The relation
ships between technical change, employment, and interna
tional competition may be complex, but from the standpoint
of public policy, many of the negative effects are quite
35
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Employment in Electronics
predictable. Adjustment problems cannot be avoided, but
governments can prepare for them, both to ease the in
evitable shifts and to help maintain the competitive ability of
domestic industries. Because shifts in industrial structure
bring new jobs with new skill requirements, it may be time
to rethink both public and private programs of training,
retraining, and education. With jobs and job opportuni
ties for production workers declining, it may be time to
rethink the meaning of work in advanced industrial
societie
□
-FOOTNOTES1 This article is based in part on International Competitiveness in Elec
tronics (Washington, DC, Office o f Technology Assessment, U .S. Con
gress, November 1983), Chapter 9. An earlier version was presented at the
2nd International Conference on Human Factors in Manufacturing, Stutt
gart, Federal Republic o f Germany, June 1 1-13, 1985. The authors thank
Philip A. Mundo for assistance with the statistical data.
2 These industries are categorized under the following Standard Indus
trial Classification (sic) codes as published in the Office of Management
and Budget’s Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1972: consumer
electronics— sic 3651, “Radio and Television Receiving Sets, Except
Communication Types;” microelectronics— SIC 3674, “Semiconductors
and Related Devices;” and computer manufacturing— sic 3573,
“Electronic Computing Equipment.”
3 Including communications equipment and components other than semi
conductors would double the total, to more than 1.7 million workers, while
employment in the American steel industry fell to about 330,000 during
1984.
4 Both sectors’ troubles have been widely reported. See, for example,
“Those Vanishing High-Tech Jobs,” Business W eek, July 15, 1985, p. 30.
Although the averages for 1984 and the first half o f 1985 do not yet show
the decline in microelectronics, employment fell each month during 1985
through June in both microelectronics and computers.
5 See International Competitiveness in Electronics, p. 89.
6 1977 Census o f Manufactures: Communication Equipment, Including
Radio and TV, M C 7 7 -I-3 6 D (Department o f Commerce, June 1980),
Digitized for 36
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
p. 3 6 D -5 ; 1982 U.S. Industrial Outlook (Department o f C om m erce, Janu
ary 1982), p. 343.
7 International Competitiveness in Electronics, p. 223.
8 See International Competitiveness in Electronics, pp. 1 1 2 -1 3 and
4 4 6 -4 9 .
9 A Report on the U.S. Semiconductor Industry (Department o f C om
m erce, Septem ber 1979), p. 84.
10 J.R . Lineback, “Autom ation M ay Erase O ffshore E d ge,” Electronics,
Apr. 2 1 , 1982, p. 94.
11 W .F . Finan, “The International Transfer o f Sem iconductor T echnol
ogy Through U .S .-B a se d F irm s,” W orking Paper N o. 118 (National B u
reau o f E conom ic R esearch, D ecem ber 1975), p. 60.
12 Summary o f Trade and Tariff Information: Semiconductors (U .S .
International Trade C om m ission Publication 8 41, July 1982), p. 8.
13 S e e , for exam ple, S .P . Galante, “U .S . Sem iconductor M akers A uto
m ate, Cut Chip Production in Southeast A s ia ,” The Wall Street Journal,
A ug. 2 1 , 1985, p. 28.
14 J.A . A lie and R .R . M iller, “Export Strategies in the Computer Indus
try: Japan and the U nited States,” in P. Edwards and R. G ordon, e d s.,
Strategic Computing: Defense Research and Computer Technology
(forthcom ing).
15 International Competitiveness in Electronics , Chapter 8.
Research
Summaries
Work experience profile, 1984:
the effects of recovery continue
S h ir l e y J. S m it h
The number of persons holding jobs during all or part of the
year rose to 121.1 million during 1984, up 3.6 million from
1983. This was the largest single-year increase in 35 years.
As the economy continued to improve in the wake of the
recession of 1981-82, there were also indications that the
work year of those employed had lengthened, the preva
lence of unemployment had diminished, and its average
duration had lessened.
These findings were derived from the work experience
survey, conducted each March as a supplement to the Cur
rent Population Survey, the monthly nationwide household
survey which measures the changes in the size of the labor
force, employment, and unemployment. While the monthly
measurements permit officials to closely monitor the pulse
of the American economy, the March supplement provides
a different perspective. Its retrospective questions covering
the entire previous calendar year provide unique information
on the labor force behavior of the population, on the extent
to which each member, age 16 and over, worked or sought
work during the year, and on income derived from employ
ment and other sources.
The work experience profile is particularly informative in
describing the labor force activity of groups whose work
patterns are discontinuous or habitually irregular. Given the
large movements in and out of the labor force each month,
the March supplement normally identifies a much larger
“economically active population” than does the monthly
count. For example, 121.1 million adults were identified in
the March 1985 survey as having worked for some period
during 1984, while the average of the 12 monthly measure
ments was just 105.0 million. The total number of persons
shown by the March supplement to have been unemployed
for some portion of 1984 was 2.5 times as large as was the
number encountering unemployment in the average month
(that is, 21.5 million versus 8.5 million).
During 1984, the economic recovery took an irregular
Shirley J. Smith is a demographic statistician in the Office of Employment
and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
path. The first half of the year was characterized by a strong
surge of employment and corresponding declines in unem
ployment, both of which slowed during the summer months.
During the final quarter, there was a modest upswing in
employment, but it was not matched by proportionate de
clines in joblessness.1 In light of these developments, it is
particularly useful to examine the year’s work experience
profile for the many persons who entered or left the eco
nomic arena.
Population and employment growth
Although by early 1984 the economy had already under
gone a full year of recovery, it continued to grow rapidly.
Workers appeared to be making up for lost time, both in
terms of net entries into the job market and also through
shifts to longer work hours. The continuing influx of women
into the economic arena, and pressures of population
growth, combined with the strong economic recovery to
accelerate labor force growth.
The adult population (aged 16 and over) grew by about
1 percent during the year, the pace being roughly four times
as great for Hispanics and about twice as fast for blacks as
for whites. The following tabulation shows the 1983-84
percent increases in the population aged 16 and over, per
sons employed at all during the year, and those employed
year round, full time, by selected characteristics:
Civilian noninstitutional
. .
rpopulation
K
_ ,
total
Employment
„ „ .
Full time,
,
,,
full year only,
T o t a l .......................................... 1 .0
3 .0
5 .5
M e n ....................................... 1 .1
W o m e n ............................... 0 . 9
2 .2
4 .0
5 .7
5 .2
W h ite
.................................. 0 .8
2 .5
5 .1
B la c k
.....................................1 .7
6 .1
7 .4
H i s p a n i c ............................ 3 .3
5 .5
6 .9
The character of population growth within each group dif
fered, affecting its potential contribution to the work force.
The growth of the white population was concentrated in the
age range 25 and above, and was offset to a large degree by
a contraction of the group 16-24 years of age. The number
of black teenagers also declined, but of blacks aged 20 and
above, the population increased. The population of Hispanic
origin, whose expansion results as much from immigration
of adults as from natural increase, registered gains at all ages
16 and over. Hence, the pool from which potential entrants
were likely to be drawn was somewhat older for whites than
37
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Research Summaries
for the other two groups. Each demographic group ex
panded most rapidly within the age range 2 5 -4 4 , where
baby-boom cohorts and recent immigrants are concentrated.
It is in this age range that life cycle pressures to obtain and
hold employment are normally most acute.
As the health of the economy continued to improve, the
share of the working-age population holding jobs during the
year rose from less than 67 to more than 68 percent, with the
pace of growth for women nearly twice that for men. (See
table 1.) Nonetheless, because the labor force activity of
men has been decreasing in the recent past, even the small
increase shown in 1984 is noteworthy.
The number of black and Hispanic workers with full- or
part-year jobs was sharply higher in 1984 than in the previ
ous year, reflecting both the very rapid growth of their
population and a greater potential for recovery from the
recent recession.2 Whereas the number of whites who were
in the labor force at some time during the year grew by 2.5
percent, that of blacks increased by 6.1 percent and Hispanics, by 5.5 percent.
Looked at another way, the growth of the economically
“active” population (persons working or looking for work
Table 1.
during the year) exceeded that of the total working-age
population aged 16 and over, for all groups except men.
(See table 2.) The size of the expansion of the year’s female
work force was more than twice the increase of their entire
working-age population. The number of persons who held
no job at all during the year declined across the board. Only
one group of “inactives,” men not looking for work (more
than half of whom were retired), showed even minor
growth.
Work schedules
A record number of men (43.8 million) and women (26.6
million) held year-round, full-time jobs (50 weeks or more
per year, usually at 35 hours or more per week) during 1984.
The growth rate of such employment was slightly more
rapid for men than for women, and was considerably greater
for blacks and Hispanics— with low initial representation in
this category— than it was for whites.
Men accounted for about 54 percent of the growth in
employment between the last quarter of 1983 and the last
quarter of 1984. However, because the work patterns of
women are less regular, and their role in the labor force has
Work experience of the population during the year by extent of employment for men and women, 1983- 84
[Numbers in thousands]
Total
Extent of employment
1983
Men
1984
1983
Women
1984
1983
1984
Civilian noninstitutional population ..............................................................
175,881
177,661
83,285
84,206
92,596
93,455
Total who worked or looked for w o rk ........................................................
Percent of the population.......................................................................
121,503
69.1
124,117
69.9
66,350
79.7
67,234
79.8
55,153
59.6
56,883
60.9
Total who worked during the year1 ..........................................................
Percent of the population.......................................................................
117,575
66.8
121,148
68.2
64,512
77.5
65,960
78.3
53,063
57.3
55,188
59.1
Fulltime2 ..............................................................................................
50 to 52 weeks .................................................................................
48 to 49 weeks .................................................................................
40 to 47 weeks .................................................................................
27 to 39 weeks .................................................................................
14 to 26 weeks .................................................................................
1 to 13 weeks .................................................................................
90,606
66,744
2,278
5,133
5,633
5,901
4,918
94,312
70,419
2,451
5,502
5,617
5,635
4,689
55,132
41,469
1,361
2,999
3,285
3,290
2,728
56,928
43,833
1,408
3,046
3,095
3,081
2,464
35,474
25,275
916
2,134
2,349
2,611
2,190
37,384
26,585
1,043
2,456
2,522
2,554
2,224
Part time3 ..............................................................................................
50 to 52 weeks .................................................................................
48 to 49 weeks .................................................................................
40 to 47 weeks .................................................................................
27 to 39 weeks .................................................................................
14 to 26 weeks .........................................................................
1 to 13 weeks .................................................................................
26,969
10,297
762
2,339
3,103
4,513
5,953
26,836
9,832
861
2,380
3,129
4,733
5,900
9,380
3,210
231
738
1,049
1,759
2,394
9,032
3,099
272
793
1,000
1,704
2,164
17,588
7,087
531
1,602
2,055
2,754
3,559
17,804
6,734
589
1,587
2,129
3,029
3,736
Total who worked during the year1 (percent)...........................................
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Full time 2 ..............................................................................................
50 to 52 weeks .................................................................................
48 to 49 weeks .................................................................................
40 to 47 weeks .................................................................................
27 to 39 weeks .................................................................................
14 to 26 weeks .................................................................................
1 to 13 weeks .................................................................................
77.1
56.8
1.9
4.4
4.8
5.0
4.2
77.8
58.1
2.0
4.5
4.6
4.7
3.9
85.5
64.3
2.1
4.6
5.1
5.1
4.2
86.3
66.5
2.1
4.6
4.7
4.7
3.7
66.9
47.6
1.7
4.0
4.4
4.9
4.1
67.7
48.2
1.9
4.5
4.6
4.6
4.0
Part time3 ..............................................................................................
50 to 52 weeks .................................................................................
48 to 49 weeks .................................................................................
40 to 47 weeks .................................................................................
27 to 39 weeks .................................................................................
14 to 26 weeks .................................................................................
1 to 13 weeks .................................................................................
22.9
8.8
0.6
2.0
2.6
3.8
5.1
22.2
8.1
0.7
2.0
2.6
3.9
4.9
14.5
5.0
0.4
1.1
1.6
2.7
3.7
13.7
4.7
0.4
1.2
1.5
2.6
3.3
33.1
13.4
1.0
3.0
3.9
5.2
6.7
32.3
12.2
1.1
2.9
3.9
5.5
6.8
1Time worked includes paid vacation and sick leave.
2Usually worked 35 hours or more per week.
3Usually worked 1 to 34 hours per week.
38
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No t e : These data reflect revised estimation procedures and are not comparable to data for
prior years. Data for 1983 have been retabulated and differ from data previously published in the
December 1984 issue.
Table 2. Net changes between 1983 and 1984 by work pat
tern, sex, race, and Hispanic origin
[Numbers in thousands]
Net change, 1983-84
Work pattern
Total
Men Women White Black Hispanic1
Population aged
16 years and ove r.....................
1,780
921
859
1,242
259
368
Persons who worked or
looked for w o rk ..........................
2,614
884
1,730
1,879
434
-386
Total who worked during
the year.......................................
Full year (50 to 52 weeks) . . .
Full tim e ..........................
Part time ........................
Part year (1 to 49 weeks) . . .
F u lltim e ..........................
Part time .......................
Total full-time w o rkers...........
Total part-time workers ........
3,573
3,210
3,675
-465
364
31
333
3,706
-133
1,448
2,253
2,364
-111
-805
-569
-236
1,796
-348
2,125
957
1,310
-353
1,169
600
569
1,910
216
2,575
2,523
2,996
-473
53
-141
194
2,855
-279
690
444
466
-2 2
246
137
109
603
87
390
282
269
13
108
65
43
334
56
-1,793 -527 -1,267
-395
-959 -564
-834
37
-871
-1,334
-697
-637
-431
-255
-176
-2 2
-4
-1 8
Total nonworkers..........................
Looked for work ...................
Did not look for w o rk .............
1 Persons of Hispanic origin include whites, blacks, and others (not shown). This ethnic
classification is not mutually exclusive from the racial breakdown shown.
been changing more rapidly than that of men, the record of
work experience during the year gives quite a different pic
ture of their relative contributions to growth. Nearly 60
percent of the additional 3.6 million persons holding jobs at
some time during the year were women. (See table 2.) The
proportion of all women reporting jobs rose from 57 percent
in 1983 to 59 percent in 1984. The reviving economy also
drew an additional 1.4 million men into the work force,
raising the proportion of men with jobs to 78 percent.
Most of the year’s entrants are, by definition, classed as
part-year workers, as few of them manage to work 50 weeks
or more. Thus, in a year with large employment increases,
one would expect a large increase in the number of part-year
workers. The fact that this classification declined by
800,000 for men and grew by less than 1.2 million for
women suggests that several million workers with part-year
jobs in 1983 had moved on to full-year positions during
1984. Indeed, 2.4 million additional men and 1.3 million
additional women reported full-year, full-time work in 1984.
Other evidence of the lengthening work year included a
net decline in the representation of men in all less-intense
work schedules, and a marked decline in the extent of yearround, part-time employment, especially for women. The
modest increase in total part-time employment for women
was more than offset by the withdrawal of men from this
schedule, resulting in a contraction of the part-time work
force. At the same time, full-time employment rose sharply,
by more than 3.7 million persons, during the year. More
than half (1.9 million) of this net increase was attributable
to women.
During 1984, 6 of 10 net entrants to the work force and
more than half of the net additions to the full-time work
force were women. Yet women contributed only about a
third to the increase in year-round employment.
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Components of change in employment
The work experience survey adds additional perspective
to our understanding of the components of change. It illus
trates, for instance, which groups experience disproportion
ate gains within each work schedule category. For example,
whites comprised 70 percent of the growth in the working
age population between 1983 and 1984.3 They supplied 72
percent of the total net growth in employment and were
responsible for 77 percent of the growth in full-time employ
ment, 79 percent of the growth in year-round jobs, and 82
percent of the increase in year-round, full-time work. By
contrast, blacks made up about 15 percent of the growth in
the working age population but accounted for more than
two-thirds of the growth in part-year work: a reflection of
their continued high unemployment and labor force entry
and exit rates, as well as their relatively youthful population.
Hispanics (an ethnic group including blacks, whites, and
others) accounted for 21 percent of the growth in popula
tion. They contributed just 11 percent to overall growth in
employment during the year but 30 percent to the part-year
work force.
The proportion of men holding jobs during part or all of
1984 was roughly 8 of 10 for both whites and Hispanics, but
just 7 of 10 for blacks. Proportionately more white than
black women held jobs during the year (59 versus 57 per
cent). However, black women were more likely than white
women to hold year-round, full-time jobs if they did work
(54 versus 47 percent). (See table 3.)
Given the secular trend toward early retirement, it was not
clear how responsive the elderly workers would be to im
provements in overall labor demand. As table 4 indicates,
women aged 60 and over showed no greater inclination to
hold jobs in 1984 than they had in 1983. There was a modest
increase in employment among men aged 60 to 61, but job
holding at older ages continued to drop. Yet among those
older persons who continued to work, there appeared to be
some lengthening of the average work year, with a rise in
the proportion of “active” men 55 to 64 and of “active”
women 60 to 64 holding year-round, full-time jobs.
Not surprisingly, younger workers— who had experi
enced the sharpest job cutbacks in the early 1980’s— regis
tered significant gains in work experience in 1984, as well
as in full-year, full-time employment. Persons 35 to 59, the
groups registering the least expansion in these areas in 1984,
had experienced the least job loss during the recession.
The unemployment picture
About 21.5 million persons, or 17 percent of all who
worked or looked for work during 1984, experienced some
unemployment. (See table 5.) This was a marked decline
from the peak figure (22 percent) registered in 1982, but still
higher than that registered in the 1978-79 period (less than
16 percent). The proportions encountering some unemploy
ment during the year were 18.1 percent for men and 16.5
percent for women. When the added effect of racial dispar39
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Research Summaries
ities is considered, the figures range from about 15 percent
for white women to 29 percent for black men. (See table 6.)
Values for the Hispanic community, which includes whites,
blacks, and others, fell within this range.
Overall, about 16 percent of all whites, nearly 27 percent
of all blacks, and about 23 percent of all Hispanics experi
enced one or more spells of joblessness during 1984. For
each group, this was the lowest level recorded since 1979.
The incidence of unemployment during 1984 varied con
siderably by industry, as the figures below for wage and
salary workers show:
In d u stry
P e rc e n t w ith
u n em p lo ym en t
T o ta l...............................................................
15.9
Agriculture..............................................................
Mining ....................................................................
Construction............................................................
Manufacturing ........................................................
Durable goods ....................................................
Nondurable goods ..............................................
Transportation and public utilities ........................
Wholesale and retail trade ....................................
Finance, insurance, and real estate ......................
Services .............
Public administration..............................................
28.8
23.6
35.1
17.2
16.6
18.2
11.4
17.9
9.2
12.6
7.5
More than a third of all construction workers and nearly 3
of 10 persons in agriculture reported spells of joblessness,
once again establishing these as the industries in which
workers are most prone to encounter some unemployment.
The decline in unemployment since the recession has been
most notable in durable goods manufacturing, where 16.6
percent of the workers encountered some unemployment
during 1984, down from 27.6 percent in 1982. The corre
sponding 2-year decline for construction workers was less
than 6 percentage points, and for agriculture, less than 2.
Agriculture was the only industry to register an absolute
decline in employment between 1983 and 1984.
The extent of unemployment obviously affects the share
of the total labor force able to work year round, and this is
most apparent when one looks at the data by occupation. As
table 7 illustrates, a low unemployment figure (such as was
reported by executive, administrative, and managerial occu
pations, or by farm operators and managers) is likely to be
associated with high proportions of year-round, full-time
workers. However, the high unemployment occupations
(such as the construction trades, operators, fabricators, and
laborers) show a greater concentration of workers in partyear schedules.
At most, 4 of 5 workers in any occupational group shown
held year-round, full-time jobs. In several occupations, in
cluding services (except for the protective services), con
struction trades, handlers, equipment cleaners and helpers,
farmworkers and related occupations, and forestry and fish
ing occupations, fewer than half worked full time for the
entire year. Most of these occupations were characterized by
unusually high turnover and high unemployment.
Digitized for40
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Duration of unemployment.
Of those experiencing some
unemployment during the year, about 14 percent held no job
whatsoever during that period. However, the figure for
blacks was nearly 27 percent, reflecting the difficulties
which blacks— especially the younger ones— face in find
ing jobs. (See table 6.)
For the most part, spells of unemployment during 1984
were somewhat shorter than those reported in 1983. The
median length of time spent in search of a job (including
multiple spells) dropped by 1.4 weeks, to 12.8 weeks.
Whites and Hispanics each experienced a 1.6-week reduc-
Table 3. Work experience of the population during the year
by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, 1983-84
[Numbers in thousands]
Extent of employment, race, and
Hispanic origin
Total
1983
Men
1984
1983
1984
Women
1983
1984
White
Civilian noninstitutional population ..
Total who worked or looked for
w o rk .............................................
Percent of the population...........
Total who worked during the year1
Percent of the population...........
152,047 153,289 72,546 73,180 79,501 80,109
105,870 107,749 58,520 59,144 47,351 48,605
69.6
70.3
80.7
80.8
59.6
60.7
103,243 105,818 57,274 58,324 45,969 47,494
67.9
69.0
78.9
79.7
57.8
59.3
Total who worked during the year1
Fulltime2 ..................................
50 to 52 weeks .....................
27 to 49 weeks .....................
1 to 26 weeks .....................
Part time3 ..................................
50 to 52 weeks .....................
27 to 49 weeks .....................
1 to 26 weeks .....................
100.0
77.0
56.8
11.2
8.9
23.0
8.9
5.4
8.8
100.0
77.8
58.3
11.2
8.3
22.2
8.2
5.4
8.6
100.0
85.8
64.9
12.0
8.9
14.2
5.0
3.1
6.1
100.0
86.8
67.3
11.4
8.1
13.2
4.6
3.1
5.5
100.0
66.0
46.8
10.2
9.0
34.0
13.7
8.3
12.0
100.0
66.8
47.3
10.9
8.6
33.2
12.6
8.1
12.5
Black
Civilian noninstitutional population ..
Total who worked or looked for
w o rk .............................................
Percent of the population...........
Total who worked during the year1
Percent of the population...........
19,290
19,549
8,612
8,727 10,678 10,822
12,560
65.1
11,383
59.0
12,994
66.5
12,073
61.8
6,234
72.4
5,705
66.2
6,297
72.2
5,893
67.5
6,326
59.2
5,678
53.2
6,697
61.9
6,179
57.1
Total who worked during the year1
Full time2 ..................................
50 to 52 weeks .....................
27 to 49 weeks .....................
1 to 26 weeks .....................
Part time3 ..................................
50 to 52 weeks .....................
27 to 49 weeks .....................
1 to 26 weeks .....................
100.0
77.5
55.4
10.8
11.3
22.5
7.9
4.6
10.0
100.0
78.1
56.1
11.8
10.2
21.9
7.3
4.3
10.3
100.0
82.2
57.6
11.5
13.1
17.8
5.0
3.7
9.2
100.0
82.4
58.6
12.5
11.4
17.6
5.3
2.9
9.4
100.0
72.8
53.2
10.2
9.5
27.2
10.9
5.4
10.8
100.0
73.9
53.7
11.1
9.2
26.1
9.2
5.6
11.3
Civilian noninstitutional population ..
Total who worked or looked for
w o rk .............................................
Percent of the population...........
Total who worked during the year1
Percent of the population...........
11,061
11,429
5,403
5,605
5,657
5,823
7,409
67.0
7,153
64.7
7,795
68.2
7,543
66.0
4,378
81.0
4,246
78.6
4,567
81.5
4,436
79.1
3,030
53.6
2,907
51.4
3,228
55.4
3,106
53.3
Total who worked during the year1
Fulltime2 ..................................
50 to 52 weeks .....................
27 to 49 weeks .....................
1 to 26 weeks .....................
Part time3 ..................................
50 to 52 weeks .....................
27 to 49 weeks .....................
1 to 26 weeks .....................
100.0
80.5
54.6
13.5
12.3
19.5
7.2
4.3
8.1
100.0
80.8
55.4
13.6
11.7
19.2
7.0
4.4
7.9
100.0
85.7
59.4
15.0
11.3
14.3
5.2
2.9
6.1
100.0
87.5
61.1
14.0
12.5
12.5
4.5
2.8
5.2
100.0
72.8
47.6
11.3
13.9
27.2
10.1
6.2
10.9
100.0
71.1
47.3
13.2
10.7
28.9
10.5
6.6
11.8
Hispanic origin
Tim e worked includes paid vacation and sick leave.
2Usually worked 35 hours or more per week.
3Usually worked 1 to 34 hours per week.
Note: These data reflect revised estimation procedures and are not comparable to data for
prior years. Data for 1983 have been retabulated and differ from data previously published in the
December 1984 issue. 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.
Table 4.
1984
Extent of employment by sex and age, 1983 and
Age
(in years)
Percent of population 16
and over who worked
during the year
Men
Percent of year’s work force
with year-round,
full time jobs
Women
Men
Women
households maintained by women were classified as being
in poverty. Where some unemployment had occurred during
the year more than half qualified as being “in poverty.”
Even among married-couple households, where the general
incidence of poverty is relatively low, the families with
some unemployment during the year were much more likely
to be in poverty than those reporting no unemployment.
1983
1984
1983
1984
1983
1984
1983
1984
Total ...............
77.5
78.3
57.3
59.1
64.3
66.5
47.6
48.2
16 to 1 7 .....................
18 to 1 9 .....................
46.2
73.8
49.7
77.3
40.4
66.4
46.8
70.9
1.6
13.1
2.2
14.4
0.5
12.0
1.0
11.8
Nonworkers
20 to
25 to
35 to
45 to
55 to
2 4 .....................
3 4 .....................
4 4 .....................
5 4 .....................
5 9 .....................
86.8
92.4
94.0
90.5
81.9
88.1
94.2
94.1
90.7
81.8
76.0
73.6
73.2
66.4
53.6
78.1
75.5
74.3
69.0
55.8
41.0
69.5
79.2
81.5
77.0
43.1
73.0
81.7
81.3
79.3
37.3
53.6
55.1
58.4
55.9
37.6
54.4
55.3
59.5
55.9
60 to 6 1 .....................
62 to 6 4 .....................
65 to 5 9 .....................
70 and o v e r ...............
72.1
60.1
33.1
15.6
73.4
58.1
32.9
15.1
47.4
34.6
18.6
6.4
47.2
34.8
18.3
6.7
70.4
61.4
38.5
26.9
74.2
62.4
38.6
26.6
51.4
46.4
27.0
18.9
54.7
48.7
24.8
14.6
To round out the picture of economic activity during
1984, it is interesting to consider the segment of the adult
population which held no job at all during the year. There
were 56.5 million such persons, of which slightly more than
two-thirds (68 percent) were women. Only 5 percent of the
nonworkers were reported as having made any attempt to
find employment during the year. Overall, 3 of 10 nonwork
ers reported that they were retired, a figure which is proba-
tion in the median duration of unemployment. Blacks con
tinued to report the longest spells, and the decline in their
median length of unemployment amounted to just one-half
week. This apparent stagnation masked the contradictory
experiences among men and women. While the median
spell for black women diminished by 3.4 weeks, and was
the most impressive improvement registered, that for black
men actually rose by 1.7 weeks, the only duration figure to
rise during 1984.
Unemployment and family income.
The following text
tabulation shows the median income (exclusive of noncash
transfers) for various types of families, by presence or ab
sence of unemployment during the year:
N o m em b er
u n em p lo yed
F a m ily stru ctu re
M e d ia n
f a m ily
in co m e
Married-couple families. $33,960
Families maintained by:
W omen...................... 17,225
M en............................ 27,083
Persons not living
in families ........ 16,320
A t le a s t one
m em b er w ith so m e
u n em ploym en t
P e rc e n t
in
p o v e r ty
M e d ia n
f a m ily
in com e
4.1
$25,713
12.0
17.8
6.0
10,427
17,173
41.6
21.9
9.3
8,157
P e rc e n t
in
p o v e r ty
32.7
It should be noted that these groups are far from homoge
neous: each has its own age and racial makeup. A dispropor
tionate share of married-couple families are white, whereas
families maintained by women are disproportionately black.
In general, persons living alone are relatively young or old.
And of course, unearned income (such as unemployment
compensation, disability, military and Social Security bene
fits, and earnings on investments) affect each group’s me
dian differently.
Still, certain patterns are unmistakable. Within any given
group, households are at least twice as likely to be classed
as having income below the poverty line if some member
experiences unemployment during the year. For example, in
the absence of unemployment, less than 18 percent of the
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Table 5.
1983-84
Extent of unemployment during the year by sex,
Extent of unemployment
Total
1983
Men
1984
1983
Women
1984
1983
1984
Numbers (in thousands)
Total who worked or looked for w ork.
Percent with unemployment ........
121,503 124,117 66,350 67,234 55,153 56,833
17.4
19.6
21.0
18.1
17.8
16.5
Total with unemployment .............
Did not work but looked for work
1 to 14 weeks .......................
15 weeks or more .................
23,762
3,928
1,643
2,285
21,535 13,919 12,174
2,969 1,838 1,274
1,355
508
375
1,615 1,330
898
9,842
2,091
1,135
956
9,361
1,696
979
716
Worked during the y e a r.............
Median weeks of unemployment for all workers ........
Year-round workers' with 1 or
2 weeks of unemployment ..
Part-year workers2 with
unemployment.....................
1 to 4 w eeks.......................
5 to 10 weeks.....................
11 to 14 weeks...................
15 to 26 weeks...................
27 weeks or m ore...............
19,833
18,565 12,083 10,900
7,752
7,665
18,916
3,356
3,594
2,544
4,965
4,457
With 2 spells or more of
unemployment.....................
2 spells ..............................
3 spells or m o re .................
6,428
3,305
3,123
6,147
3,000
3,147
Did not work but looked for work
1 to 14 weeks.....................
15 weeks or m ore...............
100.0
41.8
58.2
100.0
45.6
54.4
100.0
27.6
72.4
Worked during the y e a r.............
Year-round workers' with 1 or
2 weeks of unemployment ..
Part-year workers2 with
unemployment.....................
1 to 4 weeks.......................
5 to 10 weeks.....................
11 to 14 weeks...................
15 to 26 w eeks...................
27 weeks or m ore...............
100.0
100.0
4.6
4.8
95.4
16.9
18.1
12.8
25.0
22.5
32.4
16.7
15.7
14.2
12.8
15.2
14.1
12.6
10.7
917
898
611
539
307
359
17,668 11,471 10,362
3,702 1,709 1,750
3,628 2,063 2,033
2,351 1,581 1,443
4,377 3,232 2,759
3,610 2,885 2,376
7,445
1,647
1,530
963
1,733
1,572
7,306
1,952
1,594
907
1,618
1,234
2,173
1,232
941
2,120
1,169
952
100.0
29.5
70.5
100.0
54.3
45.7
100.0
57.8
42.2
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
5.1
4.9
4.0
4.7
95.2
19.9
19.5
12.7
23.6
19.4
94.9
14.1
17.1
13.1
26.7
23.9
95.1
16.1
18.7
13.2
25.3
21.8
96.0
21.2
19.7
12.4
22.4
20.3
95.3
25.5
20.8
11.8
21.1
16.1
33.1
16.2
17.0
35.2
17.2
18.1
36.9
16.8
20.1
28.0
15.9
12.1
27.7
15.2
12.4
4,255
2,073
2,182
4,027
1,831
2,196
Percent distribution
With 2 spells or more of
unemployment.....................
2 spells ..............................
3 spells or m o re .................
'Worked 50 or 51 weeks.
2Worked less than 50 weeks.
Note: These data reflect revised estimation procedures and are not comparable to data for
prior years. Data for 1983 have been retabulated and differ from data previously published in the
December 1984 issue.
41
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
Research Summaries
•
bly understated because retired women often report them
selves as homemakers. Retirees made up at least a third of
the nonworking white population, but were much less
prevalent in the black and Hispanic groups.
Table 6. Extent of unemployment during the year by race,
Hispanic origin, and sex, 1983-84
[Numbers in thousands]_________
Extent of unemployment,
race, and Hispanic origin
Total
1983
Men
1984
1983
Women
1984
1983
1984
White
Total who worked or looked for work .
Percent with unemployment ........
Total with unemployment .............
Did not work but looked for work
Worked during the y e a r.............
Median weeks of unemployment for all workers . . . .
Total who worked during the
year (percent) ............................
Year-round workers' with 1 or 2
weeks of unemployment ........
Part-year workers2 with
unemployment..........................
1 to 4 weeks ..........................
5 to 14 weeks ........................
15 weeks or more .................
With 2 spells or more of
unemployment..........................
105,870 107,749 58,520 59,144 47,351 48,605
18.5
16.2
19.8
16.9
16.8
15.3
19,549
2,627
16,922
17,461 11,614 10,008
1,930 1,246
819
15,531 10,369 9,188
7,935
1,381
6,553
7,454
1,111
6,343
13.8
12.2
14.8
13.4
12.0
10.2
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
4.9
5.1
5.3
5.3
4.3
4.8
95.1
17.5
31.6
45.9
94.9
20.9
33.3
40.8
94.7
14.6
30.8
49.3
94.7
16.6
33.7
44.4
95.7
22.2
32.8
40.6
95.2
27.0
32.6
35.6
31.9
32.7
34.8
36.7
27.3
27.0
The single most frequently cited reason for refraining
from work was home responsibilities. These were cited by
nearly 2 of 3 of the Hispanic women, slightly more than half
of the white women, and slightly more than a third of the
black women who did not hold jobs. Roughly a quarter of
all inactive black and Hispanic men explained their nonpar
ticipation in terms of illness or disability; fewer than
20 percent of white men cited these reasons. Because of
their relative youth, blacks and Hispanics were more likely
than whites to cite school attendance or inability to find
work as the primary cause of their inactivity.
During 1984, there was record growth in the work force,
as women, blacks, and Hispanics established stronger foot
ing within the economic arena. However, white men made
the most significant gains, especially with regard to yearround, full-time employment.
There was ample evidence of a lengthened work year,
both with respect to numbers of weeks worked and a decline
Table 7.
Incidence of unemployment, and proportion of
w o rk e rs o n v a rio u s w o rk s c h e d u le s , by o c c u p a tio n of
longest job in 1984
Occupation longest held
Black
Total who worked or looked for work .
Percent with unemployment ........
12,560
29.0
12,994
26.7
6,234
32.0
6,297
29.3
6,326
26.0
6,697
24.3
Total with unemployment .............
Did not work but looked for work
Worked during the y e a r.............
Median weeks of unemployment for all w o rkers.............
3,640
1,177
2,462
3,473
922
2,551
1,992
529
1,463
1,847
404
1,443
1,648
648
1,000
1,626
518
1,108
Total who worked during the
year (percent)..............................
Year-round workers' with 1 or 2
weeks of unemployment ........
Part-year workers2 with
unemployment.........................
1 to 4 weeks ..........................
5 to 14 weeks ........................
15 weeks or more .................
With 2 spells or more of unemployment..................................
18.0
17.4
18.5
20.2
17.3
13.9
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
2.6
3.6
3.0
2.8
2.0
4.6
97.4
12.9
27.5
57.1
96.4
14.5
26.6
37.3
97.0
11.2
27.4
58.4
97.8
12.5
22.5
37.3
98.0
15.2
27.6
55.1
95.4
17.2
31.8
37.3
36.3
35.2
37.9
39.1
33.9
30.3
Total who worked or looked for work .
Percent with unemployment ........
7,409
24.7
7,795
22.8
4,378
26.3
4,567
25.0
3,030
22.4
3,228
19.7
Total with unemployment .............
Did not work but looked for work
Worked during the y e a r.............
Median weeks of unemployment for all w o rkers.............
1,830
256
1,575
1,778
252
1,526
1,151
132
1,019
1,144
131
1,013
680
124
556
634
121
513
16.1
14.5
16.7
14.9
14.9
14.7
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Hispanic origin
Total who worked during the
year (percent)..............................
Year-round workers' with 1 or 2
weeks of unemployment ........
Part-year workers2 with
unemployment.........................
1 to 4 weeks ..........................
5 to 14 weeks .......................
15 weeks or more .................
3.7
3.1
3.5
3.0
4.1
3.2
96.3
15.7
28.1
52.5
96.9
16.1
32.6
48.2
96.5
14.2
28.3
54.0
97.0
14.6
32.8
49.5
95.9
18.4
27.8
49.7
96.8
19.3
32.0
45.4
34.9
35.4
37.6
38.6
30.0
29.2
Total ....................................
Managerial, professional specialty
occupations....................................
Executive, administrators,
m anagerial................................
Professional specialty
occupations ..............................
Technical, sales, and administrative
support .........................................
Technicians and related
support......................................
Sales occupations .....................
Administrative support,
including clerical.......................
Service occupations.......................
Private household........................
Protective services.....................
Service, except private
household ................................
Precision production, craft, and
repair.............................................
Mechanics and repairers.............
Construction trades.....................
Other precision production,
craft, and repair .......................
Operators, fabricators, and
laborers.........................................
Machine operators, assemblers,
inspectors..................................
Transportation and material
m oving.......................................
Handlers, equipment cleaners,
and helpers ..............................
Full year1
Part year2
Experienced
some
unemployment
Full
time
Part
time
Full
time
Part
time
15.3
58.1
8.1
19.7
14.0
6.8
73.7
5.2
13.2
7.8
6.5
80.7
4.0
11.7
3.6
7.0
67.6
6.3
14.7
11.4
11.8
58.0
10.7
15.9
15.3
10.0
13.2
70.0
52.9
8.0
12.1
14.2
14.5
7.8
20.6
11.1
59.5
10.2
17.4
12.9
18.1
13.1
11.1
36.5
13.0
67.3
15.2
23.9
4.3
18.7
13.6
16.8
29.7
49.5
11.6
19.4
34.8
15.7
19.4
30.2
21.2
12.9
34.5
65.7
75.7
49.2
2.8
3.2
2.7
25.3
17.3
37.6
6.2
3.7
10.5
14.4
74.6
2.6
19.2
3.7
26.0
53.8
4.8
30.9
10.5
24.9
60.9
2.8
31.0
5.4
23.2
58.5
4.3
27.9
9.3
30.3
37.7
8.7
33.4
20.2
19.1
2.5
44.7
78.0
8.2
11.0
26.6
6.7
20.5
4.4
26.2
29.6
7.3
34.3
28.8
'Worked 50 weeks or more.
Farming, forestry, and fis h in g .........
Farm operators and managers ..
Farmworkers and related
occupations ..............................
Forestry and fishing
occupations ..............................
29.4
34.6
1.4
51.4
12.6
2Worked less than 50 weeks.
Armed forces occupations3 .............
36.4
43.5
0.5
52.2
3.8
With 2 spells or more of unemployment..................................
Note : These data reflect revised estimation procedures and are not comparable to data for
prior years. Data for 1983 have been retabulated and differ from data previously published in the
December 1984 issue. 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
'50 to 52 weeks.
2Less than 50 weeks.
3Because these data exclude persons living on military bases and include those recently
discharged from the military, they are not fully representative of the armed forces population.
in usual part-time schedules. Most demographic groups
shared in the year’s gains, but black men continued to report
very serious unemployment problems.
□
---------- FOOTNOTES--------'See Richard M. Devens, Jr., Carol Boyd Leon, and Debbie L. Sprinkle,
“Employment and unemployment in 1984: a second year of strong growth
in jobs,” Monthly Labor Review, February 1985, pp. 3 -1 5 .
2During 1984, the proportion of whites with some employment during
the year rose to within half a percentage point of the level registered in
1979. The proportion of blacks with jobs during all or part of the year was
a full percentage point below, and for Hispanics, 2.3 percentage points
below the figure reported in 1979.
3In reality, the population weights and estimates, and age references
from the March survey correspond with survivors to that month, rather than
all persons alive during the previous year. Thus, year-to-year population
growth is measured from March 1984 to March 1985.
Rise in mothers’ labor force activity
includes those with infants
How ard Hayghe
The notion that mothers of preschool-aged children, espe
cially infants, usually stay out of the labor force at least until
their youngest child has entered elementary school has
changed rapidly during the 1980’s. At mid-decade, nearly
half of the mothers are either entering or reentering the work
force soon after giving birth. By the time their youngest
child is 4 years of age, 60 percent are in the work force. This
report introduces a newly expanded series of statistics that
traces some of the profound changes that have occurred in
the labor force participation rates of the mothers of young
children.1
Married mothers
In March 1985, nearly half of all wives (husband present)
with infant children 1 year old or under were in the labor
force, compared with only 31 percent in 1975. The propor
tion rises significantly until the youngest child reaches
school age. Fifty-four percent of the mothers of 2-year-olds
were working or looking for work in March, as were 62
percent of those with 5-year-olds. For mothers of school-age
children the proportion ranged between 64 and 71 percent.2
(See table 1.)
Altogether, about 25 million children— over half in
married-couple families— are in families where the mother
is absent from the home for part of the workday on a regular
basis; almost all of these children have a working father (91
percent).3 This latter fact, when linked to information on the
full- or part-time employment status of wives, helps provide
some insight into the extent and nature of the demand for
child care. In 1985, 65 percent of the employed mothers
with children under age 3 worked full time, as did 67 per
cent of those with children 3 to 5 years old (none younger)
and 70 percent of those whose youngest child was 6 to 17.4
Race .
The labor force participation rates of black married
mothers were considerably higher than those of white mar
ried mothers, especially when the youngest child was a
preschooler. At 64 percent, the participation rate for black
mothers with infant children (1 year or under) was 15 per
centage points higher than the rate for whites. For the most
part, this difference showed few signs of narrowing until the
youngest child was 7 years or older. Even among mothers
of older children, blacks maintained higher labor force par
ticipation rates.
Reasons underlying the higher participation rates of black
mothers with very young children are both historical and
economic. Black wives have a long history of participating
in the labor market to a much greater extent than their white
counterparts, impelled in part by the relatively greater labor
force difficulties of black than white husbands. In March
1985, for instance, the unemployment rate for black fathers
with preschool children was 10.2 percent, compared with
5 percent for the white fathers; for those whose youngest
child was of school age, the unemployment rates were 6.3
percent for black fathers and 4.2 percent for white fathers.
In addition, median usual weekly earnings of black hus
bands who were full-time wage and salary earners in the
third quarter of 1985 were $353, or 77 percent of the $459
for white husbands.5
Along with their generally higher labor force participation
rates, employed black mothers usually work more weeks
each year than white mothers, and a substantially larger
proportion work all year at full-time jobs. This is true for
mothers of preschoolers as well as school-age children;
among those with children under age 3, 47 percent of the
blacks worked year round, full time in 1984, compared with
31 percent of the whites. The proportions were 65 percent
(for blacks) and 35 percent (for whites) for those with 3- to
5-year-olds. As a consequence of these marked differences,
median earnings of black wives with preschoolers were
$10,480 overall in 1984, compared with $7,020 for whites;
for wives with school-age children, the earnings were
$12,010 (for blacks) and $8,800 (for whites).6
However, the higher earnings of black mothers do not
translate into higher total family income because of the sig
nificant difference between the earnings of black husbands
and white husbands. The 1984 median income of black
married-couple families with preschool children was
$22,480, compared with $27,800 for whites.7
Single-parent mothers
Howard Hayghe is an economist in the Division of Employment and Unem
ployment Analysis, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Because single-parent mothers are often the sole support
of themselves and their children, they are far more likely to
43
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Research Summaries
be in the labor force than married mothers. But, when labor
force participation rates are disaggregated by year of age of
youngest child, there is not much difference between the
Table 1.
1985
participation rates of the single parents and married mothers
when their youngest child is 4 years of age or under, except
among those with infants. (See table 2.) However, the dif-
Labor force status of wives, husband present, by presence and single year of age of youngest child and race, March
Presence and age of child
Civilian
noninstitutional
population
(in thousands)
Civilian labor
force
(in thousands)
Labor force
participation
rate
Total
White
Black
Total
White
Black
Wives, to ta l...............
50,395
45,668
3,487
27,386
24,402
2,239
54.3
53.4
64.2
No children under 18 .............
With children under 1 8 ...........
26,170
24,225
24,097
21,571
1,655
1,831
12,620
14,766
11,452
12,950
928
1,310
48.2
61.0
47.5
60.0
56.1
71.5
Under 6 years, to ta l.............
Under 3 years, to ta l........
2 years ..........................
11,728
7,306
5,185
2,121
10,408
6,549
4,652
1,897
892
492
339
153
6,298
3,707
2,562
1,145
5,445
3.259
2,260
999
618
323
216
107
53.7
50.7
49.4
54.0
52.3
49.8
48.6
52.7
69.3
65.7
63.7
69.9
3 to 5 years, to ta l...............
3 years ..........................
4 years ..........................
5 years ..........................
4,422
1,728
1,433
1,261
3,859
1,496
1,260
1,103
400
159
126
115
2,591
952
856
783
2,186
789
736
661
295
115
89
91
58.6
55.1
59.7
62.1
56.6
52.7
58.4
59.9
73.8
72.3
70.6
79.1
6 to 17 years, to ta l...............
6 to 13 years, to ta l.............
6 years ..........................
7 years ..........................
8 years ..........................
9 years ..........................
12,498
8,387
1,165
1,147
995
1,003
11,164
7,439
1,024
997
891
912
939
649
97
105
73
63
8,469
5,713
751
772
689
664
7,505
5,034
648
663
609
601
692
477
77
78
60
47
67.8
68.1
64.5
67.3
69.2
66.2
67.2
67.7
63.3
66.5
68.4
65.9
73.7
73.5
79.4
74.3
(1)
(1)
10 years..........................
1,008
959
1,031
1,079
886
872
906
951
79
62
86
84
687
664
736
750
605
608
636
664
56
39
69
51
68.2
69.2
71.4
69.5
68.3
69.7
70.2
69.8
70.9
(1)
80.2
60.7
4,111
1,137
1,115
949
910
3,725
1,025
1,014
865
821
290
79
77
65
69
2,756
799
757
609
591
2,471
709
691
541
530
215
63
49
52
51
67.0
70.3
67.9
64.2
64.9
66.3
69.2
68.1
62.5
64.6
74.1
79.7
63.6
(1)
(1)
13 years..........................
14 to 17 years, to ta l...........
14 years..........................
16 years..........................
1 Rate not shown where base is less than 75,000.
Note: Due to rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals. Children are de
Total
White
Black
dren, and adopted children. Excluded are other related children such as nieces, nephews, or
grandchildren, and unrelated children.
fined as “own” children of householder and include never-married sons, daughters, stepchil
19856 2
Lab° r f° rCe status of women maintaining families, by presence and single year of age of youngest child and race, March
Presence and age of child
Civilian
noninstitutional
population
(in thousands)
Total
White
Black
10,524
7,257
4,179
6,345
3,067
4,190
2,390
1,146
728
418
to 5 years, to ta l...........................
3 years ...........................................
4 years ...........................................
5 years ...........................................
White
Black
Total
White
3,029
6,419
4,574
1,705
61.0
63.0
56.3
1,027
2,002
2,117
4,302
1,592
2,982
479
1,226
50.7
67.8
51.9
71.2
46.6
61.2
1,457
698
426
272
887
423
284
139
1,271
510
277
233
809
319
167
152
444
184
109
75
53.2
44.5
38.0
55.7
55.5
45.7
39.2
55.9
50.1
43.5
38.4
54.0
1,244
423
380
441
759
247
236
276
464
171
138
155
761
232
235
294
490
136
156
198
260
94
74
92
61.2
54.8
61.8
66.7
64.6
55.1
66.1
71.7
56.0
55.0
53.6
59.4
to 17 years, to ta l............................
6 to 13 years, to ta l..............................
6 years ............................................
7 years .............................................
8 years .............................................
9 years .............................................
3,955
2,609
358
339
295
312
2,733
1,756
232
226
201
215
1,116
784
123
103
89
86
3,031
1,975
272
256
206
246
2,173
1,371
178
167
148
177
783
556
90
81
57
61
76.6
75.7
76.0
75.5
69.8
78.8
79.5
78.1
76.7
73.9
73.6
82.3
70.2
70.9
73.2
78.6
64.0
70.9
10 years.............................................
11 years.............................................
12 years.............................................
13 years.............................................
328
303
351
323
223
204
232
223
102
82
108
91
261
221
265
248
184
157
184
176
75
52
71
69
79.6
72.9
75.5
76.8
82.5
77.0
79.3
78.9
73.5
63.4
65.7
75.8
14
to 17 years, to ta l.........................
14 years.............................................
15 years.............................................
16 years.............................................
17 years.............................................
1,346
374
328
302
342
977
264
231
226
256
332
100
84
72
1,056
294
241
245
276
802
221
174
196
211
227
68
55
48
56
78.5
78.6
73.5
81.1
80.7
82.1
83.7
75.3
86.7
82.4
68.4
68.0
65.5
No children under 18 ................................
With children under 1 8 ..............................
Under 6 years, total................................
Under 3 years, to ta l............................
1 year or under ..............................
2 years ...........................................
3
1 Rate not shown where base is less than 75,000.
Note: Due to rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals. Children are de
fined as “own” children of householder and include never-married sons, daughters, stepchil
44
Labor force
participation
rate
Total
Women maintaining families, total
6
Civilian labor
force
(in thousands)
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
76
Black
ID
73.7
dren, and adopted children. Excluded are other related children such as nieces, nephews, or
grandchildren, and unrelated children.
ferences begin to widen when the youngest child is 5 years
old, and for the most part, remain large among mothers of
older children.
In addition to having higher labor force participation rates
than married mothers, single-parent mothers are also more
likely to be full-time workers. About 82 percent of em
ployed single-parent mothers worked 35 hours or more a
week in March 1985, compared with 68 percent of married
mothers. Proportions of single-parent mothers working full
time ranged from 79 percent of those with children under
3 years, to 84 percent of those whose youngest child was age
6 to 17.
The relationship between the participation rates of whites
and blacks among single-parent mothers is the reverse of
that among married mothers. That is, white single parents
are somewhat more likely than their black counterparts to be
working or looking for work. However, until the youngest
child enters his or her teens, the difference between partici
pation rates for white single parents and black single parents
is not nearly as great as among married mothers.
Trends since 1970
As table 3 shows, labor force participation rates of all
wives by single year of age of youngest child increased
between 1970 and 1985 whatever the child’s age, though to
differing degrees. Overall, labor force participation rates of
married mothers grew faster during 1975 to 1980 than in
either the 1970-75 or 1980-85 periods.
The most rapid increase from 1970 to 1985 was among
mothers of very young children. Participation rates of moth
ers of infants age 1 year or under about doubled, followed
Table 3. Labor force participation rates of wives, husband
present, by age of youngest child, March of selected years,
1970-85
Presence and age of child
1970
1975
1980
1985
Wives, to ta l........................................................
40.8
44.5
50.2
54.3
No children under 18 .....................................................
With children under 18 ...................................................
42.2
39.8
44.0
44.9
46.0
54.3
48.2
61.0
Under 6 years, total......................................................
Under 3 years, to ta l.................................................
1 year or under ...................................................
2 years ................................................................
30.3
25.8
24.0
30.5
36.8
32.6
30.8
37.1
45.3
41.5
39.0
48.1
53.7
50.7
49.4
54.0
3 to 5 years, to ta l.....................................................
3 years ................................................................
4 years ................................................................
5 years ................................................................
36.9
34.5
39.4
36.9
42.2
41.2
41.2
44.4
51.7
51.5
51.4
52.4
58.6
55.1
59.7
62.1
6 to 17 years, total .....................................................
6 to 13, years, total .................................................
6 years ................................................................
7 years ................................................................
8 years ................................................................
9 years ................................................................
49.2
47.0
44.0
44.7
44.6
48.5
52.4
51.8
46.7
51.1
51.5
52.4
62.0
62.6
58.5
61.7
62.3
60.8
67.8
68.1
64.5
67.3
69.2
66.2
10 years................................................................
11 years................................................................
12 years................................................................
13 years................................................................
48.7
47.6
51.8
51.8
56.6
52.8
50.0
54.0
65.1
65.1
65.7
64.6
68.2
69.2
71.4
69.5
14 to 17 years, to ta l.................................................
14 years................................................................
15 years................................................................
16 years................................................................
17 years................................................................
54.8
56.9
52.8
54.3
55.1
53.8
52.4
54.7
55.0
52.7
60.5
62.6
60.8
62.3
55.6
67.0
70.3
67.9
64.2
64.9
Note: Children are defined as “own” children of householder and include never-married
sons, daughters, stepchildren, and adopted children. Excluded are other related children such
as nieces, nephews, or grandchildren, and unrelated children.
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by a 77-percent jump for those with 2-year-olds and a 60percent rise for mothers of 3-year-olds. In contrast, the
already high participation rates of mothers of older children
grew less rapidly. For instance, the rates for mothers of 6to 13-year-olds rose by 45 percent with the more rapid
growth (increases in the 50-percent-plus range) occurring
among mothers of 6-, 7-, and 8-year-olds. Mothers of 14- to
17-year-olds showed the least gain in participation rates—
about one-fifth.
The result of these differing rates of change has been a
convergence of participation rates and a blurring of the
correlation between mothers’ labor force activity and age of
youngest child. For instance, in 1970, the highest participa
tion rate (57 percent for mothers of 14-year-olds) was more
than twice the lowest rate (24 percent for those with infants).
By 1985, the highest rate (71 percent for mothers of 12year-olds) was less than half again larger than the lowest rate
(49 percent for mothers of infants).
s t a t i s t i c s point to some of the striking changes in
the economic role of mothers over the last decade and a half.
Families have increasingly become solely or partly depen
dent on a mother’s earnings. Using this newly expanded
data series by single year of age of children, researchers will
be better able to monitor changing labor force trends and
thus provide important insights regarding family economic
structure and the demand for family services such as child
care.
□
T h ese
---------- FOOTNOTES----------1 Labor force participation rates were previously disaggregated by the
age group of the youngest child of the working mother; however, now they
are also disaggregated by the single year of age of the youngest child.
The data in this research summary are derived from information col
lected each March in the Current Population Survey ( cps ). The cps is a
monthly household survey (presently including 59,500 households) con
ducted for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the Bureau of the Census.
Information obtained from this survey relates to the employment status of
the noninstitutional population 16 years old and over.
Because it is a sample survey, estimates derived from the cps may differ
from the actual counts that could be obtained from a complete census.
Therefore, small estimates or small differences between estimates should
be interpreted with caution. For a more detailed explanation, see the Ex
planatory Note in Families at Work: The Jobs and the P a y , Bulletin 2209
(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1984), pp. 3 0-34.
2 Labor force statistics on mothers o f school-age children may partly
reflect the fact that they are collected in March when school is in session.
However, participation rates based on March data are not substantially
higher than those based on information collected in the summer. For exam
ple, the June to August 1985 average participation rate for married mothers
with school-age children was 65 percent; in March 1985, the rate was 68
percent. Thus, the opening of school does not appear to provide a major
incentive for mothers to participate in the labor force.
3 See News Release, U .S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statis
tics, u s d l 8 5 -3 8 , “Labor force activity of mothers of young children
continues at record pace,” table 3.
4 I b id ., table 1.
5 For further discussion of black-white male differences in labor force
participation see Howard Hayghe, “Married couples: work and income
patterns,” Monthly Labor Review, December 1983, pp. 11 and 12.
6 Unpublished data, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
7 Ibid.
45
Foreign Labor
Developments
West German labor unrest: are unions
losing ground to worker councils?
C h a r l e s J. H o b s o n
and
Ja m e s B . D w o r k i n
In the years following World War II, West Germany has
emerged as one of the world’s strongest industrial powers.
Traditionally, the German economy has enjoyed a strong
rate of economic growth and high levels of productivity,
coupled with low inflation and unemployment.
A great deal of the credit for this “economic miracle” has
often been attributed to the cooperative labor relations sys
tem in West Germany. Rejecting the adversarial industrial
relations framework which has evolved in the United States,
the Germans have relied on a cooperative partnership be
tween government, labor unions, and employers to foster a
strong shared commitment to economic growth. Labor con
flicts have been minimized and days lost to strike activity
are among the lowest in the world.
Components of the system
By law, industrial relations in West Germany is practiced
within the framework of two separate sub-systems. On the
one hand, national legislation has provided for a compre
hensive and participatory structure for representing worker
interests at the company or plant level, which is specifically
referred to as codetermination and uniquely characterizes
the German approach. At the industry level, on the other
hand, a system of collective bargaining exists which is sim
ilar yet reduced in scope to that found in the United States.1
The legislated codetermination structure provides for rep
resentation of worker interest at three distinct levels: worker
councils, labor directors, and worker-elected members on
the board of directors. In practice, the German system func
tions as follows. Worker councils are required in all plants
having five employees or more, with the size of the council
based upon the number of employees. These councils have
rather broad, far-reaching powers, which include an equal
say with management in (1) job evaluation, (2) overtime,
breaks, and holiday schedules, (3) recruitment, selection,
and dismissal, and (4) training and safety. Strikes over
Charles J. Hobson is an assistant professor of management at the Division
o f Business and Economics, Indiana University Northwest, and James B.
Dworkin is an associate professor of industrial relations at the Krannert
Graduate School o f Management, Purdue University.
46
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these matters are prohibited by law, and disputes are usually
resolved through binding arbitration.
The second level of the codetermination structure in
volves the labor director who, as a member of the com
pany’s management team, is in charge of day-to-day opera
tions. As a representative of the interests of the workers, the
labor director is responsible for the personnel and social
policies and practices of the company.
Finally, the third level of representation in the codetermi
nation structure consists of worker-elected members of the
company’s board of directors. In many instances, boards are
made up of an equal number of worker and stockholder
representatives. Boards are charged with electing a chair
person who, in the event of a tie, votes twice. If the board
is deadlocked on the choice of a chairperson, a simple ma
jority of the stockholders’ representatives is sufficient for
election. Thus, while parity board representation is often
championed as an important feature of the German system,
the provisions for electing a chairperson and breaking ties
effectively ensure that stockholders’ interests will prevail
even when the board as a whole is deadlocked.
The second major component of the German industrial
relations framework is the collective bargaining system,
which takes place primarily at the state and national or
industry-wide level. Labor-management negotiations are
concerned exclusively with two issues, wage levels and a
rather nebulous area called “general conditions of employ
ment.” Only for disputes relating directly to these two nego
tiable issues can strikes legally be called. While relatively
influential at the national level, German unions are by com
parison very weak at the plant level. In fact, unions have no
legal right to represent workers locally and thus defer power
and control over plant issues to worker councils.
In summary, in terms of formal structure, industrial rela
tions in West Germany is conducted in two seemingly sep
arate spheres, with unions playing a far less influential role
than they do in the United States. However, in practice,
there is substantial overlap and coordination between the
codetermination components and the collective bargaining
system. For instance, more than 80 percent of all worker
council representatives are union members. Therefore,
unions tend to play a more important role in the industrial
relations framework than is evident on the basis of the for
mal structure of the system.
Recent developments.
The strong economy and rela
tive labor peace experienced in West Germany have been
seriously threatened by the recent worldwide recession. The
economy has been confronted with a dramatic decrease in
the growth of gross national product, higher inflation, and
an unsettling increase in unemployment.
Labor unions were forced to accept minimal wage in
creases and modest programs to guarantee job security to
senior workers. The general conciliatory stance of German
labor changed dramatically in the summer of 1984, when
I G Metall, the country’s largest union with more than 2.5
million members, staged a bitter and protracted 8-week
strike in an effort to win a 35-hour workweek with no
decrease in pay. The stated union objective was to reduce
national unemployment by 1 percentage point to 8 percent
of the labor force.
The strike was resolved with a reduction of 1.5 hours in
the workweek and no corresponding reduction in pay. How
ever, the long strike had a devastating impact on the German
economy. Involving more than 350,000 workers, the strike
cost German auto companies more than $75 million per day
in lost production and reduced gross national product by an
estimated 2 percent. A number of firms laid off other work
ers in an effort to cut costs and make up for sagging produc
tivity rates. Finally, the union’s action generated a great deal
of adverse public opinion.
Why had I G Metall broken with past tradition and bar
gained in an uncharacteristically antagonistic and unyielding
manner? Surely, the projected economic costs of the im
pending strike were known to union leaders prior to their
action. Why then did they risk upsetting the fledgling Ger
man economic recovery from the recent recession?
A glimpse into the possible dynamics of this scenario can
be obtained by addressing the perceptions of German work
ers as to the relative usefulness and necessity of the union
and codetermination components in representing labor inter
ests. A comparison of the perceptions of these institutions
could shed light on the secondary position occupied by
German unions as they begin to lose their influence among
German workers.
Scope of the study
The present study is part of a larger research effort which
involved three major components: (1) questionnaire devel
opment, (2) questionnaire administration, and (3) ques
tionnaire analysis.2 The development of the questionnaire
was a collaborative, cross-cultural effort involving both the
German and American members of the research team. It was
designed to collect the following information from German
workers: (1) basic biographical data, (2) job satisfaction
indices, and (3) attitudinal/perceptual measures concern
ing the various components or participants in the codetermi
nation system— unions, management, worker councils, labor
directors, and worker representatives on corporate boards.
Questionnaire administration was a coordinated effort in
volving the German labor unions, company managements,
worker council representatives, and the German member of
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the research team. Questionnaires were distributed to five
large firms in the automobile and metal industries in the
Munich area of West Germany. Responses were entirely
voluntary and a total of 135 completed questionnaires were
collected, for a response rate of 40 percent.
The questionnaire responses were analyzed from the per
spective of implications for German unions in particular and
the national labor relations system in general. Specifically,
mean responses to the items comprising the union scale were
computed and compared with similar items on the three
scales representing the codetermination structure— worker
councils, labor directors, and worker representatives on cor
porate boards. In this manner, the psychological perceptions
of employees as to the relative usefulness and merits of the
various components representing worker interests in the
German industrial relations system can be examined.
The findings
■ The results of this study are summarized in tables 1 and 2.
In table 1, the individual items on the four scales measuring
worker attitudes towards the union, worker council, super
visory board members, and the labor director are presented.
All items were measured on a 1 to 5 scale, from “strongly
disagree” to “strongly agree.” Item means and standard de
viations are also provided in table 1.
The data in table 1 indicate that German workers place
relatively little value on the labor director component of
Table 1. Attitudinal measures of German workers toward
unions and three codetermination components
Item
Response
rating1
Standard
deviation
4.25
3.91
3.91
2.59
1.13
1.12
1.22
1.49
3.72
1.39
4.47
0.93
4.13
1.08
4.18
1.13
Union:
The union is essential in representing worker interests . . .
The union is concerned with the worker's welfare .............
The union has done a lot to help workers in this company .
I participated often in union activities..................................
To better promote worker interests, it would be a good
idea to increase the power of the union ..........................
Worker council:
Worker councils are essential in representing worker
interests.............................................................................
Worker councils have done a lot to help workers in this
company ...........................................................................
To better promote worker interests, it would be a good idea
to increase the power of worker councils ........................
Supervisory board members:
The worker members on the supervisory board are
essential In representing worker interests.......................
The worker members on the supervisory board have done
a lot to help workers in this company ..............................
To better promote worker interests, it would be a good idea
to increase the power of the worker members on the
supervisory board ............................................................
4.11
1.09
3.16
1.20
4.00
1.21
3.40
1.43
2.40
1.95
2.70
1.49
Labor director:
The labor director is essential in representing worker
interests.............................................................................
The labor director has done a lot to help workers in this
company ...........................................................................
To better promote worker Interests, it would be a good idea
to increase the power of the labor director .....................
'The response format for all items was:
“1” =
“2” =
“3” =
“4" =
“5” =
Strongly disagree
Disagree somewhat
Neither agree nor disagree
Agree somewhat
Strongly agree
47
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Foreign Labor Developments
Table 2. Means differences and f-tests of worker percep
tions by issue
Union
mean
Worker
councils
mean
Degrees
of
freedom
This institution is essen
tial in representing
worker interests . . . .
4.25
4.47
133
2.93
p. <01
This institution has done
a lot to help workers in
my company ...........
3.91
4.13
129
2.12
p. < 0 5
To better promote work
er interests, it would
be a good idea to in
crease the power of
this institution...........
3.72
4.18
133
4.95
p. <01
Issue1
t
value
Probability
1 For the exact wording of these issues on the union and worker councils subscales, see
table 1. The issues were measured using a 1- 5 scale in which: “1” = Strongly disagree
“2” = Disagree somewhat
“3” = Neither agree nor
disagree
“4” = Agree somewhat
“5” = Strongly agree
their industrial relations system. In contrast, a higher posi
tive value is associated with unions, worker councils, and
supervisory board members. Interestingly, however, in
terms of best representing and promoting worker interests,
worker councils are perceived as more valuable and effec
tive than unions.
Table 2 provides a direct comparison of means on three
similar issues from the union and worker council scales.
Correlated t -tests of the differences between these means
are also provided, along with the associated degrees of free
dom and probability levels. The data indicate that in each of
the three cases, the worker council is viewed as significantly
more essential and useful than the union.
The results of this study are suggestive of a hypothesis
which warrants further investigation— namely, the assertion
that German labor unions are responding to an erosion of
support among rank and file members by bargaining more
aggressively and antagonistically in an effort to justify their
existence. From the perspective of German workers sur
veyed in this study, the worker council emerges as the most
important institution representing worker interests, with
unions occupying a secondary position.
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Ironically, the situation which has developed in Germany
is not unlike that which has evolved in the United States
over the last few years. During the 1980-82 recessionary
period, the trend towards union “givebacks” and conces
sionary contracts led to increasing disillusionment among
union members. This in turn has significantly contributed to
an increase in the number of decertification elections and the
percentage won by management.
In West Germany, no formal legal procedures exist to
certify or decertify a union. However, the right to organize
is guaranteed in the constitution, and it is assumed that
company management will negotiate with an existing em
ployees’ union over the mandatory bargaining issues.
Individual workers are free to join or not join a company
union and thus an “open shop” is required throughout the
country. In addition, all company workers, including both
union and nonunion employees, are covered by the terms of
an existing labor contract. Given these conditions and the
standard union dues rates of 2 percent of total wages, it is
not surprising to find that total union membership in West
Germany is declining.
It should be noted that this study is cross-sectional in
nature and is further limited by the relatively small sample
size of 135. Thus, generalizations based upon the obtained
results should be made cautiously. Furthermore, in the nota
ble absence of comparable, scientifically collected historical
data,3 it is not possible to delineate a trend towards growing
disillusionment with labor unions in West Germany. Future
research should focus on the collection of longitudinal data
which would allow for the identification and charting of
general trends in worker perceptions and attitudes.
□
-------- FOOTNOTES-------1 For an overview of the German system, see J. Schregle, “Codetermi
nation in the Federal Republic of Germany: A Comparative V iew ,” Inter
national Labor Review, Vol. 117, 1978, pp. 8 1-98.
2 For a more complete description o f the methodology, see J.B. Dworkin
and others, “How German Workers View Their Jobs,” The Columbia
Journal o f W orld Business, Vol. XVIII(2), 1983, pp. 4 8 -5 4 .
3 B. Wilpert, “Research on Industrial Democracy: The German Case,”
Industrial Relations Journal, June 1975, pp. 5 3-64.
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
Private industry
Labor organization1
Number of
workers
Associated General Contractors, South Florida Chapter (Miami, fl) . . .
Associated General Contractors, Houston Chapter and Construction
Employers’ Association of Texas (Texas)
Builders Association of Missouri (Kansas City, mo) .............................
Associated Building Contractors of Northwestern Ohio (Ohio) ............
Construction....................................
Construction....................................
Operating Engineers ........................
Iron Workers ....................................
1,500
2,700
Construction....................................
Construction....................................
Laborers...........................................
Carpenters .......................................
1,300
1,200
Associated General Contractors and others (Houston, tx) ....................
Builders Association of Missouri (Central and Eastern Missouri) ........
Associated Contractors of Westchester, Inc. (New York) ....................
Heavy Constructors Association of the Greater Kansas City Area
(Missouri)
Construction....................................
Construction....................................
Construction....................................
Construction....................................
Bricklayers........................................
Laborers............................................
Operating Engineers ........................
Laborers............................................
1,200
1,200
1,300
3,100
Heavy Constructors Association of the Greater Kansas City Area
(Missouri)
Heavy Contractors Association, Inc. (Omaha, ne) ................................
Michigan Distribution Contractors Association (Michigan) ..................
Gulf Coast Contractors and others (Beaumont, tx) ..............................
Construction....................................
Operating Engineers ........................
1,750
Construction....................................
Construction....................................
Construction....................................
Laborers...........................................
Laborers............................................
Plumbers .........................................
1,500
2,500
4,000
Houston Mechanical Contractors Association (Texas) ..........................
Mechanical Contractors Association (Albuquerque, nm ) ......................
H.J. Heinz Co. (Interstate).....................................................................
Dairy Industry Industrial Relations Association (Southern California) ..
Loew’s Theatres, Inc., Lorillard division (North Carolina) ..................
Construction....................................
Construction....................................
Food products ................................
Food products ................................
Tobacco .........................................
Sheet Metal Workers........................
Plumbers .........................................
Food and Commercial Workers . . . .
Teamsters (Ind.) ..............................
Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco
Workers
1,500
1,100
2,800
3,500
2,050
Printing Industry of Metropolitan New York, Printers League section
(New York)
Printing Industry of Metropolitan New York (New York) ....................
North American Rayon Corp. (Tennessee) ............................................
Rockwell International Corp. (Richland, wa ) ..........................................
Printing and publishing..................
Graphic Communications ................
3,000
Printing and publishing..................
Chemicals ......................................
Chemicals ......................................
Graphic Communications ................
Textile W orkers................................
Hanford Atomic Metal Trades
Council
2,000
1,000
1,650
Exxon Co., USA division Exxon Corp. (Baton Rouge,
Petroleum........................................
2,000
...
...
...
...
Baton Rouge Oil and Chemical
Workers (Ind.)
Glass, Pottery and Plastics ..............
Glass, Pottery and Plastics ..............
Glass, Pottery and Plastics ..............
Glass, Pottery and Plastics ..............
8,600
3,800
4,000
7,000
la )
.................
Owens-Illinois Inc. (Interstate)...............................................................
Anchor Hocking Corp. (Interstate).........................................................
Thatcher Glass Co. (Interstate)...............................................................
Brockway Glass Co. (Interstate) ...........................................................
Stone,
Stone,
Stone,
Stone,
clay,
clay,
clay,
clay,
and
and
and
and
glass
glass
glass
glass
products
products
products
products
Chattanooga Glass Manufacturing Co. (Interstate) ................................
Indian Head Glass Co. (Interstate).........................................................
Glass Containers Corp. (Interstate) .......................................................
American Can Co. (Interstate) ...............................................................
Continental Can Corp. (Interstate).........................................................
Stone, clay, and
Stone, clay, and
Stone, clay, and
Fabricated metal
Fabricated metal
glass products . . .
glass products . . .
glass products . . .
products..............
products..............
Glass, Pottery and Plastics ..............
Glass, Pottery and Plastics ..............
Glass, Pottery and Plastics ..............
Machinists .......................................
Machinists ........................................
1,700
3,000
3,600
1,800
1,800
Wyman-Gordon Co. Inc. (Worcester, ma ) ............................................
Rockwell International Corp., Collins Radio Group (Richardson, tx) .
Rockwell International Corp., Collins Radio Group (Cedar Rapids, ia)
Rockwell International Corp., Collins Radio Group (Newport
Beach, ca)
Magic Chef Inc., Admiral division (Galesburg, il) ................................
Fabricated metal products..............
Electrical products..........................
Electrical products..........................
Electrical products..........................
Steelworkers ....................................
Electrical Workers (iue) ....................
Electrical Workers (ibew) .................
Electrical Workers (ibew) .................
1,000
2,100
3,600
1,400
Electrical products..........................
Machinists ........................................
1,700
Volkswagen of America, Inc. (Pennsylvania)........................................
Xerox Corp. (Rochester, ny ) .................................................................
Moving and storage industry of New York (New York, ny ) ................
General Telephone Co. of California (California)..................................
Virginia Electric and Power Co. (Virginia, West Virginia, North
Carolina)
Transportation equipment ..............
Instruments ...................................
Trucking..........................................
Communications ............................
Utilities .........................................
Auto Workers ..................................
Clothing and Textile Workers ........
Teamsters (Ind.) ..............................
Communications W orkers................
Electrical Workers (ibew) ................
3,500
3,250
1,100
21,000
4,600
See footnote at end of table.
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49
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1986 •
M a jo r A g reem en ts E xpirin g N ex t M onth
Continued—Major Agreements Expiring Next Month
Employer and location
Private industry
Labor organization1
Cincinnati Gas and Electric Co. (O hio)............................
Southern California Gas Co. (California) ........................
Retail Joint Council, Philadelphia area (Interstate)..........
Chain and independent food stores (Minneapolis, mn) . . .
Chain and independent food stores (St. Paul, mn) ...........
Hyatt Hotels (California) ..................................................
Utilities ..
Utilities ..
Retail trade
Retail trade
Retail trade
Restaurants .
Independent Utilities Union (Ind.)
Utility Workers ............................
Food and Commercial Workers ..
Food and Commercial Workers ..
Food and Commercial Workers ..
Hotel Employees and Restaurant
Employees
Bronx Realty Advisory Board (New York, ny) ...............
Yosemite Park and Curry Co. (Yosemite, ca) ....................
Greater New York Health Care Facilities Association, Inc.
(New York, ny)
Health Employers Inc., service and maintenance ............
Appalachian Regional Hospitals, Inc. (Interstate)............
Real estate .
H otels........
Hospitals ..
Service Employees
Service Employees
Service Employees
Hospitals ..
Hospitals ..
Service Employees
Steelworkers ........
Government activity
Massachusetts:
Labor organization1
Number of
workers
1,200
7,100
1,800
7,500
2,600
1,000
3,300
1,200
15.000
4,400
2.000
Number of
workers
Commonwealth units 2, 4, 8, 10
Multidepartments
Wrentham State Mental and Physical Handicap
School, professionals
Education..........
State, County and Municipal
Employees, Service Employees
State, County and Municipal
Employees
Michigan:
Michigan State University, graduate student
teachers
Education..........
Teachers
1,600
Pennsylvania:
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation
Authority
Transportation ..
Transport Workers
5,000
Wisconsin:
Milwaukee City School District
Education..........
State, County and Municipal
Employees
1.950
1Affiliated with
afl- cio
except where noted as independent (Ind.).
Digitized 50
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28,000
1.950
Developments in
Industrial Relations
General Dynamics workers end 2-month strike
Production of armored vehicles resumed at General Dy
namics Corp. plants in three States after members of the
United Auto Workers union narrowly approved a 31-month
agreement, ending a 2-month strike. The low margin of
approval (53.4 to 46.6 percent) was attributed to employee
dissatisfaction because the accord did not bring them to
wage parity with employees of Chrysler Corp., which had
owned the plants until 1982. Reportedly, they will remain
about $1.50 an hour behind the Chrysler workers and could
fall farther behind because their cost-of-living pay adjust
ment formula is less liberal than that at Chrysler. According
to a union official, the General Dynamics workers averaged
about $11.92 an hour under the old contract.
Wage terms included a $2,000 lump-sum payment; a
2.25-percent wage increase effective immediately; a lump
sum payment in June 1986 equal to 2.25 percent of earnings
during the previous 12 months; and a 3-percent wage in
crease in June 1987. Quarterly cost-of-living adjustments
will continue, calculated at 1 cent an hour for each 0.3-point
movement in the CPI-W (1967 = 100), compared with 1 cent
for each 0.26-point at Chrysler. In another difference,
newly hired workers at General Dynamics will receive only
the adjustments in the cost-of-living allowance that occur
after they start work.
The new hires will continue to start at 60 percent of the
standard rate for their job, and then receive 8-percent pro
gression increases every 6 months until they attain the stand
ard rate after 2\ years of service. Previously, new employees
received 6.5-percent step increases each 6 months, attaining
the standard rate after 3 years.
The agreement, scheduled to expire on June 15, 1988,
also provided for a $2.25 increase, to $19.75, in the
monthly pension rate for each year of credited service; and
for continuation of the health insurance plan without any
increases in co-insurance and deductible payments by em
ployees.
Carrier contract features cost-reduction changes
Carrier Corp. of Syracuse, N Y , and the Sheet Metal
Workers negotated a number of cuts in labor costs because
“Developments in Industrial Relations” is prepared by George Ruben of the
Division o f Developments in Labor-Management Relations, Bureau of
Labor Statistics, and is largely based on information from secondary
sources.
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of the “very competitive market” in the heating, air condi
tioning, and ventilating industry, according to company vice
president Joseph P. Matturro. Although Carrier was operat
ing at a profit prior to the cuts, Local 27 president Richard
Burke said the employees accepted the reductions “to save
our jobs.” At the time, 2,000 members of the local were
employed and 800 were on layoff.
Pay, which reportedly averaged about $13 an hour, was
cut by $1.88 to $2.88, varying by job classification. The
3-year contract did not provide for any specified wage in
creases, but the employees will receive a $3,500 lump-sum
payment in January 1986. Carrier guaranteed that if any
plant shutdowns occur, affected employees will receive a
payment equal to the earnings they gave up, less the $3,500.
The cost-of-living provision was revised to provide that
quarterly adjustments will be paid only if the CPI rises more
than 3 percent, and each adjustment will be limited to 8
cents an hour.
The other cost reduction changes included 6 percent
(maximum 85 cents an hour) shift differential pay, instead
of the previous 10 percent with no hourly limit; about 125
job classifications, instead of more than 400; 22 companypaid union representatives, instead of 75; a shortened
grievance procedure, involving fewer people; authority for
the company to operate on a 7-day-a-week schedule, with no
premium pay for weekend work and to require employees to
work up to 18 Saturdays a year; and a health care cost
containment plan including increased deductible payments
by employees.
Other terms included a $2 increase (to $19) in the monthly
pension rate for each year of credited service; a plan that will
give employees 50 percent of cost savings resulting from
productivity improvements; an employee savings plan with
Carrier matching half of employee contributions of $2 to
$10 a week; an $1,800 tutition allowance for retraining
laid-off workers with at least 5 years of service; and a
$1,100 relocation allowance for laid-off workers with
2 years of service.
Pennsylvania mine workers settle
After 3^ months of difficult negotiations and selective
strikes, members of District 25 of the United Mine Workers
settled with the Anthracite Coal Operators Association for
mines located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. About 1,000
workers were involved. Separate bargaining continued for
51
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Developments in Industrial Relations
350 employees of Bethlehem Mines Corp., who had been on
strike since mid-July.
The 4-year accord with the Association, which followed
the employees’ rejection of two earlier offers, provided for
a 30-cent-an-hour specified wage increase retroactive to
September 20, and 20-cent increases in September of 1986,
1987, 1988, and for a cost-of-living adjustment of up to 5
cents in September 1988. Prior to the settlement, pay rates
ranged from $10.10 to $12 an hour. One of the major issues
in the talks was resolved when the parties agreed to continue
a 7-hour workday (excluding lunch time). The operators had
been seeking to add an hour at straight-time pay.
Benefit changes included adoption of a dental plan, with
no deductibles; $180 a week sickness and accident pay (for
merly, $150); $75,000 major medical coverage (formerly,
$50,000); $10,000 life insurance (formerly, $7,500); and $750
pay for the miner’s annual 2-week vacation (formerly, $685).
Boston hotel and restaurant workers settle
A scheduled strike by 4,000 employees was averted when
the Greater Boston Hotel Association and the Hotel Em
ployees and Restaurant Employees settled on a 3-year con
tract. Pay, which reportedly averaged $3.10 an hour for
tipped employees and $5.10 for nontipped employees, was
raised by 6 percent at the beginning of each contract year.
Other changes included a 25-percent increase in the hotels’
contribution to the health and welfare trust fund to permit
continuation of current benefits without an increase in the
employee contribution; adoption of legal services and eye
care plans; an additional paid holiday; a fourth day of sick
leave per year; a $20 a week increase, to $120, in long-term
disability benefits; a 2-cent-an-hour increase, to 18 cents, in
the employees’ contribution to the pension plan; and a revi
sion of the paid vacation schedule to provide 3 weeks after
7 years of service (was 10), 4 weeks after 17 years (was 20),
and a fifth week after 25 years.
The agreement also provides for a stronger antidiscrimi
nation policy, changes to assure more promotions from
within the bargaining unit, and for employers to hold
annual seminars for supervisors and employees on sexual
harassment.
The settlement covered the nine hotels comprising the
Association but, based on past practice, five other hotels
were expected to agree on similar terms.
Textile workers give company 2-year ‘loan’
The expected closing of the Nation’s largest rayon mill
was averted when Local 3 7 IT of the Clothing and Textile
Workers and Avtex Fibers agreed on a 2-year contract
calling for a cut in labor costs. Avtex contended that the cut
was necessary to enable it to compete more effectively
52 FRASER
Digitized for
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
against lower cost foreign producers. A company official
said the concessions by the 1,500 employees make the Front
Royal, V A , plant, “very, very competitive in cost.”
The 2-year agreement provided for an immediate wage
reduction of $1 an hour and reductions in cost-of-living
payments and paid vacations. According to the union, the
average worker, who earned $8.14 an hour prior to the
settlement, will give up about $4,000 over the contract’s
term. In a departure from the usual practice when pay is cut,
the concession is in the form of a loan. Avtex guarantees to
repay the money, plus 8 percent interest, within 2 years after
the contract expires, even if the plant is sold or closed.
At the time of the settlement, the plant was operating at
about 70 percent of capacity. At its peak, in the 1940’s and
early 1950’s, the plant employed more than 4,500 people.
Earlier in 1985, Avtex had closed a rayon plant in
Meadville, PA, that had 600 employees. The company main
tained that the plant was modem and efficient but that
“imports absolutely chewed us up.”
Philadelphia newspaper strike ends
In Philadelphia, a 6^-week strike by 4,500 workers
against the Daily News and Inquirer newspapers ended
when the last of nine unions ratified their 4-year agreements.
The major issues in the dispute were the size of the eco
nomic package and management’s desire to introduce auto
mated machines for inserting extra sections into the paper,
replacing the hand insertion process performed by mailers.
The accord provides for economic improvements averag
ing $150 a week over the term, with the allocation between
wages and benefits varying by union. Prior to the settle
ment, weekly pay rates for experienced employees were
$671 for reporters, $510 for press operators, $494 for mail
ers, $470 for delivery drivers, and $283 for messengers.
On the automation issue, management and the Mailers
union agreed to study the staffing needs of the new equip
ment for 17 months while it is being installed. Management
will then submit a staffing plan. If the union is not satisfied
with the plan, it can force the issue into binding arbitration.
Employees accept pay cut for company stock
Financial difficulties continued at some trucking compa
nies, as 85 percent of the 11,000 employees of Ryder/PIE
Nationwide Inc. agreed to a 15-percent pay cut to last for
5 years. In exchange for the cut, which is expected to save
the company about $255 million, the workers will receive
shares of company stock that could rise to 49 percent of the
total shares if all employees decide to participate. Before
making the offer to the individual workers the company
discussed it with the Teamsters and other unions that repre
sent the employees.
□
Book Reviews
Bringing East and West together
Partners in Prosperity.
By Julian Gresser. New York,
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1984. 379 pp. $15.95.
In this book, Julian Gresser, an attorney with experience
in Japan and the United States, attempts to do several things.
He argues that the United States needs an industrial policy,
because future economic growth will depend extensively on
the development of strategic industries. He suggests that
industrial policy played an instrumental role in Japanese
growth during the period of rapid expansion, and that it
provides a model for U.S. policy. He proposes a “trigger”
method, based on his own consulting work, for the identifi
cation of strategic industries and their cooperative encour
agement by public and private authorities. Although he sees
the Japanese and U.S. relationship caught up in a zero-sum
mentality, he believes it should be converted to one of
cooperation— hence the book’s title.
The key to understanding the book is found in the author’s
views on national industrial policy. Gresser believes that the
key to economic growth is not found in mundane areas of
increased capital and labor resources. Rather, he believes
that it lies in technological innovations which give rise to
leading or strategic industries, which in turn become the
engines of future growth. In his opinion, this is the essential
explanation for Japan’s rapid growth in the postwar years.
Yet, he argues, industrial policies designed to do for the
United States what the Ministry of International Trade and
Industry did for Japan cannot be expected to work because
of bureaucracy and a failure to develop the cooperation of
the essential parties. What is needed is an approach derived
from the trigger method.
The trigger method identifies strategic industries in terms
of their boundaries in time and space. They are industries
with high rates of growth in exports, employment, and
product gains. They have substantial commitments to re
search, capital investment, and innovation, and can be ex
pected to have sharply increasing economies of scale. They
significantly affect in a positive way the output levels of
other industries, for example, English coal in the early days
of the Industrial Revolution. The trigger method also forms
the basis for planning without planning, essentially a proc
ess of negotiating with the various interested parties an
investment strategy for new strategic sectors.
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Two chapters deal with issues of Japanese-American con
flict and the possibility for cooperation. The United States
is described as having a policy of cooperation and equality
at high national levels and a much less generous approach
when it comes to specific issues. The author reasons that
Japanese policy is based on a refusal to view the needs of
others as genuine, and on a mercantilist approach to gaining
power. The attitudes of the two countries, he believes, lead
to a zero-sum game whose results can only be unfortunate
for both countries. Because the author believes that cooper
ation will result in greater growth and wealth for both coun
tries, he suggests ways that this result might be achieved.
How should the book be evaluated? There are three cen
tral questions. Are strategic industries the key to growth?
Can one identify and nurture the new ones along? Would
joint nurturing by Japan and the United States be a wise
policy?
My difficulty with the emphasis on strategic industries
and the trigger method is that these concepts seem to be
more effective in looking backward than forward. The auto
mobile industry is listed as a strategic industry. But when
did it become one? Was it in the mid-19th century or not
until the 20th century? Clearly later, but when? At that time,
would there have been agreement that automobiles had
achieved the status of a strategic industry? Even the
Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry did
not recognize automobiles as a strategic industry. Although
the Ministry of International Trade and Industry played an
important role in Japanese growth, the author, along with
others, gives too much credit to the Ministry. In addition, he
does not adequately count the costs of errors by the Min
istry. (See Kozo Yamamura, ed., Policy and Trade of the
Japanese Economy: American and Japanese Perspectives.)
Chapter 9 on “planning without planning,” in which the
emphasis is on trying to bring competing industries with
potential for conflict together to find a basis for cooperation,
contains an interesting discussion and can be recommended
independently of the book as a whole. Similarly, the chapter
in which cooperation rather than conflict is proposed for
future Japanese and American relations can be commended
both for its spirit and for some of its ideas.
On balance, the book contains many interesting facts on
specific industries and practices. The interpretation of
events seems too much patterned by the idea of a lawyer’s
53
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Book Reviews
brief which tries to make a case, while too little attention is
given to alternative and competing explanations. The range
of facts is interesting, though at times there is a jumbled
quality about them. For example, two pages contain major
paragraphs discussing microprocessor designs, the ratio of
debt to equity in the financing of Japanese corporations, and
the role of city banks in the Japanese banking system.
This book is recommended to those interested in the eco
nomic relationship between Japan and the United States.
Undue reliance, however, should not be placed on its expla
nations and interpretations of events. Lastly, there are some
useful suggestions for the development of U.S. economic
policy, though the central message in favor of a form of
planning based on strategic industries leaves me uncon
vinced.
There are some discrepancies between the text and the
tabulations. For example, the figures do not show that the
proportion of families in Puerto Rico headed by a female
householder with no husband present is nearly identical to
that of the U.S. white population (p. 699); that the labor
force participation rates of Cuban men and women in the
United States are about average for all men and women
(p. 493); or that married women with no children have
slightly higher labor force participation rates than mothers
with children under age 6 (p. 499). (Actually, some of these
statements reflect the situation in earlier years.)
It is disappointing that this beautifully produced volume
is marred by such inaccuracies.
— Ellen Sehgal
Office of Employment and
Unemployment Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
— Robert Evans , Jr .
Atran Professor of Economics
Brandeis University
A mix of encyclopedia and commentary
The Population of the United States: Historical Trends and
Future Projections. By Donald J. Bogue. New
York, The Free Press, 1985. 728 pp. $70.
This is a well written but expensive reference book on the
population of the United States. Donald J. Bogue provides
historical perspective, covering the U.S. population over the
past two centuries, but he concentrates his analyses on the
past two decades, with particular emphasis on the early
1980’s. He also discusses future populations trends.
The book is divided into five sections: (1) an overview
of the U.S. population; (2) dynamics of population
change, such as marital status and migration; (3) social
characteristics, for example, ethnicity and educational at
tainment; (4) economic characteristics, for example, labor
force participation, income, occupation, and industry; and
(5) special topics, specifically, chapters on poverty,
housing, religion, politics, and the population of Puerto
Rico. Each chapter of the volume includes a bibliography,
and, where appropriate, definitions of terms and technical
appendices.
Bogue notes in his preface that work of this type “should
select the most cogent information from all available
sources, summarize it in easy-to-use statistical tables, and
provide a comprehensive exposition of the fundamental de
tails.” Overall, Bogue’s volume does that. However, there
are some inaccuracies in the book. Following are a few
examples:
In the chapter on internal and international migration,
Bogue states, “World War II caused many millions of peo
ple to be ‘transferred’ from one nation to another. For exam
ple, millions of Jews fled from Germany before the war . . . ”
(p. 356). In fact, there were 550,000 Jews in Germany in the
years prior to World War II. (About one-third were later
killed by the Nazis.)
54
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Publications received
Agriculture and natural resources
Ball, V. Eldon, “Output, Input, and Productivity Measurement in
U.S. Agriculture, 1948-79,” American Journal of Agricul
tural Economics, August 1985, pp. 475-86.
Drabenstott, Mark, “U.S. Agriculture: The International Dimen
sion,” Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas
City, November 1985, pp. 3-8.
Economic and social statistics
Bums, Michael E. and William F. Mitchell, “Real Wages, Unem
ployment and Economic Policy in Australia,” Australian Eco
nomic Papers, June 1985, pp. 12-23.
Caravatt, Paul J.,. Jr., “Videocassettes Explore the Demograph
ics,” American Demographics, December 1985, beginning
on p. 30.
Edmondson, Brad, “How Big is the Baby Market?” American
Demographics, December 1985, beginning on p. 23.
Heckman, James J. and Burton Singer, eds., Longitudinal Analy
sis of Labor Market Data. New York, Cambridge University
Press, 1985, 410 pp. (Econometric Society Monographs,
No. 10.) $49.50.
Wiegard, R. Bruce, “Counting the Homeless,” American Demo
graphics, December 1985, pp. 34-37.
Industrial relations
Aaron, Benjamin, “The n l r b , Labor Courts, and Industrial Tri
bunals: A Selective Comparison,” Industrial and Labor Rela
tions Review, October 1985, pp. 35-45.
Bazerman, Max H. and Henry S. Farber, “Arbitrator Decision
Making: When Are Final Offers Important?” Industrial and
Labor Relations Review, October 1985, pp. 76-89.
Berry, Robert C., William B. Gould IV, Paul D. Staudohar, Labor
Relations in Professional Sports. Dover, MA, Auburn House
Publishing Co., 1986, 289 pp. $35.
Cappelli, Peter, “Competitive Pressures and Labor Relations
in the Airline Industry,” Industrial Relations, Fall 1985,
pp. 316-38.
---------“Plant-Level Concession Bargaining,” Industrial and
Labor Relations Review, October 1985, pp. 90-104.
Carson, Brent, “Increased Risk of Disease from Hazardous Waste:
A Proposal for Judicial Relief,” Washington Law Review,
June 1985, pp. 635-52.
Cooke, William N., “The Rising Toll of Discrimination
Against Union Activists,” Industrial Relations, Fall 1985,
pp. 421-42.
Delaney, John Thomas, David Lewin, Donna Sockell, “The n l r a
at Fifty: A Research Appraisal and Agenda,” Industrial and
Labor Relations Review, October 1985, pp. 46-75.
Ehrenberg, Ronald G., Workers’ Rights: Rethinking Protective
Labor Legislation. Cambridge, MA, National Bureau of Eco
nomic Research, Inc., 1985, 54 pp. ( n b e r Working Paper
Series, 1754.) $2.
Flaherty, Diane, “Labor Control in the British Boot and Shoe
Industry,” Industrial Relations, Fall 1985, pp. 339-59.
Gross, James A., “Conflicting Statutory Purposes: Another Look
at Fifty Years of NLRB Law Making,” Industrial and Labor
Relations Review, October 1985, pp. 7-18.
Katz, Harry C. and Charles F. Sabel, “Industrial Relations and
Industrial Adjustment in the Car Industry,” Industrial Rela
tions, Fall 1985, pp. 295-315.
Lawler, John J. and Robin West, “Impact of Union-Avoidance
Strategy in Representation Elections,” Industrial Relations,
Fall 1985, pp. 406-20.
Leonard, Jonathan S., “The Effect of Unions on the Employment
of Blacks, Hispanics, and Women,” Industrial and Labor
Relations Review, October 1985, pp. 115-32.
Lichtenstein, Nelson, “ u a w Bargaining Strategy and ShopFloor Conflict: 1946-1970,” Industrial Relations, Fall 1985,
pp. 360-81.
O’Connell, Edward J., “Union Affiliations and Rights of
Nonunion Employees,” Fordham Law Review, May 1985,
pp. 1443-59.
Schuster, Michael, “Models of Cooperation and Change in Union
Settings,” Industrial Relations, Fall 1985, pp. 382-94.
Tomlins, Christopher L., “The New Deal, Collective Bargaining,
and the Triumph of Industrial Pluralism,” Industrial and
Labor Relations Review, October 1985, pp. 19-34.
Verma, Anil, “Relative Flow of Capital to Union and Nonunion
Plants Within a Firm,” Industrial Relations, Fall 1985,
pp. 395-405.
Wheeler, Hoyt N., Industrial Conflict: An Integrative Theory.
Columbia, sc, University of South Carolina Press, 1985, 293
pp. $24.95.
Williams, Robert E., NLRB Regulation of Election Conduct. Rev.
ed. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton
School, Industrial Research Unit, 1985, 539 pp. (Labor Rela
tions and Public Policy Series, No. 8.) $27.50.
International economics
Agarwal, J. P., “Intra-LDCs Foreign Direct Investment: A Compar
ative Analysis of Third World Multinationals,” The Develop
ing Economies, September 1985, pp. 236-53.
Edwards, Sebastian, “Commodity Export Boom and the Real Ex
change Rate: The Money-Inflation Link. Cambridge, MA,
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1985, 29 pp.
( n b e r Working Paper Series, 1741.) $2.
Kader, Ahmad A., “Development Patterns among Countries Re
examined,” The Developing Economies, September 1985,
pp. 199-220.
Klein, Philip A. and Geoffrey H. Moore, Monitoring Growth
Cycles in Market-Oriented Countries: Developing and
Using International Economic Indicators. Cambridge, MA,
Ballinger Publishing Co., 1985, 416 pp. $35.
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Labor and economic history
Soldon, Norbert C., ed., The World of Women’s Trade Unionism:
Comparative Historical Essays. Westport, CT, Greenwood
Press, 1985, 253 pp. (Contributions in Women’s Studies,
No. 52.) $35.
Steel, Edward M., ed., The Correspondence of Mother Jones.
Pittsburgh, PA, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1985, 360 pp.
$34.95.
Monetary and fiscal policy
Downs, Anthony, The Revolution in Real Estate Finance. Wash
ington, The Brookings Institution, 1985, 345 pp. $31.95,
cloth; $11.95, paper.
Hafer, R. W. and Scott E. Hein, “On the Accuracy of Time-Series,
Interest Rate, and Survey Forecasts of Inflation,” The Journal
of Business, October 1985, pp. 377-98.
Kahn, George A., “Investment in Recession and Recovery: Les
sons from the 1980’s,” Economic Review, Federal Reserve
Bank of Kansas City, November 1985, pp. 25-39.
Lawrence, Colin and Aloysius Siow, “Interest Rates and Invest
ment Spending: Some Empirical Evidence for Postwar U.S.
Producer Equipment, 1947-1980,” The Journal of Business,
October 1985, pp. 359-75.
Steuerle, C. Eugene, Taxes, Loans, and Inflation: How The Na
tion’s Wealth Becomes Misallocated. Washington, The
Brookings Institution, 1985, 205 pp. $26.95, cloth; $9.95,
paper.
Productivity and technological change
Appelbaum, Eileen, “Technology and Work Organization in the
Insurance Industry,” ilr Report, Fall 1985, pp. 21-26.
Barley, Stephen R. and Lawrence K. Williams, “Could a Funny
Thing Happen on the Way to the Office of the Future?” ilr
Report, Fall 1985, pp. 11-20.
Fuss, Melvyn and Leonard Waverman, Productivity Growth in the
Automobile Industry, 1970-1980: A Comparison of Canada,
Japan and the United States. Cambridge, m a , National Bu
reau of Economic Research, Inc., 1985, 50 pp. ( n b e r Work
ing Paper Series, 1735.) $2.
Helliwell, John F., Peter H. Sturm, and Gérard Salou, “Interna
tional Comparisons of the Sources of Productivity Slowdown,
1973-1982,” European Economic Review, June-July 1985,
pp. 157-91.
Welfare programs and social insurance
Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Primer on ERISA [the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act o f1974 ]. By Barbara J. Cole
man. Washington, 1985, 150 pp. $18, paper.
Ell wood, David T. and Lawrence H. Summers, Poverty in Amer
ica: Is Welfare the Answer or the Problem? Cambridge, MA,
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1985, 34 pp.,
bibliography, ( n b e r Working Paper Series, 1711.) $2, paper.
Gewirtz, Paul A. and Richard Ostuw, “Retiree Welfare Benefits:
A Financial Time Bomb,” Compensation Review, Second
Quarter, 1985, pp. 32-39.
Goldman, Barbara and others, Findings from the San Diego Job
Search and Work Experience Demonstration. New York,
Manpower Demonstration Research Corp., 1985, 280 pp.
$7.50, paper.
Gustman, Alan L. and Thomas L. Steinmeier, The 1983 Social
Security Reforms and Labor Supply Adjustments of Older
Individuals in the Long Run. Reprinted from the Journal of
Labor Economics, April 1985, pp. 237-53. Cambridge, MA,
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1985. ( n b e r
Reprint, 604.) $2, paper.
Halpem, Janice and Jerry Hausman, Choice Under Uncertainty:
A Model of Applications for the Social Security Disability
55
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Book Reviews
Insurance Program. Cambridge, m a , National Bureau of
Economic Research, Inc., 1985, 46 pp. ( n b e r Working Paper
Series, 1690.) $2, paper.
Price, Marilyn and others, Interim Findings from the Virginia
Employment Services Program. New York, Manpower
Demonstration Research Corp., 1985, 142 pp. $7.50, paper.
Sjöberg, Björn, “Reforming the Swedish Social Security System,”
International Labour Review, January-February 1985, pp.
61-72.
Stemp, Peter J ., “The Effects on the Economy of Changing Unem
ployment Benefits and Pensions,” Australian Economic
Papers, June 1985, pp. 127-40.
Wages and compensation
Altonji, Joseph and Robert Shakotko, Do Wages Rise with Job
Seniority? Cambridge, m a , National Bureau of Economic
Research, Inc., 1985, 67 pp. ( n b e r Working Paper Series,
1616.) $2, paper.
Baldry, J. C., “Wage Indexation in a Two-Sector Economy: A
Generalization,” Australian Economic Papers, December
1985, pp. 219-34.
Beadle, Carson E., “Taxing Employee Benefits: The Impact on
Employers and Employees,” Compensation Review, Second
Quarter, 1985, pp. 12-19.
56
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
National Council on Employment Policy, Comparable Worth and
the Equal Employment of Women: A Policy Statement. Wash
ington, 1985, 15 pp.
Stonebraker, Peter W., “Flexible and Incentive Benefits: A Guide
to Program Development,” Compensation Review, Second
Quarter, 1985, pp. 40-53.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Benefits in Medium
and Large Firms, 1984. Washington, 1985, 69 pp. (Bulletin
2237.) Stock No. 029-001-02852-1. $2.75, Superintendent
of Documents, Washington 20402.
Venti, Steven F., Wages in the Federal and Private Sectors. Cam
bridge, m a , National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.,
1985, 47 pp. ( n b e r Working Paper Series, 1641.) $2, paper.
Worker training and development
Amevale, Anthony Patrick, Jobs for the Nation: Challenges for a
Society Based on Work. Alexandria, v a , American Society
for Training and Development, 1985, 269 pp., bibliography.
$16, a s t d members; $21.75, nonmembers. Available from
As t d Publishing Service, P.O. Box 4856, Hampden Station,
Baltimore, MD 21211.
Hahn, Andrew and Robert Lerman, What Works in Youth Employ
ment Policy? Washington, National Planning Association,
1985, 111 pp. ( n p a Report 215.) $9.50, paper.
A note on communications
The Monthly Labor Review welcomes communications that supplement,
challenge, or expand on research published in its pages. To be considered
for publication, communications should be factual and analytical, not po
lemical in tone. Communications should be addressed to the Editor-inChief, Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department
of Labor, Washington, D.C. 20212.
Current
Labor Statistics
N o t e s o n C u r r e n t L a b o r S t a t i s t i c s ..............................................................................................................................................................................
59
S c h e d u l e o f r e l e a s e d a t e s f o r m a j o r B L S s t a t i s t i c a l s e r i e s ........................................................................................................................ 58
C o m p a r a tiv e in d ic a to r s
1. Labor market in d ica to rs............................................................................................................................................................................................ 68
2. Annual and quarterly percent changes in wages, prices, and p r o d u c tiv ity ............................................................................................... 69
3. Alternative measures o f wage and com pensation changes ............................................................................................................................. 69
L a b o r f o r c e d a ta
4. Em ploym ent status o f the total population, data seasonally ad ju sted ........................................................................................................ 70
5. Em ploym ent status o f the civilian population, data seasonally adjusted .................................................................................................
71
6 . Selected em ploym ent indicators, data seasonally a d ju ste d ............................................................................................................................. 72
7. Selected unem ploym ent indicators, data seasonally ad ju sted ........................................................................................................................ 73
8 . Unem ploym ent rates by sex and age, data seasonally a d ju s te d .....................................................................................................................
9.
10 .
11.
12 .
U nem ployed persons by reason for unem ploym ent, data seasonally a d ju ste d ..........................................................................................
Duration o f unem ploym ent, data seasonally adjusted ...................................................................................................................................
Unem ploym ent rates o f civilian workers, by S ta te..............................................................................................................................................
Em ploym ent o f workers by S ta te ..............................................................................................................................................................................
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Em ploym ent o f workers by industry, data seasonally a d ju s te d .....................................................................................................................
Average weekly hours by industry, data seasonally a d ju s te d ..........................................................................................................................
Average hourly earnings by in d u stry .......................................................................................................................................................................
Average weekly earnings by in d ustry.......................................................................................................................................................................
H ourly Earnings Index by in d u str y ........................................................................................................................................................................
Indexes o f diffusion: proportion o f industries in which em ploym ent increased, seasonally a d ju s te d .............................................
Annual data: Em ploym ent status o f the noninstitutional p o p u la tio n ..........................................................................................................
Annual data: Em ploym ent levels by in d u stry.......................................................................................................................................................
Annual data: Average hours and earnings levels by in d u str y ..........................................................................................................................
74
74
74
75
75
76
77
78
79
79
80
80
80
81
L a b o r c o m p e n s a t io n a n d c o lle c t iv e b a r g a in in g d a ta
22.
23.
24.
25.
Em ploym ent C ost Index, com pensation, by occupation and industry g r o u p ............................................................................................ 82
Em ploym ent Cost Index, wages and salaries, by occupation and industry g r o u p ................................................................................... 83
Em ploym ent Cost Index, private nonfarm workers, by bargaining status, region, and area siz e ........................................................ 84
Specified com pensation and wage adjustm ents from contract settlem ents, and effective wage adjustm ents,
situations covering 1,0 0 0 workers or m o r e .......................................................................................................................................................... 84
26. Average specified com pensation and wage adjustm ents, bargaining situation covering 1,000 workers or m o r e ...........................
27. Average effective wage adjustm ents, bargaining situations covering 1,000 workers or m o r e ...............................................................
28. Specified com pensation and wage adjustm ents, State and local governm ent bargaining
situations covering 1 ,000 workers or m o r e ..........................................................................................................................................................
29. W ork stoppages involving 1,000 workers or m o r e ............................................................................................................................................
85
85
86
86
P r ic e d a ta
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
Consum er Price Index: U .S . City average, by expenditure category and com m odity and service g r o u p s ........................................
Consum er Price Index: U .S . City average and local data, all it e m s ..............................................................................................................
Annual data: Consum er Price Index, all items and m ajor g r o u p s ...................................................................................................
Producer Price Indexes by stage o f p ro cessin g .....................................................................................................................................................
Producer Price Indexes, by durability o f p r o d u c t ..............................................................................................................................................
Annual data: Producer Price Indexes by stage o f p r o c e ssin g ..........................................................................................................................
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
U .S .
U .S .
U .S .
U .S .
U .S .
U .S .
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
export price indexes by Standard International Trade C la ssific a tio n .................................................................................................
import price indexes by Standard International Trade C lassification .................................................................................................
export price indexes by end use c a t e g o r y .....................................................................................................................................................
import price indexes by end use c a te g o r y .....................................................................................................................................................
export price indexes by Standard Industrial Classification ...................................................................................................................
import price indexes by Standard Industrial C la ssific a tio n ...................................................................................................................
87
90
91
92
93
93
94
95
96
96
96
97
57
Contents—Continued
Productivity data
42. Indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, data seasonally adjusted............................................................ 97
43. Annual indexes of multifactor productivity...................................................................................................................... 98
44. Annual indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices..................................................................... 99
International comparisons
45. Unemployment rates in nine countries, data seasonally adjusted........................................................................................ 99
46. Annual data: Employment status of civilian working-age population, ten countries .......................................................... 100
47. Annual indexes of productivity and related measures, twelve countries..............................................................................101
Injury and illness data
48. Annual data: occupational injury illness incidence rates.................................................................................................... 102
Schedule of release dates for BLS statistical series
Series
Employment situation ............................
Producer Price Index..............................
Consumer Price In d e x............................
Real earnings..........................................
Productivity and costs:
Period
coverd
Release
date
Period
covered
Release
date
7
14
25
25
January
January
January
January
March
March
March
March
February
February
February
February
April
April
April
April
February 27
4th qtr.
Release
date
February
February
February
February
7
14
25
25
4
11
22
22
Period
covered
March
March
March
March
MLR table
number
1; 4-21
2; 33-35
2; 30-32
14-17
2; 42-44
Nonfarm business and
April 24
1st qtr.
2; 42-44
April 25
April 29
1st qtr.
1st qtr.
3; 25-28
1-3; 22-24
Major collective bargaining
Employment Cost Index..........................
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NOTES ON CURRENT LABOR STATISTICS
This section o f the Review presents the principal statistical series collected
and calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics: series on labor force,
employment, unemployment, collective bargaining settlements, consumer,
producer, and international prices, productivity, international comparisons,
and injury and illness statistics. In the notes that follow, the data in each
group o f tables is briefly described, key definitions are given, notes on the
data are set forth, and sources of additional information are cited.
A d ju stm en ts for price c h a n g es. Some data— such as the Hourly
Earnings Index in table 17— 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 of the index, then
multiplying by 100. For example, given a current hourly wage rate o f $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 $2 (or any other
resulting values) are described as “real,” “constant,” or “ 1967” dollars.
General notes
Additional information
The following notes apply to several tables in this section:
Certain monthly and quarterly data are adjusted
to eliminate the effect on the data of such factors as climatic conditions,
industry production schedules, opening and closing of schools, holiday
buying periods, and vacation practices, which might prevent short-term
evaluation o f the statistical series. Tables containing data that have been
adjusted are identified as “seasonally adjusted.” (All other data are not
seasonally 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. (Season
ally adjusted data appear in tables 1-3, 4 -1 0 , 13, 14, and 18.) Beginning
in January 1980, the bls introduced two major modifications in the sea
sonal adjustment methodology for labor force data. First, the data are being
seasonally adjusted with a new procedure called X - l 1/arima, which was
developed at Statistics Canada as an extension of the standard X-11 method
previously used by bls. A detailed description of the procedure appears in
The x - l 1 a r im a Seasonal Adjustment M ethod by Estla Bee Dagum (Statis
tics Canada, Catalogue No. 12-564E, January 1983). The second change
is that seasonal factors are now being calculated for use during the first 6
months o f the year, rather than for the entire year, and then are calculated
at mid-year for the July-December period. However, revisions of historical
data continue to be made only at the end of each calendar year.
Seasonally adjusted labor force data in tables 1 and 4 -1 0 were revised
in the February 1986 issue of the Review to reflect experience through
1985.
Annual revisions o f the seasonally adjusted payroll data shown in tables
13, 14, and 18 were made in July 1985 using the x—11 arima seasonal
adjustment methodology. New seasonal factors for productivity data in
table 42 are usually introduced in the September issue. Seasonally adjusted
indexes and percent changes from month to month and from quarter to
quarter are published for numerous Consumer and Producer Price Index
series. However, seasonally adjusted indexes are not published for the U.S.
average All Items cpi. Only seasonally adjusted percent changes are avail
able for this series.
S ea so n a l a d ju stm en t.
Data that supplement the tables in this section are published by the
Bureau in a variety of sources. Press releases provide the latest statistical
information published by the Bureau; the major recurring releases are
published according to the schedule preceding these general notes. More
information about labor force, employment, and unemployment data and
the household and establishment surveys underlying the data are available
in Employment and Earnings, a monthly publication of the Bureau. More
data from the household survey is published in the two-volume data book—
Labor Force Statistics D erived From the Current Population Survey, Bul
letin 2096. More data from the establishment survey appear in two data
books— Employment, Hours, and Earnings, United States, and Employ
ment, Hours, and Earnings, States and Areas, and the annual supplements
to these data books. More detailed information on employee compensation
and collective bargaining settlements is published in the monthly periodi
cal, Current Wage Developments. More detailed data on consumer and
producer prices are published in the monthly periodicals, The c p i D etailed
Report, and Producer Prices and Price Indexes. Detailed data on all of the
series in this section are provided in the Handbook o f Labor Statistics,
which is published biennally by the Bureau, bls bulletins are issued cover
ing productivity, injury and illness, and other data in this section. Finally,
the Monthly Labor Review carries analytical articles on annual and longer
term developments in labor force, employment and unemployment; em
ployee compensation and collective bargaining; prices; productivity; inter
national comparisons; and injury and illness data.
Symbols
p = preliminary. To increase the timeliness of some series, prelim
inary figures are issued based on representative but incomplete
returns.
r = revised. Generally, this revision reflects the availability o f later
data but may also reflect other adjustments,
n.e.c. = not elsewhere classified,
n.e.s. = not elsew h ere sp e cifie d .
COMPARATIVE INDICATORS
(Tables 1-3)
Comparative indicators tables provide an overview and comparison of
major bls statistical series. Consequently, although many of the included
series are available monthly, all measures in these comparative tables are
presented quarterly and annually.
L a b o r m a rk et in d ica to rs include employment measures from two ma
jor surveys and information on rates of change in compensation provided
by the Employment Cost Index (eci) program. The labor force participation
rate, the employment-to-population ratio, and unemployment rates for
major demographic groups based on the Current Population (“household ”)
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Survey are presented, while measures of employment and average weekly
hours by major industry sector are given using nonagricultural payroll data.
The Employment Cost Index (compensation), by major sector and by
bargaining status, is chosen from a variety of bls compensation and wage
measures because it provides a comprehensive measure of employer costs
for hiring labor, not just outlays for wages, and it is not affected by
employment shifts among occupations and industries.
Data on ch a n g es in co m p e n sa tio n , p rices, and p rod u ctivity are pre
sented in table 2. Measures of rates of change of compensation and wages
59
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1986 • Current Labor Statistics
from the Employment Cost Index program are provided for all civilian
nonfarm workers (excluding Federal and household workers) and for all
private nonfarm workers. Measures of changes in consumer prices for all
urban consumers; producer prices by stage of processing; and the overall
export and import price indexes are given. Measures of productivity (output
per hour o f all persons) are provided for major sectors.
A ltern a tiv e m ea su res o f w age and co m p en sa tio n ra tes o f ch a n g e,
which reflect the overall trend in labor costs, are summarized in table 3.
Differences in concepts and scope, related to the specific purposes of the
series, contribute to the variation in changes among the individual mea
sures.
Notes on the data
Definitions of each series and notes on the data are contained in later
sections of these notes describing each set o f data. For detailed descriptions
of each data series, see bls Handbook o f Methods, Volumes I and II,
Bulletins 2134-1 and 2134-2 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982 and 1984,
respectively), as well as the additional bulletins, articles, and other publi
cations noted in the separate sections of the R eview 's “Current Labor
Statistics Notes.” Historical data for many series are provided in the Hand
book o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985).
Users may also wish to consult M ajor Programs, Bureau o f Labor Statis
tics, Report 718 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985).
EMPLOYMENT DATA
(Tables 1; 4 -2 1 )
Household Survey Data
Description of the series
EMPLOYMENT DATA in this section are obtained from the Current Popula
tion 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
59,500 households selected to represent the U.S. population 16 years of age and
older. Households are interviewed on a rotating basis, so that three-fourths of
the sample is the same for any 2 consecutive months.
Definitions
E m p lo y ed p erso n s include (1) all civilians who worked for pay any time
during the week which includes the 12 th 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 employed
total. A person working at more than one job is counted only in the job at
which he or she worked the greatest number of hours.
U n em p lo y ed p erso n s are those who did not work during the survey
week, but were available for work except for temporary illness and had
looked for jobs within the preceding 4 weeks. Persons who did not look for
work because they were on layoff or waiting to start new jobs within the
next 30 days are also counted among the unemployed. The o v era ll u n em
p loym en t rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of the labor
force, including the resident Armed Forces. The civ ilia n u n em p lo ym en t
rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of the civilian labor
force.
The la b o r force consists of all employed or unemployed civilians plus
members o f the Armed Forces stationed in the United States. Persons not
in th e la b o r force are those not classified as employed or unemployed; this
group includes persons who are retired, those engaged in their own house
work, those not working while attending school, those unable to work
because o f long-term illness, those discouraged from seeking work because
o f personal or job market factors, and those who are voluntarily idle. The
n on in stitu tio n a l p o p u la tio n comprises all persons 16 years of age and
older who are not inmates of penal or mental institutions, sanitariums, or
homes for the aged, infirm, or needy, and members of the Armed Forces
stationed in the United States. The la b o r force p a rticip a tio n rate is the
proportion o f the noninstitutional populaton that is in the labor force. The
e m p lo y m en t-p o p u la tio n ra tio is total employment (including the resident
Armed Forces) as a percent of the noninstitutional population.
Notes on the data
are made in the Current Population Survey figures to correct for estimating
errors during the preceding years. These adjustments affect the comparabil
ity of historical data. A description of these adjustments and their effect on
the various data series appear in the Explanatory Notes of Employment and
Earnings.
Data in tables 4 -1 0 are seasonally adjusted, based on the seasonal
experience through December 1985.
Additional sources of information
For detailed explanations of the data, see bls Handbook o f M ethods,
Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982) and for additional data,
Handbook o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of Labor Statistics,
1985). A detailed description of the Current Population Survey as well as
additional data are available in the monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics
periodical, Employment and Earnings. Historical data from 1948 to 1982
are available in Labor Force Statistics D erived from the Current Popula
tion Survey: A D atabook, Vols. I and II, Bulletin 2096 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 1982).
A comprehensive discussion of the differences between household and
establishment data on employment appears in Gloria P. Green, “Comparing
employment estimates from household and payroll surveys,” Monthly
Labor Review, December 1969, pp. 9 -2 0 .
Establishment Survey Data
Description of the series
E mployment, hours, and earnings data in this section are compiled from
payroll records reported monthly on a voluntary basis to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics and its cooperating State agencies by more than 200,000
establishments representing all industries except agriculture. In most indus
tries, 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 ware
house.) Self-employed persons and others not on a regular civilian payroll
are outside the scope of the survey because they are excluded from estab
lishment records. This largely accounts for the difference in employment
figures between the household and establishment surveys.
Definitions
An e sta b lish m e n t is an economic unit which produces goods or services
(such as a factory or store) at a single location and is engaged in one type
of economic activity.
From time to time, and especially after a decennial census, adjustments
60
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E m p loyed person s are all persons who received pay (including holiday
and sick pay) for any part of the payroll period including the 12 th of the
month. Persons holding more than one job (about 5 percent of all persons
in the labor force) are counted in each establishment which reports them.
P ro d u ctio n w o rk ers in manufacturing include blue-collar worker super
visors and all nonsupervisory workers closely associated with production
operations. Those workers mentioned in tables 12-16 include production
workers in manufacturing and mining; construction workers in construc
tion; and for nonsupervisory workers in the following industries: trans
portation and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance,
and real estate; and services. These groups account for about four-fifths of
the total employment on private nonagricutural payrolls.
E a rn in g s are the payments production or nonsupervisory workers re
ceive during the survey period, including premium pay for overtime or
late-shift work but excluding irregular bonuses and other special payments.
R eal ea rn in g s are earnings adjusted to reflect the effects of changes in
consumer prices. The deflator for this series is derived from the Consumer
Price Index for Urban Wage Earner and Clerical Workers (cpi- w). The
H o u rly E a rn in g In d ex 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
in manufacturing (the only sector for which overtime data are available)
and the effects o f changes and seasonal factors in the proportion of workers
in high-wage and low-wage industries.
H o u rs represent the average weekly hours of production or nonsupervi
sory workers for which pay was received and are different from standard
or scheduled hours. O v ertim e h o u rs represent the portion of gross average
weekly hours which were in excess of regular hours and for which overtime
premiums were paid.
T h e D iffu sio n In d ex , introduced in table 17 of the May 1983 issue,
represents the percent of 185 nonagricultural industries in which employ
ment was rising over the indicated period. One-half of the industries with
unchanged employment are counted as rising. In line with Bureau practice,
data for the 1-, 3-, and 6 -month spans are seasonally adjusted, while those
for the 12-month span are unadjusted. The diffusion index is useful for
measuring the dispersion o f 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 peri
od ically adjusted to com prehensive counts o f em ploym ent (called
“benchmarks”). The latest complete adjustment was made with the release
o f May 1985 data, published in the July 1985 issue of the Review. Conse
quently, data published in the Review prior to that issue are not necessarily
comparable to current data. Unadjusted data have been revised back to
April 1983; seasonally adjusted data have been revised back to January
1980. These revisions were published in the Supplement to Employment
and Earnings (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985). Unadjusted data from
April 1984 forward, and seasonally adjusted data from January 1981 for
ward are subject to revision in future benchmarks.
Additional sources of information
Detailed data from the establishment survey are published monthly in the
BLS periodical. Employment and Earnings. Earlier comparable unadjusted
and seasonally adjusted data are published in Employment, Hours, and
Earnings, United States, 1 9 0 9 -8 4 , Bulletin 1312-12 and its annual
supplement (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985). For a detailed discussion of
the methodology of the survey, see bls Handbook o f Methods, Bulletin
2143-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982). For additional data, see Hand
book o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985).
A comprehensive discussion of the differences between household and
establishment data on employment appears in Gloria P. Green, “Comparing
employment estimates from household and payroll surveys,” Monthly
Labor Review, December 1969, pp. 9 -2 0 .
Unemployment Data By State
Description of the series
Data presented in this section are obtained from two major sources— the
Current Population Survey (cps) and the Local Area Unemployment Statis
tics ( laus) program, which is conducted in cooperation with State employ
ment security agencies.
Monthly estimates of the labor force, employment, and unemployment
for States and sub-State areas are a key indicator of local economic condi
tions and form the basis for determining the eligibility o f an area for
benefits under Federal economic assistance programs such as the Job Train
ing Partnership Act and the Public Works and Economic Development Act.
Insofar as possible, the concepts and definitions underlying these data are
those used in the national estimates obtained from the cps .
Notes on the data
Data refer to State of residence. Monthly data for 11 States—California,
Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, North
Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas—are obtained directly from the CPS
because the size of the sample is large enough to meet BLS standards of reliabil
ity. Data for the remaining 39 States and the District of Columbia are derived us
ing standardized procedures established by BLS. Once a year, estimates for the 11
States are revised to new population controls. For the remaining States and the
District of Columbia, data are benchmarked to annual average CPS levels.
Additional sources of information
Information on the concepts, definitions, and technical procedures used
to develop labor force data for States and sub-State areas as well as addi
tional data on sub-States are provided in the monthly Bureau of Labor
Statistics periodical, Employment and Earnings, and the annual report,
Geographic Profile o f Employment and Unemployment (Bureau o f Labor
Statistics). See also bls Handbook o f Methods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 1982).
COMPENSATION AND WAGE DATA
(Tables 22-29)
C ompensation and wage data are gathered by the Bureau from business
establishments, State and local governments, labor unions, collective bar
gaining agreements on file with the Bureau, and secondary sources.
Employment Cost Index
Description of the series
The E m p lo y m en t C o st In d ex (eci) is a quarterly measure of the rate of
change in compensation per hour worked and includes wages, salaries, and
employer costs o f employee benefits. It uses a fixed market basket of
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labor— similar in concept to the Consumer Price Index’s fixed market
basket of goods and services— to measure change over time in employer
costs of employing labor. The index is not seasonally adjusted.
Statistical series on total compensation costs and on wages and salaries
are available for private nonfarm workers excluding proprietors, the selfemployed, and household workers. Both series are also available for State
and local government workers and for the civilian nonfarm economy,
which consists of private industry and State and local government workers
combined. Federal workers are excluded.
The Employment Cost Index probability sample consists of about 2,200
private nonfarm establishments providing about 12,000 occupational ob
servations and 700 State and local government establishments providing
61
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1986 • Current Labor Statistics
3,500 occupational observations selected to represent total employment in
each sector. On average, each reporting unit provides wage and compensa
tion information on five well-specified occupations. Data are collected each
quarter for the pay period including the 12th day of March, June, Septem
ber, and December.
Fixed employment weights from the 1970 Census of Population are used
each quarter to calculate the indexes for civilian, private, and State and
local governments. These fixed weights, also used to derive all of the
industry and occupation series indexes, ensure that changes in these in
dexes reflect only changes in compensation, not employment shifts among
industries or occupations with different levels of wages and compensation.
For the bargaining status, region, and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area
series, however, employment data by industry and occupation are not
available from the census. Instead, the 1970 employment weights are
reallocated within these series each quarter based on the current sample.
Therefore, these indexes are not strictly comparable to those for the aggre
gate, industry, and occupation series.
Definitions
T ota l co m p en sa tio n costs include wages, salaries, and the employer
costs for employee benefits.
W ag es a nd sa la ries consist of earnings before payroll deductions, in
cluding production bonuses, incentive earnings, commissions, and cost-ofliving adjustments.
B en efits include the cost to employers for paid leave, supplemental pay
(including nonproduction bonuses), insurance, retirement and savings
plans, and legally required benefits (such as social security, workers’
compensation, and unemployment insurance).
Excluded from wages and salaries and employee benefits are such items
as payment-in-kind, free room and board, and tips.
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, when combined with the wages and salaries
series, a measure o f the percent change in employer costs for employee
total compensation. State and local government units were added to the eci
coverage in 1981, providing a measure of total compensation change in the
civilian nonfarm economy (excluding Federal employees). Historical in
dexes (June 1981 = 100) o f the quarterly rates of change are presented in the
May issue of the bls monthly periodical, Current Wage Developments.
(wages and benefits costs) and wages alone, quarterly for private industry
and semiannually for State and local government. Compensation measures
cover all collective bargaining situations involving 5,000 workers or more
and wage measures cover all situations involving 1,000 workers or more.
These data, covering private nonagricultural industries and State and local
governments, are calculated using information obtained from bargaining
agreements on file with the Bureau, parties to the agreements, and second
ary sources, such as newspaper accounts. The data are not seasonally
adjusted.
Settlement data are measured in terms of future specified adjustments:
those that will occur within 12 months after contract ratification— first
year— and all adjustments that will occur over the life of the contract
expressed as an average annual rate. Adjustments are worker weighted.
Both first-year and over-the-life measures exclude wage changes that may
occur under cost-of-living clauses that are triggered by future movements
in the Consumer Price Index.
E ffective w age a d ju stm en ts measure all adjustments occurring in the
reference period, regardless of the settlement date. Included are changes
from settlements reached during the period, changes deferred from con
tracts negotiated in earlier periods, and changes under cost-of-living adjust
ment clauses. Each wage change is worker weighted. The changes are
prorated over all workers under agreements during the reference period
yielding the average adjustment.
Definitions
W age rate ch an ges are calculated by dividing newly negotiated wages
by the average hourly earnings, excluding overtime, at the time the agree
ment is reached. Compensation changes are calculated by dividing the
change in the value of the newly negotiated wage and benefit package by
existing average hourly compensation, which includes the cost of previ
ously negotiated benefits, legally required social insurance programs, and
average hourly earnings.
C om p en sa tio n ch a n g es are calculated by placing a value on the benefit
portion of the settlements at the time they are reached. The cost estimates
are based on the assumption that conditions existing at the time of settle
ment (for example, methods of financing pensions or composition o f labor
force) will remain constant. The data, therefore, are measures of negotiated
changes and not of total changes in employer cost.
C on tract d u ration runs from the effective date of the agreement to the
expiration date or first wage reopening date, if applicable. Average annual
percent changes over the contract term take account of the compounding of
successive changes.
Additional sources of information
Notes on the data
For a more detailed discussion of the Employment Cost Index, see
Chapter 11, “The Employment Cost Index,” in the Handbook o f Methods,
Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982), and the following
Monthly Labor Review articles: “Employment Cost Index: a measure of
change in the ‘price o f labor’,” July 1975; “How benefits will be incorpo
rated into the Employment Cost Index,” January 1978; “Estimation proce
dures for the Employment Cost Index,” May 1982; and “Introducing new
weights for the Employment Cost Index,” June 1985.
Data on the ECI are also available in bls quarterly press releases issued
in the month following the reference months of March, June, September,
and December; and from the Handbook o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217
Care should be exercised in comparing the size and nature of the settle
ments in State and local government with those in the private sector because
of differences in bargaining practices and settlement characteristics. A
principal difference is the incidence of cost-of-living adjustment (cola)
clauses which cover only about 2 percent of workers under a few local
government settlements but cover 50 percent of workers under private
sector settlements. Agreements without cola’s tend to provide larger speci
fied wage increases than those with cola ’s . Another difference is that State
and local government bargaining frequently excludes pension benefits
which are often prescribed by law. In the private sector, in contrast,
pensions are typically a bargaining issue.
(Bureau o f Labor Statistics, 1985).
Collective bargaining settlements
Description of the series
C ollectiv e b a rg a in in g settlem en ts data provide statistical measures of
negotiated adjustments (increases, decreases, and freezes) in compensation
62
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Additional sources of information
For a more detailed discussion on the series, see chapter 10, “Negotiated
Wage and Benefit Changes,” of the bls Handbook o f Methods, Bulletin
2134-1. Comprehensive data are published in press releases issued quar
terly (in January, April, July, and October) for private industry, and semi-
annually (in February and August) for State and local government. Histor
ical data and additional detailed tabulations for the prior calendar year
appear in the April issue of the bls monthly periodical, Current Wage
D evelopm ents.
monthly periodical, Current Wage D evelopm ents. Historical data appear in
the bls Handbook o f Labor Statistics.
Work stoppages
Other bls data on pay and benefits, not included in the Current Labor
Statistics section of the Monthly Labor Review, appear in and consist o f the
following:
Description of the series
Data on w o rk sto p p a g es measure the number and duration of major
strikes or lockouts (involving 1,000 workers or more) occurring during the
month (or year), the number of workers involved, and the amount o f time
lost because o f stoppage.
Data are largely from newspaper accounts and cover only establishments
directly involved in a stoppage. They do not measure the indirect or second
ary effect o f stoppages on other establishments whose employees are idle
owing to material shortages or lack of service.
Definitions
The number of strikes and lockouts involving
or more and lasting a full shift or longer.
W o rk ers involved : The number of workers directly involved in the
stoppage.
N u m b er o f d a y s idle: The aggregate number of work days lost by
workers involved in the stoppages:
D a y s o f id len ess as a p ercen t o f estim a ted w o rk in g tim e: Aggregate
work days lost as a percent of the aggregate number o f standard work days
in the period multiplied by total employment in the period.
N u m b er o f sto p p a g es:
1,000 workers
Notes on the data
This series is not comparable with the one terminated in 1981 that
covered strikes involving six workers or more.
Additional sources of information
Data for each calendar year are reported in a bls press release issued in
the first quarter o f the following year. Monthly data appear in the bls
Other compensation data
Industry Wage Surveys provide data for specific occupations selected to
represent an industry’s wage structure and the types of activities performed
by its workers. The Bureau collects information on weekly work schedules,
shift operations and pay differentials, paid holiday and vacation practices,
and information on incidence of health, insurance, and retirement plans.
Reports are issued' throughout the year as the surveys are completed.
Summaries o f the data and special analyses also appear in the M onthly
Labor R eview .
Area Wage Surveys annually provide data for selected office, clerical,
professional, technical, maintenance, toolroom, powerplant, material
movement, and custodial occupations common to a wide variety o f indus
tries in the areas (labor markets) surveyed. Reports are issued throughout
the year as the surveys are completed. Summaries of the data and special
analyses also appear in the Review.
The National Survey o f Professional, Administrative, Technical, and
Clerical Pay provides detailed information annually on salary levels and
distributions for the types of jobs mentioned in the survey’s title in private
employment. Although the definitions o f the jobs surveyed reflect the
duties and responsibilities in private industry, they are designed to match
specific pay grades of Federal white-collar employees under the General
Schedule pay system. Accordingly, this survey provides the legally re
quired information for comparing the pay of salaried employees in the
Federal civil service with pay in private industry. (See Federal Pay Com
parability Act o f 1970, 5 u.s.c. 5305.) Data are published in a bls news
release issued in the summer and in a bulletin each fall; summaries and
analytical articles also appear in the Review.
Employee Benefits Survey provides nationwide information on the inci
dence and characteristics of employee benefit plans in medium and large
establishments in the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Data are
published in an annual bls news release and bulletin, as well as in special
articles appearing in the Review.
PRICE DATA
(Tables 30-41)
PRICE DATA 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).
Consumer Price Indexes
Description of the series
The C o n su m er P rice In d ex (cpi) is a measure of the average change in
the prices paid by urban consumers for a fixed market basket of goods and
services. The cpi is calculated monthly for two population groups, one
consisting only o f urban households whose primary source o f income is
derived from the employment of wage earners and clerical workers, and the
other consisting o f all urban households. The wage earner index (cpi- w) is
a continuation o f the historic index that was introduced well over a halfcentury ago for use in wage negotiations. As new uses were developed for
the cpi in recent years, the need for a broader and more representative index
became apparent. The all urban consumer index (cpi- u) introduced in 1978
is representative o f the 1972-73 buying habits o f about 80 percent of the
noninstitutional population of the United States at that time, compared with
40 percent represented in the cpi- w . In addition to wage earners and clerical
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workers, the cpi- u covers professional, managerial, and technical workers,
the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, retirees, and oth
ers not in the labor force.
The cpi is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, fuel, drugs, trans
portation fares, doctors’ and dentists’ fees, and other goods and services
that people buy for day-to-day living. The quantity and quality o f these
items is kept essentially unchanged between major revisions so that only
price changes will be measured. All taxes directly associated with the
purchase and use of items are included in the index.
Data collected from more than 24,000 retail establishments and 24,000
tenants in 85 urban areas across the country are used to develop the “U.S.
city average.” Separate estimates for 28 major urban centers are presented
in table 31. The areas listed are as indicated in footnote 1 to the table. The
area indexes measure only the average change in prices for each area since
the base period, and do not indicate differences in the level of prices among
cities.
Notes on the data
In January 1983, the Bureau changed the way in which homeownership
costs are measured for the cpi- u . A rental equivalence method replaced the
63
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1986 • Current Labor Statistics
asset-price approach to homeownership costs for that series. In January
1985, the same change was made in the cpi- w . The central purpose of the
change was to separate shelter costs from the investment component of
homeownership so that the index would reflect only the cost of shelter
services provided by owner-occupied homes.
Additional sources of information
For a discussion o f the general method for computing the cpi, see b l s
Handbook o f Methods, Volume II, The Consumer Price Index, Bulletin
2 1 3 4 -2 (Bureau o f Labor Statistics, April 1984). The recent change in the
measurement of homeownership costs is discussed in Robert Gillingham
and Walter Lane, “Changing the treatment of shelter costs for homeowners
in the CPI,” Monthly Labor Review, June 1982, pp. 9 -1 4 .
Additional detailed cpi data and regular analyses of consumer price
changes are provided in the c p i D etailed Report, a monthly publication of
the Bureau. Historical data for the overall cpi and for selected groupings
may be found in the Handbook o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau
o f Labor Statistics, June 1985).
Producer Price Indexes
Description of the series
P ro d u cer P rice In d ex es (ppi) measure average changes in prices re
ceived in primary markets of the United States by producers of commodi
ties in all stages o f processing. The sample used for calculating these
indexes currently contains about 3,200 commodities and about 60,000
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 stage of proc
essing structure o f Producer Price Indexes organizes products by class of
buyer and degree of fabrication (that is, finished goods, intermediate
goods, and crude materials). The traditional commodity structure of ppi
organizes products by similarity of end-use or material composition.
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 o f the month.
Since January 1976, price changes for the various commodities have
been averaged together with implicit quantity weights representing 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 o f special composite groups. All Producer Price Index data are
subject to revision 4 months after original publication.
Notes on the data
Beginning with the January 1986 issue, the Review is no longer present
ing tables o f Producer Price Indexes for commodity groupings, special
composite groups, or sic industries. However, these data will continue to
be presented in the Bureau’s monthly publication Producer Price Indexes.
Series on the net output o f major mining and manufacturing industry groups
will appear in the Review starting with data for July 1986.
The Bureau has completed the first major stage of its comprehensive
overhaul o f the theory, methods, and procedures used to construct the
Producer Price Indexes. Changes include the replacement of judgment
sampling with probability sampling techniques; expansion to systematic
coverage o f the net output of virtually all industries in the mining and
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manufacturing sectors; a shift from a commodity to an industry orientation;
the exclusion of imports from, and the inclusion of exports in, the survey
universe; and the respecification of commodities priced to conform to
Bureau of the Census definitions. These and other changes have been
phased in gradually since 1978. The result is a system of indexes that is
easier to use in conjunction with data on wages, productivity, and employ
ment and other series that are organized in terms of the Standard Industrial
Classification and the Census product class designations.
Additional sources of information
For a discussion of the methodology for computing Producer Price In
dexes, see b l s Handbook o f M ethods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 1982), chapter 7.
Additional detailed data and analyses of price changes are provided
monthly in Producer Price Indexes. Selected historical data may be found
in the Handbook o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, June 1985).
International Price Indexes
Description of the series
The bls In tern ation al P rice P ro g ra m produces quarterly export and
import price indexes for nonmilitary goods traded between the United
States and the rest of the world. The export price index provides a measure
of price change for all products sold by U .S. residents to foreign buyers.
(“Residents” is defined as in the national income accounts: it includes
corporations, businesses, and individuals but does not require the organiza
tions to be U .S. owned nor the individuals to have U .S. citizenship.) The
import price index provides a measure of price change for goods purchased
from other countries by U .S. residents. With publication of an all-import
index in February 1983 and an all-export index in February 1984, all U.S.
merchandise imports and exports now are represented in these indexes. The
reference period for the indexes is 1977 = 100, unless otherwise indicated.
The product universe for both the import and export indexes includes raw
materials, agricultural products, semifinished manufactures, and finished
manufactures, including both capital and consumer goods. Price data for
these items are collected quarterly by mail questionnaire. In nearly all
cases, the data are collected directly from the exporter or importer, al
though in a few cases, prices are obtained from other sources.
To the extent possible, the data gathered refer to prices at the U .S. border
for exports and at either the foreign border or the U .S. border for imports.
For nearly all products, the prices refer to transactions completed during the
first 2 weeks of the third month of each calendar quarter— March, June,
September, and December. Survey respondents are asked to indicate all
discounts, allowances, and rebates applicable to the reported prices, so that
the price used in the calculation of the indexes is the actual price for which
the product was bought or sold.
In addition to general indexes of prices for U.S. exports and imports,
indexes are also published for detailed product categories of exports and
imports. These categories are defined by the 4- and 5-digit level of detail
of the Standard Industrial Trade Classification System (sitc). The calcula
tion of indexes by sitc category facilitates the comparison of U .S. price
trends and sector production with similar data for other countries. Detailed
indexes are also computed and published on a Standard Industrial Classifi
cation (sic-based) basis, as well as by end-use class.
Notes on the data
The export and import price indexes are weighted indexes o f the
Laspeyeres type. Price relatives are assigned equal importance within each
weight category and are then aggregated to the sitc level. The values
assigned to each weight category are based on trade value figures compiled
by the Bureau of the Census. The trade weights currently used to compute
both indexes relate to 1980.
Because a price index depends on the same items being priced from
period to period, it is necessary to recognize when a product’s specifica
tions or terms o f transaction have been modified. For this reason, the
Bureau’s quarterly questionnaire requests detailed descriptions of the phys
ical and functional characteristics of the products being priced, as well as
information on the number o f units bought or sold, discounts, credit terms,
packaging, class of buyer or seller, and so forth. When there are changes
in either the specifications or terms of transaction of a product, the dollar
value o f each change is deleted from the total price change to obtain the
“pure” change. Once this value is determined, a linking procedure is
employed which allows for the continued repricing of the item.
For the export price indexes, the preferred pricing basis is f.a.s. (free
alongside ship) U.S. port of exportation. When firms report export prices
f.o.b. (free on board), production point information is collected which
enables the Bureau to calculate a shipment cost to the port of exportation.
An attempt is made to collect two prices for imports. The first is the import
price f.o.b. at the foreign port of exportation, which is consistent with the
basis for valuation of imports in the national accounts. The second is the
import price c.i.f. (cost, insurance, and freight) at the U .S. port of impor
tation, which also includes the other costs associated with bringing the
product to the U .S. border. It does not, however, include duty charges.
Additional sources of information
For a discussion of the general method of computing International Price
Indexes, see b l s Handbook o f M ethods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau o f Labor
Statistics, 1982), chapter 8.
Additional detailed data and analyses of international price develop
ments are presented in the Bureau’s quarterly publication U.S. Import and
Export Price Indexes and in occasional Monthly Labor Review articles
prepared by b l s analysts. Selected historical data may be found in the
Handbook o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of Labor Statistics,
June 1985).
PRODUCTIVITY DATA
(Tables 42-47)
U. S. productivity and related data
Description of the series
The productivity measures relate real physical output to real input. As
such they encompass a family of measures which include single factor input
measures, such as output per unit of labor input (output per hour) or output
per unit o f capital input, as well as measures of multifactor productivity
(output per unit o f labor and capital inputs combined). The Bureau indexes
show the change in output relative to changes in the various inputs. The
measures cover the business, nonfarm business, manufacturing, and nonfinancial corporate sectors.
Corresponding indexes of hourly compensation, unit labor costs, unit
nonlabor payments, and prices are also provided.
U n it p rofits include corporate profits and the value of inventory adjust
ments per unit of output.
H ou rs o f all p erson s are the total hours paid of payroll workers, selfemployed persons, and unpaid family workers.
C ap ital services is the flow of services from the capital stock used in
production. It is developed from measures of the net stock of physical
assets— equipment, structures, land, and inventories— weighted by rental
prices for each type of asset.
L ab or an d cap ital in p u ts combined are derived 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 of
the shares in the current and preceding year (the Tomquist index-number
formula).
Notes on the data
Definitions
O u tp u t per h o u r o f all p erson s (labor productivity) is the value of
goods and services in constant prices produced per hour of labor input.
O u tp u t per u n it o f ca p ita l serv ices (capital productivity) is the value of
goods and services in constant dollars produced per unit of capital services
input.
M u ltifa cto r p ro d u ctiv ity is the ratio output per unit of labor and capital
inputs combined. Changes in this measure reflect changes in a number of
factors which affect the production process 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, manage
ment, and so forth. Changes in the output per hour measures reflect the
impact o f these factors as well as the substitution of capital for labor.
Compensation per hour is th e w ages an d salaries o f e m p lo y ees plu s
e m p lo y e r s’ c o n tr ib u tio n s fo r so cia l in su ra n ce an d private b e n e fit
p la n s, an d th e w a g e s, sa la ries, a n d su p p lem en ta ry p a y m en ts fo r th e
se lf-e m p lo y e d (ex cep t fo r n o n fin a n cia l c o rp o ra tio n s in w h ich th ere are
n o self-e m p lo y e d )— th e sum d iv id ed b y h o u rs p a id fo r . Real compen
sation per hour is c o m p e n sa tio n per h o u r d e fla ted b y th e ch a n g e in th e
Output measures for the business sector and the nonfarm businesss sector
exclude the constant dollar value of owner-occupied housing, rest of world,
households and institutions, and general government output from the con
stant dollar value of gross national product. The measures are derived from
data supplied by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U .S. Department of
Commerce, and the Federal Reserve Board. Quarterly manufacturing out
put indexes are adjusted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to annual esti
mates of output (gross product originating) from the Bureau of Economic
Analysis. Compensation and hours data are developed from data o f the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The productivity and associated cost measures in tables 4 2 -4 4 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 o f many influ
ences, including changes in technology; capital investment; level o f output;
utilization of capacity, energy, and materials; the organization o f produc
tion; managerial skill; and the characteristics and efforts of the work force.
C o n su m er P rice In d ex fo r A ll U rb a n C o n su m ers.
U n it la b o r co sts is the labor compensation costs expended in the produc
tion o f a unit o f output and is derived by dividing compensation by output.
U n it n o n la b o r p a y m en ts include profits, depreciation, interest, and indi
rect taxes per unit o f output. They are computed by subtracting compensa
tion o f all persons from current dollar value of output and dividing by
output. U n it n o n la b o r co sts contain all the components of unit nonlabor
payments except unit profits.
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Additional sources of information
Descriptions of methodology underlying the measurement o f output per
hour and multifactor productivity are found in the BLS Handbook o f Meth
ods , Bulletin 2134, Vol. 1, Chapter 13 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982).
Historical data for selected industries are provided in the Bureau’s Hand
book o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217, 1985.
65
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW February 1986 • Current Labor Statistics
International comparisons
Description of the series
Comparative measures o f labor force, employment, and unemployment'
(tables 45 and 46) are prepared regularly for the United States, Canada,
Australia, Japan, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands,
and Sweden. Unemployment rates, approximating U.S. concepts, are pre
pared monthly for most o f the countries; the other measures, annually.
The Bureau o f Labor Statistics also prepares international comparisons
o f manufacturing labor productivity and labor costs (table 47) that cover the
United States and 11 foreign countries— those listed above plus Belgium
and Norway. These measures are limited to trend comparisons; that is,
intercountry series o f changes over time, rather than level comparisons
because reliable international comparisons of the levels of manufacturing
are unavailable. The U.S. measures are described in the notes on U.S.
productivity measurement; the measures for foreign countries are compiled
from various national and international data sources.
Definitions
O u tp u t measures are constant value output (value added) from the
national accounts o f each country, except for those for Japan prior to 1970
and for the Netherlands for 1969 forward, which are indexes of industrial
production. The national accounting methods for measuring real output
differ considerably among the 12 countries, but the use of different proce
dures does not, in itself, connote lack of comparability— rather, it reflects
differences among countries in the availability and reliability of underlying
data series.
H ou rs a n d co m p en sa tio n measures refer to all employed persons in
cluding the self-employed in the United States and Canada, and to all wage
and salary employees in the other countries. Hours refer to hours paid in
the United States, hours worked in the other countries. Compensation
(labor costs) includes not only all payments made directly to employees
and employer expenditures for social insurance and private benefit plans,
but changes in significant employment or payroll taxes that are not compen
sation to employees but are labor costs to employers (France, Sweden, and
the United Kingdom). Self-employed workers are included in the U.S. and
Canadian figures by assuming that their hourly compensation is equal to the
average for wage and salary employees.
Notes on the data
The data for the foreign countries in tables 45 and 46 have been adjusted,
where necessary, for greater comparability with U.S. definitions of em
ployment and unemployment. The adjusted statistics have been adapted to
the age at which compulsory schooling ends in each country. Therefore, the
adjusted statistics relate to the civilian population age 16 and over in the
United States, France, and Sweden, and from 1973 onward, Great Britain;
15 and over in Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands;
and 14 and over in Italy. Prior to 1973, the data for Great Britain related
to persons age 15 and over. The institutional population is included in the
denominator of the labor force participation rates and employmentpopulation rates for Japan and Germany.
For most of the countries in table 47, the measures refer to total manu
facturing as defined by the International Standard Industrial Classification.
However, the measures for France (beginning 1959), Italy (beginning
1970), and the United Kingdom (beginning 1976) refer to manufacturing
and mining less energy-related products. For all countries, manufacturing
includes the activities of government enterprises.
In addition, for all countries, preliminary estimates for recent years are
generally based on current indicators of manufacturing output, employment
and hours, and hourly compensation until national accounts and other
statistics used for the long-term measures become available.
Additional sources of information
For further information, see International Comparisons o f Unemploy
m en t, Bulletin 1979 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1978), Appendix B and
Supplements to Appendix B. Additional detail is also found in the bls
Handbook o f M ethods, Bulletin 2134, Vol. 1, Chapter 16. Additional
international comparison statistics are available in the Handbook o f Labor
Statistics (bls Bulletin 2217, 1985). The most recent statistics are pre
sented and analyzed annually in the Monthly Labor R eview , typically in
the December issue (for the previous year) and in February.
OCCUPATIONAL INJURY AND ILLNESS DATA
(Table 48)
Description of the series
The Annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses is designed to
collect data on injuries and illnesses based on records which employers in
the following industries maintain under the Occupational Safety and Health
Act of 1970: agriculture, forestry, and fishing; oil and gas extraction;
construction; manufacturing; transportation and public utilities; wholesale
and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and services. Excluded
from the survey are self-employed individuals, farmers with fewer than 11
employees, employers regulated by other Federal safety and health laws,
and Federal, State, and local government agencies.
Because the survey is a Federal-State cooperative program and the data
must meet the needs o f participating State agencies, an independent sample
is selected for each State. The sample is selected to represent all private
industries in the States and territories. The sample size for the survey is
dependent upon (1) the characteristics for which estimates are
needed; (2) the industries for which estimates are desired; (3) the charac
teristics o f the population being sampled; (4) the target reliability of the
estimates; and (5) the survey design employed.
While there are many characteristics upon which the sample design could
be based, the total recorded case incidence rate is used because it is one of
the most important characteristics and the least variable; therefore, it re
quires the smallest sample size.
The survey is based on stratified random sampling with a Neyman
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allocation and a ratio estimator. The characteristics used to stratify the
establishments are the Standard Industrial Classification (sic) code and size
of employment.
Definitions
R ecord ab le o ccu p ation al in ju ries an d illn esses are: (1) occupational
deaths, regardless of the time between injury and death, or the length o f the
illness; or (2) nonfatal occupational illnesses; or (3) nonfatal occupational
injuries which involve one or more of the following: loss of consciousness,
restriction of work or motion, transfer to another job, or medical treatment
(other than first aid).
O ccu p ation al in ju ry is any injury such as a cut, fracture, sprain, ampu
tation, etc., which results from a work accident or from exposure involving
a single incident in the work environment.
O ccu p a tio n a l illn ess is an abnormal condition or disorder, other than
one resulting from an occupational injury, caused by exposure to environ
mental factors associated with employment. It includes acute and chronic
illnesses or disease which may be caused by inhalation, absorption, inges
tion, or direct contact.
L ost w ork d ay ca ses are cases which involve days away from work, or
days of restricted work activity, or both.
L ost w ork d ay ca ses in volvin g restricted w ork a c tivity are those cases
which result in restricted work activity only.
L ost w ork d ays aw ay from w ork are the number of workdays (consec
utive or not) on which the employee would have worked but could not
because o f occupational injury or illness.
L ost w o r k d a y s— restricted w o rk a c tiv ity are the number of workdays
(consecutive or not) on which, because of injury or illness: (1) the em
ployee was assigned to another job on a temporary basis; or (2) the em
ployee worked at a permanent job less than full time; or (3) the employee
worked at a permanently assigned job but could not perform all duties
normally connected with it.
T h e n u m b er o f d a y s aw a y from w ork or d a y s o f restricted w ork
of Occupational Safety and Health Statistics.
Mining and railroad data are furnished to bls by the Mine Safety and
Health Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration, respec
tively. Data from these organizations are included in bls and State publica
tions. Federal employee experience is compiled and published by the Occu
pational Safety and Health Administration. Data on State and local
government employees are collected by about half of the States and territo
ries; these data are not compiled nationally.
a ctiv ity does not include the day of injury or onset of illness or any days
on which the employee would not have worked even though able to work.
In cid en ce ra tes represent the number of injuries and/or illnesses or lost
workdays per 100 full-time workers.
Notes on the data
Estimates are made for industries and employment-size classes and for
severity classification: fatalities, lost workday cases, and nonfatal cases
without lost workdays. Lost workday cases are separated into those where
the employee would have worked but could not and those in which work
activity was restricted. Estimates of the number of cases and the number of
days lost are made for both categories.
Most o f the estimates are in the form of incidence rates, defined as the
number o f injuries and illnesses, or lost workdays, per 100 full-time em
ployees. For this purpose, 200,000 employee hours represent 100 em
ployee years (2,000 hours per employee). Only a few of the available
measures are included in the Handbook o f Labor Statistics. Full detail is
presented in the annual bulletin, Occupational Injuries and Illnesses in the
United States, by Industry.
Comparable data for individual States are available from the bls Office
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Additional sources of information
The Supplementary Data System provides detailed information describ
ing various factors associated with work-related injuries and illnesses.
These data are obtained from information reported by employers to State
workers’ compensation agencies. The Work Injury Report program exam
ines selected types of accidents through an employee survey which focuses
on the circumstances surrounding the injury. These data are not included
in the Handbook o f Labor Statistics but are available from the bls Office
of Occupational Safety and Health Statistics.
The definitions of occupational injuries and illnesses and lost workdays
are from Recordkeeping Requirements under the Occupational Safety and
Health Act o f 1970. For additional data, see Occupational Injuries and
Illnesses in the United States, by Industry, annual Bureau of Labor Statis
tics bulletin; BLS Handbook o f M ethods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 1982), ch. 17; Handbook o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217
(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985), pp. 411-14; annual reports in the
Monthly Labor R eview, and annual U .S. Department of Labor press re
leases.
67
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
1.
• Currrent Labor Statistics: Comparative Indicators
February 1986
Labor market indicators
1983
Selected indicators
1983
1984
1985
1984
IV
I
II
III
IV
I
II
III
Employment data
Employment status of the civilian noninstitutionalized population
(household survey)'
Labor Force participation ra te .......................................................
Employment-population ra tio .........................................................
Unemployment rate .......................................................................
Men ...........................................................................................
16 to 24 years ..........................................................................
25 years and o v e r....................................................................
Women ...................................................................................
16 to 24 years ..........................................................................
25 years and o v e r....................................................................
Unemployment rate, 15 weeks and o ver...................................
64.0
64.4
64.1
64.1
64.5
_64.4
_64.5
64.8
64.7
64.7
9.6
9.9
18.4
7.8
9.2
15.8
7.2
3.8
7.5
7.4
14.4
5.7
7.6
13.3
6.0
2.4
8.5
8.7
19.6
6.8
8.3
16.4
6.4
3.1
7.9
7.9
15.5
6.1
7.9
13.9
6.1
2.7
7.5
7.4
14.6
5.7
7.6
13.8
5.9
2.5
7.4
7.3
14.7
5.5
7.6
14.0
6.0
2.3
7.2
7.1
15.1
5.4
7.5
14.0
5.9
2.1
7.3
7.1
13.9
5.4
7.6
13.2
6.0
2.0
7.3
7.1
14.3
5.4
7.5
13.0
6.0
2.0
7.2
7.0
13.9
5.3
7.4
13.1
5.9
2.0
Total .................................................................................................
Private sector ...............................................................................
Goods-producing .........................................................................
Manufacturing ..............................................................................
Service-producing ........................................................................
90,196
74,330
23,334
18,434
66,862
94,461
78,477
24,730
19,412
69,731
91,804
75,932
23,938
18,885
67,866
93,035
77,153
24,402
19,182
68,633
94,013
78,082
24,680
19,394
69,333
94,915
78,898
24,861
19,509
70,055
95,849
79,745
24,973
19,564
70,876
96,640
80,522
25,077
19,564
71,563
97,338
81,143
25,055
19,430
72,283
97,967
81 588
24 986
19^331
72,981
Average hours
Private sector ..............................................................................
Manufacturing ...........................................................................
Overtime................................................................................
35.0
40.1
3.0
35.3
40.7
3.4
35.2
40.6
3.3
35.3
40.9
3.5
35.3
40.8
3.5
35.3
40.5
3.3
35.2
40.5
3.4
35.1
40.4
3.3
35.1
40.3
3.2
35.1
40.5
3.3
1.1
1.2
.9
1.5
1.0
1.7
1.7
1.6
1.9
1.6
.8
.9
.9
1.0
.4
1.3
.8
.9
.7
3.5
1.2
1.3
1.1
1.4
1.0
1.3
1.2
1.5
1.0
1.2
.7
.8
.7
1.0
.2
1.6
1.3
.6
1.8
3.4
.8
1.3
1.5
1.8
.9
1.0
.7
.9
1.1
1.3
.7
1.6
.6
1.0
.8
1.4
-
-
_
_
_
Employment, nonagricultural (payroll data):'
Employment Cost Index
Percent change in the ECI, compensation:2
All workers (excluding farm, household, and Federal workers) ......
Private industry workers ...............................................................
Goods-producing3 .....................................................................
Servicing-producing3 .................................................................
State and local government workers...........................................
-
-
-
-
Workers by bargaining status (private industry)
Union.....................................................................
Nonunion .......................................................................
-
-
“
“
-
-
-
-
-
-
Quarterly data seasonally adjusted.
2 Annual changes are December-to-December change. Quarterly changes calculated
using the last month of each quarter.
3 Goods-producing industries include mining, construction, and manufacturing. Service-
68FRASER
Digitized for
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
producing industries include all other private sector industries.
- Data not available.
Note: Q uarterly household em plo ym en t data have been revised to re fle ct the seasonal e
perience thro ugh D ecem ber 1985.
2.
Annual and quarterly percent changes in compensation, prices, and productivity
1983
Selected measures
1983
1984
IV
Compensation data:
1985
1984
I
II
III
IV
I
II
III
2
Employment Cost Index-Compensation (wages, salaries,
benefits)
Civilian nonfarm ..........................................................................
Private no n fa rm ........................................................................
Employment Cost Index-Wages and Salaries
Civilian nonfarm ..........................................................................
Private no n fa rm ........................................................................
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1.1
1.2
1.7
1.7
0.8
.9
1.3
.8
1.2
1.3
1.3
1.2
0.7
.8
1.6
1.3
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.2
.8
.9
1.3
.8
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.2
.9
1.1
1.7
1.3
Price data1
Consumer Price Index (All urban consumers): All ite m s ......
298.4
311.1
295.5
305.2
306.6
307.3
308.8
316.1
317.4
318.8
Producer Price Index
Finished g o o d s ........................................................................
Finished consumer g o o d s ........................................................
Capital equipment .....................................................................
Intermediate materials, supplies, components ......................
Crude m ate rials...........................................................................
285.2
284.6
287.2
312.3
252.2
291.1
290.3
294.0
320.0
259.5
283.1
282.3
286.2
308.7
256.8
289.5
288.9
291.6
316.3
264.0
290.6
290.1
292.3
317.6
260.5
291.4
291.1
292.3
319.7
269.9
291.2
290.3
294.5
320.3
269.7
292.1
290.6
297.4
319.5
250.7
292.6
290.7
299.2
318.7
250.0
292.1
290.1
299.3
318.6
242.9
86.7
100.0
86.4
101.9
86.7
102.5
86.2
105.2
84.0
108.1
82.1
107.7
82.0
105.8
80.3
3.1
3.9
3.9
3.5
3.5
4.0
3.3
2.9
2.9
2.7
2.1
3.2
2.4
1.6
1.1
.8
.3
-.2
-.7
1.1
.6
1.0
U.S. Export Price In d e x ...............................................................
U.S. Import Price In d e x ...............................................................
.
-
“
Productivity data
Output per hour of all persons:
Business S e c to r........................................................................
Nonfarm business s e c to r.........................................................
Nonfinancial corporations 3 ......................................................
2.7
3.5
3.2
2.7
2.3
3.3
1 Annual changes are December-to-December change. Quarterly changes
are calculated using the last month of each quarter.
2 Excludes Federal and private household workers.
3.
.9
-
3 Output per hour of all employees,
- Data not available.
Alternative measures of wage and compensation changes
Quarterly average1984
Components
II
Average hourly compensation:1
All persons, business sector.................................................................
All employees, nonfarm business sector..............................................
Hourly earnings index:2
All private nonfarm................................................................................
Employment Cost Index-compensation:
Civilian nonfarm 3 ..................................................................................
Private nonfarm ..................................................................................
U nion................................................................................................
Nonunion...........................................................................................
State and local governments..............................................................
Employment cost index-wages and salaries:
Civilian nonfarm3 ...................................................................................
Private nonfarm ..................................................................................
Union ................................................................................................
Nonunion..........................................................................................
State and local governments...............................................................
Total effective wage adjustments4 ...............................................................
From current settlements......................................................................
From prior settlements ..........................................................................
From cost-of-living provision.................................................................
Negotiated wage adjustments from settlements4
First-year adjustments ...........................................................................
Annual rate over life of contract ...........................................................
Negotiated wage and benefit adjustments from settlements:5
First-year adjustment .............................................................................
Annual rate over life of contract...........................................................
1
2
3
4
III
IV
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0.8
.9
.9
1.0
.4
1.3
.8
.7
.9
3.5
.8
.9
.8
.9
.3
.9
.1
.7
1.3
.8
.7
.8
3.4
1.2
.2
.7
.2
.3
.2
.2
2.6
2.7
2.1
2.6
3.5
3.2
2.7
3.1
Seasonally adjusted.
Production or nonsupervisory workers.
Excludes Federal and household workers.
Limited to major collective bargaining units of 1,000 or more workers. The
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Four quarters ended in 1985
I
1984
1985
II
III
II
III
IV
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1.2
1.3
1.1
1.3
1.0
1.3
1.2
.7
1.6
1.2
0.7
.8
.6
1.0
.2
1.6
1.3
.8
1.4
3.4
5.5
5.4
4.9
5.7
6.2
5.1
4.8
4.1
5.2
6.6
1.2
1.2
.9
1.3
.8
.7
.3
1.2
1.2
.7
1.4
1.0
.8
.1
.6
.1
.9
1.1
1.1
1.1
.2
.8
.2
4.8
4.7
4.2
5.0
5.4
4.3
1.0
.5
1.7
1.3
.9
1.5
3.5
1.2
.2
.6
.1
.4
2.3
1.5
3.3
3.2
2.5
2.8
3.7
2.0
3.6
2.7
3.5
3.4
II
III
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5.2
4.9
4.3
5.2
6.6
4.8
4.4
3.5
4.9
6.3
4.6
4.2
3.1
4.9
6.1
4.9
4.7
3.2
5.4
6.0
4.5
4.1
3.4
4.5
5.9
3.7
.8
2.0
4.4
4.1
3.0
4.6
5.6
3.6
.7
1.1
4.3
4.1
3.3
4.5
5.8
4.2
1.0
2.1
1.2
.9
.7
4.5
4.3
3.4
4.8
5.5
3.5
.9
1.9
.7
5.0
4.8
3.6
5.4
5.6
3.5
.9
1.8
.8
2.0
3.1
3.5
3.1
3.2
2.8
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.3
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.5
2.0
3.0
4.7
3.5
4.2
3.2
3.6
2.8
3.4
2.6
3.5
2.7
3.1
2.7
2.2
I
2.2
most recent data are preliminary.
5 Limited to major collective bargaining units of 5,000 or more workers. The
most recent data are preliminary.
- Data not available.
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
4.
February 1986
• Current Labor Statistics: Employment Data
Employment status of the total population, by sex, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Number in thousands)
Annual average
1984
1984
Dec.
1985
Employment status
1985
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
TOTAL
Noninstitutional population \ 2 .......
Labor force2 ..................................
Participation rate 3 ................
Total employed 2 .......................
Employment-population
ratio * ...................................
Resident Armed Forces 1 .......
Civilian employed ....................
Agriculture ............................
Nonagricultural industries.....
Unemployed...............................
Unemployment rate 5 ...........
Not in labor force ........................
178,080
115,241
64.7
106,702
179,912
117,167
65.1
108,856
179,004
116,202
64.9
107,946
179,081
116,451
65.0
108,012
179,219
116,685
65.1
108,290
179,368
117,036
65.2
108,652
179,501
116,958
65.2
108,574
179,649
117,044
65.2
108,644
179,798
116,726
64.9
108,303
179,967
116,976
65.0
108,575
180,131
117,069
65.0
108,936
180,304
117,522
65.2
109,251
180,470
117,814
65.3
109,513
180,642 180,810
117,832 117,927
65.2
65.2
109,671 109,904
59.9
1,697
105,005
3,321
101,685
8,539
7.4
62,839
60.5
1,706
107,150
3,179
103,971
8,312
7.1
62,744
60.3
1,698
106,248
3,387
102,861
8,256
7.1
62,802
60.3
1,697
106,315
3,319
102,996
8,439
7.2
62,630
60.4
1,703
106,587
3,325
103,262
8,395
7.2
62,534
60.6
1,701
106,951
3,314
103,637
8,384
7.2
62,332
60.5
1,702
106,872
3,353
103,519
8,384
7.2
62,543
60.5
1,705
106,939
3,284
103,655
8,400
7.2
62,605
60.2
1,702
106,601
3,140
103,461
8,423
7.2
63,072
60.3
1,704
106,871
3,120
103,751
8,401
7.2
62,991
60.5
1,726
107,210
3,095
104,115
8,133
6.9
63,062
60.6
1,732
107,519
3,017
104,502
8,271
7.0
62,782
60.7
1,700
107,813
3,058
104,755
8,301
7.0
62,656
60.7
1,702
107,969
3,070
104,899
8,161
6.9
62,810
60.8
1,698
108,206
3,151
105,055
8,023
6.8
62,883
85,156
65,386
76.8
60,642
86,025
65,967
76.7
61,447
85,607
65,821
76.9
61,238
85,629
65,737
76.8
61,163
85,692
65,782
76.8
61,207
85,764
65,898
76.8
61,381
85,827
65,929
76.8
61,373
85,898
66,012
76.8
61,498
85,970
65,808
76.5
61,175
86,052
65,884
76.6
61,273
86,132
65,945
76.6
61,510
86,217
66,074
76.6
61,629
86,293
66,227
76.7
61,656
86,374
66,176
76.6
61,731
86,459
66,139
76.5
61,793
71.2
1,551
59,091
4,744
7.3
71.4
1,556
59,891
4,521
6.9
71.5
1,550
59,688
4,583
7.0
71.4
1,549
59,614
4,574
7.0
71.4
1,554
59,653
4,575
7.0
71.6
1,553
59,828
4,517
6.9
71.5
1,553
59,820
4,556
6.9
71.6
1,556
59,942
4,514
6.8
71.2
1,552
59,623
4,633
7.0
71.2
1,554
59,719
4,611
7.0
71.4
1,574
59,936
4,435
6.7
71.5
1,580
60,049
4,445
6.7
71.4
1,551
60,105
4,571
6.9
71.5
1,552
60,179
4,445
6.7
71.5
1,549
60,244
4,346
6.6
92,924
49,855
53.7
46,061
93,886
51,200
54.5
47,409
93,397
50,381
53.9
46,708
93,452
50,714
54.3
46,849
93,527
50,903
54.4
47,083
93,603
51,138
54.6
47,271
93,674
51,029
54.5
47,201
93,751
51,032
54.4
47,146
93,828
50,918
54.3
47,128
93,915
51,092
54.4
47,302
93,999
51,124
54.4
47,426
94,087
51,448
54.7
47,622
94,177
51,587
54.8
47,857
94,266
51,655
54.8
47,939
94,351
51,788
54.9
48,111
49.S
146
45,915
3,794
7.6
50.5
150
47,259
3,791
7.4
50.0
148
46,560
3,673
7.3
50.1
148
46,701
3,865
7.6
50.3
149
46,934
3,820
7.5
50.5
148
47,123
3,867
7.6
50.4
149
47,052
3,828
7.5
50.3
149
46,997
3,886
7.6
50.2
150
46,978
3,790
7.4
50.4
150
47,152
3,790
7.4
50.5
152
47,274
3,698
7.2
50.6
152
47,470
3,826
7.4
50.8
149
47,708
3,730
7.2
50.9
149
47,790
3,716
7.2
51.0
149
47,962
3,677
7.1
Men, 16 years and over
Noninstitutional population \ 2 .......
Labor force2 ..................................
Participation rate 3 ................
Total employed 2 .......................
Employment-population
ratio * ...................................
Resident Armed Forces 1 .......
Civilian employed ....................
Unemployed...............................
Unemployment rate 5 ...........
Women, 16 years and over
Noninstitutional population 2 ......
Labor force2 ..................................
Participation rate 3 ................
Total employed2 ........................
Employment-population
ratio 4 ...................................
Resident Armed Forces 1 .......
Civilian employed ....................
Unemployed...............................
Unemployment rate 5 ...........
1
2
3
*
70
The population and Armed Forces figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation.
Includes members of the Armed Forces stationed in the United States.
Labor force as a percent of the noninstitutional population.
Total employed as a percent of the noninstitutional population.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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 1985.
5. Employment status of the civilian population, by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, monthly data seasonally
adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
Annual average
1984
1984
1985
Dec.
176,383
113,544
64.4
105,005
178,206
115,461
64.8
107,150
177,306
114,504
64.6
106,248
177,384
114,754
64.7
106,315
177,516
114,982
64.8
106,587
177,667
115,335
64.9
106,951
177,799
115,256
64.8
106,872
177,944
115,339
64.8
106,939
178,096
115,024
64.6
106,601
178,263
115,272
64.7
106,871
178,405
115,343
64.7
107,210
178,572
115,790
64.8
107,519
178,770
116,114
65.0
107,813
178,940
116,130
64.9
107,969
179,112
116,229
64.9
108,206
59.5
8,539
7.5
62,839
60.1
8,312
7.2
62,744
59.9
8,256
7.2
62,802
59.9
8,439
7.4
62,630
60.0
8,395
7.3
62,534
60.2
8,384
7.3
62,332
60.1
8,384
7.3
62,543
60.1
8,400
7.3
62,605
59.9
8,423
7.3
63,072
60.0
8,401
7.3
62,991
60.1
8,133
7.1
63,062
60.2
8,271
7.1
62,782
60.3
8,301
7.1
62,656
60.3
8,161
7.0
62,810
60.4
8,023
6.9
62,883
76,219
59,701
78.3
55,769
77,195
60,277
78.1
56,562
76,753
60,106
78.3
56,331
76,760
59,997
78.2
56,231
76,829
60,037
78.1
56,274
76,904
60,154
78.2
56,411
76,988
60,165
78.1
56,390
77,068
60,240
78.2
56,544
77,135
60,246
78.1
56,384
77,243
60,158
77.9
56,403
77,306
60,269
78.0
56,636
77,389
60,407
78.1
56,751
77,498
60,526
78.1
56,849
77,566
60,553
78.1
56,897
77,651
60,548
78.0
56,982
73.2
2,418
53,351
3,932
6.6
73.3
2,278
54,284
3,715
6.2
73.4
2,486
53,845
3,775
6.3
73.3
2,409
53,822
3,766
6.3
73.2
2,368
53,906
3,763
6.3
73.4
2,329
54,082
3,743
6.2
73.2
2,358
54,032
3,775
6.3
73.4
2,352
54,192
3,696
6.1
73.1
2,260
54,124
3,862
6.4
73.0
2,230
54,173
3,755
6.2
73.3
2,231
54,405
3,633
6.0
73.3
2,171
54,580
3,656
6.1
73.4
2,188
54,661
3,677
6.1
73.4
2,210
54,687
3,656
6.0
73.4
2,278
54,704
3,566
5.9
85,429
45,900
53.7
42,793
86,506
47,283
54.7
44,154
85,995
46,477
54.0
43,475
86,015
46,753
54.4
43,593
86,086
46,853
54.4
43,713
86,181
47,095
54.6
43,927
86,274
47,103
54.6
43,925
86,380
47,082
54.5
43,883
86,477
47,185
54.6
44,033
86,575
47,190
54.5
44,070
86,652
47,340
54.6
44,197
86,727
47,558
54.8
44,363
86,810
47,663
54.9
44,609
86,901
47,713
54.9
44,656
86,988
47,870
55.0
44,882
50.1
595
42,198
3,107
6.8
51.0
596
43,558
3,129
6.6
50.6
590
42,885
3,002
6.5
50.7
593
43,000
3,160
6.8
50.8
606
43,107
3,140
6.7
51.0
630
43,297
3,168
6.7
50.9
633
43,292
3,178
6.7
50.8
600
43,283
3,199
6.8
50.9
572
43,461
3,152
6.7
50.9
596
43,474
3,120
6.6
51.0
581
43,616
3,143
6.6
51.2
557
43,806
3,195
6.7
51.4
609
44,000
3,054
6.4
51.4
591
44,065
3,057
6.4
51.6
597
44,285
2,988
6.2
14,735
7,943
53.9
6,444
14,506
7,901
54.5
6,434
14,557
7,921
54.4
6,442
14,610
8,004
54.8
6,491
14,600
8,092
55.4
6,600
14,582
8,086
55.5
6,613
14,538
7,988
54.9
6,557
14,496
8,017
55.3
6,512
14,483
7,593
52.4
6,184
14,445
7,924
54.9
6,398
14,448
7,734
53.5
6,377
14,456
7,825
54.1
6,405
14,463
7,925
54.8
6,355
14,472
7,864
54.3
6,416
14,474
7,811
54.0
6,342
43.7
309
6,135
1,499
18.9
44.4
305
6,129
1,468
18.6
44.3
311
6,131
1,479
18.7
44.4
317
6,174
1,513
18.9
45.2
351
6,249
1,492
18.4
45.4
355
6,258
1,473
18.2
45.1
362
6,195
1,431
17.9
44.9
332
6,180
1,505
18.8
42.7
308
5,876
1,409
18.6
44.3
294
6,104
1,526
19.3
44.1
283
6,094
1,357
17.5
44.3
289
6,116
1,420
18.1
43.9
261
6,094
1,570
19.8
44.3
269
6,147
1,448
18.4
43.8
276
6,066
1,469
18.8
152,347
98,492
64.6
92,120
153,679
99,926
65.0
93,736
152,734
99,044
64.8
92,871
153,103
99,358
64.9
93,040
153,191
99,612
65.0
93,414
153,296
99,862
65.1
93,617
153,388
99,718
65.0
93,470
153,489
99,771
65.0
93,574
153,597
99,527
64.8
93,132
153,717
99,705
64.9
93,378
153,819
99,817
64.9
93,684
153,938
100,179
65.1
94,055
154,082
100,533
65.2
94,369
154,203
100,478
65.2
94,507
154,327
100,533
65.1
94,585
60.5
6,372
6.5
61.0
6,191
6.2
60.8
6,173
6.2
60.8
6,318
6.4
61.0
6,198
6.2
61.1
6,245
6.3
60.9
6,248
6.3
61.0
6,197
6.2
60.6
6,395
6.4
60.7
6,327
6.3
60.9
6,133
6.1
61.1
6,124
6.1
61.2
6,164
6.1
61.3
5,971
5.9
61.3
5,948
5.9
19,348
12,033
62.2
10,119
19,664
12,364
62.9
10,501
19,513
12,263
62.8
10,410
19,518
12,305
63.0
10,451
19,542
12,299
62.9
10,333
19,569
12,294
62.8
10,422
19,594
12,364
63.1
10,489
19,620
12,372
63.1
10,466
19,646
12,317
62.7
10,538
19,675
12,354
62.8
10,499
19,700
12,289
62.4
10,560
19,728
12,378
62.7
10,500
19,761
12,412
62.8
10,566
19,790
12,457
62.9
10,518
19,819
12,522
63.2
10,657
52.3
1,914
15.9
53.4
1,864
15.1
53.3
1,853
15.1
53.5
1,854
15.1
52.9
1,966
16.0
53.3
1,872
15.2
53.5
1,875
15.2
53.3
1,906
15.4
53.6
1,779
14.4
53.4
1,855
15.0
53.6
1,729
14.1
53.2
1,878
15.2
53.5
1,846
14.9
53.1
1,939
15.6
53.8
1,865
14.9
1985
Employment status
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
TOTAL
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ....................................
Civilian labor force.......................
Participation rate ..................
Employed ...................................
Employment-population
ratio2 ....................................
Unemployed...............................
Unemployment ra te ..............
Not in labor force ........................
Men, 20 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ....................................
Civilian labor fo rce .......................
Participation rate ..................
Employed ...................................
Employment-population
ratio2 ...................................
Agriculture...............................
Nonagricultural industries.......
Unemployed...............................
Unemployment ra te ..............
Women, 20 years ond over
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ....................................
Civilian labor force.......................
Participation rate ..................
Employed ...................................
Employment-population
ratio2 ...................................
Agriculture ...............................
Nonagricultural industries.......
Unemployed...............................
Unemployment ra te ..............
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ....................................
Civilian labor fo rce .......................
Participation rate ..................
Employed ...................................
Employment-population
ratio2 ....................................
Agriculture ...............................
Nonagricultural industries.......
Unemployed...............................
Unemployment rate..............
White
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ....................................
Civilian labor force.......................
Participation rate ..................
Employed ..................................
Employment-population
ratio2 ....................................
Unemployed...............................
Unemployment rate..............
Black
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ....................................
Civilian labor fo rce .......................
Participation rate ..................
Employed ..................................
Employment-population
ratio2 ....................................
Unemployed...............................
Unemployment ra te ..............
See footnotes at end of table.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
71
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
• Current Labor Statistics: Employment Data
February 1986
5. Continued— Employment status of the civilian population, by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, monthly data seasonally
adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
Annual average
1984
1984
1985
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
11,164
7,247
64.9
6,469
11,528
7,448
64.6
6,664
11,332
7,467
65.9
6,693
11,363
7,289
64.1
6,519
11,394
7,355
64.6
6,620
11,425
7,380
64.6
6,621
11,457
7,360
64.2
6,594
11,485
7,371
64.2
6,586
11,514
7,417
64.4
6,630
11,544
7,462
64.6
6,644
11,573
7,529
65.1
6,748
11,601
7,584
65.4
6,794
11,630
7,589
65.3
6,745
11,660
7,519
64.5
6,719
11,690
7,506
64.2
6,725
57.9
778
10.7
57.8
785
10.5
59.1
774
10.4
57.4
770
10.6
58.1
735
10.0
58.0
759
10.3
57.6
766
10.4
57.3
785
10.6
57.6
787
10.6
57.6
818
11.0
58.3
781
10.4
58.6
790
10.4
58.0
844
11.1
57.6
800
10.6
57.5
781
10.4
1985
Employment status
Hispanic origin
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ....................................
Civilian labor force.......................
Participation rate ..................
Employed ..................................
Employment-population
ratio2 ....................................
Unemployed...............................
Unemployment ra te ..............
' "[he population figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Civilian employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population.
NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals
6.
because data for the “ other races” groups are not presented and Hispanics are included
¡n both the White and black population groups. Monthly data have been revised based
on the seasonal experience through December 1985.
Selected employment indicators, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
Annual average
Selected categories
1984
1985
Dec.
105,005
59,091
45,915
39,056
107,150
59,891
47,259
39,248
106,248
59,688
46,560
39,399
106,315
59,614
46,701
39,402
106,587
59,653
46,934
39,324
25,636
5,465
26,336
5,597
26,047
5,409
25,970
5,567
1,555
1,553
213
1,535
1,458
185
1,699
1,474
223
1,598
1,523
93,565
15,770
77,794
1,238
76,556
7,785
335
95,871
16,031
79,841
1,249
78,592
7,811
289
5,744
2,430
2,948
13,169
5,512
2,291
Jan.
Apr.
May
106,951
59,828
47,123
39,467
106,872
59,820
47,052
39,362
106,939
59,942
46,997
39,260
106,601
59,623
46,978
38,966
106,871
59,719
47,152
39,096
107,210
59,936
47,274
39,142
107,519
60,049
47,470
39,103
107,813
60,105
47,708
39,272
107,969
60,179
47,790
39,314
108,206
60,244
47,962
39,278
26,079
5,533
26,163
5,600
26,087
5,603
26,036
5,626
26,174
5,643
26,316
5,607
26,392
5,627
26,531
5,556
26,702
5,514
26,721
5,605
26,804
5,693
222
1,597
1,508
229
1,596
1,502
223
1,653
1,493
219
1,582
1,498
196
1,530
1,451
159
1,479
1,474
170
1,456
1,444
176
1,438
1,414
179
1,465
1,436
172
1,537
1,361
158
1,572
1,409
164
94,740
15,858
78,882
1,266
77,616
7,789
340
95,086
15,820
79,266
1,364
77,902
7,753
336
95,235
15,957
79,278
1,288
77,990
7,694
336
95,606
15,969
79,637
1,225
78,412
7,764
321
95,493
15,955
79,538
1,218
78,320
7,717
305
95,660
15,936
79,724
1,255
78,469
7,711
290
95.391
16,000
79.391
1,228
78,163
7,728
292
95,523
15,949
79,574
1,251
78,323
7,724
277
95,791
16,075
79,716
1,295
78,421
7,874
303
96,546
16,145
80,401
1,266
79,135
7,846
266
96,530
16,213
80,317
1,271
79,046
7,991
248
96,676
16,157
80,519
1,197
79,322
8,013
249
96,921
16,194
80,727
1,131
79,596
7,903
250
5,590
2,430
2,819
13,489
5,790
2,599
2,851
13,293
5,638
2,473
2,830
13,343
5,356
2,244
2,817
13,524
5,682
2,585
2,763
13,517
5,690
2,567
2,767
13,356
5,876
2,607
2,871
13,078
5,544
2,524
2,751
13,439
5,596
2,414
2,766
13,634
5,680
2,480
2,835
13,622
5,554
2,433
2,815
13,496
5,475
2,251
2,897
13,713
5,498
2,306
2,883
13,645
5,494
2,303
2,864
13,556
5,334
2,273
2,730
13,038
5,611
2,496
2,767
12,831
5,392
2,320
2,735
12,859
5,098
2,073
2,732
13,057
5,421
2,397
2,670
13,016
5,402
2,380
2,679
12,926
5,550
2,418
2,785
12,612
5,278
2,334
2,675
12,995
5,328
2,251
5,413
2,319
2,740
13,179
5,299
2,292
2,730
13,053
5,241
2,115
2,801
13,277
5,295
2,196
2,784
13,194
5,294
2,195
2,760
13,122
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Dec.
CHARACTERISTICS
Civilian employed, 16 years and
o v e r..............................................
M en..........................................
Women .....................................
Married men, spouse present ..
Married women, spouse
present....................................
Women who maintain families .
MAJOR INDUSTRY AND CLASS
OF WORKER
Agriculture:
Wage and salary workers
Self-employed workers ....
Unpaid family workers....
Nonagricultural industries:
Wage and salary workers
Government .................
Private industries.........
Private households....
O th e r.........................
Self-employed workers ....
Unpaid family workers....
PERSONS AT WORK PART
TIME1
All industries:
Part time for economic reasons .
Slack work ...............................
Could only find part-time work
Voluntary part time .....................
Nonagricultural industries:
Part time for economic reasons .
Slack work ...............................
Could only find part-time work
Voluntary part time ....................
2,866
12,704
1 Excludes persons “ with a job but not at work” during the survey period for such
reasons as vacation, illness, or industrial disputes.
72FRASER
Digitized for
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2,686
13,235
Note: Monthly data have been revised based on the seasonal experience through
December 1985.
7.
Selected unemployment indicators, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Unemployment rates)
Annual average
1984
1985
Selected categories
1984
1985
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Total, all civilian workers...........................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years...............................
Men, 20 years and over .....................................
Women, 20 years and over...............................
7.5
18.9
6.6
6.8
7.2
18.6
6.2
6.6
7.2
18.7
6.3
6.5
7.4
18.9
6.3
6.8
7.3
18.4
6.3
6.7
7.3
18.2
6.2
6.7
7.3
17.9
6.3
6.7
7.3
18.8
6.1
6.8
7.3
18.6
6.4
6.7
7.3
19.3
6.2
6.6
White, total ........................................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years.....................
Men, 16 to 19 years ...........................
Women, 16 to 19 years..............................
Men, 20 years and over .................................
Women, 20 years and o ve r............................
6.5
16.0
16.8
15.2
5.7
5.8
6.2
15.7
16.5
14.8
5.4
5.7
6.2
15.8
16.3
15.2
5.5
5.6
6.4
15.7
16.1
15.3
5.5
5.9
6.2
15.4
16.8
14.0
5.4
5.7
6.3
15.1
15.6
14.7
5.4
5.9
6.3
15.2
15.7
14.5
5.4
5.8
6.2
16.0
16.7
15.1
5.2
5.8
6.4
16.0
16.7
15.2
5.7
5.8
6.3
16.1
17.1
15.0
5.6
5.7
6.1
15.2
17.2
13.0
5.3
5.7
Black, total .....................................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years.....................
Men, 16 to 19 years ........................
Women, 16 to 19 years..........................
Men, 20 years and over ................................
Women, 20 years and o ver..................
15.9
42.7
42.7
42.6
14.3
13.5
15.1
40.2
41.0
39.2
13.2
13.1
15.1
41.4
43.5
38.9
13.4
13.0
15.1
41.5
43.9
38.9
12.9
13.0
16.0
42.1
40.9
43.3
14.2
13.7
15.2
41.5
41.1
41.9
13.3
13.0
15.2
39.3
39.4
39.3
13.3
13.2
15.4
40.4
39.3
41.5
13.4
13.5
14.4
39.5
41.0
37.8
12.5
12.7
15.0
41.2
43.1
39.0
12.8
13.1
14.1
35.3
34.9
35.9
11.9
13.1
15.2
38.8
41.1
36.1
13.3
13.5
Hispanic origin, total ...................................
10.7
10.5
10.4
10.6
10.0
10.3
10.4
10.6
10.6
11.0
Married men, spouse present..........................
Married women, spouse present...........
Women who maintain families...........................
Full-time workers ................................
Part-time workers ....................................
Unemployed 15 weeks and over....................
Labor force time lost2 ..................................
4.6
5.7
10.3
7.2
9.3
2.4
8.6
4.3
5.6
10.4
6.8
9.3
2.0
8.1
4.4
5.5
9.9
6.9
9.0
2.1
8.3
4.5
5.7
10.2
7.0
9.3
2.0
8.3
4.4
5.4
10.9
7.0
8.8
2.1
8.2
4.3
5.8
10.3
6.9
9.5
2.1
8.2
4.3
5.8
10.7
6.9
9.7
2.1
8.2
4.0
5.7
10.8
6.9
10.0
2.0
8.3
4.6
5.8
9.9
6.9
9.5
2.0
8.2
4.4
5.7
10.3
7.0
94
20
8.2
7.4
10.0
14.3
7.5
7.2
7.8
5.5
8.0
5.9
4.5
13.5
7.2
9.5
13.1
7.7
7.6
7.8
5.1
7.6
5.6
3.9
13.2
7.2
10.2
13.6
7.3
7.3
7.5
5.1
7.5
5.9
4.3
12.7
7.3
10.3
13.5
7.6
7.2
8.0
5.1
7.7
5.9
4.1
15.4
7.3
10.8
13.4
7.6
7.3
8.0
5.4
7.7
5.7
4.0
13.6
7.2
10.9
13.3
7.7
7.5
8.1
4.7
7.5
5.7
4.0
12.5
7.3
10.6
13.3
7.9
7.7
8.2
5.4
7.4
5.7
3.9
13.2
7.2
7.5
11.0
7.8
7.8
7.8
5.2
7.8
6.1
3.9
11.9
7.3
10.9
13.5
7.7
7.9
7.5
5.3
7.7
57
3.9
12.5
7.3
9.9
13.4
79
7.9
79
5.7
76
56
40
14.0
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
7.1
19.8
6.1
6.4
7.0
18.4
6.0
6.9
18.8
5.9
6.4
6.2
6.1
6.1
15.3
16.2
14.4
5.2
5.7
17.0
18.5
15.3
5.2
5.5
5.9
15.5
15.8
15.1
5.2
5.4
5.9
15.9
16.2
15.5
5.1
5.4
14.9
39.7
41.0
38.2
13.7
12.1
15.6
40.8
45.2
36.0
13.7
13.6
14.9
41.6
41.0
42.3
13.1
12.6
CHARACTERISTIC
7.1
17.5
7.1
18.1
6.0
6.6
6.1
6.7
10.4
4.1
5.4
10.8
6.8
9.0
2.0
8.1
10.6
4.3
5.6
11.3
4.2
5.3
10.4
6.8
6.8
4.3
5.5
10.0
6.7
9.3
2.0
9.6
8.8
2.0
8.1
7.9
1.9
7.9
4.3
5.3
9.4
6.6
9.0
1.9
7.8
7.2
8.9
13.6
7.7
7.7
7.8
5.3
7.8
5.5
3.8
13.3
7.1
7.7
13.5
7.5
7.3
7.8
5.1
7.7
5.4
3.9
12.9
7.0
7.3
13.4
7.7
7.6
7.8
5.1
7.5
5.4
3.6
12.5
6.9
10.3
12.6
7.3
7.3
7.3
5.0
7.6
5.3
3.8
10.6
INDUSTRY
Nonagricultural private wage and salary workers ....
Mining..............................
Construction .......................................................
Manufacturing ....................................................
Durable goods..................................................
Nondurable goods ...........................
Transportation and public utilities ......................
Wholesale and retail tra d e .................................
Finance and service industries..........................
Government workers ...............
Agricultural wage and salary workers ...................
oa- - a —
M i iv m p w jw u
«1 IU
OUI IO
reasons as a percent of potentially available labor force hours.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
7.1
8.6
13.1
7.8
7.9
7.6
4.5
7.7
5.5
3.9
14.0
NOTE: Monthly data have been revised based on the seasonal experience
through December 1985.
73
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
8.
• Current Labor Statistics: Employment Data
February 1986
Unemployment rates by sex and age, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Civilian workers)
Anríual
ave age
Sex and age
1984
1984
1985
1985
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Total, 16 years and o v e r ..........
16
to 24 y e a rs .....................
16 to 19 y e a rs .......................
16 to 17 years ...................
18
to 19 years ...............
20 to 24 y e a rs .......................
25 years and o v e r...................
25 to 54 years ...................
55 years and o v e r .............
7.5
13.9
18.9
21.2
17.4
11.5
5.8
6.1
4.5
7.2
13.6
18.6
21.0
17.0
11.1
5.6
5.8
4.1
7.2
13.6
18.7
20.9
17.5
11.1
5.5
5.8
4.1
7.4
13.6
18.9
21.0
17.3
10.9
5.7
6.0
4.2
7.3
13.7
18.4
20.4
17.4
11.2
5.6
5.9
4.0
7.3
13.5
18.2
20.6
16.5
11.1
5.6
6.0
4.0
7.3
13.4
17.9
20.8
16.3
11.1
5.7
6.1
4.1
7.3
14.0
18.8
21.2
17.1
11.6
5.5
5.8
4.3
7.3
13.6
18.6
21.6
16.4
11.2
5.8
6.0
4.3
7.3
13.9
19.3
21.7
17.3
11.2
5.6
5.9
4.4
7.1
13.0
17.5
19.1
16.8
10.8
5.5
5.8
4.1
7.1
13.3
18.1
20.3
16.7
10.9
5.6
5.8
4.1
7.1
13.9
19.8
22.7
17.8
10.9
5.4
5.7
3.9
7.0
13.5
18.4
21.4
16.9
11.0
5.4
5.6
3.8
6.9
13.3
18.8
21.1
17.5
10.6
5.3
5.5
3.9
Men, 16 years and o v e r ......
16 to 24 years ...................
16 to 19 y e a rs .................
16 to 17 y e a rs ..............
18 to 19 y e a rs ..............
20 to 24 y e a rs .................
25 years and o v e r .............
25 to 54 y e a rs ..............
55 years and o v e r........
7.4
14.4
19.6
21.9
18.3
11.9
5.7
5.9
4.6
7.0
14.1
19.5
21.9
17.9
11.4
5.3
5.6
4.1
7.1
14.2
19.4
20.3
19.1
11.6
5.4
5.6
4.4
7.1
13.9
19.3
21.3
18.0
11.3
5.5
5.7
4.3
7.1
14.3
19.4
21.3
18.4
11.8
5.4
5.6
4.1
7.0
13.9
18.5
21.7
16.1
11.7
5.3
5.6
3.9
7.1
13.8
18.5
21.4
16.8
11.4
5.5
5.8
\ 4.0
7.0
14.7
19.4
22.2
17.6
12.3
5.1
5.3
4.1
7.2
14.2
19.2
23.2
16.4
11.7
5.6
5.8
4.4
7.2
14.6
20.5
22.1
18.7
11.6
5.4
5.6
4.6
6.9
13.8
19.6
21.9
18.1
10.9
5.3
5.6
3.8
6.9
13.8
19.3
20.7
18.3
11.0
5.3
5.5
4.0
7.1
14.6
21.5
24.0
19.9
11.1
5.3
5.5
4.1
6.9
13.9
19.4
20.9
18.7
11.2
5.2
5.4
4.0
6.7
13.5
19.3
21.6
18.0
10.6
5.1
5.4
3.9
Women, 16 years and over
16 to 24 y e a rs ..................
16 to 19 years ...............
16 to 17 years ............
18 to 19 years ............
20 to 24 years ...............
25 years and o v e r............
25 to 54 years ............
55 years and o v e r ......
7.6
13.3
18.0
20.4
16.6
10.9
6.0
6.3
4.2
7.4
13.0
17.6
20.0
16.0
10.7
5.9
6.2
4.1
7.3
12.9
17.9
21.5
15.7
10.4
5.7
6.0
3.7
7.6
13.2
18.5
20.7
16.5
10.6
6.0
6.4
4.1
7.5
13.0
17.4
19.4
16.3
10.6
6.0
6.3
3.9
7.6
13.1
17.9
19.3
16.9
10.5
6.0
6.4
4.2
7.5
12.9
17.2
20.0
15.7
10.7
6.0
6.3
4.2
7.6
13.3
18.1
20.1
16.5
10.8
6.1
6.4
4.4
7.5
12.9
17.8
19.9
16.4
10.6
6.0
6.3
4.1
7.4
13.1
17.9
21.2
15.7
10.7
5.9
6.2
4.2
7.3
12.2
15.3
15.8
15.3
10.7
5.8
6.1
4.5
7.5
12.9
16.9
19.8
14.9
10.9
6.0
6.2
4.2
7.3
13.1
17.9
21.2
15.5
10.7
5.6
5.9
3.7
7.2
13.1
17.4
22.0
15.1
10.8
5.6
5.9
3.6
7.1
13.2
18.3
20.6
16.9
10.6
5.4
5.7
3.9
NOTE: Monthly data have revised based on the seasonal experience through
December 1985.
9.
Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
Annual average
1984
1985
Reason for unemployment
1984
Job losers ................................................................
On layoff................................................................
Other job losers....................................................
Job leavers ..............................................................
Reentrants ...............................................................
New entrants ........................................................
1985
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
4,421
1,171
3,250
823
2,184
1,110
4,139
1,157
2,982
877
2,256
1,039
Dec.
4,196
1,095
3,101
856
2,240
1,015
4,271
1,216
3,055
877
2,240
1,045
4,236
1,203
3,033
868
2,238
1,056
4,177
1,155
3,022
861
2,301
1,074
4,229
1,182
3,047
852
2,283
1,051
3,994
1,068
2,926
870
2,378
1,142
4,167
1,135
3,032
983
2,233
1,018
4,206
1,134
3,072
894
2,184
1,098
4,144
1,112
3,032
875
2,191
941
4,142
1,167
2,975
852
2,335
918
4,040
1,161
2,879
911
2,237
1,045
4,081
1,175
2,906
808
2,226
1,055
3,933
1,132
2,801
876
2,225
1,033
51.8
13.7
38.1
9.6
25.6
13.0
49.8
13.9
35.9
10.6
27.1
12.5
50.5
13.2
37.3
10.3
27.0
12.2
50.6
14.4
36.2
10.4
26.6
12.4
50.4
14.3
36.1
10.3
26.6
12.6
49.6
13.7
35.9
10.2
27.4
12.8
50.3
14.0
36.2
10.1
27.1
12.5
47.6
12.7
34.9
10.4
28.4
13.6
49.6
13.5
36.1
11.7
26.6
12.1
50.2
13.5
36.6
10.7
26.1
13.1
50.8
13.6
37.2
10.7
26.9
11.5
50.2
14.2
36.1
10.3
28.3
11.1
49.1
14.1
35.0
11.1
27.2
12.7
50.0
14.4
35.6
9.9
27.2
12.9
48.8
14.0
34.7
10.9
27.6
12.8
3.9
.7
1.9
1.0
3.6
.8
2.0
.9
3.7
.7
2.0
.9
3.7
.8
2.0
.9
3.7
.8
1.9
.9
3.6
.7
2.0
.9
3.7
.7
2.0
.9
3.5
.8
2.1
1.0
3.6
.9
1.9
.9
3.6
.8
1.9
1.0
3.6
.8
1.9
.8
3.6
.7
2.0
.8
3.5
.8
1.9
.9
3.5
.7
1.9
.9
3.4
.8
1.9
.9
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
PERCENT OF UNEMPLOYED
Job losers..............................................................
On layo ff.............................................................
Other job losers..................................................
Job leavers............................................................
Reentrants.............................................................
New entrants ........................................................
PERCENT OF
CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE
Job losers ................................................................
Job leavers ............................................................
Reentrants ............................................................
New entrants...........................................................
NOTE: Monthly data have been revised based on the seasonal experience
through December 1985.
10.
Duration of unemployment, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
Annual average
1984
1985
Weeks of unemployment
1984
1985
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Less than 5 weeks .........
5 to 14 weeks ................
15 weeks and o ve r.........
15 to 26 weeks ............
27 weeks and over ......
3,350
2,451
2,737
1,104
1,634
3,498
2,509
2,305
1,025
1,280
3,352
2,524
2,384
983
1,401
3,627
2,540
2,247
932
1,315
3,501
2,488
2,413
1,065
1,348
3,556
2,487
2,400
1,061
1,339
3,528
2,516
2,374
1,031
1,343
3,607
2,594
2,274
1,063
1,211
3,466
2,536
2,328
1,033
1,295
3,525
2,514
2,329
1,078
1,251
3,422
2,508
2,274
1,047
1,227
3,484
2,505
2,307
1,035
1,272
3,430
2,536
2,277
1,057
1,220
3,465
2,448
2,205
894
1,311
3,374
2,460
2,188
973
1,215
Mean duration in weeks ...
Median duration in weeks
18.2
7.9
15.6
6.8
17.1
7.3
15.9
6.8
16.0
7.1
15.9
7.0
16.1
6.8
15.0
6.7
15.5
6.8
15.5
7.1
15.5
7.2
15.5
6.9
15.4
7.0
15.7
6.9
15.4
6.9
NOTE: Monthly data have been revised based on the seasonal experience through
December 1985.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
74
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
11.
Unemployment rates of civilian workers by State, data not seasonally adjusted
State
Oct.
1984
Oct.
1985
Alabama.......................................................
Alaska ..........................................................
Arizona.........................................................
Arkansas......................................................
California......................................................
10.5
9.0
4.4
8.3
7.0
7.9
9.2
6.4
87
7.2
Colorado ......................................................
Connecticut ..................................................
Delaware......................................................
District of Columbia.....................................
Florida ..........................................................
5.3
4.0
4.9
8.7
7.0
5.5
4.6
43
8.7
5.3
Georgia ........................................................
Hawaii...........................................................
Idaho ............................................................
Illinois ................................................
Indiana .........................................................
5.8
6.0
5.4
8.8
7.8
67
5.5
6.2
9.2
6.8
Iow a..............................................................
Kansas .........................................................
Kentucky......................................................
Louisiana......................................................
Maine............................................................
6.0
5.0
8.5
9.5
5.0
6.5
4.6
9.2
10.9
3.9
Maryland .....................................................
Massachusetts.............................................
Michigan.......................................................
Minnesota....................................................
Mississippi....................................................
Missouri........................................................
5.0
3.4
10.1
5.1
9.9
6.4
4.4
3.3
9.6
5.3
9.4
5.8
Oct.
1984
Oct.
1985
61
38
72
3.2
68
50
75
2.6
New Jersey .................................................
5.1
71
71
64
4.1
5.5
86
66
46
5.1
Ohio ............................................................
9.1
66
83
8.2
4.2
9.0
68
67
7.1
3.8
6.9
4.2
79
5.3
6.0
7.2
4.5
70
7.6
5.3
4.1
48
86
15 4
6.4
3.9
53
74
1? 5
6.2
5.0
6.1
State
Pennsylvania...............................................
South Carolina............................................
South Dakota...................................
Texas ..........................................................
Utah ............................................................
Vermont......................................................
12.
Employment of workers on nonagricultural payrolls by State, data not seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
State
Nov., 1984
Oct., 1985
A la b a m a ..................
Alaska .....................
Arizona ....................
A rkansa s.................
C a lifornia.................
1,400.4
224.2
1,234.2
796.8
10,743.9
1,405.6
234.5
1,280.2
806.3
10,978.1
Colorado .................
Connecticut .............
D elaw are.................
District of Columbia
F lo rid a ......................
1,409.8
1,564.2
288.9
615.4
4,328.8
1,431.0
1,583.5
295.2
626.9
4,490.4
Georgia ....................
H a w aii.......................
Id a h o ....................... .
Illinois .......................
Indiana ....................
2,548.9
415.1
330.2
4,710.1
2,173.0
2,633.3
420.1
343.1
4,715.2
2,258.5
Io w a .........................
K a n s a s .....................
K e n tu cky..................
Louisiana.................
M a in e .......................
1,077.8
980.9
1,231.2
1,610.9
450.4
1,072.1
991.8
1,259.7
1,598.7
464.3
Maryland .................
M assachusetts...... .
M ichigan..................
M in n e so ta ...............
M ississippi...............
M issouri...................
M o n ta n a ..................
1,848.9
2,924.5
3,400.6
1,881.3
840.5
2,041.8
285.9
1,904.9
3,013.7
3,506.6
1,911.5
856.1
2,051.0
282.3
p = preliminary
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Nov.,
1985p
1,409.8
227.4
1,288.6
803.6
10,991.0
State
Nov., 1984
Oct., 1985
Nov.,
1985p
Nebraska ....................................................
Nevada .......................................................
New Hampshire..........................................
645.7
440.7
453.0
653.1
450.8
484.0
652.6
450.0
483.5
New Jersey .................................................
New Mexico ................................................
1,431.9 New York....................................................
1,590.8 North Carolina ............................................
296.7 North Dakota .....................................
630.2
4,534.0 Ohio ............................................................
Oklahoma...................................................
2,643.4| Oregon........................................................
424.0 Pennsylvania...............................................
340.6 Rhode Island...............................................
4,714.2
2,259.1 South Carolina............................................
South Dakota..............................................
1,069.0 Tennessee ..................................................
994.9 Texas ..........................................................
1,246.0 Utah ............................................................
1,594.5
459.1 Vermont......................................................
Virginia........................................................
1,919.3 Washington ............................................
3,016.3 West Virginia...............................................
3,504.8 Wisconsin .............................................
1,905.6
857.9 Wyoming.....................................................
2,044.1 Puerto R ic o .................................................
280.6 Virgin Islands ..............................................
3,397.8
514.1
7,687.5
2,621.5
256.6
3,490.5
522.2
7,793.5
2,665.0
255.4
3,493.8
522.7
7,832.9
2,673.3
254.0
4,330.2
1,192.2
1,020.5
4,737.9
418.9
4,436.6
1,185.5
1,050.5
4,788.1
422.0
4,452.8
1,182.0
1,042.9
4,798.8
422.4
1,301.1
247.6
1,842.0
6,514.9
620.6
1,349.7
245.5
1,896.8
6,642.3
635.0
1,349.4
243.0
1,902.0
6,649.9
637.1
218.7
2,374.6
1,670.2
599.3
1,991.2
230.4
2,466.1
1,721.6
594.4
2,020.2
226.9
2,473.9
1,713.3
593.3
2,015.7
195.8
692.3
35.8
201.7
676.3
34.9
197.4
685.7
35.5
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
13.
February 1986
•
Current Labor Statistics: Employment Data
Employment of workers on nonagricultural payrolls by Industry, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
Annual average
1984
1985
Industry
1984
1985
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.p
Dec.p
TOTAL ......................................
PRIVATE SECTOR.....................
94,461
78,477
97,692
81,397
96,092
80,010
96,419
80,319
96,591
80,480
96,910
80,767
97,120
80,962
17,421
81,208
97,473
81,260
97,707
81,366
97,977
81,634
98,217
81,765
98,559
82,073
98,739
82,276
99,059
82,536
GOODS PRODUCING....................
Mining ...........................................
24,730
974
613
25,054
969
616
25,045
973
624
25,112
974
621
25,062
976
620
25,056
977
618
25,090
982
623
25,066
982
624
25,010
974
619
24,980
969
619
25,015
965
615
24,962
962
615
25,051
960
610
25,076
953
605
25,136
952
603
4,345
1,158
4,661
1,239
4,469
1,190
4,534
1,219
4,525
1,214
4,553
1,223
4,641
1,233
4,658
1,234
4,638
1,223
4,660
1,228
4,688
1,242
4,721
1,252
4,753
1,262
4,748
1,268
4,764
1,270
19,412
13,310
19,424
13,214
19,603
13,409
19,604
13,399
19,561
13,347
19,526
13,309
19,467
13,249
19,426
13,203
19,398
13,169
19,351
13,137
19,362
13,145
19,279
13,087
19,338
13,140
19,375
13,167
19,420
13,221
11,522
7,749
11,565
7,692
11,701
7,855
11,702
7,843
11,675
7,806
11,651
7,776
11,608
7,730
11,586
7,704
11,560
7,671
11,509
7,630
11,519
7,638
11,449
7,586
11,493
7,627
11,507
7,636
11,525
7,653
707
487
595
858
703
497
600
815
711
497
601
844
709
499
602
844
704
498
600
840
701
499
601
832
694
497
600
823
697
493
599
819
694
494
598
815
697
494
599
806
700
499
601
798
701
494
598
795
708
496
600
799
712
496
601
803
716
498
604
802
334
1,464
302
1,472
316
1,489
315
1,486
313
1,483
311
1,480
306
1,479
305
1,477
304
1,472
302
1,467
289
1,467
291
1,462
292
1,465
298
1,465
299
1,462
Machinery, except e lectrica l.........
Electrical and electronic
equipm ent.......................................
Transportation equipm ent.............
Motor vehicles and equipment ....
Instruments and related products
Miscellaneous manufacturing
in dustries........................................
2,197
2,181
2,232
2,228
2,224
2,220
2,207
2,203
2,191
2,175
2,167
2,143
2,143
2,138
2,138
2,208
1,906
860
714
2,208
1,989
872
724
2,253
1,965
888
723
2,252
1,974
891
723
2,248
1,972
876
725
2,243
1,969
867
727
2,223
1,982
876
726
2,216
1,981
873
723
2,205
1,990
875
725
2,190
1,985
868
724
2,194
1,995
868
725
2,175
1,986
861
722
2,179
2,008
872
722
2,179
2,015
867
725
2,188
2,017
869
726
384
376
386
385
381
379
377
378
376
372
373
373
373
373
374
Nondurable goods......................
7,890
5,561
7,859
5,522
7,902
5,554
7,902
5,556
7,886
5,541
7,875
5,533
7,859
5,519
7,840
5,499
7,838
5,498
7,842
5,507
7,843
5,507
7,830
5,501
7,845
5,513
7,868
5,531
7,895
5,568
Food and kindred p ro d u cts..........
Tobacco m anufactures..................
Textile mill p ro d u c ts .......................
Apparel and other textile
p roducts..........................................
Paper and allied products ............
1,619
65
746
1,636
65
703
1,630
66
722
1,633
67
720
1,633
66
712
1,638
66
706
1,630
66
707
1,634
66
701
1,644
66
699
1,630
65
696
1,638
64
697
1,633
65
695
1,636
64
698
1,637
65
700
1,648
62
700
1,197
681
1,162
683
1,184
683
1,182
683
1,175
682
1,167
682
1,164
681
1,153
682
1,142
684
1,160
684
1,152
683
1,155
681
1,158
682
1,161
688
1,171
688
Printing and publishing..................
Chemicals and allied products.....
Petroleum and coal p roducts.......
Rubber and misc. plastics
products..........................................
Leather and leather products ......
1,372
1,048
189
1,421
1,042
177
1,397
1,054
186
1,403
1,052
185
1,406
1,052
184
1,407
1,052
183
1,411
1,049
182
1,414
1,044
181
1,419
1,042
180
1,426
1,040
178
1,429
1,038
176
1,427
1,040
170
1,431
1,036
170
1,442
1,033
169
1,442
1,034
171
782
192
795
175
799
181
798
179
799
177
798
176
795
174
791
174
789
173
787
176
792
174
790
174
795
175
800
173
804
175
SERVICE-PRODUCING .................
Transportation and public
utilities.........................................
69,731
72,638
71,047
71,307
71,529
71,854
72,030
72,355
72,463
72,727
72,962
73,255
73,508
73,663
73,923
5,171
2,929
5,301
3,059
5,246
3,009
5,259
3,015
5,272
3,029
5,269
3,028
5,278
3,037
5,301
3,057
5,295
3,052
5,302
3,060
5,282
3,038
5,317
3,078
5,327
3,087
5,341
3,105
5,358
3,119
2,242
2,242
2,237
2,244
2,243
2,241
2,241
2,244
2,243
2,242
2,244
2,239
2,240
2,236
2,239
5,550
3,272
2,278
5,770
3,417
2,353
5,665
3,347
2,318
5,686
3,358
2,328
5,697
3,367
2,330
5,714
3,377
2,337
5,733
3,388
2,345
5,748
3,402
2,346
5,768
3,414
2,354
5,773
3,426
2,347
5,791
3,434
2,357
5,805
3,442
2,363
5,830
3,454
2,376
5,834
3,463
2,371
5,855
3,475
2,380
16,584
2,278
2,655
17,418
2,349
2,826
17,026
2,323
2,745
17,090
2,341
2,753
17,160
2,343
2,773
17,249
2,349
2,790
17,280
2,348
2,794
17,392
2,371
2,823
17,425
2,361
2,831
17,453
2,344
2,842
17,514
2,354
2,849
17,539
2,356
2,852
17,610
2,365
2,869
17,621
2,349
2,860
17,648
2,317
2,877
1,802
5,403
1,893
5,692
1,851
5,535
1,855
5,559
1,865
5,588
1,873
5,615
1,884
5,642
1,890
5,660
1,895
5,692
1,895
5,728
1,902
5,725
1,906
5,740
1,912
5,758
1,916
5,773
1,922
5,803
5,682
2,855
1,753
1,074
5,924
2,978
1,816
1,130
5,776
2,902
1,780
1,094
5,790
2,910
1,783
1,097
5,809
2,919
1,789
1,101
5,835
2,933
1,792
1,110
5,858
2,941
1,799
1,118
5,888
2,956
1,808
1,124
5,906
2,968
1,814
1,124
5,932
2,984
1,817
1,131
5,959
2,998
1,827
1,134
5,987
3,011
1,831
1,145
6,011
3,023
1,837
1,151
6,046
3,038
1,847
1,161
6,066
3,055
1,851
1,160
20,761
4,076
6,104
21,931
4,454
6,267
21,252
4,259
6,154
21,382
4,295
6,169
21,480
4,324
6,186
21,644
4,377
6,204
21,723
4,402
6,218
21,813
4,424
6,240
21,856
4,441
6,243
21,926
4,446
6,260
22,073
4,489
6,291
22,155
4,504
6,308
22,244
4,539
6,333
22,358
4,573
6,362
22,473
4,622
6,392
15,984
2,807
3,712
9,465
16,294
2,873
3,781
9,640
16,082
2,836
3,722
9,524
16,100
2,836
3,730
9,534
16,111
2,834
3,733
9,544
16,143
2,850
3,744
9,549
16,158
2,859
3,749
9,550
16,213
2,873
3,759
9,581
16,213
2,872
3,765
9,576
16,341
2,878
3,788
9,675
16,343
2,886
3,789
9,668
16,452
2,904
3,818
9,730
16,486
2,892
3,827
9,767
16,463
2,892
3,833
9,738
16,523
2,899
3,841
9,783
Oil and gas extraction ..................
Construction ................................
General building contractors.......
Manufacturing..............................
Production workers .......................
Durable goods............................
Production workers .......................
Lumber and wood p ro d u c ts .........
Furniture and fix tu re s .....................
Stone, clay, and glass products ...
Primary metal industries ...............
Blast furnaces and basic steel
products ........................................
Fabricated metal pro d u cts .........
Production w o rkers.........................
Transportation.................................
Communication and public
u tilitie s .............................................
Wholesale tra d e ..........................
Durable g o o d s .................................
Nondurable g o o d s ..........................
Retail trad e ..................................
General merchandise s to re s ........
Food s to re s .....................................
Automotive dealers and service
s ta tio n s ...........................................
Eating and drinking p la c e s ...........
Finance, insurance, and real
estate ...........................................
Finance ............................................
In surance.........................................
Real e s ta te ......................................
Services........................................
Business se rvice s...........................
Health s e rv ic e s ...............................
Government .................................
F e d e ra l.............................................
S ta te ..................................................
L o c a l..................................................
p = preliminary
NOTE: See “ N ote on the d a ta ” fo r a d e s c rip tio n o f the m ost recent ben chm a rk revision.
76
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
14. Average weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls by industry,
monthly data seasonally adjusted
Industry
Annual
average
1964
1985
1984
1985
Dec.p
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
35.2
35.0
35.1
35.1
35.0
Aug.
35.1
Sept.
35.1
Oct.
35.1
Nov.p
35.0
Dec.p
35.1
PRIVATE SECTOR................................................
35.3
35.1
35.2
35.1
35.1
CONSTRUCTION..................................................
37.7
37.7
37.8
37.7
37.8
38.1
38.0
37.6
37.2
37.6
37.5
37.9
37.9
37.5
37.2
40.4
3.2
40.2
3.4
40.4
3.1
40.4
3.2
40.3
3.2
40.6
3.3
40.7
3.3
40.7
3.4
40.7
3.4
41.0
3.6
40.7
3.4
40.5
3.3
40.6
3.4
40.6
3.4
40.1
3.3
Overtime h o u rs ...................................................
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 strie s.........................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel p ro d u c ts ..........
Fabricated metal products .....................................
41.4
3.6
39.9
39.7
42.0
41.7
40.6
41.4
41.2
3.5
39.8
39.4
41.9
41.5
41.1
41.3
41.3
3.6
39.8
39.6
41.8
41.2
39.8
41.4
41.3
3.6
39.7
40.4
41.7
41.0
39.9
41.4
40.7
3.5
38.9
39.5
41.6
40.9
40.5
40.9
41.1
3.5
39.6
39.5
42.0
41.1
40.5
41.1
40.9
3.6
39.5
39.3
42.0
41.0
40.2
41.1
41.1
3.2
39.8
38.9
42.1
41.2
40.7
41.1
41.2
3.3
40.1
38.9
41.9
41.6
41.2
41.3
41.0
3.3
39.7
38.8
42.0
41.4
41.2
41.3
41.3
3.4
40.0
39.2
42.0
41.7
41.8
41.4
41.3
3.5
40.1
39.4
42.0
41.5
41.0
41.6
41.3
3.5
40.3
39.4
42.1
41.8
41.7
41.5
41.3
3.6
40.0
39.5
41.7
41.8
42.0
41.4
41.7
3.8
40.1
39.9
42.0
42.5
42.6
41.7
Machinery except electrical ...................................
Electrical and electronic equ ipm ent......................
Transportation equipm ent.......................................
Motor vehicles and equipm ent............................
Instruments and related products .........................
Miscellaneous m anufacturing.................................
41.9
41.0
42.7
43.8
41.3
39.4
41.5
40.6
42.6
43.5
41.0
39.4
41.7
41.0
42.8
44.0
41.8
39.3
41.7
40.8
43.1
44.3
41.2
39.2
41.1
40.2
41.9
42.4
40.7
39.0
41.6
40.7
42.5
43.2
41.0
39.1
41.2
40.2
42.3
43.3
40.7
39.0
41.4
40.4
42.6
43.5
40.9
39.3
41.6
40.6
42.3
42.7
41.1
39.4
41.3
40.3
42.5
43.3
40.7
39.0
41.6
40.7
42.9
43.8
40.7
39.3
41.6
40.5
42.9
43.8
40.9
39.8
41.6
40.6
42.8
43.8
40.8
39.9
41.6
41.0
42.7
43.7
41.1
39.6
41.9
41.2
42.9
44.1
42.3
39.9
Nondurable goods..............................................
Overtime h o u rs ...................................................
Food and kindred p ro d u c ts....................................
Tobacco m a n u fa c tu re s ..........................................
Textile mill p ro d u c ts ................................................
Apparel and other textile products........................
Paper and allied p ro d u c ts ......................................
39.6
3.1
39.8
38.9
39.9
36.4
43.1
39.6
3.1
39.9
37.1
39.8
36.3
43.1
39.6
3.0
40.1
38.8
39.2
36.3
43.1
39.5
3.0
39.8
38.3
39.2
36.2
43.0
39.3
2.9
39.7
39.2
38.8
35.9
42.9
39.4
2.9
39.8
38.9
39.1
36.1
42.9
39.1
3.0
39.6
35.4
38.8
35.6
43.0
39.4
2.9
40.1
37.0
38.9
36.2
43.0
39.4
3.0
39.6
36.6
39.4
36.3
42.9
39.4
3.0
40.0
34.6
39.1
36.3
42.7
39.6
3.1
39.9
36.8
40.0
36.4
43.0
39.8
3.1
40.2
36.9
40.7
36.5
43.1
39.9
3.2
40.3
38.2
40.7
36.6
43.3
39.8
3.2
39.9
35.1
41.1
36.8
43.2
40.2
3.4
40.3
37.1
41.6
37.3
43.7
Printing and publishing............................................
Chemicals and allied products...............................
Petroleum and coal p roducts.................................
Leather and leather products ................................
37.9
41.9
43.7
36.8
37.7
41.9
43.1
37.2
37.7
41.9
43.0
36.9
37.8
42.0
43.2
36.8
37.7
41.9
43.1
36.4
37.6
42.1
43.3
37.1
37.6
41.9
42.0
37.0
37.4
41.9
41.7
37.1
37.5
42.0
42.6
37.0
37.5
41.8
42.9
37.0
37.9
41.8
43.3
37.3
38.0
41.6
43.4
37.8
37.9
41.7
44.3
37.9
37.8
41.9
43.2
37.6
38.3
41.8
44.3
37.7
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC UTILITIES....
39.4
39.5
39.3
39.3
39.4
39.5
39.4
39.5
39.5
39.2
39.6
39.5
39.5
39.4
39.7
WHOLESALE TRADE...........................................
38.6
38.7
38.6
38.6
38.6
38.7
38.6
38.7
38.8
38.6
38.6
38.7
38.6
38.6
38.8
29.8
29.8
29.7
29.9
29.9
29.7
29.6
29.6
29.5
29.5
29.3
32.8
32.8
32.7
32.8
32.8
32.7
32.8
32.8
32.9
32.7
32.9
MANUFACTURING................................................
Overtime h o u rs ...................................................
Durable goods....................................................
RETAIL TRADE ....................................................
30.0
29.7
29.9
29.8
SERVICES .............................................................
32.8
32.8
32.9
32.7
p =
preliminary.
NOTE:
See “ N otes on th e d a ta ” fo r a d e s c rip tio n o f th e m ost recent benchm ark adjustm en t.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Current Labor Statistics: Employment Data
15. Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls by
industry
Annual
average
Industry
1985
1984
1985
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.p
Dec.p
Seasonally adjusted .............................................
$8.33
-
$8.58
-
$8.46
8.47
$8.50
8.44
$8.52
8.49
$8.52
8.52
$8.54
8.54
$8.53
8.55
$8.56
8.59
$8.54
8.57
$8.54
8.60
$8.68
8.65
$8.65
8.64
$8.68
8.67
$8.73
8.75
MINING..................................................................
11.63
11.95
11.70
11.86
11.90
11.91
11.93
11.86
11.99
11.88
11.95
12.00
11.95
12.00
12.13
CONSTRUCTION....................................... 1
PRIVATE SECTOR...............................................
«P
1984
....
12.12
12.26
12.26
12.30
12.33
12.22
12.21
12.19
12.12
12.16
12.22
12.40
12.36
12.20
12.39
MANUFACTURING................................................
9.18
9.52
9.40
9.43
9.43
9.45
9.48
9.48
9.50
9.53
9.48
9.55
9.54
9.61
9.71
Durable goods .....................................................
9.74
8.03
6.85
9.57
11.47
12.99
9.38
10.09
8.19
7.19
9.83
11.68
13.35
9.66
9.96
8.09
6.99
9.68
11.49
12.95
9.58
9.99
8.10
7.01
9.70
11.55
13.07
9.59
9.99
8.09
7.01
9.73
11.69
13.42
9.59
10.01
8.06
7.07
9.71
11.66
13.27
9.62
10.03
8.04
7.08
9.80
11.64
13.32
9.64
10.04
8.12
7.11
9.80
11.64
13.31
9.63
10.08
8.24
7.18
9.84
11.65
13.29
9.65
10.10
8.20
7.22
9.89
11.78
13.51
9.66
10.05
8.26
7.22
9.87
11.63
13.37
9.61
10.15
8.31
7.29
9.90
11.69
13.45
9.70
10.14
8.29
7.31
9.86
11.64
13.34
9.68
10.21
8.27
7.34
9.90
11.80
13.45
9.72
10.31
8.24
7.41
9.93
11.78
13.45
9.87
9.96
Machinery, except electrical ..................................
Electrical and electronic equipm ent......................
9.04
Transportation equipm ent....................................... 12.22
Motor vehicles and equipm ent............................ 12.74
Instruments and related products .........................
8.85
7.04
Miscellaneous m anufacturing.................................
10.29
9.47
12.71
13.44
9.19
7.28
10.16
9.32
12.62
13.27
9.03
7.16
10.13
9.33
12.67
13.41
9.00
7.23
10.14
9.33
12.63
13.35
9.11
7.19
10.15
9.39
12.59
13.29
9.10
7.20
10.17
9.40
12.63
13.40
9.11
7.22
10.22
9.39
12.63
13.38
9.13
7.28
10.28
9.46
12.66
13.39
9.15
7.28
10.31
9.47
12.65
13.38
9.20
7.30
10.27
9.50
12.65
13.34
9.22
7.26
10.39
9.55
12.78
13.51
9.28
7.30
10.41
9.56
12.77
13.46
9.27
7.30
10.48
9.61
12.82
13.54
9.30
7.33
10.60
9.67
13.01
13.80
9.35
7.44
8.37
Food and kindred p ro d u cts....................................
8.38
Tobacco m anufactures........................................... 11.27
6.46
Textile mill p ro d u c ts ................................................
Apparel and other textile products........................
5.55
Paper and allied products ...................................... 10.41
8.68
8.54
12.08
6.71
5.72
10.82
8.55
8.45
11.17
6.57
5.68
10.66
8.59
8.48
11.39
6.59
5.73
10.63
8.60
8.51
11.80
6.60
5.70
10.64
8.61
8.53
12.00
6.64
5.73
10.64
8.67
8.59
12.16
6.70
5.74
10.72
8.64
8.58
12.65
6.68
5.69
10.75
8.65
8.55
12.83
6.69
5.70
10.79
8.72
8.54
12.91
6.69
5.70
10.91
8.67
8.47
12.44
6.72
5.68
10.86
8.70
8.51
11.47
6.75
5.75
10.90
8.69
8.49
11.45
6.76
5.73
10.91
8.75
8.59
12.07
6.80
5.75
10.98
8.84
8.69
12.28
6.85
5.78
11.04
9.40
11.08
13.43
8.29
5.70
9.69
11.58
14.04
8.53
5.82
9.57
11.34
13.62
8.44
5.80
9.58
11.39
13.96
8.49
5.82
9.60
11.39
13.99
8.48
5.79
9.61
11.37
14.06
8.46
5.82
9.60
11.48
14.18
8.48
5.84
9.60
11.46
14.00
8.45
5.83
9.61
11.52
13.97
8.50
5.83
9.67
11.60
14.03
8.54
5.83
9.73
11.62
13.99
8.51
5.80
9.79
11.67
14.07
8.55
5.82
9.75
11.72
13.97
8.53
5.76
9.80
11.82
14.02
8.61
5.83
9.87
11.94
14.23
8.70
5.81
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC UTILITIES.... 11.11
11.38
11.28
11.26
11.27
11.24
11.27
11.24
11.32
11.35
11.40
11.52
11.46
11.56
11.60
.1
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 industries .........................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel p ro d u c ts ..........
Fabricated metal products .....................................
Nondurable go ods...............................................
Printing and publishing............................................
Chemicals and allied products...............................
Petroleum and coal p roducts.................................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics p ro d u c ts .....
Leather and leather products ................................
V
•35
- ^
WHOLESALE TRADE...........................................
8.96
9.27
9.19
9.16
9.22
9.19
9.24
9.24
9.28
9.27
9.25
9.33
9.25
9.33
9.44
RETAIL TRADE ....................................................
5.88
5.97
5.89
5.97
5.99
5.97
5.96
5.97
5.94
5.93
5.91
5.99
5.97
6.00
5.99
FINANCE, INSURANCE, AND REAL ESTATE....
7.62
7.94
7.78
7.77
7.87
7.87
7.85
7.83
7.95
7.87
7.90
8.03
8.00
8.09
8.19
SERVICES .............................................................
7.64
7.95
______
7.84
7.84
7.87
7.87
7.89
7.88
7.91
7.86
7.87
8.04
8.04
8.11
8.20
1*
- Data not available.
p = preliminary
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
NOTE: See “ Notes on the data” for a description of the most recent
benchmark revision.
16.
Average weekly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagriculturai payrolls by industry
Annual average
1985
1984
Industry
1984
1985
Dec.
Jan.
Mar.
Feb.
Apr.
May
June
Aug.
July
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.p
Dec.p
PRIVATE SECTOR
Current d o lla rs ........................................................ $294.05 $301.16 $300.33 $294.95 $294.79 $298.20 $298.05 $298.55 $303.02 $301.46 $302.32 $305.54 $303.62 $302.93 $309.04
298.14 296.24 298.00 299.90 298.90 300.11 301.51 299.95 301.86 303.62 303.26 303.45 307.13
Seasonally adjusted...........................................
173.48
174.61 171.28 170.50 171.68 170.80 170.50 172.56 171.48 171.68 173.01 171.54 170.47
Constant (1977) dollars .......................................
-
_
MINING...................................................................
503.58
518.63
515.97
508.79
514.08
519.28
516.57
515.91
523.96
509.65
517.44
524.40
516.24
519.60
533.72
CONSTRUCTION..................................................
456.92
462.20
460.98
447.72
451.28
460.69
461.54
464.44
461.77
469.38
468.03
477.40
472.15
448.96
458.43
Current d o lla rs .........................................................
Constant (1977) d o lla rs .........................................
373.63
220.43
385.56
387.28
225.16
380.03
220.69
374.37
216.52
381.78
219.79
380.15
217.85
382.04
218.18
385.70
219.65
382.15
217.38
382.99
217.48
389.64
220.63
388.28
219.37
393.05
221.19
403.94
Durable goods .....................................................
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 industries .........................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel p ro d u c ts ..........
Fabricated metal products .....................................
403.24
320.40
271.95
401.94
478.30
527.39
388.33
415.71
325.96
283.29
411.88
484.72
548.69
398.96
419.32
321.98
283.79
404.62
477.98
516.71
405.23
410.59
315.90
276.19
392.85
473.55
517.57
395.11
403.60
309.85
270.59
393.09
478.12
544.85
387.44
412.41
317.56
277.85
404.91
481.56
540.09
396.34
410.23
317.58
276.83
411.60
480.73
547.45
395.24
411.64
325.61
275.16
415.52
479.57
543.05
395.79
417.31
336.19
281.46
418.20
486.97
552.86
400.48
410.06
325.54
276.53
418.35
485.34
559.31
394.13
412.05
333.70
285.19
418.49
480.32
550.84
395.93
420.21
337.39
290.14
420.75
487.47
554.14
403.52
418.78
334.92
292.40
418.06
481.90
545.61
401.72
423.72
327.49
292.87
414.81
493.24
558.18
404.35
437.14
330.42
303.07
417.06
505.36
574.32
421.45
Machinery, except electrical ..................................
Electrical and electronic equipm ent......................
Transportation equipm ent.......................................
Motor vehicles and equipm ent............................
Instruments and related products .........................
Miscellaneous m anufacturing.................................
417.32
370.64
521.79
558.01
365.51
277.38
427.04
384.48
541.45
584.64
376.79
286.83
434.85
389.58
554.02
597.15
382.87
285.68
422.42
379.73
546.08
594.06
369.90
279.08
415.74
373.20
524.15
559.37
369.87
276.82
424.27
383.11
537.59
576.79
374.01
282.24
417.99
376.00
538.04
586.92
368.96
280.86
421.06
377.48
539.30
587.38
372.50
285.38
427.65
385.02
539.32
579.79
376.07
286.10
420.65
376.91
531.30
574.00
370.76
281.78
422.10
383.80
531.30
566.95
373.41
284.59
432.22
387.73
544.43
586.33
381.41
292.00
430.97
388.14
545.28
586.86
377.29
294.19
438.06
396.89
551.26
590.34
384.09
293.93
454.74
406.14
572.44
623.76
401.12
301.32
Nondurable goods...............................................
331.45
333.52
438.40
257.75
202.02
448.67
343.73
340.75
448.17
267.06
207.64
466.34
342.00
342.23
433.40
258.86
206.75
466.91
336.73
334.96
424.85
257.01
205.13
456.03
333.68
331.89
442.50
254.10
202.35
451.14
338.37
335.23
452.40
258.96
206.85
454.33
337.26
336.73
424.38
257.28
203.20
458.82
339.55
343.20
469.32
260.52
205.98
460.10
342.54
340.29
483.69
266.93
209.19
463.97
341.82
341.60
437.65
258.23
206.34
465.86
344.20
341.34
461.52
270.14
207.32
465.89
348.00
347.21
438.15
275.40
209.88
473.06
346.73
343.00
448.84
276.48
210.86
472.40
350.00
345.32
438.14
280.84
212.18
476.53
358.90
353.68
455.59
286.33
216.17
490.18
356.26
464.25
586.89
365.31
485.20
605.12
366.53
480.82
584.30
359.25
477.24
597.49
358.08
476.10
594.58
362.30
478.68
601.77
360.00
481.01
595.56
358.08
480.17
583.80
358.45
484.99
596.52
360.69
482.56
606.10
369.74
483.39
605.77
373.98
487.81
620.49
369.53
486.38
620.27
373.38
496.44
609.87
383.94
505.06
630.39
345.69
209.76
349.73
216.50
355.32
215.18
352.34
211.85
343.44
207.28
347.71
212.43
346.83
215.50
345.61
218.04
350.20
221.54
346.72
218.63
346.36
216.92
351.41
219.41
350.58
216.58
354.73
219.21
363.66
220.20
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC
UTILITIES.............................................................
437.73
449.51
445.56
438.01
440.66
441.73
441.78
441.73
449.40
448.33
454.86
457.34
452.67
456.62
462.84
WHOLESALE TRADE...........................................
345.86
358.75
357.49
351.74
352.20
353.82
354.82
357.59
360.99
359.68
358.90
362.00
357.98
361.07
369.10
RETAIL TRADE ....................................................
176.40
177.31
179.65
173.73
174.31
175.52
175.22
177.91
179.39
180.27
179.07
177.90
175.52
175.80
179.10
FINANCE, INSURANCE, AND REAL
ESTATE ................................................................
278.13
289.02
285.53
282.83
286.47
286.47
285.74
284.23
291.77
285.68
286.77
292.29
290.40
292.86
301.39
SERVICES .............................................................
250.59
260.76
257.94
254.80
256.56
256.56
257.21
257.68
261.03
260.17
260.50
263.71
263.71
264.39
269.78
MANUFACTURING
Food and kindred pro d u c ts....................................
Tobacco m anufactures...........................................
Textile mill p ro d u c ts ................................................
Apparel and other textile products........................
Paper and allied products ......................................
Printing and publishing............................................
Chemicals and allied products...............................
Petroleum and coal p roducts.................................
Rubber and miscellaneous
plastics pro d u cts ...................................................
Leather and leather products ................................
-
- Data not available.
p = preliminary
-
NOTE: See "Notes on the data” for a description of the most recent benchmark
revision.
17. The Hourly Earnings Index for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagriculturai payrolls by
industry
Seasonally adjusted
Not seasonally adjusted
Industry
PRIVATE SECTOR (In current dollars).........................
Nov.
1985p
Oct.
1985
163.5
166.5
167.3
168.5
176.9
149.2
165.8
164.7
169.8
154.3
168.6
166.9
178.7
151.2
169.3
167.5
171.0
156.3
173.0
171.1
179.8
148.8
170.2
168.9
172.4
156.8
174.6
172.4
181.2
150.6
171.1
169.7
174.3
156.9
176.9
174.4
95.0
94.1
94.1
1
This series is not seasonally adjusted because the seasonal component is small
relative to the trend-cycle, irregular components, or both, and consequently cannot
be separated with sufficient precision.
- Data not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Dec.
1985p
Dec.
1984
Sept.
1985
Oct.
1985
Nov.
1985
Dec.
1984
Aug.
1985
Dec.
1985p
163.3
165.7
166.7
166.4
167.1
168.4
148.9
165.4
164.1
149.3
169.3
166.1
150.0
169.1
167.3
149.4
169.4
167.0
148.6
170.1
167.7
150.1
170.6
169.0
155.6
155.8
157.2
156.7
157.2
158.1
166.7
169.6
171.5
171.1
172.1
174.2
94.9
94.3
94.7
94.3
94.1
_
p = preliminary.
NOTE: See “ N otes on the d a ta ” fo r a d e s c rip tio n o f the recent benchm ark revi
sion. Due to the LABSTAT rounding system , a few indexes may d iffe r by .1 from
data pub lish ed elsewhere.
79
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
18.
February 1986
• Current Labor Statistics: Employment Data
Indexes of diffusion: industries in which employment increased, data seasonally adjusted
(In percent)
Time span and year
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Over
1983
1984
1985
1-month span
.........................
.........................
.........................
52.2
67.3
57.6
45.9
72.7
50.3
59.7
66.8
55.9
70.0
67.3
44.6
68.9
60.5
50.3
63.0
64.3
47.0
72.7
65.7
54.9
69.5
58.1
56.8
73.2
48.4
1 43.5
74.1
66.5
1 63.8
66.8
55.1
68.9
63.5
Over
1983
1984
1985
3-month span
..........................
..........................
..........................
46.2
78.1
58.6
53.2
75.9
54.1
63.0
77.6
46.8
73.5
68.9
45.9
71.9
69.7
44.1
73.8
67.0
49.7
72.7
65.4
50.5
80.3
60.3
1 48.9
80.8
60.0
1 52.4
78.6
56.5
-
74.6
67.0
74.3
60.0
Over
1983
1984
1985
6-month span
..........................
..........................
..........................
50.0
79.2
52.2
62.4
77.8
49.5
65.7
77.3
44.3
67.8
75.4
44.6
74.3
69.2
44.3
78.4
64.9
1 41.4
79.7
63.2
' 47.3
79.5
64.1
78.9
67.0
“
79.2
59.7
-
79.7
57.6
78.4
60.3
Over
1983
1984
1985
12-month span
...........................
...........................
............................
48.6
81.9
50.8
55.1
78.4
48.4
61.4
76.8
' 48.9
68.6
75.1
1 46.8
72.4
72.7
75.1
73.0
77.0
70.0
79.7
65.7
-
78.4
63.5
80.8
60.5
81.6
1 55.4
81.1
51.6
1 Preliminary data.
- Data not available.
NOTE: Figures are the percent of industries with employment rising. (Half of
19.
”
the unchanged components 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.
Annual data: Employment status of the noninstitutional population
(Number in thousands)
Employment status
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
Noninstitutional pop ulation ........................................
160,689
163,541
166,460
169,349
171,775
173,939
175,891
178,080
179,912
100,665
62.6
103,882
63.5
106,559
64.0
108,544
64.1
110,315
64.2
111,872
64.3
113,226
64.4
115,241
64.7
117,167
65.1
93,673
97,679
100,421
100,907
102,042
101,194
102,510
106,702
108,856
Labor force
Total (num ber)....................................
Percent of pop ulation....................................
Employed
Total (number) ........................................
Percent of population ....................................
Resident Armed F orces..............................
Total .........................................................
A g riculture................................................
Nonagricultural industries.......................
Unemployed
Total (num ber).......................................
Percent of labor fo r c e ................................
Not in labor force (number) .............................
-
20.
-
-
_
1656
1631
1597
_
_
1604
1668
1676
1697
1706
92,017
3,283
88,734
96,048
3,387
92,661
98,824
3,347
95,477
99,303
3,364
95,938
100,397
3,368
97,030
99,526
3,401
96,125
100,834
3,383
97,450
105,005
3,321
101,685
107,150
3,179
103^971
6,991
6.9
6,202
6.0
6,137
5.8
7,637
7.0
8,273
7.5
10,678
9.5
10,717
9.5
8,539
7.4
8,312
7.1
60,025
59,659
59,900
60,806
61,460
62,067
62,665
62,839
62,744
1645
Data not available.
Annual data: Employment levels by industry
(Number in thousands)
Industry
Total em plo ym en t............................
Private se c to r.................................
G oods-producing........................
M in in g .....................................
Construction ..........................
M anufacturing........................
Service-producing..................................
Transportation and public utilities ...
Wholesale trade ................................
Retail trade ........................................
Finance, insurance, and real estate
S e rvices..............................................
Government
F ed era l...
State ......
Local .....
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985»
82,471
67,344
24,346
813
3,851
19,682
86,697
71,026
25,585
851
4,229
20,505
89,823
73,876
26,461
958
4,463
21,040
90,406
74,166
25,658
1,027
4,346
20,285
91,156
75,126
25,497
1,139
4,188
20,170
89,566
73,729
23,813
1,128
3,905
18,781
90,196
74,330
23,334
952
3,948
18,434
94,461
78,477
24,730
974
4,345
19,412
97,692
81,397
25,054
969
4,661
19,424
58,125
4,713
4,708
13,808
4,467
15,303
61,113
4,923
4,969
14,573
4,724
16,252
63,363
5,136
5,204
14,989
4,975
17,112
64,748
5,146
5,275
15,035
5,160
17,890
65,659
5,165
5,358
15,189
5,298
18,619
65,753
5,082
5,278
15,179
5,341
19,036
66,862
4,954
5,268
15,613
5,468
19,694
69,731
5,171
5,550
16,584
5,682
20,761
72,638
5,301
5,770
17,418
5,924
21,931
15,127
2,727
3,377
9,023
15,672
2,753
3,474
9,446
15,947
2,773
3,541
9,633
16,241
16,031
2,772
3,640
9,619
15,837
2,739
3,640
9,458
15,869
2,774
3,662
9,434
15,984
2,807
3,712
9,465
16,294
2,873
3,781
9,640
NOTE: Data include Alaska and Hawaii beginning in 1959. See
"Notes on the data" for a description of the most recent benchmark
Digitized for 80
FRASER
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2,866
3,610
9,765
revision.
p = p relim inary
21. Annual data: Average hours and earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on nonagricultural
payrolls, by Industry
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985»
Private sector
Average weekly h o u rs .................................................................
Average hourly earnings .............................................................
Average weekly e arnings............................................................
36.0
5.25
189.00
35.8
5.69
203.70
35.7
6.16
219.91
35.3
6.66
235.10
35.2
7.25
255.20
34.8
7.68
267.26
35.0
8.02
280.70
35.3
8.33
294.05
35.1
8.58
301.16
Mining
Average weekly hours ..............................................................
Average hourly earnings...........................................................
Average weekly e a rn in g s .........................................................
43.4
6.94
301.20
43.4
7.67
332.88
43.0
8.49
365.07
43.3
9.17
397.06
43.7
10.04
438.75
42.7
10.77
459.88
42.5
11.28
479.40
43.3
11.63
503.58
43.4
11.95
518.63
Construction
Average weekly h o u rs ..............................................................
Average hourly earnings...........................................................
Average weekly e a rn in g s .........................................................
36.5
8.10
295.65
36.8
8.66
318.69
37.0
9.27
342.99
37.0
9.94
367.78
36.9
10.82
399.26
36.7
11.63
426.82
37.1
11.94
442.97
37.7
12.12
456.92
37.7
12.26
462.20
Manufacturing
Average weekly hours ..............................................................
Average hourly earnings...........................................................
Average weekly e a rn in g s .........................................................
40.3
5.68
228.90
40.4
6.17
249.27
40.2
6.70
269.34
39.7
7.27
288.62
39.8
7.99
318.00
38.9
8.49
330.26
40.1
8.83
354.08
40.7
9.18
373.63
40.5
9.52
385.56
Transportation and public utilities
Average weekly h o u rs ..............................................................
Average hourly earnings...........................................................
Average weekly earnings .........................................................
39.9
6.99
278.90
40.0
7.57
302.80
39.9
8.16
325.58
39.6
8.87
351.25
39.4
9.70
382.18
39.0
10.32
402.48
39.0
10.79
420.81
39.4
11.11
437.73
39.5
11.38
449.51
Wholesale trade
Average weekly hours ..............................................................
Average hourly earnings...........................................................
Average weekly e a rn in g s .........................................................
38.8
5.39
209.13
38.8
5.88
228.14
38.8
6.39
247.93
38.5
6.96
267.96
38.5
7.56
291.06
38.3
8.09
309.85
38.5
8.55
329.18
38.6
8.96
345.86
38.7
9.27
358.75
Retail trade
Average weekly h o u rs ..............................................................
Average hourly earnings...........................................................
Average weekly e a rn in g s .........................................................
31.6
3.85
121.66
31.0
4.20
130.20
30.6
4.53
138.62
30.2
4.88
147.38
30.1
5.25
158.03
29.9
5.48
163.85
29.8
5.74
171.05
30.0
5.88
176.40
29.7
5.97
177.31
Finance, insurance, and real estate
Average weekly hours ..............................................................
Average hourly earnings...........................................................
Average weekly e a rn in g s .........................................................
36.4
4.54
165.26
36.4
4.89
178.00
36.2
5.27
190.77
36.2
5.79
209.60
36.3
6.31
229.05
36.2
6.78
245.44
36.2
7.29
263.90
36.5
7.62
278.13
36.4
7.94
289.02
Services
Average weekly hours ..............................................................
Average hourly earnings...........................................................
Average weekly earnings .........................................................
33.0
4.65
153.45
32.8
4.99
163.67
32.7
5.36
175.27
32.6
5.85
190.71
32.6
6.41
208.97
32.6
6.92
225.59
32.7
7.31
239.04
32.8
7.64
250.59
32.8
7.95
260.76
Industry
p = preliminary.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
22.
February 1986
• Current Labor Statistics: Compensation and Industrial Relations Data
Employment Cost Index, compensation,1 by occupation and industry group
(June 1981=100)
1Ê83
1984
1985
Percent change
Series
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
116.5
117.8
119.8
120.8
122.4
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
3
months
ended
12
months
ended
Sept., 1985
Civilian workers 2 .......................
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar workers .................
Blue-collar w o rkers....................
Service w o rk e rs .........................
Workers, by industry division:
M anufacturing............................
Nonm anufacturing.....................
S e rv ic e s ...................................
Public administration 3 ..........
123.9
125.5
126.4
128.4
1.6
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
125.5
120.9
126.8
127.3
122.2
127.8
128.3
123.1
128.0
130.7
124.4
130.9
1.9
2.3
115.0
117.2
121.1
119.8
116.0
118.6
122.6
121.4
117.9
120.7
125.0
122.9
119.1
121.6
125.5
123.7
120.4
123.3
128.8
126.9
122.0
124.8
130.9
128.6
123.9
126.2
131.9
130.1
124.6
127.2
132.6
130.3
125.5
129.7
136.4
134.2
2.9
3.0
Private Industry workers...........
115.6
117.0
119.0
120.1
121.1
122.7
124.2
125.2
126.8
116.5
114.6
115.1
117.9
115.7
117.9
119.9
117.5
121.5
121.4
118.4
121.2
122.4
119.3
123.2
123.9
120.6
125.7
125.8
121.9
126.3
127.1
122.8
126.5
128.8
124.0
128.8
5.2
3.9
4.5
115.0
116.0
116.0
117.5
117.9
119.6
119.1
120.7
120.4
121.6
122.0
123.1
123.9
124.4
124.6
125.6
125.5
127.6
4.2
4.9
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar w o rkers..................
Blue-collar w o rke rs....................
Service w o rk e rs .........................
Workers, by industry division:
M anufacturing.............................
Nonmanufacturing .....................
State and local government workers
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar w o rkers............................
Blue-collar w o rke rs..............................
Workers, by industry division:
S e rvice s.................................................
Schools ..............................................
Elementary and secon dary...........
Hospitals and other services4 ........
Public administration3 ...........................
-------
-------nwmou; 11ioqouicu
hi
.7
2.0
5.4
4.0
5.1
4.2
5.2
5.9
5.8
120.8
122.0
123.9
124.4
128.8
130.1
131.7
132.0
136.5
3.4
6.0
121.5
118.0
122.6
119.2
124.5
121.9
125.0
122.3
129.7
125.0
131.1
125.9
132.5
128.1
132.9
128.5
137.6
131.9
3.5
6.1
2.6
5.5
121.7
121.9
123.3
121.1
119.8
122.6
122.6
123.9
122.6
121.4
124.5
124.5
125.4
124.4
122.9
125.0
124.7
125.7
125.7
123.7
129.9
130.6
132.1
127.9
126.9
131.3
132.0
133.5
129.2
128.6
132.8
133.4
134.4
131.1
130.1
133.2
133.7
134.6
131.5
130.3
137.9
139.1
140.9
134.1
134.2
3.5
4.0
4.7
2.0
3.0
6.2
6.5
6.7
4.8
5.8
uit; employment Lrosx inaex
consists of wages, salaries and employer cost of employee benefits.
2
Consist of private industry workers (excluding farm and household workers)
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1.1
and State and local government (excluding Federal Government) workers.
3 Consists of legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory activities.
4 Includes, for example, library, social, and health services.
23.
Employment Cost Index, wages and salaries, by occupation and industry group
(June 1981=100)
Percent change
1985
1984
1983
Series
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
3
months
ended
12
months
ended
Sept., 1985
Civilian workers 1...................................................................
115.3
116.5
117.9
118.8
120.3
121.7
123.1
124.2
126.3
1.7
5.0
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar workers .................................................................
Blue-collar w o rkers....................................................................
Service w o rk e rs ................................................ ........................
116.7
113.1
115.1
117.9
114.0
117.4
119.3
115.3
120.0
120.4
116.1
119.8
122.2
117.0
122.3
123.5
118.2
124.3
125.2
119.3
124.8
126.4
120.5
125.3
128.8
122.0
128.0
1.9
1.2
2.2
5.4
4.3
4.7
Workers, by industry division
Manufacturing ............................................................................
Nonmanufacturing .....................................................................
Services ...................................................................................
Public administration 2 ...........................................................
113.3
116.1
120.1
118.2
114.5
117.4
121.3
119.4
115.7
118.9
123.3
120.4
116.8
119.7
123.8
121.3
118.0
121.3
127.2
124.4
119.5
122.6
128.9
125.7
121.0
123.9
129.7
127.0
122.3
125.0
130.5
127.2
123.2
127.6
134.2
131.4
.7
2.1
2.8
3.3
4.4
5.2
5.5
5.6
Private Industry workers.................................................
114.5
115.8
117.2
118.2
119.2
120.6
122.0
123.3
124.9
1.3
4.8
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar w o rke rs ............................................................
Professional and te chnical..............................................
Managers and adm inistrators.........................................
S alesw orke rs.....................................................................
Clerical w o rke rs .................................................................
115.9
119.9
114.8
108.4
116.7
117.2
120.4
115.7
111.2
118.3
118.5
122.2
118.0
110.2
119.8
119.9
123.8
119.2
111.9
120.7
120.9
125.2
121.0
110.5
122.0
122.3
127.3
122.2
111.6
122.9
124.0
127.7
123.8
116.3
124.7
125.5
128.7
126.5
117.4
125.6
127.3
131.2
127.7
119.3
127.1
1.4
1.9
.9
1.6
1.2
5.3
4.8
5.5
8.0
4.2
Blue-collar w o rk e rs ..............................................................
Craft and kindred w o rk e rs ..............................................
Operatives, except tra n s p o rt..........................................
Transport equipment o p e ra tiv e s....................................
Nonfarm laborers ..............................................................
Service workers ...................................................................
112.9
114.3
112.3
110.7
110.8
113.7
113.9
115.4
113.6
110.2
112.1
116.5
115.1
116.5
114.9
111.7
112.9
119.8
115.9
117.3
115.8
112.7
114.1
119.3
116.7
118.0
116.6
113.4
114.7
121.2
118.0
119.4
117.9
114.0
115.9
123.7
119.1
120.8
118.9
114.5
116.7
123.8
120.3
122.0
120.1
115.7
118.5
124.4
121.7
123.7
121.1
117.7
118.6
126.3
1.2
1.4
.8
1.7
.1
1.5
4.3
4.8
3.9
3.8
3.4
4.2
Workers, by industry division:
M anufacturing.......................................................................
D u ra b le s.............................................................................
N ondurables.......................................................................
113.3
112.9
113.9
114.5
114.4
114.6
115.7
115.7
115.8
116.8
116.6
117.1
118.0
117.7
118.6
119.5
119.1
120.2
121.0
120.6
121.6
122.3
122.0
122.6
123.2
122.7
124.0
.7
.6
1.1
4.4
4.2
4.6
Nonm anufacturing................................................................
C onstruction.......................................................................
Transportation and public u tilitie s ..................................
Wholesale and retail tra d e ..............................................
Wholesale trade .............................................................
Retail tra d e ......................................................................
Finance, insurance, and real e s ta te ..............................
S e rvices..............................................................................
115.2
112.2
115.7
111.5
115,7
109.9
113.5
120.4
116.5
112.9
116.8
112.3
116.5
110.6
116.9
121.9
118.0
113.3
118.5
114.3
118.2
112.8
116.1
124.2
119.0
114.0
119.3
116.0
120.0
114.4
116.9
124.7
119.9
114.3
119.9
116.5
120.7
114.9
115.3
127.1
121.2
114.4
120.7
118.1
122.9
116.2
115.8
129.5
122.6
115.5
121.7
118.8
123.7
116.9
122.0
129.9
123.9
116.6
122.8
121.1
126.8
118.9
121.7
131.0
125.9
117.3
124.8
122.7
127.7
120.8
124.1
133.9
1.6
.6
1.6
1.3
.7
1.6
2.0
2.2
5.0
2.6
4.1
5.3
5.8
5.1
7.6
5.4
State and local government workers.............................
119.2
120.0
121.6
122.0
126.1
127.1
128.4
128.7
133.2
3.5
5.6
128.C
122.5
129.3
124.2
129.6
124.5
134.2
127.9
3.6
2.7
5.7
4.9
128.1
128.7
130.2
125.9
125.7
129.4
129.9
130.8
127.7
127.0
129.7
130.2
131.1
128.0
127.2
134.5
135.8
137.5
130.2
131.4
3.7
4.3
4.9
1.7
3.3
5.7
6.3
6.3
4.1
5.6
Workers, by occupational group
119.8
116.4
120.6
116.9
122.2
119.1
122.5
119.6
127.1
121.9
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
Workers, by industry division
Elementary and secondary .........................................
Hospitals and other services 3 ......................................
Public administration 2 ........................................................
1 Consist of private industry workers (excluding farm and household workers)
and State and local government (excluding Federal Government) workers.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2 Consist of legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory
3 Includes, for example, library, social and health services.
activities,
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
24.
• Current Labor Statistics: Compensation and Industrial Relations Data
February 1986
Employment Cost Index, private nonfarm workers, by bargaining status, region, and area size
(June 1981=100)
CO
CO
19
1984
1985
Percent change
Series
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
3
months
ended
12
months
ended
Sept., 1985
COMPENSATION
Workers, by bargaining status1
Union ............................................................
Manufacturing ....................................................................
Nonmanufacturing ................................................
117.8
116.3
119.2
118.8
117.2
120.4
120.6
119.3
121.9
121.7
120.5
122.8
122.6
121.6
123.6
123.9
123.2
124.5
124.8
124.2
125.3
125.5
124.2
126.6
126.5
125.0
127.8
0.8
.6
.9
3.2
2.8
3.4
N o n u n io n .........................................................
Manufacturing .................................................
N onm anufacturing..............................................................
114.4
113.8
114.7
115.9
114.9
116.4
118.0
116.6
118.6
119.2
117.9
119.8
120.3
119.3
120.7
121.9
120.8
122.4
123.8
123.6
123.9
125.0
124.8
125.1
126.8
125.7
127.3
1.4
.7
1.8
5.4
5.4
5.5
116.0
115.6
113.9
118.0
117.5
117.1
114.7
120.0
118.9
119.7
117.2
121.0
120.7
120.7
117.9
122.2
122.4
120.7
119.7
122.5
123.8
122.2
120.8
124.9
125.1
124.2
122.0
126.8
126.4
125.2
122.7
127.9
128.8
126.5
124.2
129.1
1.9
1.0
1.2
.9
5.2
4.8
3.8
5.4
116.0
113.4
117.4
114.5
119.4
116.7
120.6
117.4
121.5
119.0
123.2
119.8
124.7
121.4
125.7
122.5
127.3
123.9
1.3
1.1
4.8
4.1
Union ..............................................................
Manufacturing .................................................
Nonmanufacturing ....................................................................
116.0
113.7
118.3
116.9
114.8
118.9
118.1
116.1
120.1
119.0
117.1
120.7
119.8
118.1
121.3
120.9
119.5
122.1
121.7
120.4
122.8
123.0
121.7
124.1
124.1
122.8
125.3
.9
.9
1.0
3.6
4.0
3.3
N o nunion..............................................................
Manufacturing ....................................................
Nonmanufacturing ..........................................................
113.7
113.0
114.0
115.2
114.2
115.6
116.7
115.4
117.2
117.8
116.5
118.3
118.8
117.9
119.2
120.4
119.5
120.7
122.1
121.5
122.3
123.4
122.8
123.6
125.2
123.7
125.9
1.5
.7
1.9
5.4
4.9
5.6
115.3
114.3
112.8
116.5
116.6
115.7
113.6
118.5
117.4
117.9
115.5
118.8
118.9
119.0
116.0
119.6
120.5
119.0
117.8
120.0
121.9
120.2
118.7
122.5
123.0
122.3
119.6
124.0
124.6
123.4
121.1
125.1
126.8
124.8
122.5
126.6
1.8
1.1
1.2
1.2
5.2
4.9
4.0
5.5
114.9
112.3
116.2
113.4
117.6
115.1
118.6
116.0
119.5
117.5
121.0
118.3
122.4
119.6
123.8
120.6
125.5
121.9
1.4
1.1
5.0
3.7
Workers, by region 1
N o rtheast..............................................................
South ................................................................
Midwest (formerly North C e ntral)..................................
W e s t...................................................................
Workers, by area size 1
Metropolitan a re a s ............................................................
Other a re a s .....................................................
WAGES AND SALARIES
Workers, by bargaining status 1
Workers, by region 1
N o rtheast...............................................................
South ......................................................
Midwest (formerly North C e ntral).....................................
W e s t.....................................................................
Workers, by area size1
Metropolitan a re a s ........................................................
Other a re a s ...................................................
1 The indexes are calculated differently from those for the occupation and
industry groups. For a detailed description of the index calculation, see the
Monthly Labor Review Technical
Employment Cost Index,” May 1982.
Note,
"Estim ation
procedures
for
the
25. Specified compensation and wage adjustments from contract settlements, and effective wage adjustments, private
industry collective bargaining situations covering 1,000 workers or more (in percent)
Annual average
Measure
Quarterly average
1983
1983
1984
1985
1984
IV
I
II
III
IV
lp
3.5
3.2
2.7
3.1
3.7
2.0
4.4
4.0
3.5
3.5
1.7
2.9
2.6
2.7
2.1
2.6
2.3
1.5
3.4
3.2
2.5
2.9
1.7
2.9
.9
.1
1.2
.2
.7
.3
.7
.1
.8
.2
1.2
.2
.7
.2
.7
.3
.2
.2
.6
.1
.5
.1
.6
.4
II»
III»
Specified adjustments:
Total compensation 1 adjustm ents,2 settlements
covering 5,000 workers or more:
First year of contract ............................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t.........
Wage adjustments, settlements covering 1,000
workers or more:
First year of contract ....................
Annual rate over life of contract ...
3.4
3.0
3.6
2.8
3.1
2.6
2.8
2.4
2.4
2.8
40
.8
3.7
.8
1.1
.6
2.5
.6
2.0
.9
.2
3.3
Effective adjustments:
Total effective wage adjustm ent3 ........................
From settlements reached In period ....
Deferred from settlements reached in earlier
p erio ds................................
From cost-of-living-adjustments c la u s e s .......
*
---------- w
----- a — i
—
u mp i u j o i o
uuoi
ui
o m p iu y e e
benefits when contract is negotiated.
2 Adjustments are the net result of increases, decreases and no changes in
84
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
.3
compensation or wages.
3 Because of rounding total may not equal sum of parts.
p = preliminary.
26. Average specified compensation and wage adjustments, major collective bargaining settlements in private
industry situations covering 1,000 workers or more during 4-quarter periods (in percent)
Average for four quarters endingMeasure
1985
1984
1983
I
IV
III
II
IP
IV
IIP
HIP
Specified total compensation adjustments, settlements covering 5,000
workers or more, all industries:
3.4
3.0
4.8
3.6
4.7
3.5
4.2
3.2
3.6
2.8
3.4
2.7
3.5
2.8
3.1
2.8
2.6
1.9
3.3
2.8
2.0
3.7
3.5
4.0
3.0
3.0
2.6
3.4
3.5
4.6
2.7
3.1
2.9
3.2
3.2
4.5
2.3
2.8
2.8
2.8
2.4
2.9
2.1
2.4
1.8
2.7
2.4
2.5
2.4
2.3
1.3
2.8
2.4
2.3
2.4
2.4
1.6
2.8
2.3
2.0
2.6
2.4
1.8
2.9
.4
-.7
3.2
2.1
1.4
3.9
2.6
2.4
2.9
2.8
2.2
3.7
3.0
3.2
2.8
3.1
2.8
3.6
2.6
1.5
3.7
2.8
1.8
3.8
2.3
2.1
2.9
1.5
1.0
3.3
2.1
2.0
2.5
1.4
.9
3.2
2.0
1.9
2.2
1.4
1.0
3.0
1.5
1.5
1.4
1.6
1.4
2.4
3.8
4.4
3.3
3.2
2.6
3.7
3.8
49
3.0
3.1
2.9
3.3
3.7
5.2
2.6
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.3
5.4
2.1
2.8
3.1
2.6
2.5
5.5
2.0
2.9
4.8
2.6
2.6
5.1
2.4
2.8
4.0
2.7
2.7
4.3
2.5
2.9
3.8
2.8
3.1
4.0
2.9
3.2
3.9
3.1
1.5
-.6
1.9
2.4
.9
2.6
1.2
.1
1.4
2.0
.7
2.2
.8
-.4
.9
1.7
.0
1.8
.9
4.0
.9
1.4
1.4
1.4
.5
4.0
.4
1.0
1.4
1.0
.9
4.6
.8
1.4
1.7
1.4
1.1
9.2
1.0
1.8
4.6
1.7
Specified wage adjustments, settlements covering 1,000 workers or
more:
All industries
First year of contract ................................................................................
Manufacturing
First year of contract ................................................................................
Nonmanufacturing
First year of c o n tra c t................................................................................
Construction
First year of contract ................................................................................
1 Data do not meet publication standards.
p
= preliminary.
27. Average effective wage adjustments, private industry collective bargaining situations covering 1,000
workers or more during 4-quarter periods (in percent)
Average for four quarters ending1985
1984
Effective wage adjustment
I
II
III
IV
IP
IIP
IMP
4.7
1.2
2.5
1.0
4.3
1.0
2.2
1.1
4.2
1.0
2.1
1.2
3.7
.8
2.0
.9
3.6
.7
2.2
.7
3.5
.9
1.9
.7
3.4
.8
1.8
.8
5.5
4.2
5.5
3.6
5.3
3.6
4.9
4.0
5.0
3.7
4.2
3.2
4.4
3.0
4.0
2.7
4.5
2.9
4.2
2.3
4.2
2.9
3.9
2.3
4.3
2.8
3.7
2.8
For all workers:1
T o ta l................................................................................................................
From settlements reached in period .....................................................
Deferred from settlements reached in earlier period ..........................
From cost-of-living-adjustments c la u s e s ...............................................
For workers receiving changes:
T o ta l................................................................................................................
From settlements reached in period ......................................................
Deferred from settlements reached in earlier p e rio d ..........................
From cost-of-living-adjustments c la u s e s ...............................................
Because of rounding total may not equal sum of parts.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
= preliminary.
1.0
(1)
(’ )
1.7
(1)
(’ )
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Current Labor Statistics: Price Data
28. Specified compensation and wage adjustments from contract settlements, and effective wage adjustments, State and
local government collective bargaining situations covering 1,000 workers or more (in percent)
Annual average
First 6 months
1985p
Measure
1983
1984
5.2
5.4
4.9
-
5.1
5.1
16
-
5.0
19
3.1
.0
Specified adjustments:
Total compensation 1 adjustments, 2 settlements covering 5,000 workers or more:
First year of contract ..................................................
Annual rate over life of contract ......................................
Wage adjustments, settlements covering 1,000 workers or more:
First year of contract ......................................................
Annual rate over life of contract ...............................
Effective adjustments:
Total effective wage adjustment 3 ......................................................
From settlements reached in p erio d...........................
Deferred from settlements reached in earlier periods ..............
From cost-of-living-adjustment c la u s e s ..............................
1 Compensation includes wages, salaries, and employers’ cost of employee
benefits when contract is negotiated.
2 Adjustments are the net result of increases, decreases and no changes in
compensation or wages.
29.
8
.0
3 Because of rounding total may not equal sum of parts.
- Data not available.
p = preliminary.
Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more
Annual totals
1984
1985
Measure
1984
Number of stoppages:
Beginning in p e rio d .......................
In effect during p e rio d .................
Workers involved:
Beginning in period (in
thousands)....................................
In effect during period (in
thousands)....................................
Days idle:
Number (in thousands)................
Percent of estimated working
tim e1 ..............................................
62
68
”
376.0
391.0
-
8,499.0
.04
' Agricultural and government employees
working time: private household, forestry,
explanation of the measurement of idleness
found in “ Total Economy’ Measure of Strike
86
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1985
-
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
JulyP
Aug.p
Sept.p
Oct.p
Nov.p
Dec.p
3
13
2
9
4
13
4
12
3
8
2
8
2
8
9
13
6
18
11
20
4
18
42.5
4.7
29.3
15.2
6.2
6.9
15.7
52.3
15.3
69.5
74.6
25.0
8.2
59.0
16.0
43.9
48.2
14.1
14.8
28.5
60.2
66.8
93.9
117.3
64.6
38.1
655.8
278.3
259.3
698.5
229.5
203.3
454.3
500.2
869.7
931.4
1,433.0
651.2
665.4
.04
.01
.01
.03
.01
.01
.02
.02
.03
.04
.06
.03
.03
are included in the total employed and total
and fishery employees are excluded. An
as a percentage of the total time worked is
idleness.” Monthly Labor Review, October
1968, pp. 54-56.
- Data not available.
p = preliminary.
2
11
2
8
30. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: U.S. city average, by expenditure category and commodity
service group; and CPI for urban wage earners and clerical workers, All Items
(1967-100, unless otherwise indicated)
Series
Annual
average
1984
1985
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
322.2
374.7
315.5
367.0
316.1
367.6
317.4
369.1
318.8
370.7
320.1
372.3
321.3
373.7
322.3
374.8
322.8
375.5
323.5
376.2
295.1
302.9
292.6
305.3
266.6
253.2
317.4
352.2
389.1
288.0
443.0
284.9
333.4
222.1
302.0
309.8
296.8
317.0
263.4
258.0
325.7
361.1
398.8
294.4
451.7
294.2
346.6
229.5
297.2
305.1
293.2
310.7
265.9
258.4
309.7
354.6
391.7
293.7
443.4
287.7
339.2
223.9
299.3
307.3
296.1
312.4
266.6
258.8
320.8
358.0
394.5
295.9
449.4
289.6
339.9
224.3
301.4
309.5
298.6
313.7
267.0
259.2
333.0
359.8
394.8
295.1
452.7
291.5
341.4
225.8
301.6
309.7
298.4
314.4
266.1
258.9
332.1
360.5
394.8
294.9
454.0
292.2
342.6
226.5
301.6
309.6
297.7
314.8
263.6
258.3
333.2
360.8
396.1
294.0
454.0
292.8
343.9
226.7
301.0
308.9
296.2
315.9
259.8
258.4
330.3
361.3
397.6
294.0
454.1
293.4
345.1
227.7
301.4
309.3
296.0
317.3
259.8
257.8
329.0
360.8
398.3
296.0
451.5
293.4
346.9
227.8
301.6
309.5
296.2
317.3
260.5
257.8
328.9
360.6
400.2
297.8
448.2
294.5
347.3
227.8
Housing ...................................................................................................
Shelter ..................................................................................................
Renters’ costs ( 1 2 /8 2 = 1 0 0 )........................................................
Rent, reside ntial............................................................................
Other renters’ costs .....................................................................
Homeowners’ costs (12/82 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................................
Owners’ equivalent rent (12/82 = 100) .....................................
Household insurance (12/82 = 1 0 0 )..........................................
Maintenance and re p a irs ................................................................
Maintenance and repair services ..............................................
Maintenance and repair com m odities.......................................
Fuel and other u tilitie s .......................................................................
Fuels ..................................................................................................
Fuel oil, coal, and bottled g a s ....................................................
Gas (piped) and electricity ..........................................................
Other utilities and public s e rv ic e s ................................................
Household furnishings and ope ratio ns...........................................
Housefurnishings .............................................................................
Housekeeping supp lie s...................................................................
Housekeeping services...................................................................
336.5
361.7
108.6
249.3
373.4
107.3
107.3
107.5
359.2
409.7
262.7
387.3
485.5
641.8
445.2
230.2
242.5
199.1
303.2
327.5
349.9
382.0
115.4
264.6
398.4
113.1
113.2
112.4
368.9
421.1
269.6
393.6
488.1
619.5
452.7
240.7
247.2
200.1
313.6
338.9
341.2
370.1
111.3
256.1
375.1
109.8
109.8
108.9
364.4
414.2
267.7
386.0
480.2
625.9
442.2
234.1
244.2
199.7
307.5
330.6
342.0
371.2
111.8
257.1
378.5
110.0
110.0
109.0
366.0
414.7
269.9
387.2
481.2
621.6
444.1
235.3
244.2
198.8
309.9
331.3
343.6
373.3
112.4
258.4
381.9
110.7
110.7
109.5
366.8
415.8
270.5
386.5
480.8
623.4
443.3
234.3
246.2
200.7
311.5
333.9
344.7
374.3
112.9
259.2
386.1
110.8
110.9
110.4
370.0
422.2
270.6
388.2
482.2
620.8
445.5
236.3
246.9
200.6
311.8
337.4
345.9
375.9
113.5
260.4
390.9
111.3
111.3
111.4
368.0
418.2
270.4
388.7
483.0
623.5
445.9
236.4
247.9
201.7
312.6
337.9
348.5
379.5
114.5
262.6
396.5
112.4
112.5
112.0
366.2
416.0
269.2
393.0
490.0
620.8
454.7
236.8
247.6
201.2
312.9
338.0
350.4
381.0
115.1
263.6
401.6
112.8
112.8
112.7
367.6
423.2
265.7
399.4
497.7
612.0
465.6
241.1
247.1
200.0
313.6
338.3
Apparel and upkeep .............................................................................
Apparel com m o dities.........................................................................
Men’s and boys’ a p p a re l................................................................
W omen’s and girls' apparel ...........................................................
Infants’ and toddlers’ a p p a re l........................................................
F ootw ear............................................................................................
Other apparel com m odities............................................................
Apparel se rvice s .................................................................................
200.2
187.0
192.4
163.6
287.0
209.5
216.4
305.0
206.0
191.6
197.9
169.5
299.7
212.1
215.5
320.9
203.2
189.6
196.0
167.2
291.9
211.4
213.3
311.5
199.8
185.7
193.2
161.3
290.3
208.6
212.2
312.5
201.8
187.5
192.8
164.1
298.8
210.1
215.5
316.0
205.3
191.3
195.2
169.9
302.1
213.1
216.9
317.1
205.9
191.8
197.4
170.0
295.3
213.2
215.8
318.4
205.3
191.0
197.8
168.0
298.3
213.2
215.1
319.4
Transportation ........................................................................................
Private transportation.........................................................................
New ve h icle s ....................................................................................
New c a rs .........................................................................................
Used c a r s ..........................................................................................
Motor fuel ..........................................................................................
G a soline..........................................................................................
Maintenance and re p a ir..................................................................
Other private tran sportation...........................................................
Other private transportation com m o dities................................
Other private transportation se rvice s........................................
Public tran sportation..........................................................................
311.7
306.6
208.0
208.5
375.7
370.7
370.2
341.5
273.3
201.5
295.0
385.2
319.9
314.2
214.9
215.2
379.7
373.8
373.3
351.4
287.6
202.6
312.8
402.8
315.8
310.4
211.6
212.0
382.7
366.4
365.7
346.2
282.3
202.2
306.2
392.8
314.7
309.1
212.7
213.1
382.8
357.6
356.8
346.9
283.9
202.0
308.3
394.5
314.3
308.7
213.6
213.9
384.6
352.4
351.6
348.2
284.4
203.8
308.5
394.4
316.7
311.0
213.8
214.1
386.1
360.6
360.0
348.5
284.5
201.9
309.1
397.3
320.0
314.6
213.9
214.1
386.4
374.2
373.8
348.2
285.8
202.8
310.5
398.0
Medical c a r e ...........................................................................................
Medical care com m o dities................................................................
Medical care se rvice s........................................................................
Professional se rv ic e s ......................................................................
Other medical care se rv ic e s ..........................................................
379.5
239.7
410.3
346.1
488.0
403.1
256.7
435.1
367.3
517.0
388.5
247.3
419.3
354.0
498.2
391.1
248.2
422.4
356.8
501.7
393.8
249.8
425.3
359.3
505.2
396.5
251.9
428.1
361.9
508.0
Entertainment .........................................................................................
Entertainment commodities ..............................................................
Entertainment se rvice s......................................................................
255.1
253.3
258.3
265.0
260.6
271.8
260.1
256.8
265.5
261.0
257.1
267.0
261.3
257.9
266.7
Other goods and services ...................................................................
Tobacco products ..............................................................................
Personal c a re ......................................................................................
Toilet goods and personal care appliances................................
Personal care services ...................................................................
Personal and educational expenses...............................................
School books and supp lie s............................................................
Personal and educational s e rv ic e s ..............................................
307.7
310.0
271.4
269.6
274.1
365.7
322.8
375.6
326.6
328.5
281.9
278.5
286.0
397.1
350.8
407.7
316.7
314.6
276.6
273.5
280.4
384.3
334.0
395.5
319.1
321.0
277.2
274.0
281.1
385.6
340.7
395.9
320.5
323.2
278.2
275.4
281.7
386.9
343.8
396.9
1984
1985
All items .....................................................................................................
All items (1 9 5 7 -5 9 -1 0 0 )........................................................................
311.1
361.9
Food and beverages ............................................................................
F o o d ......................................................................................................
Food at home ..................................................................................
Cereals and bakery p ro d u c ts ......................................................
Meats, poultry, fish, and e g g s .....................................................
Dairy p ro d u c ts ...............................................................................
Fruits and vegetables...................................................................
Other foods at h o m e ....................................................................
Sugar and s w e e ts ......................................................................
Fats and o ils ...............................................................................
Nonalcoholic beverages............................................................
Other prepared fo o d s ................................................................
Food away from home ...................................................................
Alcoholic beverages...........................................................................
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
324.5
377.4
325.5
378.5
326.6
379.9
327.4
380.8
301.8
309.7
295.9
318.5
259.7
257.4
326.3
361.7
401.8
297.1
449.6
295.8
348.4
228.9
302.1
309.9
295.6
319.2
260.6
258.0
319.9
362.6
401.1
294.8
452.8
296.3
349.9
229.3
302.5
309.8
295.3
318.9
261.1
257.1
317.1
363.0
402.6
291.2
454.1
296.8
350.3
236.4
303.6
311.0
296.6
319.9
266.1
257.1
314.3
362.2
401.4
292.1
451.7
296.8
351.3
236.2
305.6
313.2
299.3
321.9
269.9
256.9
323.9
361.3
402.2
290.3
448.8
297.3
352.1
236.2
351.6
383.2
115.8
265.0
405.1
113.5
113.5
112.7
367.8
421.1
267.8
399.9
497.3
601.9
467.1
242.8
246.5
198.8
313.1
339.8
352.9
385.9
116.6
266.6
409.9
114.3
114.3
113.0
370.6
425.1
269.2
398.9
494.4
594.6
465.1
244.2
247.0
199.1
313.5
340.7
353.8
386.9
117.0
267.7
410.7
114.6
114.6
113.7
368.7
421.9
268.6
400.5
496.8
601.7
466.5
244.6
247.1
199.0
313.9
341.5
354.4
389.1
117.9
269.9
412.5
115.1
115.1
114.6
368.5
422.2
268.0
395.6
488.4
615.3
453.9
244.7
248.4
200.3
315.7
342.2
355.0
391.3
118.4
271.7
408.7
115.8
115.9
114.5
372.7
426.4
271.5
392.1
481.5
641.6
440.5
245.9
248.9
200.8
316.4
342.7
355.8
392.3
118.3
272.4
398.1
116.3
116.3
115.0
373.7
426.2
273.3
393.3
483.6
657.3
439.9
245.8
248.8
200.1
317.7
343.2
204.6
190.2
196.4
166.5
300.7
213.9
216.3
319.9
202.8
188.0
194.5
163.4
294.5
211.4
216.7
321.4
205.3
190.6
197.2
167.7
300.6
210.3
217.5
322.9
209.6
195.3
201.5
176.1
302.0
210.9
215.2
324.1
211.1
196.7
203.2
177.9
302.1
212.3
214.9
325.7
211.2
196.8
203.6
176.5
307.0
215.5
214.9
326.3
209.0
194.2
202.0
172.6
304.1
213.1
214.6
326.9
321.4
316.0
214.2
214.5
384.2
381.6
381.4
349.6
285.6
201.3
310.7
398.4
321.8
316.3
214.3
214.7
380.3
384.7
384.5
350.4
286.6
203.9
311.3
399.3
321.8
316.1
214.3
214.7
376.7
385.5
385.3
351.1
287.6
202.2
313.0
402.4
320.7
314.9
214.2
214.6
374.0
381.9
381.8
351.9
287.7
202.8
313.0
403.7
319.7
313.6
214.2
214.5
374.3
377.7
377.4
353.5
285.8
203.4
310.4
408.0
320.9
314.7
215.9
216.2
375.3
374.6
374.2
355.7
289.6
202.8
315.4
411.5
323.2
317.0
218.2
218.4
376.4
376.7
376.1
355.8
293.9
201.6
321.2
412.8
324.0
317.8
219.2
219.4
375.6
377.5
376.8
357.5
295.2
202.1
322.7
412.9
398.0
253.9
429.4
363.0
509.6
399.5
255.2
430.9
364.5
511.2
401.7
257.0
433.0
366.4
513.6
404.0
257.8
435.8
368.1
517.6
406.6
259.3
438.6
370.0
521.6
408.3
260.2
440.5
371.7
523.9
410.5
261.3
443.0
373.2
527.4
413.0
262.7
445.8
375.5
530.8
414.7
262.9
448.0
377.1
533.6
262.2
258.7
267.6
263.3
259.5
269.2
263.6
259.5
269.9
264.8
260.1
272.0
265.7
260.8
273.3
265.7
260.5
273.6
266.8
262.5
273.3
268.4
264.0
275.2
269.0
264.0
276.6
268.3
262.5
277.1
321.1
323.7
278.7
276.0
282.0
387.6
343.9
397.8
321.8
324.0
279.8
277.1
283.3
388.3
344.5
398.5
322.3
324.1
280.9
277.5
285.0
388.5
344.5
398.8
323.0
324.8
281.7
277.9
286.1
389.1
344.9
399.4
325.0
330.0
282.3
278.9
286.3
390.1
345.5
400.4
326.0
331.5
283.3
279.4
287.7
390.7
346.1
401.1
333.3
332.8
284.1
280.6
288.2
412.5
362.1
423.9
334.9
334.4
285.0
281.4
289.2
414.7
364.5
426.2
335.3
334.7
285.4
281.1
290.2
415.4
364.7
426.9
336.5
337.4
286.3
282.5
290.6
415.5
364.7
427.0
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR ALL URBAN CONSUMERS:
See footnotes at end of table.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
87
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
• Current Labor Statistics: Price Data
30. Continued
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: U.S. city average, by expenditure category and commodity
service group; and CPI for urban wage earners and clerical workers, All items
(1967-100, unless otherwise indicated)
Series
All ite m s ..............................................................
C om m odities.....................................................
Food and beverages............................................
Commodities less food and beverages.........................
Nondurables less food and beverages .......................
Apparel com m odities..................................................
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel ...........
Durables................................................................
Annual
average
1984
1985
1984
1985
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
311.1
280.7
295.1
322.2
286.7
302.0
315.5
282.8
297.2
316.1
282.7
299.3
317.4
284.0
301.4
318.8
285.3
301.6
320.1
286.8
301.6
321.3
287.0
301.0
322.3
286.9
301.4
322.8
286.5
301.6
323.5
286.5
301.8
_
_
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
324.5
287.1
302.1
325.5
287.9
302.5
326.6
289.2
303 6
327.4
289.9
305 6
-
-
-
_
_
275.7
187.0
325.8
266.5
282.1
191.6
333.3
270.7
277.0
189.6
326.6
269.8
274.4
185.7
324.5
270.2
274.7
187.5
324.2
271.4
277.9
191.3
327.1
271.9
281.5
191.8
332.3
272.6
283.1
191.0
335.1
271.6
283.5
190.2
336.2
270.4
282.9
188.0
336.4
269.3
283.1
190.6
335.4
268.6
284.6
195.3
335.3
268.7
285.3
196.7
335.6
270.2
286.8
196.8
337.8
271.5
286.8
194 2
339.1
271.4
S e rvices.........................................................
Rent of sh e lte r......................................
Household services less rent of shelter ........................................
Transportation s e rv ic e s ..............................
Medical care se rvice s...........................................
Other services .............................................
363.0
107.7
108.1
321.1
410.3
296.0
381.5
113.9
111.2
337.0
435.1
314.1
370.6
110.3
108.5
330.1
419.3
306.1
372.1
110.6
108.9
331.8
422.4
307.1
373.5
111.3
108.9
332.2
425.3
307.8
375.0
111.5
109.7
333.2
428.1
308.6
376.2
112.0
109.8
334.1
429.4
309.9
378.9
113.2
110.9
334.5
430.9
310.7
381.3
113.6
112.7
335.3
433.0
312.0
383.3
114.3
113.2
337.0
435.8
313.0
384.9
115.1
113.2
337.4
438.6
313.8
386.5
115.4
113.5
337.1
440.5
319.7
387.7
116.1
112.1
341.1
443.0
321.4
388.7
116.7
110.8
344.7
445.8
322.5
389.5
117.0
110.8
346.1
448.0
322.9
Special indexes:
All items less food ...................................
All items less shelter .......................
All items less homeowners’ costs ...................................................
All items less medical c a r e ............................
Commodities less fo o d ................................
Nondurables less food ................................
Nondurables less food and apparel ...............................................
N o ndurables................................................
Services less rent of sh e lte r.............................................................
Services less medical c a r e ...............................................................
E nergy..............................................
All items less energy ......................................
All items less food and energy .................................
Commodities less food and e n e rg y ..............
Energy commodities ...............................
Services less ene rgy...................................................
311.3
295.1
106.3
307.3
267.0
270.8
311.9
286.6
108.5
355.6
423.6
302.9
301.2
253.1
409.8
356.4
323.3
303.9
109.7
317.7
272.5
277.2
319.2
293.2
113.5
373.3
426.5
314.8
314.4
259.7
409.9
375.9
316.2
298.6
107.6
311.5
269.2
272.2
312.8
288.3
110.6
363.0
418.9
308.2
307.3
256.7
404.1
365.0
316.3
298.9
107.8
311.9
267.8
269.7
310.9
288.0
111.1
364.3
414.5
309.2
307.9
256.5
395.7
366.4
317.4
300.0
108.2
313.1
268.6
270.2
310.8
289.2
111.3
365.5
411.4
310.9
309.5
258.1
391.3
368.0
319.1
301.5
108.7
314.5
270.6
273.2
313.5
291.0
111.9
366.9
416.6
312.0
310.8
259.3
398.3
369.4
320.8
302.8
109.2
315.8
272.8
276.5
318.1
292.7
112.2
368.1
424.4
312.7
311.8
260.0
410.8
370.7
322.4
303.4
109.5
317.0
273.4
278.0
320.7
293.3
112.8
370.9
431.7
313.3
312.8
259.6
417.0
372.9
323.6
304.3
109.8
317.9
273.1
278.4
321.7
293.7
113.7
373.3
436.8
313.9
313.4
259.0
418.7
374.6
324.2
304.4
109.9
318.4
272.4
277.9
321.9
293.5
114.2
375.2
437.1
314.5
314.1
258.2
418.1
376.6
325.0
304.6
110.1
318.9
272.3
278.1
321.1
293.7
114.5
376.7
433.8
315.6
315.3
258.8
414.0
378.6
326.2
305.7
110.4
319.9
273.1
279.6
321.0
294.6
115.0
378.3
432.6
316.8
316.9
260.2
411.2
380.2
327.4
306.3
110.7
320.8
274.4
280.7
322.0
295.1
115.1
379.3
427.1
318.4
318.9
262.0
410.1
382.5
328.5
307.2
111.1
321.9
275.7
282.0
324.0
296.4
115.2
380.1
425.1
319.8
320.4
262.7
415.2
384.8
328.9
307.9
111.3
322.6
275.7
282.0
325.1
297 4
115.4
380.8
426.5
320.5
320.7
262.2
417.9
385.8
32.1
27.6
31.0
26.7
31.7
27.2
31.6
27.2
31.5
27.1
31.4
27.0
31.2
26.9
31.1
26.8
31.0
26.7
31.0
26.6
30.9
26.6
30.8
26.5
30.7
26.4
30.6
26.3
30.5
26.3
307.6
357.7
318.5
370.4
312.2
363.1
312.6
363.6
313.9
365.1
315.3
366.7
316.7
368.3
317.8
369.6
318.7
370.6
319.1
371.2
319.6
371.8
320.5
372.7
321.3
373.7
322.6
375.1
323.4
376.1
Food and beverages ....................................
F o o d ....................................................................
Food at home ...................................
Cereals and bakery pro d u c ts ......................................................
Meats, poultry, fish, and e g g s .....................................................
Dairy p ro d u cts ................................................
Fruits and vegetables....................................
Other foods at h o m e ..............................
Sugar and sw e e ts ........................................
Fats and o ils ...............................................
Nonalcoholic beverages..................
Other prepared fo o d s .........................
Food away from home ..................................
Alcoholic beverages.................................
295.2
302.7
291.2
303.7
266.0
252.2
312.5
352.7
388.6
287.5
444.4
286.4
336.7
225.3
301.8
309.3
295.3
315.4
262.7
256.9
320.3
361.5
398.3
293.9
453.2
295.7
349.7
232.6
297.1
304.7
291.7
309.0
265.3
257.3
303.9
354.9
391.4
293.1
444.7
289.1
342.3
227.2
299.1
306.9
294.5
310.7
266.0
257.8
314.9
358.3
394.0
295.3
450.9
290.9
343.0
227.6
301.2
309.0
297.0
311.9
266.3
258.3
327.1
360.2
394.4
294.7
454.2
292.9
344.6
229.1
301.6
309.3
296.9
312.7
265.6
257.8
326.8
361.0
394.2
294.3
455.5
293.7
345.8
229.9
301.4
309.2
296.1
313.1
262.9
257.2
328.1
361.3
395.5
293.7
455.6
294.2
347.1
229.9
300.8
308.4
294.6
314.1
259.2
257.3
324.8
361.6
396.9
293.6
455.4
294.9
348.4
230.8
301.2
308.8
294.5
315.7
259.3
256.7
323.5
361.3
398.0
295.6
453.0
295.0
350.1
231.0
301.4
309.0
294.6
315.7
259.7
256.6
323.9
361.1
399.8
297.3
449.8
296.1
350.4
231.0
301.6
309.1
294.3
316.8
259.0
256.3
320.6
362.2
401.4
296.5
451.2
297.3
351.5
232.2
301.8
309.3
294.0
317.6
259.9
256.8
313.6
362.9
400.8
294.1
454.1
297.7
353.0
232.6
302.2
309.3
293.7
317.3
260.4
255.9
311.2
363.4
402.2
290.6
455.6
298.3
353.4
239.1
303.4
310.6
295.2
318.2
265.4
255.9
309.4
362.5
400.9
291.8
453.1
298.3
354.4
238.8
305.4
312.8
297 9
320.4
269.2
255.7
319.3
361.6
401.8
289.6
450.4
298 7
355 2
239.1
Housing ..........................................
Shelter ................................................
Renters’ costs (12/84 = 1 0 0 )..........................
Rent, reside ntial....................................
Other renters’ costs ..................................
Homeowners’ costs (1 2 /8 4 = 1 0 0 )............
Owners’ equivalent rent (12/84 = 100) ...........
Household insurance (12/84 = 1 0 0 )................
Maintenance and re p a irs........................
Maintenance and repair services ...............................................
Maintenance and repair com m odities.......................................
Fuel and other u tilitie s ..................................
329.2
350.0
343.3
370.4
335.0
359.0
335.7
360.0
337.2
362.0
338.2
363.0
339.5
364.7
342.1
368.1
344.0
369.5
345.0
371.5
346.2
374.0
347.2
375.0
347.5
377.1
348.3
379.3
349.1
380.4
248.6
372.4
263.7
397.9
255.3
374.6
256.3
377.8
257.5
380.8
258.4
385.3
259.6
391.0
261.8
396.7
262.7
401.0
264.1
405.2
265.7
409.6
266.8
409.8
268.9
411.6
270.7
408.0
271.5
397.5
_
_
_
_
Purchasing power of the consumer dollar:
1 9 6 7 = $ 1 .0 0 .......................................
1 9 5 7 -5 9 = 5 1 .0 0 ..............................................
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR URBAN WAGE EARNERS
AND CLERICAL WORKERS:
All items ..........................................................
All items (1957-59 = 1 0 0 )..........................
Fuel oil, coal, and bottled gas ......................
Gas (piped) and electricity ...............................
Other utilities and public se rv ic e s ................................................
Household furnishings and ope ratio ns...........................................
Housefurnishings ..............................
Housekeeping supp lie s..........................
Housekeeping services.......................
Apparel and upkeep .............................................
See footnotes at end of table.
Digitized for
88 FRASER
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
_
_
_
_
_
356.3
403.5
257.2
388.6
485.0
644.3
444.1
231.2
239.1
197.0
300.2
328.0
364.1
415.0
261.1
394.7
487.5
622.0
451.6
241.6
243.4
197.6
310.7
340.2
359.8
407.7
259.3
387.1
479.7
628.4
441.0
235.0
240.5
197.3
304.6
331.1
360.9
407.8
260.8
388.3
480.7
623.9
443.2
236.3
240.4
196.3
306.9
331.8
361.5
408.8
261.1
387.5
480.3
625.7
442.3
235.1
242.6
198.3
308.5
334.9
364.3
414.8
261.6
389.2
481.6
623.1
444.4
237.2
243.2
198.2
308.9
338.5
363.1
411.7
261.6
389.7
482.3
625.9
444.6
237.3
244.1
199.2
309.8
339.0
361.8
410.1
260.7
393.8
488.9
623.2
453.0
237.7
244.0
198.9
310.0
339.2
362.9
417.0
258.4
400.9
497.7
614.3
465.1
242.0
243.3
197.6
310.8
339.5
363.4
415.3
260.0
401.2
497.0
604.2
466.3
243.7
242.6
196.2
310.3
341.0
365.6
419.6
260.6
400.1
494.0
596.9
464.2
245.1
243.1
196.6
310.4
342.2
364.4
416.8
260.5
401.9
496.7
604.3
465.9
245.6
243.2
196.5
311.0
342.9
364.6
417.4
260.5
396.3
487.2
618.1
452.0
245.7
244.5
197.7
312.7
343.9
367.7
420.9
262.7
393.2
481.0
644.3
439.5
246 8
245.1
198.3
313.5
344.5
368 5
420 1
264.2
394.3
483.1
659.9
438 8
246 7
245.2
197.8
315.0
345.0
199.1
205.0
202.1
198.5
200.7
204.2
204.9
204.2
203.7
201.8
204.3
208.7
210.2
210.2
208.1
30. Continued— Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: U.S. city average, by expenditure category and commodity
service group; and CPI for urban wage earners and clerical workers, All items
(1967-100, unless otherwise indicated)
Series
1985
1984
Ann jal
avereige
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
195.1
201.8
178.2
314.9
211.0
202.5
321.6
196.6
203.5
180.0
314.8
212.6
202.4
323.2
196.5
203.7
178.3
320.7
215.9
202.5
323.6
194.1
202.2
174.5
317.3
213.6
202.4
324.4
322.3
318.0
213.5
213.9
374.0
383.8
383.7
352.9
287.6
204.9
312.1
393.5
321.1
316.6
213.5
213.8
374.3
379.5
379.2
354.5
285.2
205.6
308.9
396.8
322.2
317.6
215.3
215.5
375.3
376.3
375.8
356.9
289.2
205.0
314.1
399.3
324.6
320.1
217.5
217.8
376.4
378.7
378.1
357.2
293.7
203.7
320.2
400.1
325.3
320.8
218.6
218.8
375.6
379.6
378.9
359.0
294.7
204.3
321.3
400.2
402.0
257.4
433.3
368.5
514.4
404.5
259.0
436.1
370.4
518.4
406.3
259.8
438.1
372.1
520.7
408.5
260.9
440.6
373.7
524.4
410.9
262.2
443.2
375.8
527.5
412.6
262.3
445.4
377.6
530.4
260.1
253.9
272.0
260.9
254.5
273.2
260.8
254.3
273.3
261.6
256.0
272.6
263.0
257.1
274.6
263.7
257.2
276.3
263.0
255.7
276.8
318.8
323.6
278.6
277.8
279.7
390.9
349.5
401.2
319.5
324.4
279.2
278.2
280.7
391.6
349.9
401.9
321.8
329.7
279.9
279.2
280.9
392.5
350.6
402.9
322.9
331.1
280.9
280.0
282.2
393.2
351.2
403.6
328.7
332.4
281.8
281.1
282.8
414.5
366.9
426.1
330.1
334.0
282.7
282.0
283.7
416.5
369.2
428.1
330.5
334.3
283.1
281.9
284.8
417.3
369.3
428.9
331.9
337.1
284.0
283.3
285.2
417.4
369.4
429.1
316.7
286.7
301.4
276.3
283.2
191.5
333.1
267.3
317.8
286.8
300.8
277.5
284.9
190.7
336.0
266.3
318.7
286.8
301.2
277.7
285.4
190.0
337.2
265.1
319.1
286.4
301.4
285.0
187.8
337.6
263.8
319.6
286.3
301.6
285.1
190.4
336.6
263.1
320.5
286.8
301.8
321.3
287.6
302.2
322.6
288.9
303.4
286.5
195.1
336.4
263.1
287.0
196.6
336.5
264.5
288.5
196.5
338.8
265.7
323.4
289.7
305.4
“
288.7
194.1
340.1
265.7
371.0
-
372.2
374.9
377.4
379.2
-
380.7
382.0
383.0
384.2
385.1
“
339.3
443.2
317.8
340.5
445.4
318.3
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
191.3
198.2
171.3
311.7
212.5
203.1
318.5
189.2
196.8
168.6
302.9
211.7
201.0
309.3
185.1
193.6
162.1
299.7
209.5
199.9
310.2
187.2
193.1
165.8
310.1
210.8
203.0
313.6
190.9
195.7
171.5
314.5
213.4
204.2
314.7
191.5
197.8
172.0
306.4
213.3
203.3
316.1
190.7
198.2
169.7
310.6
213.3
202.7
317.0
190.0
196.6
168.4
313.5
214.1
204.0
317.6
187.8
194.8
165.5
306.4
211.6
204.5
319.0
190.4
197.3
169.9
311.2
210.5
205.2
320.5
Gasoline.................................................................................
Maintenance and repair............................................................
Other private transportation.....................................................
Other private transportation commodities.............................
Other private transportation services.....................................
Public transportation............ .......................................................
313.9
310.1
207.3
207.9
375.7
372.2
371.8
342.2
274.2
203.9
295.4
376.8
321.6
317.4
214.2
214.5
379.7
375.4
375.0
352.6
287.7
204.7
312.3
391.7
317.9
313.9
210.8
211.3
382.6
367.8
367.1
347.1
283.3
204.7
306.7
382.8
316.7
312.6
212.0
212.4
382.8
359.0
358.2
347.9
284.7
204.2
308.6
384.2
316.3
312.2
212.8
213.1
384.6
354.0
353.2
349.2
285.2
206.1
308.7
384.2
318.7
314.6
213.2
213.4
386.2
362.2
361.6
349.6
285.1
204.2
309.2
386.7
322.0
318.0
213.2
213.4
386.4
375.7
375.3
349.3
286.3
205.1
310.4
387.4
323.3
319.4
213.5
213.8
384.2
383.0
382.7
350.6
285.9
203.5
310.4
387.6
323.6
319.6
213.6
214.0
380.3
386.2
386.0
351.5
286.9
205.9
310.9
388.4
323.5
319.3
213.6
214.0
376.7
387.2
387.0
352.2
287.7
204.3
312.4
392.1
Medical c a re ...................................................................................
Medical care commodities..........................................................
Medical care services..................................................................
Professional services................................................................
Other medical care services.....................................................
377.7
239.7
407.9
346.5
484.7
401.2
256.3
432.7
367.7
513.9
386.7
247.2
417.0
354.4
495.3
389.3
248.0
420.1
357.2
498.8
392.0
249.6
423.1
359.7
502.3
394.6
251.5
425.7
362.4
505.0
396.1
253.5
427.1
363.6
506.6
397.7
254.8
428.7
365.0
508.2
399.8
256.7
430.7
366.8
510.5
Entertainment.................................................................................
Entertainment commodities ........................................................
Entertainment services................................................................
251.2
247.7
258.5
260.1
254.2
271.6
255.8
250.9
265.6
256.6
251.1
267.4
256.9
251.9
266.8
257.3
252.2
267.4
258.6
253.2
269.2
258.9
253.1
270.0
Other goods and services .............................................................
Tobacco products........................................................ ...............
Personal care...............................................................................
Toilet goods and personal care appliances.............................
Personal care services.............................................................
Personal and educational expenses...........................................
School books and supplies......................................................
Personal and educational services..........................................
304.9
309.7
269.4
270.3
268.8
368.2
327.5
378.2
322.7
328.1
279.6
279.0
280.5
399.3
355.7
410.1
312.8
314.2
274.4
274.2
275.0
386.4
338.9
397.8
315.6
320.8
274.9
274.6
275.7
387.9
345.5
398.3
317.1
323.0
275.9
275.9
276.3
389.3
348.7
399.4
317.6
323.4
276.3
276.5
276.5
390.1
348.8
400.3
318.3
323.6
277.5
277.5
278.0
390.7
349.4
401.0
All ite m s............................................................................................
Commodities..................................................................................
Food and beverages...................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages......................................
Nondurables less food and beverages ....................................
Apparel commodities..............................................................
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel ..................
Durables....................................................................................
307.6
280.4
295.2
269.3
277.5
186.6
327.0
261.1
318.5
286.5
301.8
283.8
191.3
334.2
265.2
312.2
282.7
297.1
271.8
278.7
189.2
327.5
264.6
312.6
282.5
299.1
270.7
275.8
185.1
325.2
264.9
313.9
283.8
301.2
271.4
276.2
187.2
324.7
266.2
315.3
285.2
301.6
273.6
279.4
190.9
327.8
266.7
Services..........................................................................................
Rent of shelter (12/84 —100).....................................................
Household services less rent of shelter (12/84—100)..............
Transportation services...............................................................
Medical care services..................................................................
Other services .............................................................................
358.0
377.3
-
366.8
-
368.3
369.6
Apparel commodities..................................................................
Men's and boys’ apparel..........................................................
Women's and girls' apparel .....................................................
Infants' and toddlers’ apparel...................................................
Other apparel commodities......................................................
Apparel services..........................................................................
Transportation ................................................................................
Private transportation...................................................................
New ca rs................................................................................
Special indexes:
All items less food ......................................................................
Nondurables less food and apparel ..........................................
All items less food and energy ..................................................
Commodities less food and energy...........................................
Purchasing power of the consumer dollar:
1967 —$1 00
.........................................................................
1957-59-$1.00..........................................................................
1984
1985
186.6
192.9
165.0
297.6
210.0
204.5
302.9
-
-
Sept.
-
-
-
-
317.2
407.9
292.9
332.2
432.7
310.1
326.1
417.0
302.3
327.7
420.1
303.5
328.1
423.1
304.2
328.8
425.7
304.9
329.6
427.1
306.2
329.9
428.7
307.2
330.6
430.7
308.4
332.2
433.3
309.3
332.4
436.1
310.1
331.4
438.1
315.0
335.5
440.6
316.7
307.5
295.1
319.4
303.4
312.7
298.3
312.7
298.6
313.7
299.7
315.4
301 1
317.2
302.4
312.6
273.3
278.2
319.1
293A
_
362.8 364.1
416.0 424.2
307.4 308.1
305.5 306.4
256.6 257.2
399.C 411.6
364.S 366.2
318.7
303.0
_
313.7
273.8
279.8
321.8
294.C
_
366.8
431.3
308.6
307.3
256.8
418.C
368.4
319.8
303.9
_
314.6
273.6
280.4
322.9
294.^
_
369.3
436.9
309.1
307.8
256.2
419.{
369.9
320.3
304.0
_
314.9
272.8
280.0
323.2
294.3
_
371.1
437.2
309.5
308.3
255.3
419.8
371.S
320.9
304.C
_
315.3
272.7
280.2
322.4
294.5
322.9
305.4
_
316.9
274.5
282.4
323.1
295.7
-
-
-
372.5
433.9
310.4
309.4
255.8
415.7
373.7
321.9
304. £
_■
316.1
273.4
281.5
322.3
295.2
373.6
432.5
311.5
310.7
257.2
412.6
374.9
374.5
426.6
313.0
312.7
258.8
411.2
377.3
375.5
425.4
314.5
314.2
259.5
416.3
379.8
376.2
426.8
315.3
314.6
259.2
418.9
380.8
31.6
27.2
31.E
27.1
31.27.C
31.C
26.£
31.3
26.£
31.2
26.6
31.'
26.6
31 .C
26.7
30.9
26.6
_
304.0
267.1
272.6
313.2
287.4
314.3
272.8
279.0
320.3
293.9
308.4
269.6
273.9
313.8
289.0
308.7
268.2
271.2
311.8
288.6
309.9
269.0
271.7
311.5
289.8
350.5
423.3
298.3
295.8
250.5
410.5
350.8
369.0
426.3
309.9
308.7
256.8
410.9
371.1
359.2
418.5
303.8
302.1
254.C
404.7
360.7
360.4
413.8
304.7
302.7
253.8
396.2
362.C
361.6
410.6
306.4
304.3
255.5
391.8
363.6
32.5
28.C
31.27.C
32.C
27.£
32.C
27.£
31.£
27.4
_
_
_
_
_
_
311.3
271.0
274.7
314.4
291.6
_
31.7
27.C
-
324.2
306.4
-
318.1
275.9
283.8
325.0
297.1
324.6
307.2
318.9
275.9
283.9
326.3
298.2
- Data not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
89
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
31.
February 1986
• Current Labor Statistics: Price Data
Consumer Price Index: U.S. city average and available local area data: all items
(1967=100, unless otherwise indicated)
All Urban Consumers
Area’
sche
dule2
Other
index
base
1984
Urban Wage Earners
1985
1984
1985
Dec.
Jan.
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Jan.
Aug.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
-
315.5
316.1
323.5
324.5
325.5
326.6
327.4
312.2
312.6
319.6
320.5
321.3
322.6
323.4
M
M
-
314.0
309.1
315.1
310.9
325.9
318.0
326.3
320.5
322.6
319.7
324.2
323.1
325.9
323.1
301.7
300.0
302.5
301.2
312.1
308.3
312.1
310.3
308.9
309.7
310.9
313.2
312.6
313.1
M
.
311.1
313.0
323.9
323.8
326.1
325.0
326.1
306.5
308.1
318.0
317.7
320.0
319.1
320.1
M
M
_
-
308.0
305.1
308.4
306.3
315.7
315.8
316.9
316.5
317.4
317.4
319.9
318.8
320.8
319.7
301.6
307.9
302.0
309.4
308.5
318.5
309.3
319.1
309.9
320.3
312.5
321.5
313.5
322.5
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
10/67
11/77
-
-
-
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
-
-
280.1
326.3
323.0
326.2
354.1
174.9
353.2
309.6
307.3
318.5
341.9
310.8
330.5
_
_
-
277.3
326.3
319.3
322.8
353.3
174.5
351.4
306.3
305.4
318.5
340.3
308.9
327.4
_
_
-
271.7
315.1
307.8
318.9
346.2
169.8
343.4
301.0
297.4
310.4
329.1
306.7
317.7
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
-
286.9
327.3
325.4
333.4
359.4
173.9
333.9
310.6
317.1
321.6
379.0
324.0
326.9
_
_
_
_
-
284.5
327.5
321.3
329.8
358.0
173.5
332.4
306.8
314.9
321.6
377.3
321.8
323.6
_
-
-
278.3
315.2
309.4
325.1
350.6
168.6
324.6
301.5
306.8
313.3
364.1
319.5
314.6
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
_
-
318.2
303.4
339.7
330.7
289.8
333.4
313.7
_
-
331.4
306.5
348.1
343.4
294.2
338.2
321.1
_
-
333.0
309.3
348.6
343.9
295.6
337.6
323.1
_
_
335.3
309.8
348.8
344.5
298.5
336.8
321.8
316.0
289.8
318.6
325.0
297.6
330.9
304.0
_
_
_
_
_
_
329.3
292.9
327.0
337.0
301.3
335.3
311.2
_
_
_
_
_
_
330.0
295.3
327.0
337.5
302.7
335.0
312.9
2
2
2
_
338.8
325.9
335.8
-
340.4
331.5
336.4
323.8
304.6
321.5
_
-
334.4
308.0
330.8
_
-
340.6
328.4
336.7
_
-
327.9
322.1
325.8
_
-
-
336.0
309.9 331.0
2
2
2
2
12/77
12/77
12/77
12/77
166.9
170.4
170.8
170.2
_
-
174.3
176.0
176.3
177.2
165.1
167.4
170.7
168.6
-
A-1 ...........................................
A-2 ...........................................
B ...............................................
C ..............................................
D ..............................................
2
2
2
2
2
12/77
12/77
12/77
12/77
12/77
167.0
172.5
170.8
168.7
169.3
174.2
178.4
177.2
174.9
174.7
163.4
169.9
168.6
169.3
171.0
_
-
Region/population size class
cross classification3
Class A:
Northeast .............................
North C e n tra l.......................
South ....................................
W e s t......................................
2
2
2
2
12/77
12/77
12/77
11/77
164.3
173.2
170.3
172.1
171.2
179.4
176.5
179.3
161.2
168.6
170.6
168.4
Class B:
Northeast .............................
North C e n tra l.......................
South ....................................
W e s t......................................
2
2
2
2
12/77
12/77
12/77
12/77
169.9
169.2
172.0
170.9
176.7
174.2
178.0
178.4
167.1
165.9
169.0
171.7
U.S. city a v e ra g e .....................
Chicago, lll.-Northwestern
Ind...............................................
Detroit, Mich...............................
Los Angeles-Long Beach,
Anaheim, Calif...........................
New York, N.Y.-Northeastern
N.J...............................................
Philadelphia, Pa.-N.J.................
Anchorage, Alaska
(10/67 = 100) ........................
Baltimore, Md.............................
Boston, Mass.............................
Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind............
Denver-Boulder, Colo...............
Miami, Fla. (11/77 = 1 0 0 ).....
Milwaukee, W is..........................
Northeast, Pa.............................
Portland, Oreg.-Wash...............
St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.........................
San Diego, Calif.........................
Seattle-Everette, Wash.............
Washington, D.C.-Md.-Va.........
Alanta, Ga...................................
Buffalo, N.Y................................
Cleveland, Ohio ........................
Dallas-Ft. Worth, Tex................
Honolulu, H a w aii.......................
Houston, Tex..............................
Kansas City, Mo.-Kansas .......
Minneapolis-St. Paul,
Minn.-Wis...................................
Pittsburgh, Pa.............................
San Francisco-Oakland, Calif.
-
-
Dec.
Sept.
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
-
_
_
_
_
_
-
_
_
_
_
_
332.6
295.9
327.5
338.3
305.8
334.1
311.7
336.0
312.8
331.3
Region3
N o rth e a st................................
North C e n tra l..........................
S o u th .......................................
West ........................................
-
171.0
174.3
174.5
175.9
_
-
172.5
174.9
175.7
176.9
_
-
-
169.0
171.0
174.3
173.9
_
_
168.3
173.7
172.4
173.0
173.8
_
_
_
165.0
173.3
174.9
173.8
_
-
-
170.3
171.4
175.3
174.8
_
_
168.7
174.6
173.6
174.1
174.9
_
_
_
166.1
173.1
175.7
174.6
_
_
-
172.1
172.6
176.0
175.2
Population size class3
See footnotes at end of table.
90
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
-
-
-
”
172.3
176.6
174.9
172.5
172.3
168.5
178.3
174.8
178.0
173.3
171.5
176.0
176.9
-
-
-
-
-
172.9
177.6
176.3
173.8
173.8
-
169.6
178.2
175.6
179.1
-
174.9
173.4
177.4
177.9
-
_
-
~
-
_
-
_
_
_
-
170.4
168.0
172.7
177.5
-
_
_
_
-
171.8
169.5
173.9
178.4
-
_
_
_
-
170.2
175.4
174.6
175.3
176.0
167.7
174.5
176.5
175.0
173.5
170.5
174.7
178.9
31. Continued— Consumer Price Index: U.S. city average and available local area data: all Items
(1967 = 100, unless otherwise indicated)
Urban Wage Earners
All Urban Consumers
Pricing
sche
dule2
Area'
Other
index
base
Dec.
Jan.
Class C:
.................................
2
2
2
2
12/77
12/77
12/77
12/77
174.4
166.4
170.2
162.9
W est ....................................
2
2
2
2
12/77
12/77
12/77
12/77
169.7
167.6
170.4
170.1
W est
_
_
Class D:
_
_
_
Aug.
178.9
169.1
173.5
168.9
173.7
170.7
172.8
173.3
Sept.
-
-
1 Area is generally the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA),
exclusive of farms. L.A.-Long Beach, Anaheim, Calif, is a combination of
two SMSA’s, and N.Y., N.Y.-Northeastern N.J. and Chicago, IIINorthwestern Ind. are the more extensive Standard Consolidated Areas.
Area definitions are those established by the Office of Management and
Budget in 1973, except for Denver-Boulder, Colo, which does not include
Douglas County. Definitions do not include revisions made since 1973.
2 Foods, fuels, and several other items priced every month in all areas;
most other goods and services priced as Indicated:.
M - Every month.
1 - January, March, May, July, September, and November.
2 - February, April, June, August, October, and December.
3 Regions are defined as the four Census regions.
The population size classes are aggregations of areas which have urban
population as defined:
A-1 - More than 4,000,000.
19 35
1984
1985
1984
181.7
170.1
174.3
169.7
175.6
171.6
174.8
174.5
-
-
-
Jan.
Dec.
Nov.
Oct.
184.1
171.5
175.3
169.1
179.2
163.5
171.9
161.9
178.1
172.6
174.5
176.2
169.9
169.9
172.2
171.6
-
-
-
Sept.
Aug.
183.8
166.0
175.1
167.7
173.6
172.7
174.5
174.8
-
-
Oct.
186.5
166.9
175.7
168.3
175.3
173.1
176.2
176.0
Nov.
“
“
“
“
“
Consumer Price Index for
All Urban Consumers:
All items:
In d e x..........................................................................................
Percent ch a n g e .......................................................................
Food and beverages:
In d e x..........................................................................................
Percent ch a n g e .......................................................................
Housing
In d e x..........................................................................................
Percent chan ge.......................................................................
Apparel and upkeep:
In d e x..........................................................................................
Percent ch an ge.......................................................................
Transportation:
In d e x..........................................................................................
Percent chan ge.......................................................................
Medical care:
In d e x..........................................................................................
Percent ch a n g e .......................................................................
Entertainment:
In d e x..........................................................................................
Percent chan ge .......................................................................
Other goods and services:
In d e x..........................................................................................
Percent ch a n g e .......................................................................
Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and
Clerical workers
All items:
In d e x..........................................................................................
Percent chan ge.......................................................................
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1977
1978
188.8
168.2
176.7
167.8
177.7
174.2
176.1
177.7
A-2 - 1,250,000 to 4,000,000.
B - 385,000 to 1,250,000
C - 75,000 to 385,000.
D
- Less than 75,000.
Population size class A is the aggregation of population size classes A-1
and A-2.
- Data not available.
NOTE: Local area CPI indexes are by-products of the national CPI
program. Because each local index is a small subset of the national index,
it has a smaller sample size and is, therefore, subject to substantially more
sampling and other measurement error than the national index. As a result,
local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although
their long-term trends are quite similar. Therefore, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics strongly urges users to consider adopting the national average
CPI for use in escalator clauses.
32. Annual data: Consumer Price Index All Items
Series
Dec.
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
181.5
6.5
195.4
7.7
217.4
11.3
246.8
13.5
272.4
10.4
289.1
6.1
298.4
3.2
311.1
4.3
322.2
3.6
188.0
6.0
206.3
9.7
228.5
10.8
248.0
8.5
267.3
7.8
278.2
4.1
284.4
2.2
295.1
3.8
302.0
2.3
186.5
6.8
202.8
8.7
227.6
12.2
263.3
15.7
293.5
11.5
314.7
7.2
323.1
2.7
336.5
4.1
349.9
4.0
154.2
4.5
159.6
3.5
166.6
4.4
178.4
7.1
186.9
4.8
191.8
2.6
196.5
2.5
200.2
1.9
206.0
2.9
177.2
7.1
185.5
4.7
212.0
14.3
249.7
17.8
280.0
12.1
291.5
4.1
298.4
2.4
311.7
4.5
319.9
2.6
202.4
9.6
219.4
8.4
239.7
9.3
265.9
10.9
294.5
10.8
328.7
11.6
357.3
8.7
379.5
6.2
403.1
6.2
167.7
4.9
176.6
5.3
188.5
6.7
205.3
8.9
221.4
7.8
235.8
6.5
246.0
4.3
255.1
3.7
265.0
3.9
172.2
5.8
183.3
6.4
196.7
7.3
214.5
9.0
235.7
9.9
259.9
10.3
288.3
10.9
307.7
6.7
326.6
6.1
181.5
6.5
195.3
7.6
217.7
11.5
247.0
13.5
272.3
10.2
288.6
6.0
297.4
3.0
307.6
3.4
318.5
3.5
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
33.
February 1986
•
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
Producer Price indexes, by stage of processing
(1967 = 100 )
1985
Annual average
Finished goods ..........................................
Finished consumer goods ...........................
Finished consumer fo o d s ..........................
Finished consumer goods excluding
foods ...........................................................
Nondurable goods less food .................
Durable goods .........................................
Capital equ ipm ent.........................................
Intermediate materials, supplies, and
components...............................................
Materials and components for
manufacturing ..............................................
Materials for food m anufacturing............
Materials for nondurable manufacturing .
Materials for durable m anufacturing.......
Components for m anufacturing...............
Materials and components for
construction..................................................
Processed fuels and lu bricants..................
Containers.......................................................
S u pplies...........................................................
Crude materials for further processing ...
Foodstuffs and feedstuffs ..........................
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
290.2
288.5
266.5
294.8
292.4
268.7
296.7
294.7
272.0
297.2
295.4
274.4
297.8
340.0
241.8
301.0
294.7
340.3
234.4
296.4
299.4
340.2
244.9
303.7
301.1
343.3
245.0
303.8
301.1
343.7
244.4
303.5
318.6
317.9
317.9
317.8
318.1
318.8
300.3
262.0
286.4
322.3
291.3
299.8
260.3
285.8
320.9
291.6
299.1
253.0
285.8
320.3
291.9
298.3
250.2
284.8
319.2
292.0
298.0
252.3
283.6
318.6
292.2
297.6
253.6
282.6
317.4
292.4
297.6
253.0
282.5
317.6
292.4
315.9
558.0
311.7
283.4
317.3
549.1
312.0
283.3
316.9
544.0
311.4
283.6
316.5
539.8
310.3
284.1
315.5
546.3
309.9
284.3
315.4
544.9
310.4
285.0
315.1
550.7
309.8
285.8
315.4
557.3
310.7
285.9
311.0
239.9
360 2
309.1
236.3
357 7
305.6
233.7
354.0
303.9
231.6
353.5
295.3
221.0
351.2
292.4
215.9
352.5
298.0
224.5
353.3
305.6
236.7
352.3
304.7
236.8
351.1
297.8
714.9
268.8
260.9
267.7
300.1
746.1
268.4
260.3
268.2
300.2
741.4
268.4
260.3
268.6
300.5
733.8
269.7
261.9
269.4
299.5
719.9
269.0
260.9
269.4
296.0
718.9
265.7
257.9
265.6
301.4
716.1
270.6
262.2
271.6
302.7
732.9
271.7
263.5
271.8
302.5
736.1
272.1
264.1
271.4
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
292.1
290.6
273.7
292.6
290.7
275.6
292.1
290.1
273.7
293.1
291.2
272.2
294.1
292.4
269.5
294.0
292.2
268.7
294.8
293.1
271.2
293.5
291.4
268.7
-
294.3
334.9
240.2
297.4
293.5
332.7
240.9
299.2
293.6
333.4
240.4
299.3
295.9
337.4
240.7
299.9
299.0
342.4
241.4
300.3
299.0
342.1
241.9
300.5
299.2
342.4
241.9
300.8
320.0
-
319.5
318.7
318.6
319.3
319.9
319.3
301.8
271.1
290.5
325.1
287.5
-
300.6
265.2
288.9
320.6
290.4
300.5
265.3
288.0
320.7
290.8
300.0
263.9
287.3
319.9
291.0
300.6
263.9
287.1
322.1
291.1
300.5
261.9
286.7
323.0
291.1
313.4
556.3
311.1
283.9
313.3
546.3
311.8
283.8
313.5
547.9
313.1
283.8
314.0
552.3
312.4
283.7
318.9
250.7
361.9
318.1
250.0
358.2
312.3
242.9
358.4
295.9
692.0
269.3
261.8
267.2
296.0
693.2
268.8
261.1
267.2
1984
291.1
290.3
273.3
294.1
337.3
236.8
294.0
310.3
566.2
302.3
283.4
330.8
259.5
380.5
1985
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
-
Sept.
Special groupings
Finished goods, excluding fo o d s ..................
Finished energy goods ...................................
Finished goods less energy ...........................
Finished consumer goods less e n e rg y ........
Finished goods less food and energy .........
Finished consumer goods less food and
e n e rg y ...............................................................
Consumer nondurable goods less food and
e n e rg y ...............................................................
-
-
296.0
711.7
267.9
260.5
266.0
245.9
-
249.6
250.5
250.5
251.1
251.5
252.0
252.9
252.9
249.5
254.9
255.1
254.7
-
242.8
243.9
244.4
245.0
245.2
245.6
247.4
247.3
247.8
248.2
248.6
248.5
-
325.4
240.7
535.7
304.2
324.5
239.2
526.0
304.2
324.7
236.7
527.5
304.0
325.5
235.4
531.5
304.3
326.4
232.6
536.7
304.5
325.7
232.2
528.6
304.6
325.0
231.7
523.8
304.3
324.5
227.1
519.8
303.9
324.6
225.5
526.0
303.3
324.3
228.5
524.4
303.3
324.5
231.0
529.5
303.2
325.2
231.7
536.3
303.3
-
305.1
305.3
305.2
305.6
305.9
306.0
305.6
305.5
304.9
304.6
304.2
304.2
757.5
246.2
254.4
754.1
245.9
255.3
746.4
240.4
255.4
749.1
238.6
257.3
760.7
234.8
252.3
754.5
231.7
247.4
752.6
230.1
247.2
742.9
221.8
245.8
745.4
218.3
246.9
743.4
224.8
247.2
742.9
233.4
244.9
739.5
232.9
242.6
239.0
Intermediate materials less food and feeds
Intermediate foods and fe e d s ........................
Intermediate energy goods ............................
Intermediate goods less energy ...................
Intermediate materials less food and
e n e rg y ...............................................................
325.0
253.1
545.0
303.8
Crude energy m aterials...................................
785.2
255.5
266.1
Crude nonfood materials less e n e rg y..........
1 Crude nonfood materials except fuel.
92
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
-
294.8
750.3
265.1
257.8
262.3
303.6
_
-
_
-
- Data not available.
34.
Producer Price indexes, by durability of product
(1967 = 100)
Annual average
1985
Grouping
1984
1985
Total durable goods ........................................
Total nondurable g o o d s ..................................
293.6
323.3
Total m anufactures..........................................
D u ra b le ............................................................
Nondurable ....................................................
302.9
293.9
312.3
-
Total raw or slightly processed goods ........
D u ra b le ............................................................
Nondurable ....................................................
346.6
266.7
351.4
-
-
-
“
_
“
_
“
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
295.6
320.1
296.4
319.0
296.3
317.7
297.1
318.4
297.6
318.9
297.8
317.5
297.8
317.3
297.8
314.1
295.3
313.4
298.8
314.6
298.7
317.9
298.5
318.7
303.7
296.2
311.4
303.4
297.0
309.9
303.3
296.9
309.9
304.2
297.6
310.8
305.2
298.4
312.1
304.8
298.7
311.0
304.6
298.7
310.6
303.8
298.6
309.0
302.3
296.1
308.7
304.6
299.7
309.4
305.4
299.6
311.3
305.7
299.5
312.0
336.7
256.0
341.5
336.8
259.2
341.4
332.2
261.2
336.4
332.1
262.1
336.2
329.8
255.4
334.3
327.3
247.3
332.1
327.5
247.6
332.3
320.2
249.7
324.4
318.5
249.7
322.5
320.9
248.8
325.2
327.7
245.9
332.7
328.8
243.8
334.0
Data not available.
35.
Annual data: Producer Price indexes, by stage of processing
(1967 = 100)
Index
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
170.6
169.7
173.4
181.7
180.7
184.6
195.9
194.9
199.2
217.7
217.9
216.5
247.0
248.9
239.8
269.8
271.3
264.3
280.7
281.0
279.4
285.2
284.6
287.2
291.1
290.3
294.0
189.1
185.4
188.4
250.1
180.2
179.0
201.5
195.4
203.4
282.5
188.3
188.7
215.6
208.7
224.7
295.3
202.8
198.5
243.2
234.4
247.4
364.8
226.8
218.2
280.3
265.7
268.3
503.0
254.5
244.5
306.0
286.1
287.6
595.4
276.1
263.8
310.4
289.8
293.7
591.7
285.6
272.1
312.3
293.4
301.8
564.8
286.6
277.1
320.0
301.8
310.3
566.2
302.3
283.4
202.7
190.2
206.7
305.3
209.2
192.1
212.2
372.1
234.4
216.2
233.1
426.8
274.3
247.9
284.5
507.6
304.6
259.2
346.1
615.0
329.0
257.4
413.7
751.2
319.5
247.8
376.8
886.1
323.6
252.2
372.2
931.5
330.8
259.5
380.5
931.3
Finished goods:
Total ...........................................................................
Consumer g o o d s ....................................................
Capital equipment ..................................................
Intermediate materials, supplies, and
components:
Total ...........................................................................
Materials and components for manufacturing ....
Materials and components for construction ......
Processed fuels and lu bric a n ts ............................
C o nta iners................................................................
S u pplies....................................................................
Crude materials for further processing:
T o t a l...........................................................................
Foodstuffs and fe e d s tu ffs .....................................
Nonfood materials except fuel .............................
F u e l...........................................................................
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
93
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
36.
February 1986
• Current Labor Statistics:
P rice data
U.S. export price indexes by Standard International Trade Classification
(June 1977 = 100, unless otherwise indicated)
Category
1974
SITO
ALL COMMODITIES (9 /8 3 -1 0 0 )...................................
Food (3/83 - 100) ................................................
Meat ( 3 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ).................................................................
Fish ( 3 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) .................................................................................
Grain and grain preparations (3/80 = 100) ..........................................
Vegetables and fruii (3/83 = 100) ...................................................................
Feed stuffs for animals (3 /8 3 -1 0 0 ) ..............................................................
Misc. food products ( 3 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) ....................................................................
Beverages and tobacco (6 /8 3 -1 0 0 ).......................................................
Beverages (9/83 = 1 0 0 )....................................................................................
Tobacco and tobacco products (6/83 = 1 0 0 )...............................................
Crude materials (6/83-100) ....................................................................
1983
1984
1985
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
_
_
0
01
03
04
05
08
09
100.0
100.0
100.0
96.9
100.0
100.0
100.0
105.1
100.5
96.5
103.5
105.8
100.6
101.1
100.0
113.1
100.8
97.7
111.5
114.8
121.4
102.8
99.5
108.8
101.2
100.4
105.6
116.1
117.4
101.7
100.2
106.2
108.9
99.8
102.7
116.2
106.9
104.9
101.5
109.6
108.7
98.7
107.4
126.8
98.8
110.6
99.3
103.5
105.6
98.0
101.2
125.5
83.5
109.5
98.1
96.5
104.4
98.7
92.9
114.6
82.4
108.4
97.5
95.8
103.9
101.0
92.4
119.4
72.8
110.6
97.5
94.0
104.7
103.6
90.3
120.1
68.6
109.2
96.5
90.2
106.1
102.6
82.6
126.8
75.7
107.6
1
11
12
-
-
-
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
101.5
103.3
101.4
101.6
102.3
101.6
101.9
102.9
101.8
102.8
103.3
102.7
101.3
103.7
101.1
99.9
104.0
99.5
100.1
105.3
99.6
99.7
101.8
99.5
_
114.6
129.2
105.6
100.0
128.7
103.5
117.3
144.8
100.0
112.2
135.2
96.8
102.2
129.8
106.0
123.1
144.8
96.7
112.5
145.6
93.9
103.3
131.1
112.5
120.5
146.6
100.2
118.3
154.7
104.3
106.0
129.4
122.1
125.6
147.7
98.5
105.2
153.7
79.9
104.1
123.8
120.8
109.4
163.0
93.2
101.4
133.6
74.8
104.0
125.4
114.2
106.7
163.2
92.4
97.5
121.0
71.0
106.4
128.7
100.5
102.4
165.6
89.2
96.8
126.2
71.2
106.3
125.7
96.1
105.8
167.9
82.0
93.3
129.0
64.2
107.1
124.5
93.8
103.6
169.4
80.1
_
100.0
Raw hides and skins (6/80 = 100) ..................................................................
Oilseeds and oleaginous fruit (9 /7 7 = 1 0 0 ) ...................................................
Crude rubber (including synthetic and reclaimed 9/83 = 100) ..................
W o o d ....................................................................................................................
Pulp and waste paper (6 /8 3 = 1 0 0 ) ................................................................
Textile fib e rs ........................................................................................................
Crude fertilizers and m inerals..........................................................................
Metalliferous ores and metal scrap ................................................................
2
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
123.2
102.6
145.8
-
100.0
118.2
75.0
127.1
100.0
111.3
145.0
-
Mineral fuels...............................................................................................
3
-
-
100.0
99.2
99.1
99.7
99.7
99.7
100.1
99.2
97.4
Animal and vegetables oils, fats and waxes..........................................
4
42
100.0
100.0
125.6
138.2
122.0
129.3
129.8
133.2
164.5
176.4
145.7
159.0
147.9
156.7
142.0
152.9
144.5
164.8
114.5
128.8
97.0
Fixed vegetable oils and fats (6/83 = 1 0 0 )...................................................
Chemicals (3 /8 3 -1 0 0 )..............................................................................
5
51
56
Organic chemicals (12/83= 100 ) ....................................................................
Fertilizers, manufactured (3/83 = 1 0 0 )............................................................
Machinery and transport equipment, excluding....................................
Power generating machinery and equipment (12/78 = 100) ......................
Machinery specialized for particular industries (9 /7 8 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
Metalworking machinery (6/78 = 100) ............................................................
General industrial machines and parts n.e.s. 9/78 = 1 0 0 )..........................
Office machines and automatic data processing equipment .....................
Telecommunications, sound recording and reproducing equ ipm ent........
Electrical machinery and equipm ent...............................................................
Road vehicles and parts ( 3 /8 0 - 1 0 0 ) ............................................................
Other transport equipment, excl. military and commercial aviation ........
Other manufactured articles....................................................................
Apparel (9/83 = 1 0 0 )..........................................................................................
Professional, scientific and controlling instrument and apparatus............
Photographic apparatus and supplies, optical goods, watches and
clocks (12/1977 = 100) ....................................................................................
-
100.0
96.4
100.0
88.9
89.8
98.6
100.0
96.8
101.4
100.2
108.3
99.7
101.0
96.9
98.3
97.4
97.4
97.7
94.7
94.8
97.0
93.8
92.5
96.8
96.5
87.9
97.1
97.1
89.8
99.7
65.5
146.2
135.0
95.2
100.3
100.9
100.4
67.2
144.8
135.8
95.9
102.8
101.5
100.8
70.1
145.0
139.7
96.6
102.3
101.9
100.0
75.8
145.0
145.5
96.3
93.8
102.1
101.0
83.5
146.7
150.2
95.9
94.2
103.1
101.3
81.2
147.5
154.7
96.1
92.9
104.5
102.0
80.8
148.9
160.0
96.8
90.4
105.1
100.4
79.0
148.5
159.5
96.5
82.5
105.0
99.4
82.5
150.2
155.0
95.5
79.7
105.4
99.2
79.2
149.0
151.6
95.3
79.6
105.2
99.2
75.9
148.3
149.6
95.9
79.8
105.4
67
68
69
7
71
72
73
74
75
76
134.6
151.7
148.9
147.6
144.6
103.3
130.5
107.8
124.4
174.3
135.3
152.5
148.9
148.4
145.0
103.6
131.1
108.5
125.6
175.8
135.9
152.3
149.1
148.3
145.4
103.2
132.2
109.4
127.5
176.4
137.0
154.4
151.1
148.7
145.9
102.5
132.1
109.8
128.8
179.3
138.5
158.4
152.3
150.8
148.6
101.4
133.0
110.2
130.2
183.1
139.4
156.9
152.8
151.2
149.0
101.5
132.3
112.6
131.2
187.7
140.1
160.6
153.7
151.7
149.3
99.8
134.4
113.8
131.0
189.6
141.5
167.5
153.4
151.9
150.2
101.4
134.3
114.6
131.8
191.7
142.3
165.3
155.0
153.4
152.4
100.9
133.3
114.9
133.1
195.5
143.0
167.4
155.7
155.1
152.0
100.0
133.3
116.1
133.9
196.9
143.2
167.1
156.0
156.3
152.4
99.9
134.1
115.3
134.0
199.6
77
78
79
167.2
169.8
100.0
100.0
169.0
100.2
100.8
171.5
100.6
101.9
171.8
100.4
102.1
172.0
100.7
103.9
175.8
99.3
103.4
171.7
99.5
104.7
175.5
100.4
104.7
178.3
100.3
105.0
178.4
8
128.2
129.8
130.0
132.0
132.0
131.3
132.7
130.3
128.0
129.1
127.5
98.2
98.5
97.9
95.2
94.1
92.4
93.1
93.1
-
-
-
-
Intermediate manufactured products (9/81 = 10 0 )....................................
Leather and furskins ( 9 /7 9 = 1 0 0 ) ...................................................................
Rubber manufactures .......................................................................................
Paper and paperboard products (6/78 = 1 0 0 )..............................................
Iron and steel (3/82 = 100) ..............................................................................
Non-ferrous metals (9/81 = 100) .....................................................................
Metal manufactures, n.e.s. (3 /8 2 = 1 0 0 ) ........................................................
101.8
70.0
6
61
62
64
“
-
-
-
-
-
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s....................................................
84
-
100.0
100.0
Gold, non-monetary (6 /8 2 -1 0 0 )..............................................................
971
-
-
-
- Data not available.
94
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
-
-
-
-
37.
U.S. import price indexes by Standard International Trade Classification
(June 1977=100, unless otherwise indicated)
Category
ALL COMMODITIES (9/82 = 1 0 0 ).....................................................................
Food ( 9 /7 7 - 1 0 0 ) .................................................................................................
M e a t.....................................................................................................................
Dairy products and eggs (6/81 = 10 0) ..........................................................
F is h ........................................................................................................................
Bakery goods, pasta products, grain and grain preparations
( 9 /7 7 -1 0 0 ) .......................................................................................................
Fruits and vegetables ........................................................................................
Sugar, sugar preparations and honey (3 /8 2 —1 0 0 ).....................................
Coffee, tea, c o c o a ..............................................................................................
Beverages and tobacco ............................................................................
Beverages ...........................................................................................................
Crude materials..........................................................................................
Crude rubber (inc. synthetic & reclaimed) ( 3 /8 4 - 1 0 0 ) ..............................
Wood (9 /8 1 -1 0 0 ) .............................................................................................
Pulp and waste paper (12/81 —100) ..............................................................
Crude fertilizers & crude minerals (1 2 /8 3 -1 0 0 ) .........................................
Metalliferous ores & metal scrap (3/84 —1 0 0 ).............................................
Crude vegetable and animal materials, n.e.s.................................................
Fuels and related products ( 6 /8 2 = 1 0 0 ) .......................................................
Petroleum and petroleum products (6/82 —100) ..........................................
Fats and oils ( 9 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) .................................................................................
Vegetable oils ( 9 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) ..............................................................................
Chemicals (9 /8 2 —1 0 0 ).......................................................................................
Medicinal & pharmaceutical products (3/84 —100) .....................................
Manufactured fertilizers ( 3 /8 4 - 1 0 0 ) ..............................................................
Chemical materials and products, n.e.s. (9/84 —1 0 0 ).................................
Intermediate manufactured products (1 2 /7 7 —100) .................................
Leather and furskins ..........................................................................................
Rubber manufactures, n.e.s...............................................................................
Cork and wood manufactures .........................................................................
Paper and paperboard products .....................................................................
T e xtile s.................................................................................................................
Non-metallic mineral manufactures, n.e.s.......................................................
Iron and steel (9/78 —100) ..............................................................................
Non-ferrous metals (12/81 = 1 0 0 ) ...................................................................
Metal manufactures, n.e.s..................................................................................
Machinery and transport equipment (6/81 — 100).................................
Machinery specialized for particular industries (9 /7 8 —1 0 0 ) ......................
Metalworking machinery (3/80 —100) ............................................................
General industrial machinery and parts (6/8 1 = 1 0 0 ), n.e.s.........................
Office machines and automatic data processing equipment
(3 /8 0 -1 0 0 ) .......................................................................................................
Telecommunications, sound recording and reproducing apparatus
( 3 /8 0 -1 0 0 ) .......................................................................................................
Electrical machinery and equipment (1 2 /8 1 —100) .....................................
Road vehicles and parts (6/81 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................................
Mlsc. manufactured articles (3 /8 0 —1 0 0 )......................................................
Plumbing, heating, and lighting fixtures (6/80 —100) ..................................
Furniture and parts (6 /8 0 —100) .....................................................................
Clothing (9 /7 7 -1 0 0 ) .........................................................................................
F ootw ear..............................................................................................................
Professional, scientific, and controlling instruments and
apparatus (1 2 /7 9 —1 0 0 )...................................................................................
Photographic apparatus and supplies, optical goods, watches, and
clocks (3/80 = 1 0 0 )...........................................................................................
Mise, manufactured articles, n.e.s. (6 /8 2 —1 0 0 )..........................................
Gold, non-monetary (6/82—100)..............................................................
Data not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1974
SITC
1983
1984
1985
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
0
01
02
03
96.9
99.2
139.4
99.9
135.2
97.3
100.4
134.1
99.6
136.0
98.0
102.5
133.4
100.8
132.7
98.3
103.5
133.8
99.8
134.2
96.7
102.0
135.4
98.9
134.2
95.7
98.1
132.3
98.4
133.9
93.5
98.5
130.4
98.3
132.9
93.0
96.8
118.2
97.9
129.4
93.0
94.9
120.6
99.1
129.7
04
05
06
07
132.3
132.3
118.9
54.7
132.7
125.0
117.9
59.6
136.5
136.1
117.1
61.4
134.8
135.8
120.3
62.4
132.9
135.4
119.0
60.3
132.8
117.2
118.5
58.4
131.8
127.1
118.4
57.0
132.3
129.4
122.6
56.0
136.3
120.2
123.1
54.4
1
11
153.7
153.5
155.4
152.7
155.3
152.6
156.3
153.6
157.1
153.5
156.5
152.8
156.2
154.2
157.1
154.3
158.0
156.0
2
23
24
25
27
28
29
100.0
98.6
103.2
100.0
114.8
87.6
100.0
100.0
100.0
102.6
93.7
103.2
96.1
96.2
102.8
100.8
100.6
90.7
99.6
96.3
98.0
100.1
101.1
98.9
83.8
104.0
93.2
98.6
95.6
106.4
94.0
77.6
100.7
84.0
100.3
90.4
104.3
93.6
76.4
106.9
80.4
101.7
87.6
104.9
91.5
68.9
101.6
76.8
102.7
89.5
102.5
3
33
87.7
88.0
87.6
87.6
88.3
88.2
88.0
88.1
86.9
87.0
85.2
85.2
82.9
83.8
80.9
81.6
80.0
80.5
4
42
100.0
100.0
100.4
100.5
117.4
118.1
141.8
143.1
124.4
125.3
114.9
115.3
89.9
89.5
76.7
75.9
57.6
56.2
5
54
56
59
97.8
-
99.5
-
101.1
100.0
100.0
-
100.6
98.5
101.7
-
98.8
96.4
98.5
100.0
97.1
94.6
92.9
97.5
95.7
91.6
94.2
96.1
95.0
95.1
82.0
95.6
94.6
95.3
80.8
96.9
6
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
137.3
136.6
141.0
138.2
147.3
127.6
166.4
115.0
99.3
118.0
137.3
137.6
141.1
134.7
147.0
128.5
166.4
119.5
94.8
118.9
137.6
141.6
141.8
130.1
148.0
130.8
168.4
118.5
95.0
119.7
139.6
145.3
140.8
131.0
150.4
130.1
166.6
123.8
96.3
120.5
137.2
144.0
139.6
126.4
156.1
131.6
156.6
124.7
90.2
119.3
136.8
140.4
140.5
126.1
157.5
132.9
159.4
123.7
87.3
119.3
133.1
135.3
139.5
121.3
157.6
130.4
154.3
121.0
81.9
117.4
132.4
133.3
138.6
121.2
157.2
127.5
151.8
120.1
82.3
117.8
133.6
137.0
137.3
123.4
157.8
126.5
157.6
119.1
83.7
119.5
7
72
73
74
103.0
101.2
96.0
93.4
104.1
100.8
95.7
93.5
104.0
100.4
94.3
93.7
104.1
100.0
93.8
94.4
102.6
98.8
92.1
92.4
102.9
98.0
89.9
91.3
101.6
96.2
86.3
89.2
102.6
97.0
90.5
91.1
103.5
101.4
94.2
94.4
75
94.0
96.9
97.8
96.7
94.1
92.2
89.6
89.4
90.3
76
77
78
96.5
96.4
106.7
94.9
95.9
109.5
94.2
94.2
109.0
94.8
91.2
110.4
93.6
87.0
109.8
91.3
86.4
111.3
90.0
82.1
111.5
88.8
83.9
112.1
88.3
81.4
112.7
8
81
82
84
85
100.2
107.9
96.1
125.6
96.1
100.0
108.2
94.7
128.5
94.7
100.6
109.5
94.9
130.2
94.9
101.5
112.0
96.0
132.5
96.0
99.7
110.7
95.4
135.4
95.4
100.0
111.6
94.3
138.5
94.3
97.0
113.9
92.7
136.7
92.7
98.0
114.1
94.4
133.9
94.4
100.0
117.8
96.1
136.0
96.1
87
96.8
97.6
98.7
97.8
95.6
92.9
89.2
92.3
98.8
88
89
89.7
107.5
90.6
104.9
89.6
105.2
92.8
104.0
91.2
98.3
91.3
96.3
88.9
91.2
89.5
95.2
91.2
96.4
-
-
-
-
971
-
-
110.0
80.3
-
107.2
80.9
100.0
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
38.
February 1986
• Current Labor Statistics: Price data
U.S. export price indexes by end-use category
(September 1983 = 100 unless otherwise indicated)
Percentsge
of 1980
Trade
Value
Category
Foods, feeds, and beverages .............................................................
Raw m aterials..............................................................................
Raw materials, nondurable ...............................................................
Raw materials, d u ra b le ......................................................................
Capital goods, (12/82 = 1 0 0 )...............................................................
Automotive vehicles parts, and engines (1 2/82= 100 ) .................
Consumer g o o d s ...........................................................................
Durables ..................................................................
Nondurables.........................................................................................
39.
16.294
30.696
21.327
9.368
30.186
7.483
7.467
3.965
3.501
1983
1984
Sept.
Dec.
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
101.1
102.5
100.0
100.0
100.0
Mar.
95.0
100.7
101.9
97.7
102.0
103.9
99.3
98.5
100.3
June
92.8
102.2
103.6
98.8
103.2
104.5
100.5
99.4
101.8
1985
Sept.
98.5
102.5
104.4
97.7
103.9
105.3
100.3
98.7
102.1
Dec.
88.8
100.5
102.8
95.0
104.6
105.3
99.8
96.9
103.0
Mar.
83.0
99.1
101.4
93.3
105.6
105.7
99.1
96.3
102.3
81.5
97.6
99.6
92.6
106.2
106.7
98.5
94.8
102.7
June
80.9
97.2
99.5
91.6
106.6
108.0
99.0
95.3
103.0
Sept.
76.2
96.5
98.7
91.1
106.6
108.1
99.5
96.1
103.3
U.S. import price indexes by end-use category
(December 1982 = 100)
Percentage
of 1980
Trade
Value
Category
Food, feeds, and beverages ...............................................................
Petroleum & products, excl. natural g a s ...........................................
Raw materials, excluding petroleum ..................................................
Raw materials, nondurable ...............................................................
Raw materials, d u ra b le ......................................................................
Capital g o o d s ..........................................................................................
Automotive vehicles parts and en g in e s ............................................
Consumer g o o d s ....................................................................................
Durable .................................................................................................
N ondurable...........................................................................................
-
7.477
31.108
19.205
9.391
9.814
13.164
11.750
14.250
5.507
8.743
1984
1983
Sept.
Mar.
Dec.
June
1985
Sept.
Mar.
Dec.
106.0
88.3
107.2
88.1
105.6
87.1
101.8
85.1
102.1
83.9
100.4
82.3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
97.0
106.4
101.2
101.3
99.5
100.4
98.1
99.0
104.7
101.3
103.8
99.7
99.9
99.5
100.7
106.5
100.8
103.6
100.3
99.9
100.9
102.1
106.7
99.8
104.9
100.9
99.9
102.5
101.7
103.3
98.0
104.0
98.9
96.1
103.0
100.7
101.6
97.8
105.2
99.2
95.6
104.6
95.0
97.7
94.8
105.4
97.0
93.1
103.0
93.9
97.8
96.3
105.9
97.3
93.8
102.5
93.6
97.4
97.6
106.4
99.1
95.6
104.6
U.S. export price indexes by Standard Industrial Classification 1
1983
1984
1985
Industry group
Sept.
Manufacturing:
Food and kindred products (6 /8 3 = 1 0 0 ) .............................
Tobacco m anufactures............................................................
Textile mill p ro d u c ts .................................................................
Apparel and related products ................................................
Lumber and wood products, except furniture
(6 /8 3 = 1 0 0 ) .............................................................................
Furniture and fixtures (9/83 = 100) .......................................
Paper and allied products (3/81 — 1 0 0 )................................
Printing, publishing, and allied p ro d u c ts ...............................
Chemicals and allied products (12/84 = 1 0 0 )......................
Petroleum and coal products (1 2 /8 3 = 1 0 0 ) ........................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastic p ro d u c ts ........................
Leather and leather products ................................................
Stone, clay, glass, and concrete products...........................
Primary metal products (3 /8 2 -1 0 0 ) ....................................
Fabricated metal products ......................................................
Machinery, except electrical (9/78 = 1 0 0 )............................
Electrical machinery (12/80 = 100) .......................................
Transportation equipment (1 2 /7 8 = 1 0 0 )..............................
Scientific instruments; optical goods; clocks
(6 /7 7 = 1 0 0 ) .............................................................................
Miscellaneous manufactured commodities ..........................
1 SIC - based classification.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
96
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Sept.
104.0
87.8
Data not available.
40.
June
103.1
88.5
Dec.
Mar.
109.4
108.3
-
-
109.0
_
-
-
-
100.1
100.0
91.2
99.7
-
June
Sept.
105.6
_
_
-
112.7
_
-
101.0
100.9
94.7
101.4
100.0
101.5
101.8
98.6
103.3
101.6
100.1
103.1
104.3
102.3
102.1
97.0
103.5
106.2
101.3
100.7
-
-
-
-
-
-
110.1
135.1
107.4
150.8
105.0
135.8
107.6
153.6
105.1
137.4
108.0
155.7
_
104.0
137.9
109.5
157.2
_
100.0
138.0
110.7
157.8
150.9
-
152.8
“
153.1
-
153.2
-
156.0
-
-
-
Data not available.
-
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
103.3
_
_
-
99.5
_
_
-
99.5
_
96.6
_
-
_
_
97.9
104.9
103.6
100.7
100.4
_
_
95.8
139.9
111.1
158.9
99.9
105.2
97.1
100.3
101.3
98.3
107.1
93.2
-
-
99.5
106.5
94.7
99.6
102.7
_
_
-
_
_
91.2
140.4
111.3
160.5
92.7
-
93.6
_
140.5
112.4
162.0
140.6
111.9
162.9
153.0
154.9
-
-
156.6
-
156.0
-
_
_
99.7
102.0
_
_
99.0
80.9
41.
U.S. import price indexes by Standard Industrial Classification 1
1983
1984
1985
In d u s try group
Sept.
Manufacturing:
Food and kindred products (6 /7 7 = 1 0 0 ) ....................................
Tobacco m anufactures...................................................................
Textile mill products (9 /8 2 = 1 0 0 ) .................................................
Apparel and related products ( 6 /7 7 = 1 0 0 ) .................................
Lumber and wood products, except furniture
(6 /7 7 = 1 0 0 ) ....................................................................................
Furniture and fixtures ( 6 /8 0 - 1 0 0 ) ...............................................
Paper and allied products (6 /7 7 = 1 0 0 ) .......................................
Printing, publishing, allied pro d u c ts..............................................
Chemicals and allied products ( 9 /8 2 -1 0 0 ) ...............................
Petroleum and coal pro d u c ts .........................................................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastic products
(1 2 /8 0 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................................................................
Leather and leather products ........................................................
Stone, clay, glass, concrete products..........................................
Primary metal products (6 /8 1 = 1 0 0 ) ...........................................
Fabricated metal products (12/84 = 1 0 0 )....................................
Machinery, except electrical ( 3 /8 0 = 1 0 0 ) ...................................
Electrical machinery (9/84 = 1 0 0 ).................................................
Transportation equipment (6/81 = 100) .......................................
Scientific instruments optical goods; clocks
(1 2 /7 9 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................................................................
Miscellaneous manufactured commodities
(9 /8 2 = 1 0 0 ) ....................................................................................
Dec.
121.0
Mar.
120.8
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
122.3
_
126.6
_
124.1
_
122.6
_
118.8
_
115.2
114.4
-
99.5
123.2
103.3
126.5
104.4
128.1
103.8
129.6
104.3
133.9
104.7
138.2
102.8
135.6
101.0
133.0
100.4
135.9
128.3
97.1
132.7
125.0
95.5
132.9
99.5
129.4
95.7
136.5
121.1
96.9
141.9
120.0
95.6
145.5
_
116.3
93.9
141.5
_
120.6
96.1
139.8
117.5
97.7
138.7
99.8
_98.2
_95.3
93.9
93.3
97.8
_98.0
_
96.7
96.5
_
_
82.2
99.0
91.8
95.1
113.1
83.0
99.1
93.4
95.8
114.2
83.4
101.1
96.6
94.5
114.8
-
99.2
-
-
97.5
-
-
117.3
96.2
146.0
-
101.8
_
101.8
_
_
98.5
97.4
98.1
-
_
_
_
_
-
-
-
_
_
91.3
90.5
90.1
91.9
88.3
96.9
_
98.0
98.0
97.8
97.1
-
-
-
-
107.8
110.3
110.6
111.6
95.5
100.0
110.7
86.6
100.0
94.1
98.6
112.9
93.5
94.3
94.0
95.5
94.4
93.2
90.7
91.7
94.7
100.6
99.7
99.8
99.1
95.8
96.4
95.1
95.1
96.6
-
-
-
-
-
-
Data not available.
Indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, and unit costs, quarterly data seasonally adjusted
(1977 = 100)
Annual
average
Quarterly Indexes
Item
1983
1984
1985
1983
I
II
III
IV
I
II
III
IV
I
II
III
Business:
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 costs ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
103.7
161.7
98.4
156.0
145.5
152.4
102.2
160.2
99.0
156.8
139.8
151.0
103.6
161.0
98.5
155.4
144.6
151.7
104.3
161.8
97.9
155.1
147.9
152.7
104.7
164.2
98.4
156.8
149.1
154.2
105.7
166.7
98.6
157.7
151.6
155.6
107.0
167.5
98.2
156.5
157.2
156.7
107.2
169.3
98.3
158.0
158.5
158.1
108.0
171.1
98.5
158.4
160.2
159.0
106.9
173.1
98.9
161.9
159.1
160.9
107.3
174.5
98.6
162.6
159.9
161.7
108.3
176.8
99.4
163.2
160.5
162.3
103.4
162.0
98.6
156.6
147.0
153.4
101.6
160.1
99.0
157.6
140.6
151.9
103.6
161.5
98.8
155.9
146.4
152.7
104.1
162.4
98.3
155.9
149.4
153.8
104.4
164.0
98.3
157.1
151.4
155.2
105.2
166.5
98.4
158.3
152.2
156.3
106.6
168.0
98.4
157.6
156.8
157.3
106.3
169.5
98.4
159.5
158.0
159.0
106.9
171.0
98.5
160.0
160.3
160.1
106.0
173.1
98.9
163.3
160.3
162.3
106.3
174.6
98.7
164.1
161.8
163.4
106.9
176.2
99.0
164.8
163.0
164.2
106.1
161.0
97.9
155.2
151.8
164.9
117.2
149.1
150.9
104.0
159.2
98.4
156.7
153.1
167.0
92.5
142.3
149.4
105.8
160.6
98.2
155.2
151.7
165.1
111.8
147.4
150.2
107.2
161.8
97.9
154.4
150.9
164.4
126.6
151.9
151.2
107.2
162.6
97.4
154.7
151.7
163.3
135.9
154.2
152.6
108.1
164.8
97.5
155.0
152.5
162.0
143.2
155.7
153.6
108.9
165.8
97.2
155.0
152.3
162.8
151.1
158.9
154.6
108.2
167.1
97.1
157.5
154.5
165.9
145.3
159.1
156.1
108.8
168.7
97.1
158.0
155.0
166.4
150.7
161.2
157.1
108.1
170.3
97.3
160.2
157.5
168.1
150.4
162.2
159.1
108.1
171.6
97.0
161.6
158.8
169.8
148.9
162.9
160.2
109.2
173.0
97.2
161.1
158.3
168.8
160.1
165.9
160.9
111.6
163.4
99.4
146.4
110.0
162.7
100.6
147.9
110.9
163.0
99.6
147.0
113.0
163.5
98.9
144.7
112.7
164.6
98.6
146.1
114.2
167.1
98.8
146.3
114.8
168.3
98.6
146.6
116.7
169.9
98.7
145.5
116.5
172.1
99.1
147.7
116.7
174.4
99.6
149.5
118.6
176.5
99.7
148.8
119.7
177.8
99.9
148.6
Nonfarm business:
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 costs ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price d e fla to r.................................................
Nonfinancial corporations:
Output per hour of all em plo yees...........................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per h o u r ...................................
Total unit c o s ts ...........................................................
Unit labor costs .......................................................
Unit nonlabor c o s ts ................................................
Unit p ro fits ...................................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
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 ..........................................................
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Sept.
-
1 SIC - based classification.
42.
June
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
43.
February 1986
• Current Labor Statistics: Productivity Data
Annual indexes of multifactor productivity and related measures selected years
(1977 = 100)
Item
1950
1960
1970
1973
1975
1976
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
Private business
Productivity:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............................
Output per unit of capital se rvic e s .......................
Multifactor p roductivity...........................................
O u tp u t..........................................................................
Inputs:
Hours of all persons...............................................
Capital services .......................................................
Combined units of labor and capital in p u t.........
Capital per hour or all persons ...............................
49.7
98.5
63.6
39.5
64.8
98.4
75.4
53.3
86.1
98.5
90.2
78.3
94.8
103.0
97.5
91.8
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
89.5
96.8
106.3
103.7
92.3
99.6
111.1
79.4
40.1
62.1
50.5
82.2
54.1
70.7
65.9
90.8
79.4
86.7
87.4
96.8
89.1
94.1
92.0
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
118.8
109.9
112.7
107.2
120.4
111.6
112.3
55.6
98.1
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
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
99.4
111.3
69.0
39.1
56.3
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
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
121.1
112.0
112.6
49.4
94.2
59.8
38.6
60.0
87.9
67.0
50.7
79.2
91.8
82.3
77.0
93.0
108.2
96.8
95.9
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
41.0
64.6
52.5
84.4
57.6
75.6
68.3
97.3
83.9
93.5
86.2
103.1
88.6
99.0
85.9
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
Private nonfarm business
Productivity:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............................
Output per unit of capital se rvic e s .......................
Multifactor productivity...........................................
O u tp u t..........................................................................
Inputs:
Hours of all persons...............................................
Capital services .......................................................
Combined units of labor and capital in p u t.........
Capital per hour of all pe rso n s................................
Manufacturing
Productivity:
Output per hour of all persons .............................
Output per unit of capital se rvic e s .......................
Multifactor productivity...........................................
O u tp u t..........................................................................
Inputs:
Hours of all persons...............................................
Capital services ......................................................
Combined units of labor and capital in p u ts .......
Capital per hour of all persons................................
98
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
44.
Annual indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices, selected years
(1977 = 100)
Item
1950
1960
1970
1973
1975
1976
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
Business:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s................................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per hour ...................................
Unit labor costs ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
50.4
20.0
50.5
39.8
43.4
41.0
65.2
33.9
69.5
52.1
50.6
51.6
86.2
58.2
90.8
67.5
63.2
66.0
94.8
71.4
97.3
75.3
75.2
75.3
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
107.0
168.6
98.4
157.6
157.0
157.4
56.3
21.9
55.1
38.8
42.7
40.1
68.3
35.7
73.1
52.3
50.4
51.6
86.8
58.7
91.5
67.6
63.8
66.3
95.3
71.8
97.9
75.3
71.6
74.0
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
106.2
168.7
98.4
158.8
156.9
158.2
“
68.0
37.0
75.8
54.4
54.6
54.5
87.4
59.4
92.7
68.0
63.1
66.3
96.4
71.9
98.0
74.5
70.6
73.2
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
108.5
166.6
97.2
153.6
158.8
155.4
49.4
21.5
54.0
43.4
54.3
46.6
60.0
36.7
75.1
61.1
61.1
61.1
79.2
57.6
89.8
72.7
65.1
70.5
93.0
69.0
94.1
74.2
70.7
73.2
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
115.6
169.4
98.8
146.5
140.3
144.7
Nonfarm business:
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 costs ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
Nonfinanclal corporations:
Output per hour of all e m plo yees...........................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per h o u r ...................................
Unit labor costs ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
-
-
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 costs ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
-
Data not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
45. Unemployment rates in nine countries, quarterly data seasonally adjusted
1985
1984
Annual average
Country
1983
1984
IV
III
II
I
II
I
III
Total labor force basis
United S ta te s ........................................
Canada ..................................................
Australia ................................................
Japan ......................................................
France ...................................................
G erm any................................................
Great Britain .........................................
Italy \ 2 ..................................................
Sweden .................................................
_
_
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
11.4
9.3
2.7
11.3
9.1
2.7
_
_
-
-
-
-
9.4
7.6
12.7
5.9
-
_
-
_
-
-
-
_
_
11.2
8.8
2.8
11.1
8.5
2.7
11.1
8.5
2.6
10.5
8.4
2.6
10.2
8.1
2.5
9.8
7.7
12.8
5.9
"
10.0
7.8
13.1
5.7
10.2
7.7
12.9
5.7
”
10.3
7.8
13.0
5.8
10.2
7.8
13.1
5.8
10.2
7.8
13.3
6.0
“
“
7.9
11.5
9.4
2.8
7.5
11.2
9.2
2.7
7.4
11.6
8.8
2.8
7.2
11.2
8.6
2.7
7.3
11.1
8.5
2.6
7.3
10.6
8.5
2.6
7.2
10.3
8.2
2.5
9.6
7.7
12.8
6.0
~
10.1
7.9
12.9
6.0
10.3
8.0
13.2
5.8
“
10.4
7.8
13.0
5.8
10.5
7.9
13.1
5.9
10.5
8.0
13.3
5.9
10.5
7.9
13.5
6.2
Civilian labor force basis
United S ta te s ........................................
Canada ...................................................
Australia ................................................
Japan ......................................................
France ...................................................
G erm any................................................
Great Britain .........................................
Ita ly .........................................................
Sweden .................................................
-
-
”
1 Quarterly rates are for the first month of the quarter.
2 Major changes in the Italian labor force survey,
introduced in 1977, resulted in a large increase in persons
enumerated as unemployed. However, many persons
reported that they had not actively sought work in the past
30 days, and they have been provisionally excluded for
comparability with U.S. concepts. Inclusion of such persons
would more than double the Italian unemployment rate
“
shown.
- Data not available.
NOTE: Q uarterly'a nd m o nthly figures fo r France, G er
many, and G reat B ritain are c a lc u la te d by a p p lyin g annual
ad ju s tm e n t fa c to rs to curre nt pub lish ed d a ta and
therefore should be viewed as less precise in d ic a to rs of
une m ploym ent under U.S. c once pts than the annual
figures.
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
•
Current Labor Statistics: International Comparisons Data
46. Annual data: Employment status of the civilian working-age population, ten countries
(Numbers in thousands)
Employment status and country
1975
1976
1977
93,775
9,974
6,169
52,530
21,600
26,130
25,130
20,080
4,820
4,123
96,158
10,203
6,244
53,100
21,840
25,900
25,290
20,300
4,890
4,149
99,009
10,500
6,358
53,820
22,100
25,870
25,430
20,530
4,950
4,168
102,251
10,895
6,443
54,610
22,290
26,000
25,620
20,630
5,010
4,203
104,962
11,231
6,519
55,210
22,470
26,240
25,710
20,910
5,100
4,262
106,940
11,573
6,693
55,740
22,570
26,500
25,870
21,210
5,290
4,312
108,670
11,904
6,810
56,320
22,640
26,610
25,870
21,410
5,500
4,326
110,204
11,958
6,910
56,980
22,900
26,640
25,880
21,450
5,560
4,350
111,550
12,183
6,997
58,110
22,800
26,640
25,980
21,610
5,720
4,369
61.2
61.1
63.2
62.4
56.7
54.4
63.1
47.5
49.2
65.9
61.6
61.1
62.7
62.4
56.9
53.8
63.2
47.8
49.1
66.0
62.3
61.6
62.7
62.5
57.0
53.4
63.2
48.0
49.0
65.9
63.2
62.7
62.0
62.8
57.1
53.3
63.3
47.7
48.8
66.1
63.7
63.4
61.7
62.7
57.0
53.3
63.2
47.8
49.0
66.6
63.8
64.1
62.2
62.6
56.7
53.2
63.2
48.0
50.0
67.0
63.9
64.8
62.0
62.6
56.5
52.9
62.2
48.0
51.3
66.8
64.0
64.1
61.8
62.7
56.7
52.5
61.9
47.4
51.2
66.8
64.0
64.4
61.5
63.1
56.1
52.8
62.2
47.2
52.4
66.9
85,846
9,284
5,866
51,530
20,700
25,230
24,000
19,480
4,570
4,056
88,752
9,477
5,946
52,020
20,850
25,010
23,810
19,600
4,630
4,083
92,017
9,651
6,000
52,720
21,030
24,970
23,840
19,800
4,700
4,093
96,048
9,987
6,038
53,370
21,110
25,130
24,040
19,870
4,750
4,109
98,824
10,395
6,111
54,040
21,110
25,460
24,360
20,100
4,830
4,174
99,303
10,708
6,284
54,600
21,120
25,730
24,100
20,380
4,960
4,226
100,397
11,006
6,416
55,060
20,950
25,520
23,190
20,480
4,990
4,218
99,526
10,644
6,415
55,620
20,980
25,060
22,820
20,430
4,930
4,213
100,834
10,734
6,300
56,550
20,840
24,650
22,650
20,470
4,890
4,218
56.1
56.9
60.1
61.2
54.3
52.5
60.3
46.1
46.6
64.8
56.8
56.7
59.7
61.1
54.3
52.0
59.5
46.1
46.5
64.9
57.9
56.6
59.2
61.2
54.3
51.6
59.3
46.3
46.5
64.8
59.3
57.5
58.1
61.3
54.1
51.5
59.4
45.9
46.3
64.6
59.9
58.7
57.9
61.4
53.6
51.7
59.8
45.9
46.4
65.3
59.2
59.3
58.4
61.3
53.1
51.6
58.9
46.1
46.9
65.6
59.0
59.9
58.4
61.2
52.3
50.7
55.8
45.9
46.5
65.1
57.8
57.0
57.3
61.2
51.9
49.4
54.6
45.2
45.4
64.7
57.9
56.7
55.4
61.4
51.3
48.8
54.2
44.7
44.8
64.4
7,929
690
302
1,000
900
890
1,130
610
250
67
7,406
726
298
1,080
990
890
1,480
700
260
66
6,991
849
358
1,100
1,070
900
1,590
740
250
75
6,202
908
405
1,240
1,180
870
1,580
760
260
94
6,137
836
408
1,170
1,360
780
1,350
810
270
88
7,637
865
409
1,140
1,450
770
1,770
830
330
86
8,273
898
394
1,260
1,690
1,090
2,680
920
510
108
10,678
1,314
495
1,360
1,920
1,580
3,060
1,020
630
137
10,717
1,448
697
1,560
1,960
1,990
3,330
1,140
830
151
8.5
6.9
4.9
1.9
4.2
3.4
4.5
3.0
5.2
1.6
7.7
7.1
4.8
2.0
4.5
3.4
5.9
3.4
5.3
1.6
7.1
8.1
5.6
2.0
4.8
3.5
6.3
3.6
5.0
1.8
6.1
8.3
6.3
2.3
5.3
3.4
6.2
3.7
5.2
2.2
5.8
7.4
6.3
2.1
6.1
3.0
5.3
3.9
5.3
2.1
7.1
7.5
6.1
2.0
6.4
2.9
6.8
3.9
6.2
2.0
7.6
7.5
5.8
2.2
7.5
4.1
10.4
4.3
9.3
2.5
9.7
11.0
7.2
2.4
8.4
5.9
11.8
4.8
11.3
3.1
9.6
11.9
10.0
2.7
8.6
7.5
12.8
5.3
14.5
3.5
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
Labor force
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
F ra n ce ..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Great B rita in ................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w eden ........................................................................
Participation rate
United States ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
France ..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Great B rita in ................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
Employed
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
F ra n ce ..........................................................................
G e rm any......................................................................
Great B rita in ................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
Employment-population ratio
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
F ra n ce ..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Great B rita in ................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
Unemployed
United States ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
F ra n ce ..........................................................................
G e rm any......................................................................
Great B rita in ................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
Unemployment rate
United States ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
F ra n ce ..........................................................................
G e rm any......................................................................
Great B rita in ................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
100
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
47. Annual indexes of productivity and related measures, twelve countries
(1977 = 100)
Item and country
1960
1970
1973
1975
1976
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
115.6
111.9
167.4
O u tp u t p e r h o u r
United S ta te s ..........................................................................................
Canada ..............................................................................................
Japan .................................................................................................
Belgium ........................................................................................
D e nm a rk......................................................................
France ....................................................................................................
G erm any..............................................................
I ta ly .........................................................................................
Netherlands ...............................................................................
Norway ............................................................................................
Sweden ........................................................................
United Kingdom .................................................................................
60.0
50.3
22.0
32.8
36.4
36.3
39.8
36.5
31.7
54.6
42.3
53.8
79.2
76.8
61.4
59.9
65.3
69.3
70.9
72.7
63.0
81.7
80.7
77.6
93.0
91.3
80.2
78.3
82.8
82.0
83.4
90.9
80.1
94.7
94.8
93.1
93.4
91.0
85.3
86.0
94.4
88.4
89.8
91.1
85.1
96.8
100.2
94.5
97.6
96.2
93.3
95.0
98.0
94.9
96.2
98.9
96.1
99.7
101.7
99.4
100.9
101.4
107.9
106.4
102.4
105.9
102.5
103.0
106.6
101.8
102.8
101.6
101.6
104.2
117.4
112.0
108.3
110.6
107.4
110.5
112.1
107.2
110.9
102.1
101.7
101.9
128.6
119.7
114.3
112.4
108.4
116.9
114.6
109.3
112.7
99.9
104.9
104.0
135.7
126.5
116.2
116.0
110.3
121.0
118.7
109.7
113.2
106.1
107.1
101.1
145.4
128.6
115.3
123.5
111.6
123.4
121.6
112.7
116.5
110.9
111.6
107.6
152.8
137.0
118.8
128.8
116.8
126.4
130.4
119.4
126.4
118.3
50.7
41.5
17.9
41.6
48.2
35.4
49.2
37.4
44.1
55.1
52.6
71.0
77.0
75.1
65.3
78.0
81.7
73.3
86.0
78.0
82.7
87.0
92.5
94.6
95.9
94.6
87.4
95.7
95.4
88.6
95.2
90.5
94.2
99.5
100.3
104.6
85.4
92.3
82.2
92.1
94.8
90.0
90.4
86.9
91.7
101.0
106.1
96.1
93.6
98.1
93.2
99.4
99.4
96.1
97.6
97.9
99.1
101.4
106.1
98.1
105.3
104.9
107.3
101.6
100.7
103.4
101.3
101.8
102.8
98.2
97.3
100.6
108.2
110.9
118.0
104.2
107.2
106.1
106.1
108.6
105.5
100.3
103.6
100.6
103.5
107.7
130.7
107.3
112.1
106.6
106.6
115.4
107.3
101.3
104.0
91.8
106.1
108.8
139.0
104.8
108.5
104.9
104.6
114.3
107.3
100.1
100.6
86.2
99.3
96.4
148.6
104.8
108.2
105.1
101.4
111.6
105.2
99.9
100.1
86.8
104.4
102.2
160.1
106.2
115.0
106.4
102.5
109.0
106.3
98.7
106.0
89.0
115.3
110.6
180.3
84.4
82.6
81.5
127.1
132.4
97.6
123.6
102.3
139.1
101.0
124.4
131.8
97.3
97.7
106.4
130.2
125.1
105.7
121.3
107.4
131.1
106.4
114.6
121.9
103.1
103.6
109.0
122.3
115.2
108.0
114.2
99.6
117.7
105.1
105.7
112.4
91.4
101.4
96.4
107.1
100.4
101.9
100.6
95.4
107.8
104.3
105.9
101.7
95.9
102.0
99.9
104.6
101.4
101.3
101.5
99.0
103.1
101.7
104.3
98.7
104.4
103.4
99.5
95.6
98.3
97.6
98.8
98.8
96.4
96.5
94.6
99.0
106.5
106.4
100.5
93.0
99.0
95.9
98.8
98.2
94.1
93.6
93.4
98.6
101.7
105.7
101.6
89.7
98.0
94.8
98.4
98.7
93.7
92.6
92.3
91.9
101.1
104.6
102.4
82.8
93.4
90.4
94.8
94.5
90.4
91.3
88.9
81.3
92.7
95.4
102.2
81.6
93.9
85.0
90.8
90.5
86.5
88.6
85.9
78.2
93.5
94.9
104.8
77.5
96.8
82.6
87.7
86.2
81.5
82.7
83.9
75.2
99.8
98.9
107.7
36.7
27.1
8.9
13.9
12.6
15.1
18.8
8.3
12.2
15.8
14.7
14.9
57.6
46.5
33.9
34.7
36.3
36.5
48.1
26.1
38.5
37.9
38.5
30.9
69.0
59.2
55.7
53.6
56.1
52.1
67.6
43.7
60.1
54.6
54.2
45.0
85.5
78.2
85.4
79.0
81.0
76.6
84.8
70.2
81.9
77.2
77.3
75.1
92.3
89.9
91.1
89.4
90.4
88.8
91.4
84.1
92.1
88.9
91.5
88.9
108.3
106.7
105.9
107.9
110.2
113.7
107.7
114.5
108.7
110.0
111.4
116.8
118.8
118.3
112.8
117.5
123.2
129.7
115.4
134.7
117.3
116.0
120.1
137.1
132.7
130.6
121.2
130.2
135.9
148.1
125.0
160.2
123.5
128.0
133.6
162.8
145.2
151.5
130.2
144.7
149.7
171.3
133.8
197.1
130.3
142.8
148.1
185.6
158.0
167.2
136.9
152.0
165.4
202.7
140.9
237.3
139.4
156.1
158.9
201.8
163.4
178.5
141.5
164.9
172.6
227.4
146.7
277.0
147.3
173.8
173.2
216.2
169.4
181.4
146.0
61.1
53.9
40.5
42.4
34.5
41.6
47.3
22.8
38.3
29.0
34.8
27.6
72.7
60.6
55.2
57.9
55.6
52.6
67.9
36.0
61.1
46.4
47.7
39.8
74.2
64.8
69.4
68.5
67.8
63.6
81.0
48.1
75.1
57.6
57.2
48.3
91.5
86.0
100.1
91.9
85.8
86.7
94.4
77.1
96.2
79.7
77.1
79.4
94.6
93.5
97.7
94.1
92.3
93.6
95.0
85.1
95.9
89.1
90.0
89.5
107.3
105.3
98.2
101.4
107.6
107.4
105.0
111.2
101.9
108.1
108.4
114.9
117.0
113.5
96.1
104.9
113.7
117.3
107.5
121.9
104.7
108.2
108.3
134.3
130.5
128.1
94.2
108.9
118.9
131.7
115.3
137.0
107.8
117.0
118.6
163.0
138.4
145.7
95.9
114.4
128.8
147.7
121.3
162.9
109.8
130.2
130.9
174.9
147.6
165.4
94.1
118.3
143.5
164.1
126.2
192.4
114.6
138.5
136.3
181.9
146.4
165.9
92.6
120.4
145.3
176.5
125.6
219.2
113.0
145.6
137.1
182.8
61.1
59.0
30.2
30.4
30.1
41.7
26.3
32.5
24.9
21.7
30.1
44.5
72.7
61.7
41.3
41.8
44.5
46.8
43.2
50.6
41.4
34.5
41.1
54.6
74.2
68.8
68.6
63.2
67.6
70.4
71.0
73.1
66.3
53.4
58.7
67.9
91.5
89.8
90.4
89.8
89.8
99.5
89.2
104.3
93.5
81.4
83.2
101.1
94.6
100.7
88.2
87.4
91.7
96.3
87.6
90.5
89.0
86.9
92.3
92.6
107.3
98.1
126.2
115.6
117.3
117.3
121.6
115.6
115.7
109.7
107.2
126.4
117.0
103.0
117.9
128.1
129.7
135.5
136.2
129.5
128.1
113.8
112.9
163.4
130.5
116.4
111.8
133.6
126.8
153.4
147.5
141.4
133.2
126.2
125.3
217.2
138.4
129.1
116.4
110.7
108.4
133.4
124.9
126.3
108.2
120.6
115.4
202.9
147.6
142.3
101.2
92.6
103.2
122.6
120.7
125.4
105.2
114.1
96.9
182.2
146.4
143.1
104.4
84.4
95.3
113.9
114.1
127.4
97.2
106.2
79.8
158.8
123.6
135.2
122.3
134.4
121.4
134.9
123.0
O u tp u t
United S ta te s ........................................................................
Canada ............................................................................................
Japan ......................................................................................................
B elgium ...................................................................................
D e nm a rk..................................................................................
France .....................................................................................................
G erm any........................................................................
I ta ly ..........................................................................................................
Netherlands ..........................................................................
Norway ..................................................................................
Sweden .............................................................................
United Kingdom .................................................................................
123.6
108.0
106.5
113.1
101.2
113.2
92.0
T o ta l h o u rs
United S ta te s ..........................................................................
Canada ............................................................................................
Japan ...............................................................................
Belgium ......................................................................
D e nm a rk.......................................................................
France ...............................................................................
G erm any...........................................................................
Italy ................................................................................................
Netherlands ...............................................................
Norway ...................................................................
Sweden ................................................................................
United Kingdom ...................................................................
99.9
79.9
87.0
84.2
83.4
83.9
74.8
C o m p e n s a tio n p e r h o u r
United S ta te s ..............................................................................
Canada ...............................................................................
Japan ......................................................................................
Belgium ................................................................
D e nm a rk.................................................................
France ..................................................................
G erm any........................................................
Italy .....................................................................
Netherlands .....................................................
Norway .....................................................................
Sweden ......................................................................
United Kingdom ................................................................
182.8
247.5
152.1
306.0
185.6
192.0
233.4
U n it la b o r c o s ts : National currency basis:
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ......................................................................
Japan ......................................................................
Belgium ...........................................................
D e nm a rk...........................................................
France ........................................................................
G erm any.............................................................
Italy ............ .......................................... .......................
N e th e rla n d s..................................................
Norway ..............................................................
Sweden ........................................................................
United Kingdom ................................................................
146.5
162.1
87.2
147.8
183.1
124.3
227.7
152.9
142.3
189.8
U n it la b o r c o s ts : U.S. dollar basis:
United S ta te s .......................................................
Canada ..............................................................
Japan ......................................................................................
Belgium .....................................................................
D e nm a rk.........................................................................
France ........................................................................
G erm any.............................................................................
Italy .....................................................................................
Netherlands ............................................................
Norway ...............................................................
Sweden ..............................................................
United Kingdom .........................................................................
-
146.5
133.0
98.4
85.7
103.0
101.4
114.5
99.7
76.9
145.4
Data not available.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
101
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
February 1986
• Current Labor Statistics
48. Occupational injury and illness incidence rates by industry, United States
Incidence rates per 100 full-time workers2
Industry and type of case'
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
PRIVATE SECTOR3
Total c a s e s .............
Lost workday cases
Lost w o rkda ys........
-
-
'
-
-
-
'
'
'
8.3
3.8
61.7
7.7
3.5
58.7
7.6
3.4
58.5
8.0
3.7
63.4
12.3
5.9
82.8
11.8
5.9
86.0
11.9
6.1
90.8
12.0
6.1
90.7
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing3
Total c a s e s ......
Lost workday ca
Lost workdays ..
-
-
-
-
-
'
'
'
'
'
-
-
-
-
-
11.6
6.2
146.4
10.5
5.4
137.3
8.4
4.5
125.1
9.7
5.3
160.2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
15.1
6.3
113.1
14.6
6.0
115.7
14.8
6.3
118.2
15.5
6.9
128.1
_
-
_
-
_
-
_
-
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
15.1
6.1
107.1
14.1
5.9
112.0
14.4
6.2
113.0
15.4
6.9
121.3
_
-
-
_
-
-
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
14.9
6.0
106.0
15.1
5.8
113.1
15.4
6.2
122.4
14.9
6.4
131.7
_
-
_
-
_
-
_
-
_
-
15.2
6.6
119.3
14.7
6.2
118.6
14.8
6.4
119.0
15.8
7.1
130.1
Mining
Total c a s e s ................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ................................
Lost w o rkda ys..........................................
Construction
Total c a s e s ................................
Lost workday c a s e s .................
Lost w o rkdays...........................
General building contractors:
Total c a s e s ................................
Lost workday c a s e s .................
Lost w o rkda ys...........................
Heavy construction contractors:
Total c a s e s ................................
Lost workday c a s e s ................
Lost w o rkda ys...........................
Special trade contractors:
Total c a s e s ................................
Lost workday cases ................
Lost w o rkda ys...........................
'
Manufacturing
Total c a s e s .....
Lost workday a
Lost workdays .
-
-
-
-
-
11.5
5.1
82.0
10.2
4.4
75.0
10.0
4.3
73.5
10.6
4.7
77.9
17.6
9.0
158.4
16.9
8.3
153.3
18.3
9.2
163.5
19.6
9.9
172.0
15.1
6.2
91.9
13.9
5.5
85.6
14.1
5.7
83.0
15.3
6.4
101.5
14.1
6.9
122.2
13.0
6.1
112.2
13.1
6.0
112.0
13.6
6.6
120.8
14.4
6.7
121.3
12.4
5.4
101.6
12.4
5.4
103.4
13.3
6.1
115.3
17.5
7.5
109.9
15.3
6.4
102.5
15.1
6.1
96.5
16.1
6.7
104.9
12.9
5.1
74.9
10.7
4.2
66.0
9.8
3.6
58.1
10.7
4.1
65.8
7.4
3.1
48.4
6.5
2.7
42.2
6.3
2.6
41.4
6.8
2.8
45.0
9.8
4.6
78.1
9.2
4.0
72.2
8.4
3.6
64.5
9.3
4.2
68.8
6.5
2.7
39.2
5.6
2.3
37.0
5.2
2.1
35.6
5.4
2.2
37.5
10.7
4.4
68.3
9.9
4.1
69.9
9.9
4.0
66.3
10.5
4.3
70.2
Durable goods
Lumber and wood products:
Total c a s e s .............................................. „ .................
Lost workday c a s e s ...................................................
Lost w o rkdays.............................................................
Furniture and fixtures:
Total c a s e s ..................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ...................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.............................................................
Stone, clay, and glass products:
Total c a s e s ..................................................................
Lost workday cases ..................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.............................................................
Primary metal industries:
Total c a s e s ..................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ...................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.............................................................
Fabricated metal products:
Total c a s e s ..................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ..................................................
Lost w o rkdays.............................................................
Machinery, except electrical:
Total c a s e s ..................................................................
Lost workday cases ..................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.............................................................
Electric and electronic equipment:
Total c a s e s ..................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ..................................................
Lost w orkdays.............................................................
Transportation equipment:
Total c a s e s ..................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ..................................................
Lost w o rkdays............................................................
Instruments and related products:
Total c a s e s ..................................................................
Lost workday cases ..................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.............................................................
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries:
Total c a s e s .... ,...........................................................
Lost workday c a s e s .................................................
Lost workdays ............................................................
See footnotes at end of table.
102
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
-
_
-
_
-
_
-
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
-
_
-
_
-
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
_
-
_
-
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
_
_
_
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
_
_
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
_
_
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
_
_
_
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
_
-
-
-
-
-
-
“
48. —Continued Occupational injury and illness incidence rates by industry, United States
Incidence rates per 100 full-time workers2
1976
N ondurable goo ds
Food and kindred products:
Total c a s e s .......................................................................
Lost workday cases ........................................................
Lost w o rkda ys....................................................................
Tobacco manufacturing:
Total c a s e s .....................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ......................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.........................................................................
Textile mill products:
Total c a s e s ...........................................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys....................................................................
Apparel and other textile products:
Total c a s e s ...........................................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ..........................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys......................................................................
Paper and allied products:
Total c a s e s ..........................................................................................................
Lost workday cases ............................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.....................................................................................................
Printing and publishing:
Total c a s e s .................................................................................................
Lost workday cases ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys....................................................................................................
Chemicals and allied products:
Total c a s e s ...................................................................................................
Lost workday cases ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.....................................................................................................
Petroleum and coal products:
Total c a s e s ..........................................................................................................
Lost workday cases ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys....................................................................................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products:
Total c a s e s ..................................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys...........................................................................................
Leather and leather products:
Total c a s e s .................................................................................................
Lost workday cases ............................................................................
Lost w o rkdays................................................................................
T ra n sp o rta tio n and public u tilitie s
Total c a s e s ........................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ........................................................
Lost workdays .........................................................................
W holesale and retail trade
Total c a s e s ........................................................................
Lost workday cases ...........................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys............................................................................
Wholesale trade:
Total c a s e s ..............................................................................
Lost workday cases ......................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys......................................................................................
Retail trade:
Total c a s e s .................................................................................................
Lost workday cases .............................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys............................................................................
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
-
-
_
-
_
_
-
_
_
_
17.8
8.6
130.7
16.7
8.0
129.3
16.5
7.9
131.2
16.7
8.1
131.6
-
_
-
_
-
_
_
_
_
_
8.2
3.9
56.8
7.2
3.2
44.6
6.5
3.0
42.8
7.7
3.2
51.7
-
-
-
-
_
_
8.8
3.2
59.2
7.6
2.8
53.8
7.4
2.8
51.4
8.0
3.0
54.0
-
-
_
_
_
_
_
_
6.3
2.2
35.0
6.0
2.1
36.4
6.4
2.4
40.6
6.7
2.5
40.9
-
-
-
_
_
_
_
_
_
11.6
5.4
103.6
10.6
4.9
99.1
10.0
4.5
90.3
10.4
4.7
93.8
-
-
-
-
_
_
_
6.7
3.0
47.4
6.6
2.8
45.7
6.6
2.9
44.6
6.5
2.9
46.0
-
-
-
-
_
_
6.6
3.0
48.1
5.7
2.5
39.4
5.5
2.5
42.3
5.3
2.4
40.8
-
-
-
-
_
_
6.7
2.9
51.2
5.3
2.5
46.4
5.5
2.4
46.8
5.1
2.4
53.5
-
-
-
-
_
_
_
14.6
7.2
117.4
12.7
6.0
100.9
13.0
6.2
101.4
13.6
6.4
104.3
-
_
-
_
_
-
-
-
-
-
11.5
5.1
82.6
9.9
4.5
86.5
10.0
4.4
87.3
10.5
4.7
94.4
8.5
4.9
96.7
8.2
4.7
94.9
8.8
5.2
105.1
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
_
-
-
-
-
-
9.0
5.3
100.6
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
7.3
3.1
45.3
7.2
3.1
45.5
7.2
3.1
47.8
7.4
3.3
50.5
-
-
_
-
_
_
_
_
_
_
7.7
3.6
54.7
7.1
3.4
52.1
7.0
3.2
50.6
7.2
3.5
55.5
-
-
-
_
_
_
_
-
-
-
-
-
7.1
2.9
41.1
7.2
2.9
42.6
7.3
3.0
46.7
7.5
3.2
48.4
-
-
-
-
_
-
-
-
-
1.9
.8
11.6
2.0
.9
13.2
2.0
.9
12.8
1.9
.9
13.6
5.0
2.3
35.9
4.9
2.3
35.8
5.1
2.4
37.0
5.2
2.5
41.1
Finance, insurance, and real estate
Total c a s e s .................................................................................................
Lost workday cases ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.....................................................................................................
Services
Total c a s e s ..........................................................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.....................................................................................................
1 Total cases include fatalities.
2 The incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses or lost
workdays per 100 full-time workers and were calculated as:
(N/EH) X 200,000, where:
N = number of injuries and illnesses or lost workdays.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
“
EH = total hours worked by all employees during calendar year.
200,000 = base for 100 full-time equivalent workers (working 40 hours per
week, 50 weeks per year.)
3 Excludes farms with fewer than 11 employees since 1976.
- Data not available.
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1985.
To Order:
S a le P u b lic a tio n s: O rder b u lletin s by title , b u lletin n u m b er, and
G P O sto ck n u m b er from the S u p erin ten d en t o f D o c u m e n ts , U .S .
G o v ern m en t P rin tin g O ffic e , W a sh in g to n , D .C . 2 0 4 0 2 , or from
the B ureau o f L ab or S ta tistics, P u b lic a tio n s S ales C en ter, P .O .
B o x 2 1 4 5 , C h ic a g o , IL 606 9 0 . S u b scrip tio n s, in clu d in g m ic r o fic h e
su b scrip tio n s, are av a ila b le o n ly fro m the S u p erin ten d en t o f
D o c u m e n ts. A ll c h eck s— in clu d in g th o s e th at g o th e C h ica g o
R eg io n a l O ffic e — sh o u ld b e m ad e p ayab le to the S u p erin ten d en t
o f D o c u m e n ts.
O th e r P u b lic a tio n s: R eq u est fro m th e B ureau o f L ab or S ta tistics,
U .S . D ep a rtm e n t o f L a b o r, R o o m 2 4 2 1 , 441 G S treet, N .W .,
W a sh in g to n , D .C . 2 0 2 1 2 , or fro m th e B ureau o f L ab or S ta tistics,
C h ica g o R eg io n a l O ffic e , P .O . B o x 2 1 4 5 , C h ic a g o , IL 606 9 0 .
* u. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1986 491-537/40000
C o n te n ts
The First
Hundred Years
of the Bureau
of Labor Statistics
T he First
Hundred 'fears
of the Bureau
of Labor Statistics
Professor
Richard B. Morris,
Columbia University,
says:
“ ...my congratulations
to Messrs. Goldberg
and Moye for their
very perceptive
account of activities
so central to the
economic life of the
country and so little
understood.”
I. Origins
II.
Carroll Wright:
Setting the Course
III. Charles Neill:
Studies for Economic
and Social Reform
IV. Royal Meeker:
Statistics in Recession
and Wartime
V. Ethelbert Stewart:
Holding the Fort
Joseph R Goldberg and WilliamT Moye
VI. Isador Lubin:
Meeting Emergency
Demands
VII. Ewan Clague:
An Expanding Role for
Economic Indicators
Professor
Irving Bernstein,
University of
California,
Los Angeles, noted
that Goldberg and
Moye
VIII. Four Commissioners
(Ross, Moore, Shiskin,
Norwood):
An Economy Going
by the Numbers
IX. History as Prologue:
The Continuing
Mission
“ ...are to be
commended for a
first-class work of
historical scholarship.
It is solidly based on
primary sources, is
logically organized,
and is lucidly written.”
Appendix:
BLS Publications
Source Notes
Index
Photo Section
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