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Wï'Z'b'i ; nLi u/ADvjn htVIEW
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c
.S. Department of Labor
j re au of I T'oor Statistics
November 1986
In this issue:
A Special Section on Time Spent at Work
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MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
NOVEMBER 1986
VOLUME 109, NUMBER 11
Henry Lowenstern, Editor-in-Chief
Robert W. Fisher, Executive Editor
A SPECIAL SECTION ON THE TIME WE SPEND WORKING
Paul O. Flaim
3 Work schedules of Americans: an overview of new findings
A group of articles examines data from a special 1985 household survey which includes
information on the number of workers who moonlight, work at home, or have flexible hours
Shirley J. Smith
7
The growing diversity of work schedules
While the 40-hour, 5-day workweek remains the schedule of choice,
extended and compressed work schemes are becoming more popular
Earl F. Mellor
14
Shift work and flexitime: how prevalent are they?
Shift work and flexitime are not widespread; only 1 of 10 full-time workers
is on an evening or night shift, and only 1 of 8 has a flexible schedule
John F. Stinson, Jr.
22
Moonlighting by women jumped to record highs
A small proportion of workers have two jobs or more; for most, the motivation
is financial, but moonlighting also provides an opportunity to explore new careers
Bruce W. Klein
26
Missed work and lost hours, May 1985
Absences were lower in 1985 than at any time since 1973; for the first time,
service-producing industries had higher rates than goods-producing industries
Francis W. Horvath
31
Work at home: new findings from the Current Population Survey
More than 8 million reported at least 8 hours of home-base work in 1985;
most common were services, ranging from consulting to child care
Darrell E. Carr
36
Overtime work: an expanded view
Survey now includes workers whose hours do not exceed the traditional 40- hour week;
1.6 million of these workers received premium pay for working overtime during 1985
Susan E. Shank
40
Preferred hours of work and corresponding earnings
Most workers are satisfied with the number of hours they currently work;
very few would be willing to trade income for leisure time
Wayne J. Howe
45
Temporary help workers: who they are, what jobs they hold
Temporary help workers are disproportionately female, young, and black;
they are more likely to work part time and in clerical and industrial help jobs
REPORTS
Joy K. Reynolds
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48
Steelworkers press organizing and coordinated bargaining
DEPARTMENTS
2
48
50
51
54
57
Labor month in review
Conventions
Major agreements expiring next month
Developments in industrial relations
Book reviews
Current labor statistics
Labor M onth
In Review
SIC Revision. The Federal Office of
Management and Budget announced that the
Standard Industrial Classification system,
which underlies all establishment-based
economic statistics, is being revised, effec
tive January 1,1987. Here are excerpts from
the o m b announcement, which appeared in
the Federal Register for October 1, 1986,
pages 35170 to 35188.
Background. The sic system is revised
periodically to reflect the economy’s chang
ing industrial composition and organization.
Changes in the economy since the last ma
jor revision in 1972 require an updating of
the standard. The revised sic provides a
more current classification structure with
which to collect, disseminate, and analyze
data on the industrial makeup of the U. S.
economy. [Although the revision is effec
tive January 1, 1987, full implementation
of the new sic will occur over several
years, with some programs introducing the
changes as early as 1988. Data series for
years prior to implementation may not
always be revised to reflect the 1987 sic
revision.]
Changes. The 1987 sic revision has
resulted in a net increase of 19 industries for
Services (Division I), 8 for Wholesale
Trade, and 7 for Manufacturing, with a net
decrease of 34 for the other sic Divisions.
Deleted industries were merged into other
industries and new industries were created
by subdividing or restructuring existing in
dustries. Various industries are also chang
ed by transfers of individual activities,
primarily to increase data classification ac
curacy, consistency, and usefulness, or by
2
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renumbering to change the existing threedigit structure.
Most of the industries that are deleted no
longer meet the economic significance
criteria for continued recognition as a
separate industry. However, a few are drop
ped because the number of companies
represented by the establishments classified
in the industry is now so small as to cause
disclosure problems in publishing data or
because the distinctions required cause dif
ficulties in classification.
The revision process included a com
prehensive review of Transportation (Ma
jor Groups 40-47), Communications (Major
Group 48), and Finance (Major Groups
60-62, and 67) to identify revisions needed
due to changes in technology and govern
ment regulation. Major revisions occurred
in Water Transportation, now divided by
freight and passengers, and in the structure
and detail of Banking and Other Credit
Agencies (Major Groups 60-61), in par
ticular to recognize changes in depository
regulations. In addition, the decisions in
clude the recognition of new industries for
Cable and Other Pay Television (from 4833
and 4899) and Radiotelephone Communica
tions Services (from 4811).
The growth of computer-related activities
has resulted in a number of new industries.
Several new industries are recognized for
computers and computer peripheral equip
ment in Manufacturing (from 3573). There
are industries for the sale of Computers and
Computer Peripheral Equipment and Soft
ware in Wholesale Trade (from 5081) and
Retail Trade (from 5732). Computer
establishments are classified in Wholesale
Trade if they sell primarily for business or
>
government use and in Retail Trade if they
sell primarily for household use. Additional
detail is also added for computer services
within current Group 737, including a
separate industry for Prepackaged Computer
Software.
Considerable emphasis was placed on im
proved detail for Services (Division I).There
is a new Major Group 87 for selected pro
fessional and technical services, comprising
elements of the current Business Services
(Major Group 73) and Miscellaneous Ser
vices (Major Group 89). A number of
changes are incorporated for Major Group
80, Health Services, to improve detail and
data accuracy for this area of rapid growth.
Other changes include the recognition of in
dustries for Physical Fitness Facilities (from
7299, 7997, and 7999), Tax Return Prepara
tion Services (from 7299) and Video Tape
Rental (from 7394). Various other industries
are also subdivided (for example, 7321,
7393, and 7539).
Subdivisions were created for some of the
largest and fastest growing current industries
in Manufacturing, including Miscellaneous
Plastics Products (3079), Radio and Televi
sion Communications Equipment (3662),
and Electronic Components, not elsewhere
classified (3679).
SIC Manual. Clothbound copies of the
“ Standard Industrial Classification Manual
1987” may be ordered from the National
Technical Information Service, 5285 Port
Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161, $24
before December 31, 1986, $30 thereafter.
The manual is also available on computer
tape, $175, and on diskettes upon request.
For telephone orders, call (703) 487-4650.□
Work schedules of Americans:
an overview of new findings
A group of eight articles examines data
from a special 1985 household survey
covering topics such as the number
of workers who moonlight, who work at home,
who have flexible hours, or who would prefer
to work more or fewer hours per week
P aul O. F laim
In recent years, we have become familiar with such “mega
trends” in the labor force as the rapidly increasing participa
tion of women, the tendency toward earlier retirement
among men, the maturing of the baby-boom cohorts, and the
shift of workers out of the stagnant goods-producing sector
of the economy and into the expanding services sector. Yet,
we still have little data about the day-to-day and week-toweek working lives of American men and women. Among
the most conspicuous gaps in our knowledge have been such
unanswered (or only occasionally answered) questions as:
How many Americans work at two jobs? How many work
at night, or schedules other than the stereotypical daylight
shifts? How many Americans work on weekends? How
many have jobs entailing home-based work? And what pro
portions— if offered such a choice— would prefer to work
either more or fewer hours per week at their current rates of
pay?
Until recently, there was either no information at all con
cerning these questions or, at best, information which had
been collected sporadically and which had become rather
dated. Now, thanks to a special survey conducted in 1985,
we have both up-to-date information with which to address
some of the traditional questions on work schedules, as well
Paul O. Flaim is chief of the Division of Data Development and Users’
Services, Office o f Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
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as entirely new information on work-schedule topics that
had not previously been studied at the national level. The
new information was collected in May 1985 through a spe
cial supplement to the Current Population Survey ( c p s ) , the
monthly survey which provides the basic measurements of
the labor force and unemployment for the Nation. The new
findings are discussed in detail, on a topic-by-topic basis, in
the eight articles which follow. Here are some selected
highlights.
• Multiple jobholders— persons working at more than one
job— numbered about 5.7 million in May 1985. They
accounted for 5.4 percent of all employed persons, up
from 4.9 percent in 1980.
• Saturday work was the usual routine for one-fourth of all
workers, while 1 in 8 reported they usually worked on
Sunday.
• Work outside the typical daylight hours— usually in the
evening— was the usual routine for about one-sixth of the
full-time workers and one-half of the part-time workers.
• Home-based work of at least 8 hours a week was reported
by over 8 million workers. However, most were full-time
employees who did only a small part of their work at
home.
• Flexitime or other schedules enabling workers to vary the
start and end of their workday was available to about
12 percent of the wage and salary workers with full-time
jobs.
3
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Work Schedules o f Americans
• A preference for a longer workweek (and thus “more
money”) was expressed by about one-fourth of the work
ers. In contrast, fewer than 1 in 10 said they would opt for
a cut in hours accompanied by a reduction in earnings.
These and other findings from the May 1985 survey— ana
lyzed in great detail in the articles which follow— add con
siderably to our knowledge of the work routines and prefer
ences of American workers. But before we focus our
attention on these detailed findings, it may be worthwhile to
briefly review those historical trends in the labor force
which provide a useful background and help to set the stage
for the study of these topics.
Background data
While addressing few of the specific questions high
lighted above, the data regularly available from the c p s
already tell us a lot about the basic trends in the labor force
behavior and work patterns of Americans. Through these
data, we can, for example, track the historical changes in the
rate of labor force participation and in the length of the
workweek for the principal population groups. We also have
been able to estimate— at least in a rough way— how many
persons flow into and out of the labor force over a given
period and thus get a notion of the dynamics of the labor
force. And when we add to the regularly available data those
which have been obtained from time to time through special
supplements to the c p s , we can gain yet further insights
into the basic labor force behavior of Americans and their
work/leisure choices. Let us look briefly at some of these
background data.
The expanding labor market role of American women—
which can actually be tracked on a month-by-month or yearby-year basis with the data from the c p s — can be illustrated
here with some key numbers for 1965 and 1985. Over this
20-year period, the labor force participation rate for women
(the proportion 16 years and over who are in the labor force)
climbed from 39 to 55 percent. Over the same two decades,
the comparable rate for men edged down gradually from 81
to 76 percent, reflecting primarily a tendency among them
to retire at an earlier age.
It is also important to note that women did not achieve
their spectacular increases in labor market penetration over
this 20-year period by taking mostly part-time jobs. To the
contrary, the proportion of women working full-time held
fairly steady— at nearly 75 percent— during this entire
period.
A different perspective on the divergent trends in the
work patterns of American men and women comes to us
from the “work experience” data collected each March.
These data show what proportion of men and women did at
least some work during the previous year and, among those
with some employment, what proportion managed to work
the entire year on a full-time basis.1
Focusing again on the changes between 1965 and 1985,
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we find that the proportion of women with at least some
employment in these 2 years was respectively, 49 and
59 percent. And among the increasing number of women
with some employment, the proportion actually working
year round on a full-time basis posted an equally robust
increase. It expanded from 39 percent in 1965 to 48 percent
in 1985. This means that practically half of the women with
any labor market involvement are now working full time
over the entire year.
Further knowledge of the basic work patterns of Ameri
cans, particularly with regard to the dynamics of their labor
force behavior, can be gained through the data obtained
regularly from those not in the labor force. Because these
data tell us how many of these persons left their jobs during
the previous 12 months, they can be used to determine, by
inference, how many entered the job market over the same
period. In this regard, the data collected during 1985 show
that, on average, 9.1 million of the persons outside the labor
force had left the employment ranks over the previous 12
months.2 Because there had been a net employment increase
of 2.1 million, we can estimate that at least 11 million
persons had to enter the job market over this period to
replace the outgoing workers and to account for the addi
tional growth.
The monthly data on “gross flows,” although subject to
considerable bias and seldom used, point to even larger
movements into and out of the labor force. They suggest, in
fact, that several million persons may enter and leave the
labor force each month.3
While this may leave us with the impression that labor
mobility is widespread in the United States, that is not
necessarily the case. In fact, there is evidence that the Amer
ican labor force has a large core of workers who remain in
their jobs, with most of the mobility occurring among other
workers, especially youths. For example, the most recent
c p s data on job tenure, collected in January 1983, show that
among workers 25 and older (men and women combined),
1 in 3 had been with the same employer for 10 years or more
and 1 in 8 had been with the same employer for 20 years or
more.4 Here is the percent distribution of these workers by
years of continuous employment with current employer:
Total
T o ta l...............
Men ...........
Women....
100.00
100.00
100.00
1 year 2 to 9 10 to 19
or less years
years
20.3
18.0
23.4
45.9
42.2
50.8
21.4
23.2
19.1
20 years
or more
12.3
16.7
6.7
While the above data show women to be somewhat more
concentrated in the lower tenure categories than are men,
they also show that, even among women, more than onefourth had been working continuously for the same em
ployer for 10 years or more. It was from an analysis of these
tenure data that some have concluded that, contrary to the
conventional wisdom, lifetime jobs are not that uncommon
for American workers.5
And how many years, altogether, can American workers
expect to spend in the labor force over their lifetime? The
answers to this question come to us in the form of “worklife”
estimates, currently based on the observed labor force be
havior over the course of a year of men and women at all
specific ages. It has been estimated from these observations
(also derived from the c p s ) that a man age 25 may expect to
work an additional 34 years, and that a working woman of
the same age may expect to be in the labor force an addi
tional 25 years.6
After this brief review of the basic patterns in the working
life of Americans, as reflected in various series of data from
the c p s , let us now turn back to the various analyses of the
May 1985 data on the day-to-day and week-to-week rou
tines of these workers.
Analyzing the May 1985 data
The broad picture which emerges from the various analy
ses of the May 1985 data is of workers with a generally
strong attachment to their jobs. The great majority worked
40 hours a week, but many said they regularly worked well
over that standard. As already noted, nearly 6 million held
two jobs, an even larger number said they usually did some
work at home, and weekend work, particularly on Saturday,
was a fairly common occurrence. While most workers
seemed satisfied with the length of their workweeks, the
vast majority of those who would have opted for a change
said that they would have preferred a longer workweek so
they could earn more money. As a further indication of the
relatively strong attachment to their jobs, fewer than 5 per
cent of the full-time workers reported an absence from work
in the week preceding this special survey.
Of the articles that follow, Shirley J. Smith highlights the
predominance of the 5-day 40-hour workweek. Although
finding little change in recent years in the proportion of
workers on 40-hour schedules, Smith notes that there have
been some changes in work patterns, with a still small but
growing group of workers on “compressed” full-time weeks
of less than 5 days. Surprisingly, she also finds some growth
in the proportion of workers on part-time schedules who
seem to “stretch” their work out over 6 or 7 days.
Susan Shank examines the data on workweek preferences
and finds only moderate support for the hypothesis underly
ing the “backward bending labor supply curve,” according
to which an increase in rates of pay past a certain point
induces workers to reduce their hours of work. Although the
proportion of workers choosing fewer hours of work does
grow as earnings rise, the category remains very small.
Even among workers earning $750 or more per week, only
about 10 percent of the men and 20 percent of the women
were willing to trade hours of work— and the income linked
to them— for additional leisure.
Earl Mellor focuses on the workday and finds that about
1 of 8 full-time workers were on flexitime or other sche
dules that allowed them to vary the start and end of their
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What if you are your own employer?
In analyzing the May 1985 data on work schedules and
related topics, we decided to make a small departure from
the typology generally used in the display and analysis of
data from the Current Population Survey. Specifically, we
decided to focus mainly on wage and salary workers and, in
doing so, to exclude from this universe those who are the
nominal employees of corporations which they own. While
“wage and salary workers” in a technical sense— and treated
as such in the usual display of employment data from the
CPS— these persons (numbering 2.8 million in May 1985)
exhibit many of the traits and work patterns of the typical
self-employed workers. For this reason, in most of the
analyses which follow, these “incorporated self employed”
are broken out of the total wage and salary universe and
either shown separately or merged with the other selfemployed. The smaller group of “unpaid family workers”
(those 500,000 who, although unpaid, worked at least
15 hours a week in a family owned enterprise) are also either
shown separately or merged with the self-employed workers
(those not incorporated), with the combined group, totaling
9.8 million, generally shown as “all other workers.” This
allows the analyst to focus more clearly on the wage and
salary workers who are truly working for someone else.
daily work. The great majority were on typical daylight
schedules, with about one-fifth reporting 8:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m. as their schedules. About 6 percent worked pre
dominantly in the evening, 3 percent on the “night shift,”
and 4 percent on rotating shifts.
The data on multiple jobholders are examined by John
Stinson. He finds a particularly sharp increase in the number
of women with two jobs, which is another sign of the grow
ing strength of their ties to the job market. Nearly 5 percent
of working women are now multiple jobholders.
The new data on home-based work are analyzed by
Francis Horvath, who observes that most of the persons
reporting such work are full-time workers who, apparently,
do only a small part of their work at home. Only one-tenth
of these workers were engaged in manufacturing activities,
an area of traditional concern in the field of labor legislation.
Most prevalent were those employed in offices, sales, and
miscellaneous services.
Bruce Klein uses the May 1985 data to construct meas
ures of absences. He finds that the proportion of workers
with an absence in the reference week for the survey was
only 4.7 percent, a rate considerably lower than rates which
had been computed for several years until 1980. He hypoth
esizes that this decline in absences, confirmed by other data,
may reflect several factors such as: the job reduction in some
industries, which is likely to have fallen most heavily on
workers with high rates of absenteeism; the likely impact of
such cuts on other workers, who might have reduced their
rates of absenteeism so as not to jeopardize their jobs; and
the positive measures adopted by some employers to reward
the workers with few absences.
5
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Work Schedules o f Americans
Wayne Howe examines the data on the characteristics of
the workers employed by temporary help agencies. This has
been a rapidly growing sector of employment in recent
years. Howe finds that, relative to other workers, those who
are employed by temporary help agencies are more likely to
be younger and to work part time. Their group contains
relatively large proportions of women and blacks, who are
heavily concentrated in clerical work and in what might be
called “industrial help” occupations.
Darrell Carr looks at the new data on workers receiving
overtime pay. These cover not only the persons working
more than 40 hours a week; they extend also to those receiv
ing overtime premiums for some hours, even though the
weekly total does not exceed 40. He notes that out of
10.5 million workers with some overtime pay for work
performed during the reference week for the May 1985
survey, about 1.6 million had actually worked 40 hours or
less.
Taken together, these articles improve our understanding
of the work practices of American men and women. Of
course, further analysis of the data on which the findings are
based is still possible. Moreover, other issues could be ad
dressed using these data. For example, where there are
multiple workers in a family one might want to determine
how the schedules of one member correspond to those of
other members. The effect of the presence of children on the
work schedules and workweek preferences of the parents
might also be explored further. And a construction of a
6
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bridge between the data on work schedules and preferences
of workers and those on family income might also be under
taken. These are complex and time-consuming undertak
ings, but with potentially large payoffs in the form of further
insights into the day-to-day work lives of American men and
women.
□
--------- FOOTNOTES--------1 The work experience data are published annually. For the most recent
data, see Shirley J. Smith, “Work experience profile, 1984: the effects o f
recovery continue,” Monthly Labor Review, February 1986, pp. 3 7 -4 2 .
2 The data on when the persons outside the labor force have last worked
are not currently published and may be subject to significant bias, particu
larly because of a phenomenon known as “telescoping.” This relates to a
possible tendency among survey respondents to report certain events as
having occurred in the recent past, when, in fact, they had occurred earlier.
To the extent that some of the persons who have been outside the labor
force more than 1 year report that they left their last job in the most recent
year, there would be an overestimation of the number exiting the labor
force and, by inference, of those entering it over the year in question.
3 While very revealing, the gross flow data are subject to serious statis
tical problems and may also overestimate the flows into and out of the labor
force. See Paul O. Flaim and Carma R. Hogue, “Measuring labor force
flows: a special conference examines the problems,” Monthly Labor Re
view, July 1985, pp. 7 -1 7 .
4 See Ellen Sehgal, “Occupational mobility and job tenure in 1983,”
Monthly Labor Review, October 1984, pp. 18-24.
5 Robert E. Hall, “The Importance of Life Jobs in the U .S. Economy,”
American Economic Review, September 1982.
6 Shirley J. Smith, “Revised worklife tables reflect 1979-80 experi
ence,” Monthly Labor Review, August 1985, pp. 2 3-30.
The growing diversity
of work schedules
While the 40-hour, 5-day workweek remains
the schedule of choice for most employers
and workers, a recent study shows evidence
of the emergence of new forms
of extended and compressed work schemes
S h ir l e y
J.
S m it h
During any given week, the composition of the active
segment of the work force undergoes many changes. Each
industry and occupation has its own cycle of activity and
draws on a somewhat different labor pool. Most production
occurs Monday through Friday (or Saturday), frequently
with the aid of evening and night shifts on those days.
However, some economic activities, such as continuous
manufacturing processes, agriculture, transportation and
communications, health and certain other services, and re
tail sales, extend beyond the Monday to Friday schedule. In
fact, these activities predominate on Saturday and Sunday.
Each demographic group establishes itself within this vari
able labor market according to the types of jobs its members
can obtain and the work schedules they are able to accom
modate in their personal lives.
This article, based on the May 1985 Current Population
Survey ( c p s ) supplement, examines several of the work
schemes adopted by U.S. workers on their principal jobs.
The schedules discussed include the “standard workweek”
(that is, 40 hours in 5 days); compressed and extended
schedules; part-time, full-time, and long hours schemes; and
variations in the number of days worked per week, and in
the choice of specific days worked. Where possible, pat
terns observed in May 1985 are compared with those obShirley J. Smith is a demographic statistician in the Division of Data
Development and Users’ Services, Office of Employment and Unemploy
ment Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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served previously to judge the nature and pace of change.
The c p s surveys of May 1973 and May 1979 are used in this
comparison to minimize distortions due to business cycle
fluctuations.
The ‘standard workweek’
It has been estimated that at the turn of the century the
average worker spent about 53 hours per week on the jo b .1
The passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( f l s a )
established a standard workweek of 40 hours’ duration for
nonsupervisory employees of firms engaged in interstate
commerce.2 Over the ensuing years, concern about workers’
health led to many Federal and State statutes and union
contracts which stipulated a second standard: the 8-hour
day. Under these provisions, many persons were guaranteed
overtime pay for hours worked in excess of this daily stand
ard. The logical outgrowth of these regulations was a third
implicit standard, the 5-day workweek.
Persons who were teenagers when the Fair Labor Stand
ards Act was passed had reached retirement age by 1985. In
their lifetimes, the coverage of the act has been extended to
nearly 60 percent of all wage and salary workers,3 and has
become not only a matter of law, but a social norm. More
than half of all nonfarm wage and salary workers and
roughly two-thirds of those working full time report that
they work exactly 40 hours per week, proportions which
have changed little since the c p s began monitoring usual
hours worked on principal jobs in 1973. (See table 1.)
7
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Growing Diversity o f Work Schedules
Because the 40-hour week is so popular, both with em
ployers and employees, most work schedule data are so
strongly unimodal that it is difficult to recognize the changes
which occur. Measures of central tendency such as means
and medians are totally dominated by the standard schedule,
and thus reveal little variation over time. Yet closer exami
nation of the data will show that the work schedules of
American workers have been changing, and are becoming
increasingly diverse.
Catalysts in this redistribution include the stagnation of
employment in manufacturing industries and the rapid
growth of certain services and retail trade. Despite a 27percent expansion in all wage and salary employment since
May 1973, employment in manufacturing in May 1985—
20.4 million— was no larger than it had been 12 years be
fore. Not only was the number of manufacturing jobs more
or less frozen, but the work schedules of those holding jobs
had even contracted.
Some of this change is apparent in employers’ reports of
scheduled hours. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Area
Wage Surveys indicate that the average workweek for full
time day-shift plant workers decreased by 0.8 hours be
tween 1973 and 1985. Over the same period, the schedule
of full-time office workers in the private sector rose by 0.2
hours, with the result that the workweek of these two large
groups converged markedly.4 Whereas the average plant
worker’s 1973 workweek was scheduled to last 1.5 hours
longer than that of his or her counterpart in the office, by
1985 the differential had narrowed to 0.5 hours.5
Despite the evident restructuring of plant schedules, c p s
estimates of mean and median usual weekly hours for work
ers in all industries (38.4 and 40.4 respectively in 1985)
have hardly changed since 1973. Similarly, the median
Table 1. Prevalence of 40-hour, 5-day, and 40-hour/5-day
workweeks among nonagricultural wage and salary workers,
1973, 1979, and 1985
Proportion of—
Work schedule
and year
All nonagricultural
workers
Full-time non
agricultural workers
Total
Men
Women
Total
Men
Women
55.3
56.0
53.7
0)
59.1
56.8
(1)
51.8
50.1
66.1
67.6
66.2
(1)
65.1
63.6
(1)
72.0
70.1
74.1
75.4
73.5
(1)
75.4
73.6
(1)
75.4
73.3
81.4
83.5
82.6
ID
79.4
78.8
(1)
90.4
88.4
52.9
53.3
50.4
0)
56.1
53.0
(1)
49.6
47.4
63.3
64.4
62.2
0)
61.7
59.3
(1)
69.0
66.4
40-hour week
1973 ...........................................
1979 ...........................................
1985 ...........................................
5-day week
1973 ...........................................
1979 ...........................................
1985 ...........................................
40-hour/5-day week
1973 ...........................................
1979 ...........................................
1985 ...........................................
1 Estimate not available.
n ote : Estimates reflect data for wage and salary workers and the incorporated self-employed
age 16 and over. Figures for May 1973 exclude private household workers.
8
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length of a full-time workweek has remained nearly fixed at
40.6 hours. For full-time workers, the mean rose slightly
from 42.4 to 42.6 between 1973 and 1985, suggesting a
slight increase in the number of hours routinely worked. In
fact, this increase was due to a decline in the number of
full-time workers reporting 35- through 39-hour schedules,
rather than a rise in the numbers working 41 hours or more.
The median is cited to underscore the tremendous stabil
ity of these estimates. Whatever changes have occurred in
the tails of the distribution, well over half of employed
Americans work the standard schedule, and the remainder
continue to be evenly spaced above and below that figure.
It requires a fairly visible restructuring of the hours distribu
tion to relocate the median. For this reason, the increase in
median hours per week reported by part-time workers (from
20.2 in 1973 to 23.0 in 1985) is noteworthy.
Evidence of the increased diversity of work schedules can
be seen in the following distributions for nonfarm wage and
salary workers (including the incorporated self-employed):
Median usual h o u r s ...............
Mean usual hours .................
Total nonfarm wage and salary
workers (in thousands)6 . . .
Percent ............................
1-24 h o u rs .....................
25-29 h o u rs ...................
30-34 h o u rs...................
35-39 h o u rs ...................
40 h o u r s .........................
41-48 h o u rs ...................
49 or more h o u rs ...........
1973
40.5
38.6
1985
40.4
38.4
69,971
100.0
11.7
1.8
2.9
7.5
55.2
10.2
10.7
94,879
100.0
12.3
2.3
4.1
7.4
53.8
8.3
11.7
Change,
1973-85
- .1
- .2
24,908
-
.6
.5
1.2
- .1
- 1 .4
- 1 .9
1.0
During intervening recessionary periods (1974-75 and
1980), May supplements showed the hours distribution to be
shifted temporarily downward. A drop in overtime opportu
nities led to a temporary resurgence of the 40-hour scheme.
However, a comparison of schedules during these periods of
relative prosperity reveals that both part-time and the very
extended hours schedules have gained proportionately to the
more conventional schemes.7
It is no surprise that two separate trends were in evidence
among those working long hours. The class working 41 to
48 hours, which is dominated by precision production,
craft, and repair workers and operators, fabricators, and
laborers— the “blue-collar” occupations most affected by
the decline in manufacturing— registered relative contrac
tion over the study period. Meanwhile, the group working
49 hours or more, in which “white-collar” occupations such
as managers and persons in professional, technical, sales,
and administrative support positions outnumber the “bluecollar” group, registered a slight gain.
Usual days per week
The 5-day workweek is even more prevalent than is the
40-hour week. In 1985, nearly three-quarters of the work
force, and more than four-fifths of those employed full time
reported schedules of 5 working days. (See table 1.) Both
mean (4.9) and median (5.5) usual days per week have
remained nearly constant since 1973.
Even so, the distribution of total workers by usual days of
work corroborates the impression that schedules have be
come more diverse:
)tal nonfarm wage and salary
workers (in thousands)6 ..
Percent ............................
1-3 days .......................
4 or fewer days .............
4.5 or fewer days .........
5 days ..............................
5.5 or more d a y s ...........
6 or more days .............
7 days ..............................
1973
1985
69,971
100.0
6.5
9.8
10.3
74.1
15.5
11.5
1.7
94,879
100.0
7.8
13.0
13.9
73.6
12.5
9.7
2.2
Change,
1973-85
24,908
Usual hours
worked per
week
Total, 16 years and over1 .....................
Usual days worked per week
1-3
days
4-4.5
days
5
days
0
28
80
1
-2 7
19
10
59
19
16
9
47
42
58
6
-9
54
20
6
58
-3
-1
-4
(2)
(2)
(2)
133
76
169
-6
-1 0
-6
12
27
8
-5
-2 4
13
209
(2)
(2)
219
185
262
33
20
48
-3 9
-7 2
-1 4
Total
1.3
3.2
3.6
- .5
3.0
-1.8
.5
Emergence of alternate schedules
The heavy clustering of reported schedules in standard
patterns obscures our view of the unconventional schedules
which have been gaining popularity in the workplace. One
way to identify them is to determine which patterns have
registered the highest rates of growth in recent years. Be
tween May 1973 and May 1985, the number of nonfarm
wage and salary workers for whom work schedules were
tabulated rose by 36 percent. We have estimated the corre
sponding growth rates within various work schedule group
ings, and from each subtracted this average rate of growth.
The resulting figures (table 2) illustrate which schemes have
gained in popularity (positive values) and which have lost
(negative entries).
Several interesting patterns emerge from this computa
tion. The growth of employment in the more conventional
schemes has indeed been more sluggish than that in other
schedules. For instance, the number of persons on a 40hour/5-day week has lagged overall growth by 6 percentage
points. Two other 5-day schemes (1- through 29-hour and
35- through 39-hour workweeks) have lagged even further
behind.
Both the extended days and extended hours schemes reg
istered net declines during this period, almost entirely due to
the drop in the 41- through 48-hour/extended-week scheme.
Between May 1973 and May 1985, the absolute number of
workers registering this schedule dropped by more than a
third.
Although this was a profound setback to the extended
workweek (5 */2 days or more), lengthy workv/eeks appear to
have gained some momentum among persons working 40
hours or less. The growing dispersion of work hours for
More than
5 days
Part-time
Total ..............................................................
1 to 29 hours .............................................
30 to 34 hours ...........................................
Standard hours
—
Observations made during recessions show the 5-day week
to be particularly prevalent in unstable times. Yet, over the
12 years shown, both compressed and very extended work
weeks made gains at the expense of the 5- to 6-day week.
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Table 2. Standardized percent change in the incidence of
various weekly work schedules, May 1973 to May 1985
Total ..............................................................
35 to 39 hours ...........................................
40 hours.....................................................
Extended hours
Total ..............................................................
41 to 48 hours ...........................................
49 or more hours ......................................
1 The number of nonagricultural wage and salary workers reporting work schedules rose by
35.6 percent between May 1973 and May 1985. This figure has been subtracted from the
observed growth rate for each cell so that negligible values signify growth in pace with the total,
negative values a lag, and positive values relative expansion.
2 Cell frequency is too small to warrant this computation.
note : Estimates are for wage and salary workers and the incorporated self-employed age 16
and over. Figures for May 1973 exclude private household workers.
these individuals probably reflects the expansion of week
end employment in retail sales and services, both of which
draw from pools of supplemental part-time help.
Among alternate schedules, the most familiar form is
generally the “compressed workweek,” normally defined as
40 hours’ work completed in 4 to 4*/2 days. Employment in
such schemes grew about 4.5 times as fast as did total
employment during the 12 years preceding May 1985. But
other forms of compression were also in evidence. For in
stance, those working long workweeks (41 hours or more)
appeared increasingly likely to compress them into a span of
5 days— or even less— thereby reserving a block of time for
other activities. There was even some evidence of a growth
in “compressed part time,” whereby persons working 30 to
34 hours did so in 3 days or less.
The small representation of most of these groups in the
work force means that even rapid growth of these cells can
have little impact on aggregate measures. It would probably
take many years of accelerated growth for these schemes to
become popular alternatives to those with which we are
most familiar. Certain less dramatic changes (such as the
rise in the 5-day/41-or-more-hour week— another “com
pressed long hours” scheme) are more easily spotted be
cause they affect larger segments of today’s work force.
When the interval is broken into phases before and after
May 1979, similar computations show that three schedule
groups have lagged throughout the full interval. In addition
to the declining 41- through 48-hour extended week (5 V2 or
more days) scheme, the two 5-day schemes mentioned ear
lier (light part time of 1 to 29 hours and light full time of 35
to 39 hours) have experienced contraction.
The incidence of the 40-hour/5-day workweek actually
9
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Growing Diversity o f Work Schedules
kept pace with overall employment growth until 1979. The
fact that it has not done so since that time is somewhat
surprising, given the occurrence of two serious recessions in
the early 1980’s. The temporary effects of each must have
been to force many overtime workers into this standard
full-time pattern.
Since 1979, only one form of lengthy workweek has
registered comparative gains: employment lasting 49 hours
or more per week. Most of the gains noted have involved
workers compressing these long hours into 5 or fewer days.
The conventional “compressed workweek” (full-time
work completed in under 5 days) has been growing at an
accelerated rate. While overall employment growth between
1979 and 1985 was 16 percent, this scheme grew more than
four times as rapidly. The incidence of “dispersed” sched
ules, whereby relatively few hours of work occupy 5!/2 or
more days per week, seems to have evolved since 1979.
Differences by sex
Labor analysts often discuss the convergence between
male and female work patterns. Table 3, based on changes
between May 1979 and May 1985, shows how this conver
gence is taking place. Standardized rates for men and
women are juxtaposed to highlight similarities and con
trasts.
The decline of the extended (more than 5-day) week is
largely a male phenomenon. With the exception of the 41through 48-hour variant, which has contracted for both
sexes, there has been a growing concentration of women in
extended workweek schemes.
The net drop in 41- through 48-hour schedules also has
occurred largely among men. Although women, too, have
been affected by the contraction of the 41- through 48-hour/
5-day scheme, they seem to have more than offset its effects
by compressing 41- through 48-hour schedules into 5 work
ing days. Indeed, women appear to be pressing into long
hour schemes, while men— who traditionally dominated
those schemes— increasingly find themselves working com
pact and compressed schedules. It is difficult to determine
how much of this shift has been voluntary, and how much
the result of the changes in labor demand.
Both sexes report a declining concentration within stand
ard schedules, and an increased likelihood of working 40
hours within 4 to 4 ‘/2 days. Women seem to be moving up
from light (1 - through 29-hour) to more intense (30- through
34-hour) part-time schedules, and from light (35- through
39-hour) to more intense (41 or more hours) full-time
schemes. At the same time, men are increasingly repre
sented within the lighter hours schedules. There has been
surprising growth in the number of men reporting part-time
and light full-time schedules. The movement away from
standard and extended workweeks to a compressed (4through 4V2-day) schedule is heavily dominated by men.
Even for persons working long hours, this change effec
tively lightens the workweek by holding a block of time free
10
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for other activities. Men also seem largely responsible for
the emergence of the “compressed part-time” schedule, per
haps because of growth in the number of protective service
jobs.
Mean hours per day
With more than half of all wage and salary workers and
more than 60 percent of those working full time still report
ing a 40-hour/5-day schedule, it is no surprise that the aver
age workday is approximately 8 hours in length. However,
as workers begin to compress their hours into fewer days,
this variable should begin to show those effects. This change
is most evident among part-time workers, where the length
of the average workday has increased by a full hour (from
4.2 to 5.2 hours) since 1973.
In addition to compression, some of the change is at
tributable to distributional factors. The work force (includ
ing the part-time component) aged over the study period,
Table 3. Standardized percent change in the incidence of
various w eekly work schedules, by sex, May 1979 to
May 1985
Usual days worked per week
worked per
week
Total
Total1 ............................................................
Men2 ..........................................................
Women3 ......................................................
Total
1-3
days
4-4.5
days
5
days
More than
5 days
0
0
0
10
29
-4
36
62
16
-1
-2
-3
-3
-7
27
5
10
-2
3
14
-7
14
28
4
-4
-11
-6
59
39
82
19
27
10
51
109
20
19
25
10
8
15
0
64
36
82
3
20
-1 0
(4)
(4)
(4)
39
80
14
-4
6
-1 4
48
107
16
-4
-4
-4
(4)
(4)
(4)
67
81
46
-6
-6
-5
1
-4
15
-5
-1 0
26
(4)
(4)
(4)
121
85
(4)
10
3
43
-3 5
-3 4
-1 9
12
10
51
59
53
(4)
181
178
(4)
22
21
47
0
-1
47
Part-time
1 to 29 hours:
Total............................................................
Men .......................................................
W om en...................................................
30 to 34 hours:
Total............................................................
Men ........................................................
W om en...................................................
Standard hours
35 to 39 hours:
Total............................................................
Men ........................................................
W om en...................................................
40 hours:
Total............................................................
Men ........................................................
W om en...................................................
Extended hours
41 to 48 hours:
Total............................................................
Men .......................................................
W om en...................................................
49 or more hours:
Total............................................................
Men ........................................................
W om en...................................................
1 Overall growth rate for the period May 1979 to May 1985 was 16.0 percent. This figure has
been subtracted from the observed growth rate for each 1979-85 cell of the table to derive the
standardized values shown. Thus, for example, the growth of schemes involving 40 hours of
work in 4 to 4.5 days was about five times that of all nonagricultural wage and salary employ
ment.
2 Overall growth of male nonfarm payroll employment from May 1979 to May 1985 was 10.3
percent. This figure has been subtracted from the growth rate of male employment in each work
schedule to derive the standardized values shown.
3 Overall growth of female nonfarm payroll employment from May 1979 to May 1985 was 23.5
percent. This figure has been subtracted from the growth rate of female employment in each
work schedule to derive the standardized values shown.
4 Cell frequency is too small to justify computation.
with its members becoming more committed to labor force
involvement. The strengthening of the labor force attach
ment of women also contributed to this upward movement.
Variations by class of worker
The category of workers we have been discussing to this
point, denoted “wage and salary workers,” includes those
who are nominal employees of corporations which they
own. While this classification is consistent with other data
series published by the Bureau, it hinders the analysis of the
work practices of persons who truly work for someone else
as distinguished from those who work for themselves, even
if their firms are incorporated and they are on the payroll.
Whether or not the business is incorporated, its owner faces
a different set of risks and responsibilities than does the
typical wage and salary worker. Work schedules reflect this
difference. For instance, although wage and salary workers
average just 38 hours of work per week, the unincorporated
self-employed report an average of about 43 hours, and the
incorporated, more than 48. Wage and salary workers claim
to work an average of 4.8 days per week, as compared with
5.2 for each of the self-employed groups (which are treated
jointly below). Unpaid family workers helping in family
businesses often maintain even more erratic schedules tied
to periods of peak need. Table 4 illustrates differences be
tween the average work schedules of these groups of work
ers by sex.
In the past, work schedule reports have devoted little
attention to the self-employed and their unpaid family work
ers. It is relatively difficult for these individuals to summa
rize their “usual” work patterns by answering a few simple
questions. Recognizing that the estimates for these groups
may be less robust than for wage and salary workers, we still
regard them as important enough to discuss., Each class of
worker maintains its own “niche” in the total employment
pictiire. The industries within which entrepreneurs find it
easiest to become established (including agriculture, retail
trade, and certain services) by their very nature demand long
hours and extended workweeks. Certain types of businesses
are largely or predominantly self-employed operations. Cer
tain groups of workers (for example, white men) are partic
ularly likely to open their own family businesses. Recogni
tion of these patterns helps to explain why work schedules
of these groups differ so dramatically from the norm.
It should be noted that men are twice as likely as women
to report self-employment (with the associated longer hours
and workweeks). White men are almost three times as likely
as blacks to do so. Women are four times as likely as men
to supply unpaid family services, but in the aggregate,
women are also more likely to be employed for a wage or
salary.
Men who are self-employed average more days and many
more hours of work per week than do their counterparts who
are wage and salary workers. For women, the difference is
much less pronounced. Overall, the self-employed are four
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Table 4. Incidence of selected work schedules, by class of
worker and sex, May 1985
Class of worker
Work schedules
and sex
Total, 16 years and over
(in thousands)......................................
Percent of total em ployed...................
Average hours per w e e k.....................
Full-time ..........................................
Part-tim e...........................................
Average days per week .....................
Full-time ...........................................
Part-tim e...........................................
Average hours per d a y .......................
Proportion working:
Weekends........................................
6 to 7 days ......................................
Men, 16 years and over (in thousands) ..
Percent of employed m e n ...................
Average hours per w e e k .....................
Full-time ...........................................
Part-tim e...........................................
Average days per week .....................
Full-time ..........................................
Average hours per d a y .......................
Proportion working:
Weekends........................................
6 to 7 days ......................................
Women, 16 years and over
(in thousands).......................................
Percent of employed wom en...............
Average hours per w e e k.....................
Full-time ..........................................
Part-tim e..........................................
Average days per week .....................
Full-time ...........................................
Average hours per d a y .......................
Proportion working:
Weekends........................................
6 to 7 days ......................................
Unpaid
SelfWage and
Total
family
salary1 employed2
employed
workers
106,878
100.0
38.7
43.3
19.7
4.9
5.1
3.9
7.9
94,280
88.2
38.0
42.3
19.8
4.8
5.1
3.8
7.8
12,107
11.3
44.2
51.0
18.8
5.2
5.1
4.1
48.4
491
.5
35.4
48.7
21.3
5.5
(3)
5.1
29.3
12.6
26.1
9.3
53.5
36.2
52.3
48.8
60,015
100.0
41.6
44.6
19.1
5.0
5.2
8.3
51,106
85.2
40.6
43.4
19.1
5.0
5.1
8.2
8,802
14.7
47.2
51.7
19.1
5.4
5.1
48.8
106
.2
36.6
51.6
22.8
6.0
(3)
32.2
16.1
27.9
11.8
56.7
39.6
74.5
75.6
46,864
100.0
35.0
41.3
20.0
4.7
5.1
7.4
43,173
92.1
34.9
40.8
20.2
4.7
5.1
7.4
3,305
7.1
36.0
48.2
18.5
4.9
5.1
47.1
385
.8
35.1
47.9
20.8
5.3
(3)
25.6
8.0
23.9
6.2
44.8
37.2
46.5
41.4
W
w
<<>
1 Excludes the incorporated self-employed.
2 Includes both incorporated and unincorporated self-employed.
3 Not available.
4 Data are available only for the self-employed and unpaid family workers combined.
times as likely as wage and salary workers to average 6 or
more days of work per week. The evidence suggests that—
at least for men— they also work more hours per day.
Who works weekends?
The class-of-worker variable is particularly relevant to the
discussion of specific days of work. The level and character
of economic activity is quite different on weekends than
during the week. It is even different on Sunday than on
Saturday. During the week, about 20 percent of all workers
hold primary jobs in manufacturing, and another 20 percent
work in professional service jobs. On weekends, these in
dustries account for about 10 percent and 14 percent of all
primary jobs, respectively. Retail sales workers, who repre
sent only about 17 percent of the weekday work force,
account for more than 34 percent of the population active in
their main job on weekends.
The self-employed (whether incorporated or not), and the
unpaid working members of their families, often operate
businesses which serve active weekend markets. They also
bear a greater responsibility for the continued operation of
their businesses than do individual wage and salary workers,
11
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Growing Diversity o f Work Schedules
and their risks associated with taking time off are necessarily
greater. Consequently, whereas fewer than 1 in 10 wage and
salary workers maintain an extended (6- or 7-day) work
week, this is the usual schedule reported by more than 1 of
every 3 self-employed persons and nearly half of all unpaid
family workers.
Table 5 is a “snapshot” of the characteristics of persons
who usually report to their primary job on various days of
the week. (The categories are not mutually exclusive: some
who work Monday to Friday are also included in weekend
distributions, and so forth.) As the largest segment of the
work force, wage and salary workers dominate each of the
groups detailed in the table. However, their share drops
from 88 percent during the week to 77 percent on Saturday
and to 58 percent among those who work continuously.
On Saturday, the number of persons working at their
primary job contracts to 28.9 million, about a quarter
(27 percent) of its weekday size. Because fewer than
1 percent of those who work do so exclusively on weekends,
Table 5. Employed persons who usually work on specific
days of the week, by selected characteristics, May 1985
[ In percent]
Persons who usually work—
Worker characteristic
Total
Total, 16 years and over
(in thousands)1 ...................
106,878
106,343
28,949
13,246
4,666
100.0
18.9
67.7
10.8
2.6
56.2
10.0
44.5
1.6
43.8
8.8
34.0
1.0
100.0
18.6
67.9
10.8
2.6
56.2
9.9
44.7
1.6
43.8
8.7
34.1
1.0
100.0
26.3
60.9
9.7
3.1
62.3
14.4
45.8
2.1
37.7
12.0
24.8
1.0
100.0
29.7
57.7
9.3
3.3
58.5
15.6
40.5
2.4
41.5
14.1
26.5
.9
100.0
16.3
65.1
13.1
5.5
69.9
10.8
54.6
4.5
30.1
5.5
23.6
1.0
100.0
80.4
19.6
88.2
71.2
17.0
11.3
8.9
2.4
.5
.2
.2
100.0
80.7
19.3
88.2
71.5
16.6
11.4
9.0
2.4
.4
.2
.2
100.0
74.6
25.4
77.2
55.3
22.0
21.9
18.8
3.1
.9
.5
.4
100.0
69.7
30.3
81.7
54.6
27.2
17.4
14.6
2.8
.9
.6
.3
100.0
83.8
16.2
58.0
47.3
10.7
39.8
35.0
4.8
2.2
1.5
.7
100.0
87.5
9.7
6.1
100.0
87.5
9.8
6.1
100.0
89.1
8.1
5.7
100.0
89.0
8.3
5.6
100.0
91.4
6.2
4.9
7 days
Monday to
Saturday Sunday
per week
Friday
Sex and age
Total .............................................
16 to 2 4 ....................................
25 to 5 4 ....................................
55 to 64 ....................................
65 or more years .....................
Men ..........................................
16 to 24 ................................
25 to 64 ................................
65 or more years...................
Women ....................................
16 to 24 ................................
25 to 64 ................................
65 or more years...................
Class and work status
Total .............................................
Full-time....................................
Part-time ..................................
Wage and salary workers2 ...........
Full-time....................................
Part-time ..................................
Self-employed workers3 ...............
Full-tim e....................................
Part-time ..................................
Unpaid family workers .................
Full-time....................................
Part-time ..................................
Race and Hispanic origin4
Total .............................................
W h ite ........................................
Black ........................................
Hispanic origin ..........................
1 Data are not additive, as persons working on any or all weekdays may also work on week
ends.
2 Excludes the incorporated self-employed.
3 Includes both the incorporated and the unincorporated self-employed.
4 Detail will not add to 100 percent because Hispanics are included in both the white and black
populations and because data for the “other races” group are not presented.
12
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the composition of weekend employment tells us as much
about who has taken a break as about who is reporting to
work. On Saturday, the percentage of overall employment
accounted for by prime-aged men holds steady. That of
prime-aged women drops sharply, but the proportionate de
cline is offset by greater work effort among teens, young
adults, and men age 65 and over. On Saturday, the represen
tation of the self-employed and unpaid family workers is
roughly twice what it is during the week. Of the wage and
salary workers who report to work, a disproportionate share
hold part-time jobs.
The primary work force contracts still further on Sunday,
to 13.2 million— about an eighth of its weekday size. This
is the day when prime-aged men are most likely to be taking
a break from their main job. (We have no way of judging
what share devote the day to secondary employment.) The
group normally reporting to their main job on Sunday in
cludes still larger shares of teens and young adults, more
older men, and proportionately more prime-aged women.
Although there is a slight drop in the activity of the selfemployed (largely men), unpaid family workers (largely
women, teens, and young adults) continue to be relatively
active.
Of those who normally work at the same job 7 days per
week, more than half are prime-aged men; 3 of 10 are
women; and 4 of 10 are self-employed. Sixteen percent
maintain extended part-time (“dispersed”) schedules,
mostly as wage and salary employees. The representation of
blacks and Hispanics, which drops on weekends, is particu
larly low among those working 7-day weeks. Undoubtedly,
one reason is the lower probability that they own or operate
family businesses.
Work schedules by industry and occupation
We have already noted that the industrial composition of
the work force varies during the week, and that the timing
of labor demands within each industry affects the labor pool
upon which it may draw. Table 6 summarizes, for major
industries and occupational groupings, several of the work
schedule features previously mentioned. Each category re
flects a differing level of labor demand, both with regard to
total hours and to scheduling within the week. For illustra
tive purposes, the groups have been ranked according to the
mean number of hours their employees report working each
week.
The association between hours requirements, days of
work, and female participation in the industry or occupation
is fairly strong. The more time the activity involves, the less
attraction it seems to hold for women. Although the relation
ship to weekend work is less pronounced, a similar pattern
is evident there as well.
Multiple jobholding
A separate discussion of multiple jobholding appears
elsewhere in this issue, but it is worth taking a brief look at
the effect of this practice on aggregate estimates of time
spent at work.
The information in this article relates to the worker’s
primary job. For the small group of workers (5.4 percent)
who held two or more jobs in the May 1985 reference week,
the total hours and days reported will understate the actual
amount of time spent at work. Because dual jobholding can
be a functional equivalent to working long hours on a single
job, there are many applications in which we might like to
see the data tabulated for all jobs combined. A reestimation
on this basis increases the share of the work force shown to
be working more than 40 hours, and reduces the share work
ing 40 hours or less. Overall, it expands the share working
more than 40 hours by 12.3 percent, with still greater impact
on the estimates for women (19.7 percent), blacks (17.0
percent), and men and women ages 16 to 24 (14.7 percent
and 28.5 percent respectively).8
D e s p it e t h e f a c t that the majority of workers still report
maintaining a 40-hour/5-day workweek, there is evidence
that this scheme has been declining in popularity. Employ
ment in such schedules has lagged behind total employment
growth since 1979. Throughout the 1973-85 period, longhour/long-day schemes have been contracting, both for men
1 For a discussion of past trends, see Janice Neipert Hedges and Daniel
E. Taylor, “Recent trends in worktime: hours edge downward,” Monthly
Labor Review, March 1980, p. 4.
2 The Fair Labor Standards Act became effective in 1940.
3 See Employment Standards Administration, Minimum Wage and Max
imum Hours: Standards Under the Fair Labor Standards Act—1984 Re
port (U.S. Department of Labor, 1984).
4 These data exclude workers in contract construction; all governmental
establishments and government-owned and operated businesses (such as
water utilities, transit authorities, and so forth); medical and educational
services; and administrative, executive, professional, and part-time em
ployees. Also excluded are persons who are self-employed, or who work
anything other than the day shift. See Area Wage Surveys: Metropolitan
Areas, United States and Regional Summaries, 1973-1974 and 1985 (Bu
reau o f Labor Statistics).
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and for women.
In their place, three other schemes are emerging. Both
sexes have demonstrated increased readiness to work a sim
ple compressed workweek, wherein 40 hours of work are
completed in under 5 days. Those working more than 40
hours per week appear to be working more compact sched
ules within the confines of a 5-day week (or less), holding
two or more days free for other activities. Among those
working 40 hours or less, some appear to be adopting “work
spreading” schemes, which distribute their hours over 5 V2
or more days per week. The result is a diversification of
schedules which has occurred without much corresponding
change in the mean or median estimates of usual hours or
days worked per week.
In the aggregate, men continue to work more hours per
week, more hours per day, and more days per week than do
women, and they are also more likely to work on weekends.
Elements of the standard workweek thus continue to domi
nate overall work schedule distributions. Nonetheless, the
growth of the female work force has been most rapid in long
hours schedules and those involving 5 V2 or more days per
week, while the expansion of the male labor force has oc
curred primarily in shorter, more compact schedule group
ings.
□
5 The May 1985 supplement to the Current Population Survey ( cps )
requested information on usual rather than scheduled hours. As such, it
picks up the added effects of routine overtime and uncompensated long
hours. In addition, the cps information has been collected from household
respondents, rather than employers’ records as in the Area Wage Survey.
Results o f the two surveys are not directly comparable, but should normally
reinforce one another’s findings.
6 Figures for 1973 exclude private household workers, and those not
reporting work schedules. Figures for 1985 have been adjusted to distribute
nonresponse.
7 If private household workers had been included in distributions for both
years, it is likely that the drop of the 40-hour week and the rise o f the
49-or-more-hour week would both have been somewhat less pronounced.
8 There may still be some omissions, because no hours details were
collected for tertiary jobs.
13
Shift work and flexitime:
how prevalent are they?
New data reveal that shift work and flexitime
are not widespread; only 1 of 10 full-time
wage and salary workers is on an evening or night shift,
and only 1 of 8 has a flexible schedule
E arl F. M ellor
Although the needs of society require a diversity of work
schedules, most Americans have traditional morning to lateaftemoon hours. The great majority of full-time wage and
salary earners begin work between 7 and 9 in the morning.
The proportion who work in the evening or at night, or who
are on flexible schedules, is rather small. In contrast, almost
half of all part-time employees work schedules other than
regular day shifts, and nearly one-fifth have some type of
flexible scheduling. The incidence of shift work and flex
itime varies by sex, race, age, and other characteristics, but
differences are more apparent by occupation and industry.
These patterns are revealed in newly available data from
the Current Population Survey ( c p s ) , which asked questions
on beginning and ending hours of work, shift work, and the
availability of flexitime, to name a few. The information
relates to people who were at work during the week of May
12-18, 1985, and was collected in a special supplement to
the May 1985 c p s . 1
Workday, from start to finish
Nearly 8 of 10 full-time wage and salary workers began
their workdays between 7 and 9 a.m. during the survey
reference week, with 8 a.m., by far, the most reported time.
(See table 1.) With so many workers starting at these hours,
it is not surprising that the most frequent quitting times were
between 4 and 6 p.m., with 5 p.m. leading. Thus, tradiEarl F. Mellor is an economist in the Division of Employment and Unem
ployment Analysis, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
14
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
tional daytime shifts predominate, with 8-to-5, 7-to-4, 8-to4, and 9-to-5 schedules being the most popular. Of the top
10 work schedules (of a possible 576) only one— the tenth
ranked 3-to-l 1 p.m. shift— included a substantial number of
hours outside the normal daylight span. (The times actually
reported are rounded to the nearest hour when they are
entered on the c p s questionnaire. For example, 8 a.m. refers
to any reported time between 7:30 and 8:29. See appendix
for further details.)
For part-time workers, 7 to 9 a.m. were the most fre
quently reported starting times, accounting for 45 percent of
the total. The most popular quitting times were in the 3-to-5
p.m. span. As was the case for full-time workers, parttimers most often reported an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. work day—
but these hours accounted for only 4 percent of the part-time
schedules. Part-time jobs— in terms of starting time, quit
ting time, and the overall schedule— were far less concen
trated within the top 10 rankings. Whereas the top 10 sched
ules were reported by 71 percent of all full-time workers,
they fit the pattern for only 29 percent of part-time workers.
Shift work
There are two ways to determine a worker’s shift. One is
based on the time the person begins and ends the workday;2
the other is based on responses to a question regarding
which shift persons considered themselves to usually work.
The former method permits a precise definition (for exam
ple, a day shift is one in which half or more hours worked
are between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.), and thus a shift work
definition can be tailored to the user’s particular needs.
Table 1. Most prevalent beginning and ending hours of work and overall schedules of wage and salary workers, by usual
full- and part-time status, May 1985
[Numbers in thousands]
Beginning time
Rank
Full-time workers
1 .....................
2 .....................
3 .....................
4 .....................
5 .....................
6
7
8
9
10
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
Part-time workers
1 .....................
2 .....................
3 .....................
4 ...................
5 .....................
6 .....................
7 .....................
8 .....................
9 .....................
10 .....................
Ending time
Time
Number of
workers
Percent of
all workers
8 a.m.........................
7 a.m.........................
9 a.m.........................
6 a.m.........................
3 p.m.........................
29,116
17^532
11,004
3,864
2,043
39 7
23.9
15.0
5.3
2.8
10 a.m.........................
4 p.m.........................
11 p.m.........................
5 a.m.........................
12 m idnight...............
1,597
1,526
1,110
814
634
9 a.m.........................
8 a.m.........................
7 a.m.........................
10 a.m.........................
4 p.m.........................
5 p.m.........................
3 p.m.........................
12 noon.....................
1 p.m.........................
Percent of
all workers
6 p.m.........................
3 p.m.........................
7 p.m.........................
25 807
16750
8,440
6,645
2,896
35 ?
22.8
11.5
9.1
3.9
7 a.m.
8 a.m.
9 a.m.
7 a.m.
to
to
to
to
2.2
2.1
1.5
1.1
.9
12 midnight ...............
11 p.m.........................
8 p.m.........................
2 p.m.........................
7 a.m.........................
1,927
1,816
1,355
1,256
1,142
2.6
2.5
1.8
1.7
1.6
8 a.m.
9 a.m.
7 a.m.
7 a.m.
3 p.m.
3,179
3,111
1,605
1,517
1,328
18.2
17.8
9.2
8.7
7.6
4 p.m.........................
3 p.m.........................
2 p.m.........................
6 a.m.........................
2 481
2J92
1,962
1,480
1,311
142
12.5
11.2
8.5
7.5
9 a.m.
9 a.m.
8 a.m.
7 a.m.
1,318
993
782
637
605
7.5
5.7
45
3.6
3.5
1,238
1,106
979
967
767
7.1
6.3
56
5.5
4.4
Time
4 p.m.........................
9 p.m.........................
10 p.m.........................
12 n o o n .....................
8 p.m.........................
1 There were also 398,000 workers on a 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. schedule.
No t e : Data refer to wage and salary workers, excluding the incorporatiKd self-employed, who
However, this makes no allowance for split or rotating
shifts. The latter method allows the respondents to say what
they consider is the shift usually worked. This concept per
mits the incorporation of split and rotating shifts as well as
reduces the reporting of deviations from the usual work
schedule which may have occurred in a given week. It is the
self-identified notion of shift which is the focus of the anal
ysis in this article.3
Generally speaking, shift work is a great advantage to
employers who need to match production with demand,
accommodate the nature of certain production processes,
and reduce the cost of capital per employee. However, ex
cept for those who cannot work at a regular daytime job (for
instance, students) and those who prefer evening or night
hours, shift work often does not benefit workers or their
families. In fact, the effects of shift work— particularly
night and rotating shifts— can be quite disruptive, with such
consequences as sleeping, digestive, and nervous disorders
and interference with family relationships.4
Of the 73.4 million full-time wage and salary workers
who were at work during the survey reference week, 61.7
million, or 84 percent, described their usual work period as
a “regular daytime schedule.” Of the remaining 11.6 million
— called “shift workers”5— most worked an evening shift
(4.6 million), followed by rotating (3.1 million), night (2.0
million), and split shifts (about 540,000). A substantial
number (1.4 million) worked some other schedule; pre
sumably, this would include daytime workers who felt their
schedules were not “regular,” and may include some on
flexitime who vary their beginning and ending times.
Men were more likely than women to be shift workers.
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Overall daily schedule
Number of
workers
Number of
workers
Percent of
all workers
4 p.m...................
4 p.m...................
5 p.m...................
3 p.m...................
7Ì947
7,256
6,172
4,087
?1 8
10.8
9.9
8.4
5.6
to
to
to
to
to
6 p.m...................
6 p.m...................
5 p.m...................
6 p.m...................
11 p.m...................
2,902
2,726
2,585
1,477
1,238
4.0
3.7
3.5
2.0
1.7
703
to
to
to
to
5 p.m...................
3 p.m...................
4 p.m...................
4 p.m...................
651
602
550
494
40
3.7
3.4
3.1
2.8
5 p.m. to 9 p.m...................
9 a.m. to 4 p.m...................
449
421
4QQ
405
398
Schedule
8 a.m. to 12 n o o n ...............
8 a.m. to 2 p.m1..................
2.6
2.4
2.3
2.3
were at work during the reference week. Times refer to beginning and ending hours most days of
the week and are rounded to the nearest whole hour.
This was the case also in each age group, except for
teenagers. (See table 2.) More than one-quarter of the teens
who worked full time were not on a regular daytime sched
ule. Among adult men, the incidence of shift work de
creased with age, reaching 15 percent for the 45 and over
age groups. For adult women, the incidence fell with age to
11 percent for 35- to 44-year-olds, and then rose slightly in
the upper ages, reaching 13 percent for those 65 and older.
The evening shift accounted for one-third to one-half of all
shift workers, except men age 65 and over.
Blacks were more likely than whites or Hispanics to be
shift workers. Hispanic men were as likely as white men,
but considerably less likely than black men, to work other
than a regular daytime schedule. Hispanic women, how
ever, were less likely than both white and black women to
be shift workers. Married (spouse present) persons had
much smaller proportions working shifts than either singles
or those of other marital status. Given that single workers
are usually younger than married workers, the higher inci
dence is probably the result of age differences. Younger
workers have less seniority on the job— hence, less choice
in shift selection. In addition, youths tend to be in the types
of jobs that are more likely to require shift work. Another
consideration is that married workers may be less willing to
work other than day schedules.
Among occupational and industry groups, shift work is
associated with skill and product demands which cannot be
satisfied by daytime schedules alone. These include busi
nesses whose customers wish to shop until 9 or 10 at night,
or even around the clock; the need for police and fire protec
tion and health care 24 hours a day; and the overnight
15
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
How Prevalent are Shift Work and Flexitime?
delivery of goods. On the supply side, some production
processes requires continuous operation, as it would be too
costly to shut down each evening and restart each morning.
In other cases, high capital costs necessitate around-theclock utilization.
The incidence of shift work was 10 percent or less among
full-time workers in managerial and professional jobs; ad
ministrative support, including clerical jobs; and farming,
forestry, and fishing occupations. However, within some of
these occupations, there were groups with an incidence of
shift work of 20 percent or higher— for example, health
diagnosing, assessment, and treating occupations among
professional workers, and mail and message distributing
workers within the administrative support category. (See
table 3.) Protective service workers (61 percent) were most
likely to work shifts (in fact, 22 percent worked rotating
shifts), followed by workers in food (43 percent) and health
services (36 percent). Other occupational groups tradition
ally associated with shift work— the operators, fabricators,
and laborers group, and sales workers in retail trade and
personal services— had about one-quarter on shift work.
Table 2.
For most occupations, the evening shift was the most
frequent departure from a regular day schedule. The excep
tions were health professionals, retail and personal salesworkers, protective service workers, and motor vehicle op
erators, who reported rotating shifts more frequently than
evening shifts. Night shifts were the least common, ac
counting for about 3 percent of all full-time workers. But,
the incidence of night shifts was well above average for
some in the groups noted for the likelihood of rotating shifts.
Shift work was more prevalent in the private sector (16.5
percent) than the public sector (12.8 percent). Among
goods-producing industries in the private sector, shift work
was highest in mining and lowest in construction. (See table
3.) In manufacturing, it was most frequent in areas requiring
continuous production (because startup and shutdown costs
are high), such as primary metals, automobiles, paper prod
ucts, chemicals, and rubber and plastics. In the serviceproducing sector, shift work was most often reported in
transportation, retail trade (particularly in eating and drink
ing places), personal services, entertainment and recreation,
and hospitals— all activities for which product demand goes
Shift usually worked by full-time wage and salary workers, by selected characteristics, May 1985
[Percent distribution]
Total
employed
(in thousands)
Regular
daytime
schedule
73,395
Men, 16 years and o v e r ...........................................
16 to 19 ................................................................
20 to 24 ................................................................
25 to 34 ................................................................
35 to 44 ................................................................
45 to 54 ................................................................
55 to 64 ................................................................
65 and over ..........................................................
Women, 16 years and ove r.......................................
16 to 19 ................................................................
20 to 24 ................................................................
25 to 34 ................................................................
35 to 44 ................................................................
45 to 54 ................................................................
55 to 64 ................................................................
65 and over ..........................................................
Characteristic
Shift workers
Total
Evening
shift
Night
shift
Rotating
shift
Split
shift
Other
shift
84.1
15.9
6.3
2.7
4.3
0.7
1.9
43,779
1,139
5,567
14,281
10,630
7,094
4,594
474
82.2
72.6
80.0
80.0
83.6
85.4
85.5
85.4
17.8
27.4
20.0
20.0
16.4
14.6
14.5
14.6
6.8
11.8
8.5
7.8
5.7
5.3
5.6
2.8
3.0
4.7
3.5
3.3
2.7
2.7
2.1
2.5
4.9
7.0
5.0
5.6
5.0
3.9
3.8
4.0
.8
1.6
.9
.8
.7
.5
1.0
1.0
2.3
2.3
2.1
2.5
2.3
2.2
2.0
4.5
29,616
777
4,346
9,510
7,080
4,753
2,838
311
87.0
71.1
84.0
87.5
88.9
88.4
87.3
85.8
13.0
28.9
16.0
12.5
11.1
11.6
12.7
14.2
5.5
12.8
6.7
5.3
4.8
4.6
5.3
7.3
2.3
4.0
2.0
2.2
2.3
2.2
2.6
3.8
3.3
9.4
5.1
3.3
2.2
2.8
3.2
-
.6
.6
.9
.6
.4
.8
.6
.8
1.2
2.1
1.3
1.0
1.3
1.2
1.0
2.3
W h ite .........................................................................
Men ......................................................................
W omen..................................................................
63,523
38,588
24,935
84.7
82.7
87.7
15.3
17.3
12.3
5.8
6.3
5.0
2.6
2.9
2.1
4.3
5.0
3.3
.7
.8
.6
1.9
2.3
1.2
Black .........................................................................
Men ....................................................... ...........
W omen..................................................................
7,847
4,054
3,793
80.1
77.4
83.0
19.9
22.6
17.0
9.8
10.6
8.9
3.5
3.7
3.2
4.3
5.3
3.2
.7
.7
.7
1.7
2.3
1.1
Hispanic o rig in ..........................................................
Men ......................................................................
Women ..................................................................
4,911
3,184
1,727
84.6
82.3
88.8
15.4
17.7
11.2
7.1
7.7
5.8
2.5
2.8
1.9
3.3
4.0
2.0
1.0
1.2
.6
1.6
1.9
.9
Men:
Single, never married ...........................................
Married spouse present.........................................
Widowed, divorced, or separated..........................
9,703
29,666
4,410
78.9
83.5
80.4
21.1
16.5
19.6
9.3
5.7
8.5
3.6
2.7
3.6
5.0
5.1
4.0
1.1
.6
1.1
2.2
2.3
2.3
Women:
Single, never married ...........................................
Married, spouse p resent.......................................
Widowed, divorced, or separated..........................
7,109
15,679
6,828
83.6
89.9
83.7
16.4
10.1
16.3
6.8
4.3
7.0
2.3
1.9
3.3
5.2
2.3
3.6
.6
.6
.8
1.3
1.0
1.5
Total, 16 years and over .............................................
Age
Race and Hispanic origin
Marital status
Note: Data refer to wage and salary workers, excluding the incorporated self-employed, who
were at work during the reference week. Dash indicates fewer than 0.05 percent.
16
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Table 3.
Shift usually worked by full-time wage and salary workers, by occupation and industry, May 1985
[Percent distribution]
___________________________________________________
Occupation or industry
Total, 16 years and over .............................................
Shift workers
Total
employed
(in thousands)
Regular
daytime
schedule
Total
73,395
84.1
15.9
13,944
9,079
9,866
212
1,257
91.4
92.6
90.3
77.6
68.7
Night
shift
Rotating
shift
Split
shift
Other
shift
6.3
2.7
4.3
0.7
1.9
8.6
7.4
9.7
22.4
31.3
2.0
1.8
2.3
1.7
8.3
1.2
.8
1.5
8.3
2.7
2.6
2.8
13.6
12.1
.6
.5
.8
.1
2.1
1.8
2.3
7.2
2.6
4.2
6.5
12.5
4.1
2,8
8.3
3.7
11.0
12.7
2.1
3.3
9.0
2.2
2.1
3.6
1.7
2.7
9.1
3.5
4.6
7.6
6.9
7.4
11.5
1.6
4.1
.4
.5
.1
.2
1.1
1.3
1.1
.3
”
.6
1.3
1.0
.6
2.9
2.4
3.2
.6
1.0
1.1
Evening
shift
Occupation
Managerial and professional specialty .......................
Executive, administrative, and managerial...............
Professional specialty...............................................
Health diagnosing occupations ............................
Health assessment and treating occupations . . . .
”
Technical, sales, and administrative support...............
Technicians and related support..................................
Health technologists and technicians.......................
Sales occupations........................................................
Supervisors ..............................................................
Salesworkers, retail and personal services .............
Administrative support, including clerical.....................
Computer equipment operators................................
Mail and message distributing..................................
21,961
2,548
761
15,730
1,957
2,400
12,684
673
613
88.3
84.5
70.1
82.8
84.0
72.3
92.0
81.2
76.2
11.7
15.5
29.9
17.2
16.0
27.7
8.0
18.8
23.8
Service occupations......................................................
Private household.....................................................
Protective service.....................................................
Service, except private household and protective ..
Food service..........................................................
Health service........................................................
Cleaning and building service ..............................
Personal service...................................................
7,268
275
1,286
5,707
2,194
1,076
1,719
718
61.6
83.0
39.2
65.6
56.9
63.9
74.4
73.9
38.4
17.0
60.8
34.4
43.1
36.1
25.6
26.1
16.9
7.3
19.8
16.7
21.2
14.8
16.1
7.5
6.1
1.9
7.2
6.1
5.3
10.3
5.4
3.7
8.7
“
23.8
5.7
8.2
6.8
1.7
6.2
2.4
1.0
.7
2.8
5.0
.6
1.3
3.0
4.3
6.8
9.4
3.0
3.4
3.6
1.1
5.7
Precision production, craft, and repair .......................
Mechanics and repairers .........................................
Construction trades .................................................
Other precision production, craft, and repair ...........
10,477
3,582
3,282
3,614
87.0
87.3
94.1
80.3
13.0
12.7
5.9
19.7
6.3
6.0
3.4
9.3
2.2
2.3
1.0
3.2
3.7
3.6
1.2
6.1
.1
.1
.1
.2
.7
.8
.3
.9
Operators, fabricators, and laborers............................
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors . . .
Transportation and material moving occupations . . .
Motor vehicle operators.........................................
13,326
6,748
3,448
2,392
76.3
76.3
73.8
74.5
23.7
23.7
26.2
25.5
10.5
13.2
5.8
4.3
4.6
3.7
6.0
6.9
6.2
6.2
7.4
5.9
.5
.1
1.5
1.9
1.9
.5
5.5
6.5
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .
3,130
78.9
21.1
9.9
5.2
4.9
.2
.9
Farming, forestry, and fishing ......................................
1,418
89.9
10.1
1.5
1.4
.7
3.5
3.0
Private sector ..............................................................
Goods-producing industries ....................................
Agriculture ............................................................
Mining ..................................................................
Construction..........................................................
Manufacturing........................................................
Durable goods...................................................
Nondurable g o o d s .............................................
60,127
24,626
1,154
885
4,279
13,309
11,277
7,033
83.5
85.0
89.4
78.1
97.5
82.1
84.0
79.1
16.5
15.0
10.6
21.9
2.5
17.9
16.0
20.9
6.6
7.4
.9
6.0
1.3
9.3
10.0
8.2
2.9
2.6
2.2
1.6
.4
3.2
2.5
4.4
4.4
3.9
.2
12.1
.4
4.5
2.8
7.2
.8
.3
4.3
.1
.1
.2
1.9
.8
3.0
2.2
.4
.7
.5
1.0
Service-producing industries....................................
Transportation and public utilities ............................
Wholesale tra d e ........................................................
Retail trade ..............................................................
Eating and drinking places ..................................
Finance, insurance, and real estate ........................
Services1 ..................................................................
Private households...............................................
Business and repair .............................................
Personal, except private household.....................
Entertainment and recreation ..............................
Professional services ...........................................
Hospitals ..............................................................
35,501
4,958
3,222
9,111
2,242
5,003
13,207
345
3,242
1,379
529
7,682
2,303
82.4
79.4
91.9
73.7
52.4
93.9
82.9
80.8
87.4
74.0
66.6
83.8
73.0
17.6
20.6
8.1
26.3
47.6
6.1 /
17.1
19.2
12.6
26.0
33.4
16.2
27.0
6.1
6.1
2.9
9.1
21.0
1.9
6.4
7.3
5.8
10.1
13.8
5.4
10.5
3.0
3.5
2.1
3.7
5.3
1.0
3.3
1.5
2.4
3.8
2.2
3.7
6.6
4.8
6.4
.9
8.6
12.5
1.1
3.9
.7
3.1
6.6
7.3
3.6
8.5
1.1
1.2
.4
1.9
4.5
.5
1.0
.8
.1
2.1
4.1
.9
.2
2.6
3.5
1.7
3.0
4.2
1.6
2.6
9.0
1.0
3.4
6.1
2.5
1.3
Public sector ................................................................
Federal Government.................................................
State government.....................................................
Local government......................................................
13,268
2,901
3,320
7,047
87.2
86.2
88.2
87.1
12.8
13.8
11.8
12.9
4.6
6.1
4.3
4.2
2.0
3.4
2.3
1.3
3.7
2.8
3.0
4.5
.6
.2
.5
.7
1.9
1.2
1.7
2.2
Industry
1 1ncludes forestry and fisheries, not shown separately.
beyond traditional daytime hours.
The incidence of shifts was much higher for those who
did not usually work 5 days a week. Almost two-thirds of
those working full-time on a 3-day-a-week schedule and just
over a third of those on 4-day schedules considered them
selves shift workers. Half of the 3-day workers reported
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Note: Data refer to wage and salary workers, excluding the incorporated self-employed, who
were at work during the reference week. Dash indicates fewer than 0.05 percent.
working “other shifts.” This should be expected, because
each day’s work would average at least 12 hours and would
not be considered by many as a regular daytime shift, even
if most of the hours fell during daytime hours. About 29
percent of those working a 6-day week and 38 percent of
7-day workers considered themselves shift workers.
17
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
How Prevalent are Shift Work and Flexitime?
Of those who reported a reason for not working a regular
daytime schedule, 28 percent cited voluntary reasons, in
cluding better arrangements for child care or care of other
family members, better pay, or time for school. Of the 72
percent giving “involuntary” reasons, 9 of 10 cited the
schedule as a requirement of the job; most of the remainder
reported they worked shifts because they could not find any
other job.
Part-timers were about three times as likely as full-time
workers to work other than a regular daytime schedule.
Employers often hire part-time help to cover periods of peak
demand, which may be as short as 3 or 4 hours on weekdays
and may require nonconventional working hours. This is the
case, particularly in retail sales and in entertainment and
recreation. Many seeking part-time work, especially stu
dents, are able to work only evenings or weekends. Nearly
half of all part-time workers and four-fifths of the 16- to
19-year-olds were shift workers. About one-quarter of the
part-timers worked in the evening. (See table 4.) Employees
in sales, service (particularly protective service), transporta
tion and material moving, and in handler, equipment
cleaner, helper, and laborer jobs were most likely to work
other than a regular daytime schedule. Seven of ten parttime workers in protective service jobs were on shifts.
Table 4.
Flexible schedules
Under flexitime, employees can vary the times their
workdays begin and end. The arrangements vary among
establishments, and even among units within an establish
ment, depending on such factors as production, customer,
and other coverage requirements; public laws and collective
bargaining agreements; and the attitudes of individual man
agers and supervisors.
The amount of flexibility made possible by flexitime ar
rangements varies— ranging from as little as 30 minutes to
3 hours or more. Some plans permit variation in the number
of hours worked per day, and in some cases, even the total
number of hours worked each week, or pay period, and
provide for the accumulation of “credit hours.” Nearly all
plans have a “core-time” requirement: all employees must
work during the core time every day, or in some cases, on
specified days of the week. A flexitime plan may be a
formal document with detailed definitions, rules, and proce
dures, or it may be so informal that it is not explicitly
identified as a flexible work schedule.6
Some potential advantages of a flexitime program are
decreased tardiness, added hours of service to the public,
smoothing rush-hour traffic peaks, larger blocks of em
ployee leisure time, facilitating child care, and better
Shift usually worked by part-time wage and salary workers, by selected characteristics, May 1985
[Percent distribution]
Characteristic
Total
employed
(in thousands)
Regular
daytime
schedule
Shift workers
Total
Evening
shift
Night
shift
Rotating
shift
Split
shift
Other
shift
Age
Total, 16 years and over .............................................
17,497
52.5
47.5
25.1
5.0
7.1
2.3
8.0
Men, 16 years and over ...........................................
16 to 19 ................................................................
20 to 24 ................................................................
25 and over ..........................................................
5,670
2,008
1,228
2,434
43.5
21.0
41.2
63.2
56.5
79.0
58.8
36.8
30.3
53.6
31.8
10.4
5.4
4.4
7.5
5.2
7.3
7.7
8.6
6.3
2.5
1.6
1.4
3.8
11.0
11.8
9.5
11.1
Women, 16 years and ove r.......................................
16 to 19 ................................................................
20 to 24 ................................................................
25 and over ..........................................................
11,826
2,006
1,798
8,022
56.8
20.9
46.0
68.2
43.2
79.1
54.0
31.8
22.6
52.1
27.2
14.1
4.8
4.3
6.5
4.6
7.0
12.5
11.4
4.6
2.3
1.2
1.5
2.7
6.6
9.0
7.3
5.8
Managerial and professional specialty ........................
Executive, administrative, and managerial...............
Professional specialty...............................................
2,321
516
1,805
65.1
71.8
63.2
34.9
28.2
36.8
14.4
10.4
15.5
4.3
3.6
4.5
5.0
3.6
5.4
2.2
1.8
2.3
9.1
8.9
9.1
Technical, sales, and administrative support...............
Technicians and related support..............................
Sales occupations ...................................................
Administrative support, including cle rical.................
6,460
389
2,902
3,169
54.1
50.8
40.8
66.7
45.9
49.2
59.2
33.3
24.4
23.0
31.8
17.8
4.7
7.0
4.8
4.3
8.6
12.8
14.0
3.1
.9
1.2
.9
.9
7.2
5.1
7.7
7.1
Service occupations.....................................................
Private household.....................................................
Protective service.....................................................
Service, except private household and protective. . .
5,339
648
235
4,457
44.1
64.2
29.1
42.0
55.9
35.8
70.9
58.0
33.5
15.4
27.6
36.4
6.0
2.3
12.5
6.2
7.0
2.9
8.8
7.5
2.1
1.4
12.0
1.7
7.2
13.9
10.1
6.1
Precision production, craft, and repair..........................
Mechanics and repairers .........................................
Construction trades .................................................
Other precision production, craft, and repair ...........
653
158
303
192
75.7
63.0
85.5
70.7
24.3
37.0
14.5
29.3
9.5
24.6
4.2
5.5
3.3
3.9
.7
6.9
2.6
1.3
1.1
6.2
.8
_
8.1
7.1
8.5
8.2
Operators, fabricators, and laborers............................
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors___
Transportation and material moving occupations . . .
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers..
2,148
555
550
1,043
47.8
68.8
39.9
40.7
52.2
31.2
60.1
59.3
23.6
16.6
11.5
33.7
5.2
3.5
6.3
5.5
7.4
4.5
6.0
9.7
26.5
.8
8.9
6.7
9.7
9.6
Farming, forestry, and fishing......................................
577
51.9
48.2
21.0
3.5
3.5
4.8
15.4
Occupation
Data refer to wage and salary workers, excluding the incorporated self-employed, who
were at work during the reference week. Dash indicates fewer than 0.05 percent.
No t e :
18
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2.6
7.1
Table 5.
Full-time wage and salary workers on flexible work schedules, by selected characteristics, May 1985
[Numbers in thousands)
Women
Men
Total
Characteristic
With flexible
schedules
Percent of
all workers
With flexible
schedules
Percent of
all workers
With flexible
schedules
Percent of
all workers
9,061
178
1,070
3,127
2,468
1,372
737
108
12.3
9.3
10.8
13.1
13.9
11.6
9.9
13.8
5,760
115
625
1,916
1,597
932
495
80
13.2
10.1
11.2
13.4
15.0
13.1
10.8
16.9
3,300
63
445
1,211
872
440
242
28
11.1
8.1
10.2
12.7
12.3
9.3
8.5
9.2
8,105
707
425
12.8
9.0
8.6
5,270
332
286
13.7
8.2
9.0
2,835
375
139
11.4
9.9
8.0
Managerial and professional specialty ....................................................................
Executive, administrative, and managerial............................................................
Professional specialty............................................................................................
3,448
1,785
1,664
18.2
19.7
16.9
2,340
1,183
1,156
21.5
20.6
22.4
1,109
601
507
13.8
18.0
10.8
Technical, sales, and administrative support............................................................
Technicians and related support...........................................................................
Sales occupations ................................................................................................
Administrative support, Including cle rical..............................................................
3,215
480
1,340
1,395
14.6
18.8
19.9
11.0
1,540
327
940
273
18.5
22.6
23.1
9.7
1,675
153
400
1,122
12.3
13.9
15.1
11.4
Service occupations..................................................................................................
Private household..................................................................................................
Protective service..................................................................................................
Service, except private household and protective ...............................................
619
30
109
479
8.5
11.1
8.5
8.4
302
1
101
200
8.5
(D
8.7
8.4
317
30
8
279
8.5
11.0
6.6
8.4
Precision production, craft, and repair ....................................................................
Mechanics and repairers .....................................................................................
Construction trades ..............................................................................................
Other precision production, craft, and repair..........................................................
717
255
232
230
6.8
7.1
7.1
6.4
658
246
229
183
6.8
7.1
7.1
6.1
59
9
3
47
7.3
7.0
(1)
7.3
Operators, fabricators, and laborers.........................................................................
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors .................................................
Transportation and material moving occupations.................................................
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers...........................................
847
273
397
178
6.4
4.0
11.5
5.7
728
187
389
151
7.2
4.5
11.8
5.7
120
85
8
26
3.7
3.3
5.6
5.4
Farming, forestry, and fishing...................................................................................
214
15.1
192
15.4
22
12.6
Age
Total, 16 years and over ..........................................................................................
16 to 1 9 .................................................................................................................
20 to 2 4 .................................................................................................................
25 to 3 4 .................................................................................................................
35 to 4 4 .................................................................................................................
45 to 5 4 .................................................................................................................
55 to 6 4 .................................................................................................................
65 and over ...........................................................................................................
Race and Hispanic origin
W h ite .....................................................................................................................
B la c k ......................................................................................................................
Hispanic o rig in ......................................................................................................
Occupation
1 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
scheduling of the work force to coincide with variations in
the workload. Potential problem areas include the added
need for managers and supervisors to schedule and plan the
work flow and ensure the coverage of critical functions, the
possible lack of supervision at some hours, added timekeep
ing needs, and nonlabor costs associated with more hours of
operation (for example, heating and cooling).7
About 9.1 million full-time wage and salary workers (ex
cluding the incorporated self-employed) who worked during
the survey reference week in May 1985 were reported as
having a work schedule which permitted them to vary their
beginning and ending hours of work. (See table 5.) This was
12.3 percent of the covered workers. The incidence of flex
ible scheduling was lowest for teenagers (9.3 percent) and
highest for the 35 to 44 and 65 and over age groups. Men
were more likely than women to have flexibility in their
work day, as were whites, compared with their black or
Hispanic counterparts.
Among occupational groups, the ability to vary work
hours ranged from 4 percent for machine operators, assem
blers, and inspectors to 20 percent for those in sales occupa
tions. For some more detailed classifications, the incidence
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
No t e : Data refer to wage and salary workers, excluding the incorporated self-employed, who
were at work during the reference week.
was more than 30 percent, such as mathematical and com
puter scientists; natural scientists; technicians, except
health, engineering, and science; and sales representatives
(commodities except retail). The incidence was higher for
men than for women for each occupational, age, and race or
Hispanic category.
The likelihood of flexible scheduling was slightly higher
in the private sector (12.6 percent) than in the public sector
(11.3 percent). However, it was 20 percent in the Federal
Government, where many agencies have formal flexitime
programs. Within the private sector, those in serviceproducing industries (at 14.5 percent) had higher propor
tions with the freedom to vary work times than those in
goods-producing industries (9.8 percent). Among industry
groups, the incidence ranged from under 5 percent in furni
ture and fixtures, textiles, and apparel, to 15 percent or more
in agriculture, printing and publishing, wholesale trade, fi
nance, insurance, and real estate, business and repair serv
ices, personal services, entertainment and recreation, and
the “other” professional services category, which includes
legal services, membership organizations, and engineering,
architectural, and surveying services.
19
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
How Prevalent are Shift Work and Flexitime?
Employees on regular daytime schedules were more
likely to have the ability to vary their starting and ending
hours (12.7 percent) than those on evening shifts (6.6 per
cent), night shifts (8.2 percent), or rotating shifts (10.8
percent). Nearly one-quarter of those on split shifts had
either flexitime or some other scheduling arrangement per
mitting flexibility.
Part-time workers were more likely than their full-time
counterparts to have flexibility in the scheduling of their
work, with 3.3 million (18.6 percent) being able to do so.
As with full-time workers, the proportion of men reporting
flexibility was higher than that of women (19.8 versus 18.0
percent.)
□
accordingly), would be tallied as 7:00 to 4:00 if that earlier time was
reported as the starting time. Both factors may combine to partially explain
the large number of those with such 10-hour spans as 8-to-6 and 7-to-5
schedules. Accordingly, an 8-hour work requirement of 8:30 to 5:30 (less
an hour for lunch) may appear as 8 to 6. In addition, proxy respondents may
not know precise starting and ending times and may report the times an
employee departs from and returns home. The span also includes any time
not worked, such as lunch and other breaks and the time between the work
periods of split shifts— which vary in length among workers.
3 See Workers on Late Shifts , Summary 81-13 (Bureau of Labor Statis
tics, 1981); and Janice N. Hedges and Edward Sekscenski, “Workers on
late shifts in a changing econom y,” Monthly Labor Review , September
1979, pp. 14-22, for previously published data on shift work. Data pub
lished in this article are not comparable to those previously published on the
subject.
4 See Hedges and Sekscenski, “Workers on late shifts”; and Peter Finn,
“The effects of shift work on the lives of em ployees,” Monthly Labor
Review, October 1981, pp. 31-35.
5 Although a regular daytime schedule is, strictly speaking, a “shift,” the
term shift work is used here to describe only those schedules other than a
“regular daytime schedule.”
---------- FOOTNOTES---------1 Statistics on wage and salary workers usually include self-employed
workers whose businesses are incorporated because from a legal standpoint
they are the paid employees of a corporation. However, they are excluded
from the analysis here, as the primary interest in the scheduling of work lies
in a universe o f workers limited to those who work for someone else. To
have a consistent universe throughout the article, data are limited to those
who actually worked during the survey reference week, because some of
the data were collected only for this group.
2 Information on beginning and ending hours should not be used to
indicate the number o f hours worked per day— a statistic available through
another question in the May 1985 survey. As previously mentioned, the
times are rounded. For example, a 9:00 to 5:30 schedule would appear as
9:00 to 6:00. Because most workers usually arrive at work a few minutes
before the required start time, someone who has a 7:30 to 4:00 work
requirement, but actually arrives at 7:25 most days (and “punches in”
6 Some of the variations of flexitime used among the plans covering
Federal Government employees are flexitour, gliding time, variable day,
variable week, and maxiflex. See The Federal Employees Flexible and
Compressed Work Schedules Act of 1978: An Overview of the Experimental
Program for Federal Agencies (Washington, U .S. Office of Personnel
Management, 1979).
7 See John D. Owen, Working Hours (Lexington, m a , Lexington Books,
1979), which has a thorough discussion of alternative work schedules,
including the practicality of flexitime in different work situations. For
testimony which cites both the merits and limitations of flexitime, see
Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules and Federal Employees Flexible
and Compressed Work Schedules A ct , hearings before the Subcommittee
on Human Resources o f the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service,
U .S. House of Representatives (Washington, Government Printing Office,
1982 and 1985, respectively).
APPENDIX: Notes on the data
Unless otherwise indicated, information in this article
covers wage and salary workers, excluding the incorporated
self-employed, who reported having worked during the
week of May 12-18, 1985. Coverage includes both the
private and public sectors and workers both in and out of
agricultural industries. The data were collected for the Bu
reau of Labor Statistics by the Bureau of the Census as part
of the May 1985 Current Population Survey ( c p s ). The c p s
employs a scientifically selected sample of about 59,500
households in all 50 States and the District of Columbia.
Information on beginning and ending hours of work were
obtained from responses to the following questions;
34.
L a s t w e e k at what time of day did . . . begin work
on this job most days?
35 .
L a s t w e e k at what time of day did . . . end work
on this job most days?
Answers were coded in 1-hour increments, centered on
the hour. For example, answers ranging between 4:30 and
5:29 p.m. were coded as 5:00 p.m.
20
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Information for most of the data on shift work was ob
tained from the following:
36. Which of the following best describes the hours
. . . usually works at this job?
A regular daytime schedule .........
O
A regular evening s h i f t ..................
O
A regular night shift ......................
O
A rotating shift— one that changes
periodically from days to evenings
or n ig h ts........................................
O
A split shift— one consisting of two
distinct periods each d a y ............
O
Other ................................................
O
The May 1985 data on shift work are not comparable to
those which were published for the 1973-80 period. The
earlier data were based on beginning and ending hours of
work questions (as in 34 and 35 above). At that time, the day
shift was defined as one at which the majority of hours
worked was between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.; the evening shift
had a majority of its hours between 4 p.m. and midnight;
and the night shift had a majority of its hours worked be
tween midnight and 8 a.m. In the event of a tie (for example,
12 noon to 8 p.m.), day took precedence over evening, and
evening took precedence over night. “Shifts” were limited
to 6- to 12-hour periods; those shorter or longer were classi
fied as “miscellaneous” shifts. In addition, the 1973-80 data
excluded farm workers but included any self-employed
workers whose businesses were incorporated. The 1985 data
are based on the self-identification of usual shift; the data
include farm workers and exclude self-employed workers.
A limited amount of the 1985 shift work data was crosstabulated according to the old definition of shifts. Of those
reporting a regular daytime schedule, 97 percent would have
been classified as working a day shift based on beginning
and ending hours. There is far less conformity among those
tabulated as working evening (90 percent) or night (63 per
cent) shifts, as many of these would have fallen into the
miscellaneous category based on the “old” way of tabulating
shifts. As expected, those reporting that they usually work
a rotating shift were distributed among each of the cate
gories based on beginning and ending hours; and many of
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those reporting that they usually work a split or “other” shift
would have fallen into the previous “miscellaneous” cate
gory.
The data on the presence of flexitime were obtained from
the question:
40. Is . . . on flexitime or some other schedule that
allows workers to vary the time they begin and end
work?
Y e s ...................O
No ................... O
Don’t know . . . O
The May 1985 data on flexitime are not comparable to those
collected in May 1980, because of a difference in coverage.
The earlier survey included self-employed workers whose
businesses were incorporated (most of whom— by defini
tion— can vary their work hours) and excluded farm work
ers, while the 1985 survey did not ask the flexitime question
to the incorporated self-employed, but did include farm
workers. Even though the 1985 data indicated only a small
rise in the incidence of flexible work times— from 11.9
percent to 12.3 percent for full-time workers— the rise
would have been larger if the incorporated self-employed
had been included.
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. Depart
ment of Labor, Washington, D.C. 20212.
21
Moonlighting by women
jumped to record highs
An important, but small, proportion of Americans
work at two jobs or more; they do so principally
for financial reasons such as meeting regular expenses
or paying off debts and also to explore
new careers while still holding on to their primary jobs
John F. S tinson , Jr .
According to a survey conducted in May 1985, multiple
jobholders totaled 5.7 million, 5.4 percent of all employed
workers. This was up from 4.9 percent in 1980 and was the
highest level in more than 20 years. Data from the same
survey confirm the continuance of two long-term trends: an
increasing number of women among the moonlighters and a
decline in the proportion of multiple jobholders with at least
one job in agriculture.
These findings are from a special survey of work patterns
of American workers.1 Multiple jobholders, as identified in
this survey, are those employed persons who, during the
survey reference week, either (1) had jobs as wage or salary
workers with two employers or more; (2) were selfemployed and also held a wage and salary job; or (3) were
unpaid family workers on their primary jobs but also held
wage and salary jobs.2 The primary job is the one at which
the greatest number of hours were worked.
Demographic characteristics
The survey revealed that between 1980 and 1985, the
number of women with two jobs or more rose by almost
40 percent to 2.2 million. Over the same period, the multi
ple jobholding or “moonlighting” rate for women (percent
of employed with more than one job) jumped from 3.8 to
John F. Stinson, Jr. is an economist in the Division of Data Development
and Users’ Services, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
22
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
4.7 percent. In 1985, women made up nearly two-fifths of
all moonlighters.
Moonlighting among women has actually been rising
steadily since 1970, paralleling their continued increase in
overall labor force participation. Over the decade and a half,
the number of women holding at least two jobs has more
than tripled and their moonlighting rate has risen from 2.2
to 4.7 percent. (See table 1.)
The moonlighting rate for men, which had undergone a
long-term decline before stabilizing during the 1970’s at
around 6 percent, continued to hold steady at 5.9 percent in
May 1985. While men are still more likely than women to
be working at two jobs or more, the gender difference in the
incidence of multiple jobholding has been sharply reduced
over time. As recently as 1970, the moonlighting rate for
men exceeded that for women by 5 percentage points; by
1975, the gap had shrunk to 3 percentage points; by 1980,
it had declined to 2 points; and, as shown above, by 1985,
it barely exceeded 1 point.
Significant differences still persist, however, in the types
of jobs held by the men and women who moonlight. In
1985, about 40 percent of the women were working at
multiple part-time jobs, while more than four-fifths of the
male moonlighters usually worked full time at their primary
jobs and part time on their secondary jobs.
Among men, the proportion holding more than one job
increases progressively in each age group, reaching a peak
of 7.1 percent in the 35 to 44 years interval and declining
steadily thereafter. Among women the pattern was much
different. The proportion holding multiple jobs was 5 per
cent in all age groups below 45 years and then dropped off
progressively. (See table 2.)
‘ While married men were more apt to moonlight than
either single men or those who were widowed, divorced, or
separated, married women were somewhat less likely to
work at more than one job than were those without a spouse.
Whites continued to be much more likely than blacks to
work at two jobs or more. In fact, the moonlighting rate for
whites increased from 5.1 to 5.7 percent between 1980 and
1985, while the black rate was unchanged at 3.2 percent.
The increase for whites was principally among women,
whose moonlighting rate rose a full percentage point to
4.9 percent; the rate for white men edged up slightly to
6.2 percent. Hispanic women had a moonlighting rate of
2.8 percent, about the same as that for black women, while
the rate for Hispanic men was below that of blacks and only
half the rate of white men.
Reasons for working at more than one job
Economic factors predominate among the reasons for
moonlighting. About 41 percent of persons working more
than one job in May 1985 reported that they did so in order
to meet regular expenses or pay off debts, and 13 percent
cited a desire to save for the future. Another 17 percent
indicated that their principal reason for moonlighting was to
get experience or build up a business, while 29 percent
reported various other reasons. Women were slightly more
likely than men to indicate the desire to get experience in a
different field of work. (See table 3.)
Marital status had a clear effect on the reasons reported
for moonlighting. Single men and women were more likely
than other groups to moonlight in order to accumulate
savings for the future. Current financial considerations
played a much more important role in the decision to moon
light for widowed, divorced, and separated workers. More
than two-thirds of the women and almost half of the men in
that category cited either the need to meet regular expenses
or to pay off debts as their reason for working at more than
one job.
There was also a sharp divergence in the distribution of
the reasons for multiple jobholding reported by blacks and
whites. Blacks of both sexes were much more likely than
whites to say they moonlighted in order to help with regular
expenses and paying off debts and much less likely to say
they did so to get experience or to build up a business.
Class of worker, industry, and occupation
The proportion of multiple jobholders engaged in farming
in either their primary or secondary job— a prominent activ
ity among dual jobholders in the past— declined to fewer
than one-tenth in May 1985. In most cases, these workers
had primary jobs as wage and salary workers in nonagricultural industries but did some farming on their own. (See
table 4.) While the proportion of such workers had been
edging down as shown in the following tabulation, the drop
between 1980 and 1985 was particularly sharp, undoubtedly
reflecting the myriad problems encountered by the farm
sector in recent years:
With at least one jo b
rj, . ,
...
in agriculture
Total m ultiple ____________ __________________
job h o ld ers
Total
(thousands)
(thousands)
P roportion
1970
1975
1977
1979
1980
1985
...................
...................
...................
...................
...................
...................
4,048
3,918
4,558
4,724
4,759
5,730
943
890
922
871
835
532
23.3
22.7
20.2
18.4
17.5
9.3
Table 1. Employed persons 16 years and over holding two jobs or more and multiple jobholding rates by selected character
istics, May 1970 to May 1985
[Numbers in thousands]
Multiple jobholders
Year
Total
employed
Total
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1985
..................................................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
78,358
78,708
81,224
83,758
85,786
84,146
87,278
90,482
93,904
96,327
96,809
106,878
Multiple jobholding rate1
Women
4,048
4,035
3,770
4,262
3,389
3,918
3,948
4,558
4,493
4,724
4,759
5,730
Number
Percent
of all
multiple
jobholders
636
765
735
869
867
956
911
1,241
1,281
1,407
1,549
2,192
15.7
19.0
19.5
20.3
22.3
24.4
23.1
27.2
28.5
29.8
32.5
38.3
Men
3,412
3,270
3,035
3,393
3,022
2,962
3,037
3.317
3,212
3.317
3,210
3,537
Total
Men
Women
White
Black2
5.2
5.1
4.6
5.1
4.5
4.7
4.5
5.0
4.8
4.9
4.9
5.4
7.0
6.7
6.0
6.6
5.8
5.8
5.8
6.2
5.8
5.9
5.8
5.9
2.2
2.6
2.4
2.7
2.6
2.9
2.6
3.4
3.3
3.5
3.8
4.7
5.3
5.3
4.8
5.1
4.6
4.8
4.7
5.3
5.0
5.1
5.1
5.7
4.4
3.8
3.7
4.7
3.8
3.7
2.8
2.6
3.1
3.0
3.2
3.2
1 Multiple jobholders as a percent of all employed persons.
2 Beginning in 1977, data refer to black workers only; data for prior years refer to the black-and-other-population group.
note: Data for 1970-1980 have not been adjusted to reflect 1980 census population controls.
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23
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
Table 2.
November 1986 •
Moonlighting by Women
Employed persons with two jobs or more by age, marital status, race, and Hispanic origin, May 1985
[Numbers in thousands)
Men
Total
Characteristic
Total
employed
Multiple jobholders
Number
Percent
Women
Multiple jobholders
Total
employed
Number
Percent
Total
employed
Multiple jobholders
Number
Percent
Age
Total, 16 years and o v e r..........................................................................................
106,878
5,730
5.4
60,015
3,537
5.9
46,864
2,192
4.7
16 to 1 9 ........................................................................................................................
20 to 2 4 ........................................................................................................................
25 to 3 4 ........................................................................................................................
35 to 4 4 ........................................................................................................................
45 to 5 4 ........................................................................................................................
55 to 6 4 ........................................................................................................................
65 and over ..................................................................................................................
6,289
13,857
31,246
24,446
16,682
11,545
2,813
289
777
1,771
1,522
847
433
90
4.6
5.6
5.7
6.2
5.1
3.8
3.2
3,370
7,345
17,641
13,698
9,526
6,739
1,696
134
436
1,090
967
558
294
59
4.0
5.9
6.2
7.1
5.9
4.4
3.5
2,919
6,512
13,605
10,478
7,156
4,806
1,117
156
340
682
556
290
139
31
5.3
5.2
5.0
5.2
4.1
2.9
2.7
Marital status
Single ..........................................................................................................................
Married, spouse present ............................................................................................
Widowed, divorced, or separated...............................................................................
26,167
65,443
15,268
1,448
3,448
834
5.5
5.3
5.5
14,768
39,444
5,803
767
2,447
323
5.2
6.2
5.6
11,399
25,999
9,465
681
1,001
510
6.0
3.8
5.4
Race and Hispanic origin
White ..........................................................................................................................
B lack............................................................................................................................
Hispanic o rigin.............................................................................................................
93,555
10,416
6,489
5,286
338
194
5.7
3.2
3.0
53,222
5,240
3,984
3,291
187
125
6.2
3.6
3.1
40,333
5,176
2,505
1,995
151
69
4.9
2.9
2.8
No t e :
Detail for race and Hispanic-origin groups will not add to totals because data for the
Table 3.
“other races” group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black
population groups.
Multiple jobholders by sex, marital status, race and the reason for working at more than one job, May 1985
Percent distribution by reason
Characteristic
Total
(thousands)
Total
To meet
regular
household
expenses
To pay
off
debts
To save
for the
future
To get
experience
or build up
a business
Other
reason
Total, 16 years and o v e r.....................................................
5,730
100.0
31.6
9.3
13.0
17.0
Men, 16 years and o v e r..........................................................
3,537
100.0
30.3
9.0
12.9
18.1
29.7
Single .................................................................................
Married, spouse present......................................................
Widowed, divorced, or separated ......................................
767
2,447
323
100.0
100.0
100.0
20.7
33.4
29.2
10.4
7.6
17.0
21.5
11.0
7.2
19.5
18.0
15.4
27.9
30.1
31.1
W h ite ...................................................................................
Black ....................................................................................
3,291
187
100.0
100.0
29.4
45.6
9.1
10.6
12.8
12.8
18.4
11.1
30.3
20.0
Women, 16 years and over ...................................................
2,192
100.0
33.7
9.7
13.1
15.3
28.2
Single .................................................................................
Married, spouse present......................................................
Widowed, divorced, or separated ......................................
681
1,001
510
100.0
100.0
100.0
28.5
27.2
53.5
8.7
7.8
14.8
22.1
10.6
6.0
14.1
20.1
7.0
26.6
34.2
18.8
W h ite ...................................................................................
B la c k ....................................................................................
1,995
151
100.0
100.0
33.3
40.1
8.9
19.7
12.9
16.3
15.7
5.4
29.2
18.4
Table 4.
29.2
Multiple jobholders by industry and class of worker of primary and second job, May 1985
[Numbers in thousands]
Primary job
Total
employed
Number
Second job in
nonagricultural industries
Second job in agriculture
Multiple jobholders
As a
percent
of total
employed
Total
Wage and
salary
job
Self-employed
Total
Wage and
salary
job
Self-employed
Total, 16 years and o v e r......................................................
106,878
5,730
5.4
382
81
300
5,348
3,866
1,482
Agriculture...............................................................................
Wage and salary w o rk e rs ...............................................
Self-employed w orkers........................................................
Unpaid family workers ........................................................
3,524
1,731
1,582
211
186
103
74
8
5.3
6.0
4.7
4.0
36
32
3
-
13
10
3
-
22
21
137
58
71
8
13
13
(2)
150
71
71
8
Nonagricultural industries........................................................
Wage and salary workers ...............................................
Self-employed w orkers........................................................
Unpaid family workers ........................................................
103,354
95,379
7,694
280
5,544
5,266
269
9
5.4
5.5
3.5
3.2
346
342
3
-
67
64
3
-
279
278
(1)
(2)
5,198
4,924
266
9
3,728
3,459
266
9
1,469
1,469
1 Self-employed persons with a secondary business or farm, but no wage and salary
job, are not countedas multiple jobholders.
24
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(1)
ID
(2)
(1)
(2)
2 Persons whose primary job was as an unpaid family worker are counted as multiple
jobholders only if they also had a wage and salary job.
Among the other multiple jobholders— that is, the vast
majority who did not engage in any agricultural work—
about one-third were self-employed in at least one job, usu
ally the second job. The rest worked as wage and salary
employees in both jobs.
The workers whose primary jobs were in industries such
as entertainment and recreation services; professional serv
ices, especially educational services; and public administra
tion were the most likely to engage in moonlighting. In
terms of specific occupations, the men most likely to moon
light were those employed as teachers, both at and below the
college level, or as health technologists and technicians.
Between 16 and 19 percent of them held a second job. A
high proportion of dual jobholders (13.9 percent) was also
found among male protective service workers, a group
which includes police, who frequently moonlight as guards
and security personnel. There were no occupations for
women with such high rates of multiple jobholding. The
highest rates for women were among officials and adminis
trators in public administration, with a moonlighting rate of
7.5 percent, and health diagnosing occupations; teachers at
all levels; and engineering and science technicians, all with
rates around 7 percent.
$344 average for whites.
Looking only at the second jobs, the earnings reported by
multiple jobholders yielded a median of $70 in May 1985.
Just over three-fifths of the moonlighters reported earnings
of below $100 per week for their second job; one-fourth
reported between $100 and $200; and about 13 percent
reported earnings of over $200 per week. As was generally
the case with regard to the principal job, men earned consid
erably more on the second job— $85 per week— than did
women— $57 per week. Three quarters of the women re
ported weekly earnings of less than $100 on their second
job, compared with a little more than half of the men.
Consistent with their greater hours worked, blacks re
ported earning more on their second jobs than did white
moonlighters; the medians for the two groups were, respec
tively, $81 and $69 per week. Because black workers tend
to earn much less in their primary jobs than do white work
ers, the earnings from secondary jobs help to narrow the
income gap between whites and blacks who engage in mul
tiple jobholding.
Hours of work and earnings
1 The data were obtained through special questions asked in conjunction
with the May 1985 Current Population Survey ( cps ), the monthly survey of
about 59,500 households which provides the basic labor force and unem
ployment data for the Nation. Data on multiple jobholders used to be
collected each May in a supplement to the cps until the supplement was
ended after 1980. For the most recently published report on multiple job
holders, see Daniel E. Taylor and Edward S. Sekscenski, “Workers on long
schedules, single and multiple jobholders,” Monthly Labor Review, Mav
1982, pp. 4 7 -5 3 .
Multiple jobholders usually worked an average of about
14 hours per week on their secondary jobs. Almost twothirds worked less than 16 hours, while about 15 percent
reported 25 hours or more of moonlighting work. Although
blacks are much less likely than whites to hold more than
one job, about 20 percent of black moonlighters reported
usually working more than 25 hours per week at their second
job, compared with about 15 percent of whites.
Combining all jobs, moonlighters worked an average of
51 hours per week in May 1985. The average for men, at
55 hours per week, exceeded by 10 hours that usually
worked by women with two jobs or more.
The median usual weekly earnings from all jobs of multi
ple jobholders (who were wage and salary workers on their
primary job)4 was $343 in May 1985. For women who
moonlighted, total weekly earnings from all jobs ($241)
were equal to little more than half of the earnings of
multiple-jobholding men ($450). The total weekly earnings
for black multiple jobholders were $305, slightly below the
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--------- FOOTNOTES---------
2 Also included as multiple jobholders are a small number o f persons
who had two jobs because they changed jobs during the survey week.
Persons employed only in private households (such as housekeepers, launderers, gardeners, babysitters, and so forth) who worked for two employers
or more during the survey week, are not counted as multiple jobholders
because working for several employers is considered an inherent character
istic of private household work rather than an indication of multiple jobholding. Also excluded are self-employed persons with additional farms or
businesses and persons with secondary jobs as unpaid family workers.
3 Included among the wage and salary workers are the incorporated
self-em ployed (individuals who worked for corporations which they
owned). The number of dual jobholders in this category is very small
(58,000, or 1 percent of all moonlighters) and their inclusion among the
wage and salary workers should have a minimal impact on the analysis of
the data.
4 Data on wage and salary earnings only were collected for the primary
job. Data on earnings from all sources were collected for the second job.
25
Missed work and
lost hours, May 1985
Absences were lower in 1985 than at any time
since 1973; for the first time, absence rates
in the goods-producing industries were lower
than the rates in the service-producing industries
B r u c e W . K l e in
On any given day, some people do not show up at work for
one reason or another. These unscheduled absences can
disrupt the work flow and raise costs such as sick pay and
the hiring of temporary help. Absences may also result in a
reduction in product quality and low morale among the
workers who get additional duties passed onto them.
According to data collected in May 1985 from the Current
Population Survey ( c p s ) , about 4.7 percent of the full-time
nonfarm workers had an absence in a typical week caused by
illness, injury, civic duties, or personal reasons. The pro
portion of hours lost was 2.6 percent of the potential that
would have been worked during the survey’s reference
week. These absence figures were substantially lower than
those last obtained in a 1980 survey. In fact, they showed
the first decline since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began
estimating absences in 1973.
The proportion of full-time wage and salary workers who
had an absence which kept them from working at least 35
hours per week declined by more than 20 percent between
May 1980 and May 1985. An absence measure computed by
the Bureau of National Affairs from entirely different data
has also shown a similar decline over the same period.1 In
addition to a decline in the percent of workers absent from
Bruce W. Klein is an economist in the Division of Data Development and
Users’ Services, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
26
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work, the c p s shows that the percent of total worktime lost
because of absences also declined by more than 20 percent
during the period mentioned.2 (See table 1.)
The drop in absences during this 5-year period may have
stemmed from the aftereffects of the 1981-82 recession.
There appear to be two primary reasons for a drop in ab
sences: (1) workers laid off during the recession are likely
to have included many of the frequent absentees, and
(2) remaining workers were less likely to be absent from
their jobs in the aftermath of a recession or during a period
of business uncertainty for fear of job loss.3 In addition,
absence rates may have remained low during the economic
recovery because of explicit personnel policies on absences.
In some cases, various penalties and incentives were put into
place to keep them down.4
Although there has been a substantial reduction in the
frequency of absences and in the proportion of time lost, the
number of hours lost per individual worker with an absence
increased slightly between 1980 and 1985. Reasons other
than illness or injury were responsible for most of the in
crease.
Absence concepts
The term “absences,” as used here, relates to generally
unscheduled periods of leave from work. Reasons for ab
sences include illnesses, injuries, personal and civic com
mitments, and'mishaps. For example, car failure is some-
times an excuse for an absence. The data presented here
relate only to full-time wage and salary workers, those who
usually work more than 35 hours per week and who hold
only one job. They are deemed to have been absent by
reporting that they worked less than 35 hours per week
because of illness, injury, or other reasons.
Absences are measured by rates which identify (1) the
proportion of workers with an absence; (2) the proportion of
hours lost relative to all scheduled hours; or (3) relative to
the hours usually worked by those with an absence. Specif
ically, the incidence rate is the number of workers absent
divided by the total employed times 100 or,
Number of workers absent ^ ^
Total employed
The inactivity rate is the number of hours absent divided by
the total number of hours usually worked times 100 or,
Numbers of hours absent
x ^
Number of hours usually worked
A third measure, the severity rate, indicates the proportion
of hours lost by workers with an absence relative to the
hours they usually work, also expressed in percentage
terms, or
_____Number of hours lost by absent workers
Number of hours usually worked by absent workers
x 100
Annual rates and comparisons
Extrapolating from the data gathered for May, it is esti
mated that because of absences, an average worker lost 7.2
days in 1985, compared with an estimate of 9.7 days in
1980. It is estimated that a typical worker had absences in
3 of 52 weeks during 1985, down from 4 of 52 weeks in
1980.
The absence rate for the United States— 4.7 percent—
compares favorably with recent percentage rates of the fol
lowing countries: England (11.8), Canada (11.6), Den
mark (7.7), France (5.9), the Netherlands (5.4), Belgium
(3.8) , Greece (3.1), Germany (3.0), Sweden (3.0), Italy
(2.9) , and Japan (2.5). The rates for Australia and Ireland
are similar to the U.S. rate—4.3 and 5.2, respectively.5
both “the carrot and the stick.” In some instances, they have
introduced the practice of giving bonuses to workers with
high attendance. They have also counseled workers who are
frequently absent before taking more serious steps against
them. In part because of these new policies and the other
factors cited above, the durable goods industry has achieved
especially low absence rates. (See table 2.)
Public administrations have the highest percentage of
workers with absences, which may be the result of liberal
leave policies towards Federal, State, and local government
employees. Businesses which supply professional services
also have relatively high rates of absences, both in terms of
incidence and inactivity. Within the professional services
sector, educational and medical service providers have the
highest absence rates. This may reflect the fact that teachers,
who make up a large component of this group, usually have
an allotment of personal days off which are filled by substi
tute teachers. Absences are not easily explained for em
ployees of hospitals and other health service providers.
In terms of occupation, the absence rate reported by per
sons in executive and administrative positions, and those in
management-related occupations was relatively low— 3.2
percent. This contrasts sharply with the higher incidence of
absences for professional specialists, 5.2 percent. These
differences, which are also reflected in the proportion of
time lost, could be caused by the high degree of competition
and visibility among executives and also the fact that some
of the professionals, such as teachers, have contracts which
allow for a certain number of absences during the year. (See
table 3.)
The precision production, craft, and repair occupations
Table 1. Absence rates for full-time nonagricultural wage
and salary workers, by reason, May 1980 and May 1985
[Numbers in thousands]
. 1980-85 change
Measure
1980
1985
Number
Percent
Absent workers
Total number of workers1 .............
Total abse nt................................
Total incidence rate2 ...................
Illnesses and injuries...............
Miscellaneous reasons ...........
64,043
3,926
6.1
3.6
2.6
77,698
3,683
4.7
2.6
2.1
13,655
-243
-1.4
-1.4
- .5
21.3
-6 .2
-23.0
-27.8
-19.2
2,693,930
89,823
3.3
2.1
1.2
3,276,410
86,279
2.6
1.6
1.1
582,480
-3,544
- .7
- .5
-.1
21.6
-3.9
-21.2
-23.8
8.3
42.1
56.1
61.4
48.9
42.2
57.2
61.9
51.6
.1
1.1
.5
2.7
.2
2.0
.8
5.5
Hours lost
Variation by industry and occupation
Differences in absence rates between the various indus
tries and occupations were also significant, as were their
trends. In May 1985, for the first time, the absence rates in
goods-producing industries were lower than those in
service-producing industries. This was true both for the
incidence of absences and the measurement of hours lost
because of absences. This reversal could reflect a new atti
tude in goods-producing industries regarding the costs asso
ciated with unscheduled work absences. Many companies
have instituted various policies to reduce absences, using
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Weekly hours usually w o rked........
Weekly hours lo s t........................
Total inactivity rate3 ...................
Illnesses and injuries...............
Miscellaneous reasons ...........
Hours lost per absent worker
Usual weekly hours per w orker. . . .
Total severity rate4 .....................
Illnesses and injuries...............
Miscellaneous reasons ...........
11ncludes incorporated self-employed workers.
2 Number of workers absent as a percent of the total working.
3 Number of hours absent as a percent of the total number of hours usually worked.
4 Number of hours absent as a percent of the number of hours usually worked by absent
workers.
27
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
Table 2.
November 1986 •
Missed Work and Lost Hours
Absence rates for full-time wage and salary workers, by industry, May 1985
[Numbers in thousands]
Inactivity rate
(Percent of time lost)
Incidence rate
(Percent of workers absent)
Total number
of workers1
Industry
Total
Illnesses
and
injuries
Miscellaneous
reasons
Total
Illnesses
and
injuries
Miscellaneous
reasons
Total, 16 years and over...................................................
Total nonagricultural wage and salary workers.............
76,093
74,908
4.8
4.8
2.6
2.6
2.2
2.2
2.7
2.7
1.6
1.6
1.1
1.1
Goods-producing industries.......................................
M in in g ...............................................................................
Construction ....................................................................
Manufacturing ..................................................................
Durable goods ..............................................................
Nondurable goods ........................................................
24,854
929
4,817
19,108
11,778
7,330
4.4
4.0
4.3
4.4
4.0
5.1
2.7
2.8
2.4
2.8
2.6
3.2
1.6
1.2
1.9
1.6
1.4
2.0
2.5
3.6
2.5
2.4
2.2
2.9
1.7
2.4
1.5
1.7
1.5
1.9
.8
1.1
.9
.8
.6
1.0
Service-producing industries ....................................
50,054
5.1
2.6
2.4
2.8
1.5
1.3
Transportation and public u tilitie s....................................
6,477
4.8
2.6
2.2
3.2
1.8
1.4
Wholesale and retail trade ...............................................
Wholesale trade ............................................................
Retail trad e.....................................................................
12,835
3,322
9,513
4.7
3.8
5.0
2.8
2.2
3.0
1.9
1.6
2.0
2.7
2.4
2.8
1.8
1.6
1.9
.9
.8
.9
Finance, insurance, and real estate ................................
5,326
4.1
2.1
2.0
2.0
1.0
1.0
Services2 ...........................................................................
Professional services ...................................................
Educational services.................................................
Health services, including hospitals..........................
Other professional services.......................................
All other services ..........................................................
20,757
14,858
6,283
5,373
2,682
5,899
5.4
5.8
6.2
5.9
4.6
4.5
2.5
2.7
2.5
3.2
2.4
2.1
2.9
3.1
3.7
2.7
2.2
2.5
2.9
3.1
3.3
4.2
2.7
2.3
1.4
1.5
1.5
1.7
1.3
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.5
1.5
1.1
Public administration ........................................................
4,659
5.9
3.1
2.8
3.0
1.6
1.3
1 Excludes incorporated self-employed workers.
2 Includes industries, not shown separately.
No t e :
have a relatively low incidence rate (4.3 percent). The less
skilled group of operators, fabricators, and laborers have a
higher incidence rate (5.5 percent). Among the lower skilled
workers, handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and labor
ers have the highest absence rate (6.7 percent). These lowest
skilled, low-paying jobs are often hazardous and have un
pleasant working conditions, for example, fumes, noise,
dirt, and heat. Given the gradual shift in technology, a
substitution of high skilled manual workers for low skilled
may have contributed to the reduction in absence rates.
Variation by personal characteristics
Teenagers have the highest absence rate of any age group,
as shown below in the incidence rates for men and women
in various age groups:
P ercent o f w orkers with an absence
in the reference week, M ay 1985
All ages ...................
16-19 y e a r s .........
20-24 y e a r s .........
25-54 y e a r s ........
55 years and over
Total
Men
Women
4.8
7.0
4.8
4.6
5.7
3.7
6.7
3.9
3.4
5.0
6.3
7.4
5.9
6.3
6.8
Teenagers may have a higher absence rate because they
attach more importance to nonwork activities than do older
workers. As workers get into their early twenties, their
28
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Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
absence rates decline and approach that of workers age 25
to 54. Past age 55, the absence rate rises again for both men
and women. Health problems and health maintenance needs
may affect this increase.
For women, the absence rate increases in their prime
years, while for men, the rate falls. Understandably, women
have a higher incidence of absences during their childbear
ing years, especially women with children under age 6.
However, men with children have a relatively low absence
rate. (See table 4.) Marital responsibilities seem to induce
men toward a firmer commitment to their jobs, so that they
spend less time away from work. For most women, the
proportion of time lost increased with the presence of chil
dren, especially young ones. Women maintaining families
alone who have three children or more have the highest
absence rate. This may be because these women have no one
to fall back on when their children need care during their
working hours. Other family-related responsibilities, such
as care of other family members, may be another factor in
their relatively high absence rates.
rates dropped considerably between 1980 and
1985. This is probably caused by the fallout from the reces
sion of 1981-82 when workers with attendance problems
may have been dismissed in greater numbers. This, in turn,
may have induced fear of job dismissal in other workers who
kept their absences low. Cost-cutting measures have also
A bsence
Table 3.
Absence rates for full-time wage and salary workers, by occupation, May 1985
[N u m b e rs in th o u s a n d s ]
Incidence rate
(Percent of workers absent)
Occupation
Total number
of workers1
Total
Illnesses
and
injuries
Inactivity rate
(Percent of time lost)
Miscellaneous
reasons
Total
Illnesses
and
injuries
Miscellaneous
reasons
Total, 16 years and o ve r.................................................
76,093
4.8
2.6
2.2
2.7
1.6
1.1
Managerial and professional specialty........................
Executive, administrative, and managerial.................
Professional specialty.................................................
19,598
9,381
10,217
4.2
3.2
5.2
1.9
1.6
2.2
2.3
1.6
3.0
2.3
1.7
2.8
1.0
.9
1.1
12
8
1.6
Technical, sales, and administrative support .............
Technicians and related s upp ort................................
Sales occupations ...............................................
Administrative support, including c le ric a l...................
22,745
2,624
6,934
6,477
13,186
4.9
3.0
3.9
4.8
5.6
2.7
2.1
2.3
2.6
3.0
2.2
1.7
1.6
2.2
2.6
2.5
1.8
2.2
3.2
2.9
1.5
1.0
1.4
1.8
1.6
11
8
7
1.4
1.3
Service occupations...................................................
Private household.......................................................
Protective service.................................................
Service, except private household and protective___
7,5:54
279
1,345
5,930
5.7
3.6
4.7
6.0
3.0
1.1
1.8
3.3
2.7
2.5
2.9
2.7
3.1
2.2
2.5
3.4
1.8
.2
1.2
2.0
14
19
1.2
1.4
Precision production, craft, and re p a ir.......................
10,855
4.3
2.8
1.6
2.6
1.8
.8
Operators, fabricators, and laborers ..........................
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors........
Transportation and material moving occupations . . . .
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .
13,897
7,006
3,619
3,272
5.5
5.3
4.8
6.7
3.4
3.3
3.0
4.1
2.1
2.0
1.8
2.6
3.4
3.0
3.4
4.1
2.3
2.2
2.3
2.8
11
8
1.3
1.3
Farming, forestry, and fisheries..................................
1,444
3.1
1.3
1.8
1.6
.7
.9
1 Excludes incorporated self-employed workers.
Table 4.
No t e :
Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
Absence rates for full-time wage and salary workers, by marital status, sex, presence and age of children, May 1985
[N u m b e rs in th o u s a n d s ]
Incidence rate
(Percent of workers absent)
Marital status and sex
of workers1
Total
Inactivity rate
(Percent of time lost)
Illnesses
and
injuries
Miscellaneous
reasons
Total
Illnesses
injuries
Miscellaneous
reasons
Women who maintain families
With no children under 18 years o l d ..........................
1,475
5.4
3.8
1.6
3.3
2.7
0.6
With one child under 18 years old:
Youngest child 6 to 17 .........................................
Youngest child under 6 .............................................
1,386
360
5.6
8.4
3.2
4.9
2.4
3.5
2.8
3.8
1.9
2.1
g
1.7
With two children under 18 years old:
Youngest child 6 to 17 ...............................................
Youngest child under 6 ...........................................
622
311
5.9
11.0
2.9
5.4
3.0
5.7
3.1
5.8
1.6
2.3
15
3.5
With three children or more under 18 years old:
Youngest child 6 to 17 ...........................................
Youngest child under 6 ...............................................
208
120
9.8
17.7
6.2
5.2
3.5
12.5
4.5
6.2
3.7
2.7
8
3.5
With no children under 18 years o l d ............................
7,971
5.8
3.2
2.7
3.1
1.9
1.2
With one child under 18 years old:
Youngest child 6 to 17 .........................................
Youngest child under 6 ...............................................
2,350
1,506
6.7
12.8
3.7
3.6
3.0
9.2
3.8
9.3
2.4
2.1
14
7.3
With two children under 18 years old:
Youngest child 6 to 17 ....................................
Youngest child under 6 ...........................................
1,833
1,251
6.4
10.9
2.8
3.5
3.6
7.4
3.0
7.0
1.5
2.0
15
5.0
With three children or more under 18 years old:
Youngest child 6 to 17 .........................................
Youngest child under 6 .........................................
612
635
2.6
9.2
1.4
3.7
1.2
5.5
.8
4.0
6
1.5
2
2.5
With no children under 18 years o l d ..............................
11,669
4.0
2.6
1.4
2.5
1.7
.8
With one child under 18 years old:
Youngest child 6 to 17 ...............................................
Youngest child under 6 ....................................
4,204
3,188
4.0
3.5
2.4
1.8
1.6
1.8
2.5
1.9
16
1.0
9
1.0
With two children under 18 years old:
Youngest child 6 to 17 ...............................................
Youngest child under 6 ...............................................
3,711
3,601
2.3
3.4
1.5
1.9
.7
1.5
1.4
1.7
.9
1.0
4
.7
With three children or more under 18 years old:
Youngest child 6 to 17 ...............................................
Youngest child under 6 ...........................................
1,507
2,383
3.1
3.5
1.7
2.3
1.4
1.2
2.0
1.9
1.3
1.4
7
.5
Married women, spouse present
Married men, spouse present
1 Excludes incorporated self-employed workers.
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No t e :
Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
29
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Missed Work and Lost Hours
caused employers, particularly in manufacturing, to institute
various means to hold absences down, both through in
centives and disciplinary action. Reflecting these trends,
the absence rates in the goods-producing sector were lower
in 1985 than those in the service-producing sector, a situa
tion that has not been observed before, at least not since
1973.
□
--------- FOOTNOTES------1 Quarterly Report on Job Absence and Turnover, 2d Quarter 1985
(Washington, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Sept. 5, 1985).
2 The situation in these 2 particular months (May 1980 and May 1985)
may not be totally representative of the trend in absences over this 5-year
period. However, separate estimates of absences based on cps data for the
12 months of 1980 and 1985, showed declines well in excess of 10 percent.
3 J. Paul Leigh, “The Effects of Unemployment and the Business Cycle
on Absenteeism,” Journal of Economics and Business, May 1985, pp.
159-70.
4 Peter Perl, “Work Place Conflicts Arise Over Rules on Absenteeism,”
The Washington Post, June 23, 1986, p. A l.
5 Labour Force Sample Survey, 1983 (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg,
Statistical Office of the European Communities, 1985), p. 114; Report on
the Special Survey of the Labour Force Survey, February 1984 (Tokyo,
Japan, Statistics Bureau, Management and Coordination Agency, 1984),
pp. 58-59; The Labour Force Australia, February 1986 (Canberra, Aus
tralian Bureau of Statistics, April 1986), p. 21; The Labor Force, Decem
ber 1985 (Ottawa, Statistics Canada, January 1986), p. 118; Arbetskraftsundersokninger, Arsmedetal 1985 (Stockholm , Sweden, Statistiska
Centralbyran, 1985), p. 121.
M easures to increase incom es
The vital role of women in agriculture in many parts of the developing
world means that they should be assisted in rural development programs,
for example, by the introduction of appropriate technology and simple farm
tools to reduce the burden of their work on the land and in the home.
Technological innovation and appropriate training aimed at peasant and
small-holder farmers should be organized as part of extension services
which are easily accessible to even the poorer segments of the rural popu
lation. The adoption of appropriate technologies will be crucial to the
attainment of food self-sufficiency in the coming decade, and here again is
a field in which the il o has an important role to play in the coming years,
building on experience gained so far. Other policy measures to increase
agricultural production deserving of consideration include the provision of
infrastructural facilities and essential public services (for example, roads,
irrigation, health centers, schools); improved access to credit; and pricing
and marketing policies appropriate to the maximization of the growth of
output and employment in rural areas.
------ The Changing World of Work: Major Issues Ahead
(Report of the Director-General (Part /),
International Labour Conference, 72d sess.
(Washington, International Labour Organization,
1986), p. 18.
30
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Work at home: new findings
from the Current Population Survey
In May 1985, more than 8 million Americans
reported at least 8 hours per week
of home-based work; services, ranging
from consulting to child care, were the most
common pursuits of persons working
substantial numbers of hours at home
Francis W. H orvath
For some Americans, there is no separation of gainful work
between the home and the workplace. A large number of
persons regularly squeeze extra hours into their workweek
by performing job-related chores at home. Others have com
pletely eliminated the trip to work by setting up businesses
or performing work-for-hire while at home.
In May 1985, the Bureau of Labor Statistics made its first
attempt to determine the size of the home-based work force.
Along with other questions on work practices, the respond
ents to the May survey were asked whether: 41As part of . . .
(the w orker’s regularly scheduled work, does . . . (he/she)
do any of (his/her) work for . . . (the principal employer) at
home?” Persons answering affirmatively were asked to esti
mate the number of hours of work done at home.
While more than 18 million people responded affirma
tively, almost half of them worked at home for less than
8 hours a week. Another 770,000 were fanners or farm
laborers. The remainder, nearly 8.4 million persons, had
worked at home for 8 hours or more in the reference week,
as part of a nonfarm job. They are the focus of most of the
analysis which follows.
It should be noted that persons working at home on a
second job or business were not counted among home-based
Francis W. Horvath is an economist in the Division of Data Development
and Users’ Services, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
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workers. “Work-at-home” as defined here pertains only to
work done as part, or as an extension, of one’s primary job.
Of course, given this definition, it is possible that persons
who regularly bring work home, such as managers reading
or writing memos at home, or teachers grading papers,
might consider such work to be “regularly scheduled,” and
will report it as home-based work.
Earlier studies
The May survey was the first specific attempt to estimate
the size of the home-based work force. Other estimates had
been available from secondary sources and private studies.1
For example, in response to a special congressional request,
the Census Bureau had produced a tabulation on persons
working at home from the data gathered as part of the 1980
census.2 The specific source for the study was a question on
methods of travel to work, to which one possible response
was “worked at home.” According to the data, about 2.2
million persons were identified as home-based workers.
More than half (1.2 million) of homeworkers were self
employed.
More recently, a privately conducted study was designed
to study work-at-home styles. In a telephone survey, re
spondents were asked questions about work hours, job satis
faction, and computer usage in the home. Nearly 60 percent
of the respondents cited working part-time at home as the
“ideal work arrangement.”3
31
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Work at Home: Findings from
Who are ‘homeworkers’?
Of the 17.3 million persons with any home-based work in
nonfarm occupations (regardless of the number of hours
reported), about 9.6 million (55 percent) were men. (See
table 1.) While men outnumbered women in the general
classification of home-based work, women who worked at
home had a stronger commitment to the home as a work
place. For example, women averaged 11.1 hours per week
on home-based work, while men put in 9.3 hours. About
8 percent of the women worked 35 hours or more at home,
compared with 4 percent of the men. Overall, there were 60
percent more women than men who worked the equivalent
of a full-time week at home.
Work at home appears to be a particularly attractive op
tion for older persons, for whom the daily commute to work
can be very tiring. Nearly one fifth of all nonfarm homebased workers working 35 hours or more weekly consisted
of persons over 55 years of age, a group that accounts for
only 1 in 8 of all employed workers.
The distribution of home-based work by race also showed
slightly higher percentages of white workers than are found
in the overall labor force. There were about 660,000 black
and Hispanic workers with 8 hours or more of home-based
work.
Industrial and occupational comparisons
Much of the interest in home-based work has centered
around a few key industries and occupations. For example,
it is believed that a growing number of clerical workers are
opting to establish their own businesses at home, having
been attracted by the idea of “being one’s own boss.”4
Table 1. Employed persons working at home, by age,
sex, and hours worked at home, May 1985
[Numbers in thousands)
Number reporting hours
worked at home1
Age and sex
Total
Total
8 hours
or more
35 hours
or more
Mean
hours
Total, 16 years and ove r............................
Total nonfarm workers,
16 and o ve r.........................................
25 years and o v e r................................
25 to 34 .............................................
35 to 44 .............................................
45 to 54 .............................................
55 and over.........................................
18,082
17,477
8,978
1,287
11.0
17,313
16,236
5,158
5,506
3,199
2,373
16,748
15,700
4,984
5,374
3,094
2,248
8,404
7,943
2,364
2,660
1,637
1,282
965
925
243
271
215
195
10.1
10.2
9.3
9.9
10.8
12.2
Men, 16 years and over ........................
25 and over .........................................
25 to 34 .............................................
35 to 44 .............................................
45 to 54 .............................................
55 and over .........................................
9,559
9,071
2,727
3,102
1,794
1,448
9,277
8,799
2,655
3,023
1,744
1,377
4,580
4,385
1,220
1,471
925
769
369
365
63
117
92
93
9.3
9.4
8.2
9.2
10.0
11.3
Women, 16 years and o v e r ...................
25 and over .........................................
25 to 34 .............................................
35 to 44 .............................................
45 to 54 .............................................
55 and over .........................................
7,754
7,164
2,431
2,404
1,405
925
7,471
6,900
2,329
2,350
1,350
871
3,824
3,559
1,144
1,189
712
513
596
560
181
155
123
103
11.1
11.3
10.5
10.7
11.8
13.8
1 Some workers who reported working at home did not provide numbers of hours actually
worked. Estimates below relate only to those reporting actual hours worked.
32
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cps
Table 2. Employed persons in nonagricultural industries
with 8 hours or more of home-based work, by industry and
sex, May 1985
[In thousands]
Women
Men
Industry
Nonagricultural industries................................
Mining ..........................................................
Construction.................................................
Manufacturing...............................................
Durable goods...........................................
Nondurable goods....................................
Transportation and public utilities ...............
Wholesale and retail trade ..........................
Finance, insurance, and real estate.............
Services1 ......................................................
Public administration....................................
8 hours
or more
35 hours
or more
8 hours
or more
35 hours
or more
4,565
53
391
676
451
225
247
799
465
1,757
161
368
5
11
42
21
21
16
45
49
193
3
3,790
25
93
258
102
156
115
494
310
2,375
120
585
5
19
40
12
29
20
51
35
413
2
1 Excludes forestry and fisheries.
Clerical workers such as secretaries, typists, forms proces
sors, and data entry personnel have seen a drop in the cost
of capital equipment that has enabled them to set up shop at
home. Declining prices for personal computers and other
electronic equipment have given many persons in profes
sional service industries, such as financial records process
ing and bookkeeping, an opportunity to begin a business
with very low startup costs.
Table 2 presents counts of home-based workers who
worked for 8 hours or more at home by major nonagricul
tural industry group and sex. By far the largest industry
group of home-based workers is in services. This category
includes educational, professional, and business and repair
services, as well as such social services as child care. Nearly
60 percent of women who worked 8 hours or more at home
were in the services industry, compared with only 35 per
cent of the men.
The longer an individual’s weekly hours of home-based
work, the more likely he or she is to be engaged in a services
industry. More than half of men and two-thirds of women in
nonagricultural industries with long hours of home-based
work were in service industries.
A more detailed look at home-based work in services is
presented in table 3. Business and repair services accounted
for nearly 100,000 of the persons working full-time work
weeks at home. This category includes a variety of estab
lishments, such as business management and consulting
services and computer and data processing services. Social
services, which encompass child care, accounted for
110,000 full-time home-based workers. Another 90,000
home-based workers were in “other professional services,”
covering legal services, architectural services, religious or
ganizations, and others.
Table 3 also presents counts by class of worker. It shows
that among the universe of persons with 8 hours or more of
home-based work in the reference week, the majority were
private wage and salary workers, who may simply be bring
ing work home on a regular basis. However, among those
Table 3.
Employed persons in the services industry with 8 hours or more of home-based work, by class of worker, May 1985
[In thousands]
8 hours or more
35 hours or more
Wage and salary workers
Industry
Total
Services2 ..........................................................................................
Private households.......................................................................
Business and repair services .....................................................
Personal services, except private household..............................
Entertainment and recreational services ....................................
Professional services ..................................................................
Hospitals....................................................................................
Health services, except hospitals.............................................
Educational services................................................................
Social services .........................................................................
Other professional services.....................................................
Incorporated
self-employed
All other wage and
salary workers
192
2,653
117
255
52
35
2,194
115
100
1,510
108
363
4,132
117
679
428
111
2,796
115
198
1,545
234
705
-
67
7
9
108
-
39
-
11
58
1 1ncludes the self-employed (unincorporated) and unpaid family workers.
Wage and salary workers
All other
workers1
1,287
_
357
369
67
494
_
59
35
115
284
Total
606
63
97
177
20
250
2
26
19
110
92
Incorporated
self-employed
All other wage and
salary workers
39
149
63
10
3
4
70
2
11
15
19
22
11
6
2
20
_
4
_
6
9
All other
workers1
418
76
168
14
161
10
4
85
61
No t e : Dash indicates zero or rounds to zero.
2 Excludes forestry and fisheries.
who worked 35 hours or more, close to 70 percent were
self-employed in home-based, unincorporated businesses.
Fewer than 10 percent of all full-time home-based workers
were self-employed but incorporated.
It is not possible to determine from the May 1985 data
how many persons working at home use a computer in their
work, or how many persons “telecommute” to their jobs.5
No specific questions on this topic were asked as part of the
survey supplement. However, some insight about the effects
of technological change on work practices can be gained by
examining the distribution of home-based work by occupa
tion. (See table 4.) One of the largest occupational groups
of home-based workers is in “financial records processing.”
This category includes bookkeepers, accountants, and audi
Table 4. Employed persons working at home, by major
and selected nonfarm occupations and hours worked at
home, May 1985
[Numbers in thousands]
Number reporting hours
worked at home1
Occupation
Total
Total
8 hours,
or more
35 hours
or more
Mean
hours
17,313
9,468
16,748
9,182
8,404
4,373
965
272
10.1
8.8
4,979
1,074
1,186
582
4,827
1,025
1,138
552
2,427
715
578
287
256
326
60
50
9.9
21.7
9.9
11.2
371
185
2,949
406
498
141
592
351
183
2,866
397
485
128
569
158
94
1,301
246
293
109
462
9
3
14
35
55
63
243
7.5
7.8
7.9
11.5
13.4
28.9
27.3
Major occupation
Total ...............................................
Managerial and professional speciality . . .
Technical, sales, and administrative
support...................................................
Service occupations..................................
Precision production, craft, and repair___
Operators, fabricators, and laborers ........
Selected occupations
Engineers .................................................
Mathematical and computer scientists. . . .
Teachers...................................................
Secretaries, stenographers, and typists ..
Financial records processing ...................
Private household ....................................
Personal services.......................................
1 See footnote 1, table 1.
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tors, as well as persons operating billing, posting, and calcu
lating machines.
The ranking of some occupations by incidence of homebased work might be surprising. This may be related to the
fact that the May 1985 survey measured those who bring
work home as well as those who have formally set up a
home-based workplace. The difference between merely
bringing some work home and doing all or most of one’s
work at home is often reflected in the number of hours
worked at home. For example, teachers, who might grade
papers or prepare lectures at home, accounted for 1.3 mil
lion of the 8.4 million nonfarm workers with 8 or more
hours of such work, but virtually none of the teachers accu
mulated 35 or more hours at home. Similarly, while almost
40 percent of all employed managerial and professional
specialty workers reported regular homework, only 270,000
of them accumulated full-time workweeks while at home.
As noted earlier, a very large proportion of those with 35 or
more hours of home-based work were in service occupa
tions, and in particular, personal services.
Formalized arrangements rare
In standard classifications, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
divides employed workers into three class-of-worker cate
gories— wage and salary, self-employed, and unpaid family
workers. For purposes of comparability with the Bureau’s
establishment data, those workers who are the nominal
employees of corporations which they own— the “selfemployed incorporated”— are treated as wage and salary
workers. In our analysis, however, these workers are dis
played separately, leaving an “all other wage and salary
workers” category that consists entirely of persons em
ployed by someone else.
Table 5 displays a breakdown of home-based workers
according to this classification. It suggests that formalized
business arrangements are rare for the typical home-based
worker. Fewer than 7 percent of those working full time at
33
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Work at Home: Findings from
Table 5. Percent distribution of employed persons with 8
hours or more of home-based work, by class of worker
and sex, May 1985
8 hours
or more
35 hours
or more
634
3,959
653
100.0
90.5
100.0
41.8
100.0
4.2
100.0
10.4
21.5
7.4
37.4
2.2
6.1
93.1
66.2
74.0
26.4
91.0
65.6
58.0
23.8
95.7
67.0
89.6
29.1
7.4
6.4
9.9
8.5
4.1
4.4
40.6
18.3
17.8
2.2
42.6
13.1
13.4
1.7
38.1
24.9
22.1
2.5
25.8
46.2
25.2
34.2
26.5
57.9
1.1
1.4
.2
“
2.2
2.8
8 hours
or more
35 hours
or more
8 hours
or more
8,978
1,287
5,019
Total ............................
Agriculture ...............
Self-employed
unincorporated ..
100.0
6.9
100.0
25.9
5.1
Nonagriculture ........
Wage and salary ..
Self-employed
incorporated ..
Private wage and
salary.............
Government. . . .
Total (in
thousands) . . .
Women
Men
Total
Class of worker
35 hours
or more
Percent distribution
Self-employed
unincorporated ..
Unpaid family
w o rkers.............
N o te : Dash indicates zero or rounds to zero
home in nonagricultural jobs were incorporated. For agri
culture and nonagriculture combined, about 2 of every 3
home-based workers who worked 35 hours or more were
operating as unincorporated self-employed businesspersons.
Children and home-based work
Home-based work offers a chance for some persons with
children to more effectively combine the roles of parent and
worker. Elimination of commuting and child-care expenses
can be a strong incentive for households with young children
to experiment with home-based work. About 600,000 mar
ried mothers of children under 6 years of age reported some
home-based work. (See table 6.) More than one-fifth of such
women worked at home for 35 or more hours as part of their
contribution to the job market.
In general, there were slight differences between women
and men working in homes with young children. However,
among nonfarm workers with 35 hours or more of homebased work, there were three times as many women with
very young children as there were men.
Working exclusively at home
Using responses from the regular portion of the Current
Population Survey as well as those from the May supple
ment, it is possible to compare the hours worked at home
with all work hours during the previous week and thus
identify persons working “entirely” at home. The classifica
tion showed 2.2 million persons working exclusively at
home in May 1985. (See table 7.) About 390,000 of those
working exclusively at home were in farming occupations,
leaving almost 1.9 million persons as the home-based work
force. About two-thirds of these were women.
As might be expected, the hours of persons working
solely at home were far higher than the overall averages for
34
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c ps
home-based work. Where work was conducted exclusively
within (or from) one’s home, men averaged 41.1 hours,
while women totaled 27.7 hours. About half of the persons
whose work was entirely home based were in service indus
tries, such as professional services, business and repair serv
ices, and personal services. Only about 100,000 of the per
sons with home-based work in professional specialty
occupations, which includes computer programming as a
subset, worked entirely at home.
Restricted industries
In the 1940’s, following a series of public hearings, the
Labor Department moved to restrict home-based work in a
number of narrowly defined industries. This recently criti
cized and reevaluated “patchwork” of regulations was di
rected toward those activities which had been found to be in
violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The seven indus
tries were: women’s apparel, jewelry, gloves and mittens,
knitted outerwear, buttons and buckles, handkerchiefs, and
embroidery. Homework in those industries was permitted
for individuals meeting specific certificate requirements.
The recent arguments surrounding home-based work have
crystalized around these apparel and accessory industries.6
The May 1985 data do not allow an accurate determina
tion of the number of persons whose home-based work is in
the various restricted industries. The industrial classification
used in tabulating these data no longer coincides with the
1940’s-based industry definitions upon which the restric
tions were based. Some of the restricted industries extend
across multiple classifications in the current data, or fall into
a highly aggregated “all other” category, which includes
industries in addition to the restricted one. However, it is
possible to create an upper-bound estimate of the total num
ber of persons affected by the restrictions by adding up
workers in every detailed industry classification which over
laps with the restricted industries. Using the finest available
breakdown of industries,7 it was estimated that the maxi
mum number of persons working 8 hours or more at home
in restricted industries could not exceed 125,000, and the
number working 35 hours or more was below 20,000. About
Table 6. Employed married persons with 8 hours or more
of home-based work, by presence and age of children, and
sex, May 1985
[Numbers in thousands]
Women
Men
Presence and age of children
8 hours
or more
35 hours
or more
8 hours
or more
35 hours
or more
Total ................................................................
Total nonfarm ...............................................
3,868
3,514
505
277
2,658
2,549
504
457
Without children under age 1 8 .................
With children under age 18 .....................
Children age 6 to 17, none younger . . .
Children aqe 14 to 17, none
younger .........................................
Children age 6 to 1 3 ..........................
Children under age 6 ............................
1,519
1,995
1,153
142
135
90
1,162
1,387
794
198
259
128
372
781
842
26
64
45
272
522
594
52
76
132
Table 7. Employed persons working entirely at home by
sex, occupation, industry, and hours worked at home, May
1985
[Numbers in thousands]
Sex, occupation, and industry
Total
8 hours
or more
35 hours
or more
2,243
749
1,494
1,992
709
1,284
1,067
476
591
32.1
41.1
27.7
553
593
504
142
82
390
451
482
478
121
76
385
211
210
288
55
38
266
28.5
25.4
34.0
27.0
28.5
47.6
men and women. Because this was the first time this survey
has been conducted, it is not possible to determine if this
number of homeworkers has been increasing or decreas
ing.
□
Mean
hours
---------- FOOTNOTES---------Total, 16 years and o ve r.............................................
M e n ...........................................
Women .....................................................
Occupation
Managerial and professional specialty...................
Technical, sales, and administrative support ........
Service occupations ...............................................
Precision production, craft, and re p a ir...................
Operators, fabricators, and laborers .....................
Farming, forestry, and fishing ................................
Industry
Agriculture ..............................................................
Nonagricultural industries ......................................
Mining...................................................
Construction .....................................................
Manufacturing......................................................
Durable go o d s.................................................
Nondurable goods ...........................................
Transportation and public utilities.......................
Wholesale trade .................................................
Retail tra d e ..........................................................
Finance, insurance, and real e s ta te ...................
Services .....................................................
Public administration...........................................
421
1,823
16
81
151
67
83
54
49
202
111
1,128
25
403
1,589
14
66
140
64
76
48
42
151
102
1,000
22
277
790
5
24
65
28
37
33
14
63
64
514
3
45.7
29.0
(D
25.0
28.5
(1)
25.9
d)
(D
23.5
34.0
29.9
(1)
1 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
90,000 of these persons were in either the apparel indus
try— which includes both restricted and unrestricted work—
or the jewelry industry. The total was evenly divided among
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1 Margrethe Olson, Overview of Work-at-Home Trends in the United
States (New York, New York University, August 1983.)
2 U .S. Bureau of the Census, unpublished data prepared for the House
Subcommittee on Employment and Housing, April 1986.
3 Electronic Services Unlimited, New York, n y , conducted a National
Work-at-Home telephone survey in 1986 to determine work habits, buying
needs, and preferences of home-based workers.
4 For a thorough review of home-based clerical work, see chapter 7,
“Home Based Office Work,” Automation of America’s Offices, o t a c it -2 8 7
(Washington, Office of Technology Assessment, December 1985); or Na
tional Research Council, Office Workstations in the Home (Washington,
National Academy Press, 1985).
5 Joanne H. Pratt, “Home Teleworking: A Study of its Pioneers,” Tech
nological Forecasting and Social Change, vol. 25, 1984, pp. 1-14.
6 For a complete listing of Federal restrictions, see Federal Register
“Department of Labor 29 cfr Part 530, Employment of Homeworkers in
Certain Industries, Final Rule, November 5, 1984,” and “Regulations, Part
530: Employment of Homeworkers in Certain Industries (U.S. Depart
ment of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, w h Publication 1026, March
1980). For a viewpoint of organized labor on the issue of computer home
work, see “ a f l c io Resolution on Computer Homework” in Office Work
stations in the Home.
1
The estimate was created using a list matching restricted industries with
census detailed industry codes, provided by Mike Ginley, Wage and Hour
Division, U .S. Department of Labor.
C
35
Overtime work:
an expanded view
More comprehensive survey covers overtime hours
even of persons who do not exceed
the traditional 40-hour week; 1.6 million
of them received premium pay in 1985
D arrell
E.
C arr
About 10 percent of all American workers received over
time pay for hours worked in a typical week in May 1985.
The great majority of them worked more than the traditional
40 hours that week; however, some received overtime pay
even though their workweek did not exceed 40 hours.
Prior to 1985, data on overtime work were limited to
employees who worked more than 40 hours a week at a
single jo b .1 In addition to these data, the May 1985 Current
Population Survey also collected information on overtime
work performed by persons with 40 or fewer hours of work
in the reference week. An additional feature of the 1985 data
is that they are not limited to persons holding only one job.
There were several reasons for extending the survey ques
tions on overtime to workers with 40 or fewer hours of work
in a week. First, these workers constitute a majority of those
in wage and salary jobs.2 The following tabulation shows
the distribution of wage and salary workers, by hours, May
1985 (numbers in thousands):
Total, all schedules.........................................................
41 hours or m o re .........................................................
40 hours or fewer .......................................................
40 hours ....................................................................
39 hours or fewer ...................................................
90,892
24,386
66,506
38,477
28,028
Second, in some jobs, by custom or agreement, the standard
full-time workweek is well below 40 hours. Finally, regard
less of the length of the workweek, some workers receive
Darrell E. Carr is an economist in the Division of Data Development and
Users’ Services, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
36
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overtime pay for working more than a set number of hours
per day. The inclusion of these additional workers in the
analysis of overtime pay sheds new light on the topic.
Why use overtime?
There were 10.5 million persons with some overtime
work in the reference week for the May 1985 survey. They
labored an average of 9 hours at premium rates (generally
time-and-one-half), for a total of about 94 million hours.
Thus, the total dollar costs of such premiums to employers
ran into millions. Why would employers incur these addi
tional expenses?
Over the very short term, employers use overtime hours
to fill rush orders, to meet seasonal peaks in demand, and to
maintain production schedules despite employee absences
and mechanical failures. But overtime work is also used
when employers are unable to hire workers with critical
skills, or when they are simply reluctant to hire new workers
because of uncertainties over future product demand and the
labor requirements that go with it.
Some employers may even schedule overtime work on a
regular basis, rather than hire additional workers, even
when workers are readily available and product demand is
fairly constant. Employers tend to use this approach, ac
cording to Ronald G. Ehrenberg, when they perceive the
costs of overtime premiums to compare favorably with the
quasi-fixed employee-related expenses— such as sick leave,
annual vacations, paid holidays, health insurance, and pen
sion funding— which they would incur if they expanded
their payrolls.3
Does the use of overtime keep unemployment higher than
it would otherwise be? In this regard, it should be noted that
the framers of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 believed
that overtime work reduced the number of new hires,
thereby keeping individuals jobless and general unemploy
ment levels high. Therefore, they incorporated a provision
into the Act which required time-and-one-half pay for all
hours worked in excess of 40 a week in covered jobs. This
measure was clearly designed to discourage the use of over
time, to encourage the hiring of more workers, and thus to
reduce unemployment.4
Table 1. Total wage and salary workers, those who re
ceived overtime pay, and the rate of pay received, by se
lected characteristics, May 1985
[Numbers in thousands]
Characteristic
Total
wage
and
salary
workers1
Received overtime pay
Percent distribution
by rate of pay
received
Number2
Percent
Timeandone-half
Other
rates
Age and marital status
Total, 16 years and
o v e r .....................
16 to 2 4 ...................
25 to 34 ....................
35 to 4 4 ...................
45 to 5 4 ...................
55 and o v e r .............
90,892
18,869
27,345
20,354
13,451
10,873
10,528
2,137
3,893
2,310
1,339
850
11.6
11.3
14.2
11.3
10.0
7.8
91.8
93.3
91.6
91.1
91.3
91.9
8.2
6.7
8.4
8.9
8.7
8.1
Men, 16 years and over
16 to 2 4 ...................
25 to 3 4 ...................
35 to 4 4 ...................
45 to 5 4 ...................
55 and over .............
49,449
9,942
15,164
11,021
7,381
5,942
7,420
1,412
2,833
1,578
949
647
15.0
14.2
18.7
14.3
12.9
10.9
91.6
93.0
91.7
90.9
90.1
91.7
8.4
7.0
8.3
9.1
9.9
8.3
Single .....................
Married, spouse
present.................
Widowed, divorced,
and separated . . . .
13,308
1,599
12.0
92.2
7.8
31,658
5,089
16.1
91.5
8.5
4,484
732
16.3
91.2
8.8
41,443
8,927
12,181
9,333
6,071
4,931
3,107
724
1,059
732
389
202
7.5
8.1
8.7
7.8
6.4
4.1
92.4
93.6
91.4
91.5
94.3
92.5
7.6
6.4
8.6
8.5
5.7
7.5
91.6
8.4
Women, 16 years and
o v e r .....................
16 to 2 4 ...................
25 to 3 4 ...................
35 to 4 4 ...................
45 to 5 4 ...................
55 and o v e r .............
Single .....................
Married, spouse
present.................
Widowed, divorced,
and separated. . . .
Race and Hispanic
origin
White, 16 years and
o v e r .....................
M e n .........................
Women ...................
Black, 16 years and
o v e r .....................
M e n .........................
Women ...................
Hispanic origin, 16 years
and over ...............
M e n ..........................
Women ...................
10,777
783
7.3
22,314
1,486
6.7
92.3
7.7
8,352
839
10.0
93.2
6.8
78,765
43,352
35,413
9,381
6,672
2,709
11.9
15.4
7.6
91.9
91.4
93.2
8.1
8.6
6.8
9,640
4,771
4,869
944
622
322
9.8
13.0
6.6
90.6
92.9
86.2
9.4
7.1
13.8
5,842
3,528
2,314
628
473
155
10.7
13.4
6.7
94.8
95.6
92.7
5.2
4.4
7.3
1 Data refer to wage and salary workers, excluding the incorporated self-employed, who
were at work during the survey week.
2 Includes a small number of persons who did not report the number of overtime hours paid
or the rate of pay received.
N o t e : 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.
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During the early sixties, the causal relationship between
overtime and unemployment was asserted again. The 1964
Economic Report o f the President linked the heavy use of
overtime in some industries with curtailed job opportunities,
and proposed legislation that would increase the premium
rate for overtime work from time-and-one-half to double
time.5 However, the proposed legislation was not enacted.
Some economists, in the meantime, have played down
the impact of overtime work on unemployment. For exam
ple, Ehrenberg found, first of all, that an overtime rate of
time-and-one-half was not a sufficient penalty to deter em
ployers from using overtime instead of hiring new workers,
particularly where the fringe benefit costs (fixed costs not
related to hours worked) are comparably high. Second, he
calculated that while an increase in overtime rates to double
time would further reduce overtime hours, the reduction
would not translate into a significant decline in the level of
unemployment.6
In a 1977 followup study, which expanded upon Ehrenberg’s earlier work on the effect of overtime on unemploy
ment, Joyce Nussbaum and Donald Wise concluded: “Both
theoretical and statistical analysis confirmed the hypothesis
that an increase in the overtime premium would cause a
reduction in average annual overtime hours. However, the
hypothesis that this reduction in overtime hours would be
compensated for by a commensurate increase in employ
ment was not supported.”7
These researchers also concluded that the increase in the
number of jobs that would result from lifting the overtime
rates from time-and-one-half to double-time would be
small. They noted that the increase in the potential gains in
jobs must be weighed against other consequences— lower
income for the persons previously working overtime, a pos
sible reduction in output, and a rise in prices.8
Who works overtime?
Men, 25 to 34 years of age, are the workers most likely
to put in extra hours at overtime rates. Nearly one-fifth of
them, regardless of the total number of hours they reported,
had been paid some overtime premiums for work performed
in the reference week. (See table 1.) Women were about half
as likely as men to report paid overtime work.
Age and marital status also play a role in one’s probability
of working at overtime rates. Among both men and women,
the likelihood of working overtime was relatively low for
workers in the 16- to 24-year-old group, increased for the
25- to 34-year-old group, and declined progressively there
after for each age group. The effect of marital status on the
probability of working overtime was different for men and
women. Married men were more likely to work overtime
than single men. For women, the situation was reversed:
married women, probably because of their household re
sponsibilities, were less likely to work overtime than single
women. Actually, the women most likely to work overtime
were those in the “divorced, widowed, or separated” group.
(See table 1.)
37
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Expanded View o f Overtime Work
Table 2. Total wage and salary workers, those who received overtime pay, and the number of overtime hours paid, by
occupation and industry, May 1985
[Numbers in thousands]
Total
wage
and
salary
workers1
Occupation and industry
Total, 16 years and over ..................................................................................................
Received overtime pay
Percent receiving overtime pay for —
Number2
Percent
1 to 8
hours
9 to 15
hours
16 hours
and
over
90,892
10,528
11.6
63.8
21.8
14.3
21,265
28,421
12,607
11,130
15,474
1,995
1,268
2,709
785
2,441
3,201
124
6.0
9.5
6.2
21.9
20.7
6.2
62.7
75.3
71.2
57.6
58.0
51.6
25.9
17.0
15.3
22.9
24.5
38.7
11.4
7.8
13.5
19.5
17.5
9.7
1,557
73,544
913
4,789
19,407
5,458
18,611
5,708
18,620
15,791
88
9,447
254
755
3,887
873
1,978
386
1,313
993
5.7
12.8
27.8
15.8
20.0
16.0
10.6
6.8
7.1
6.3
43.2
63.5
42.2
53.0
60.8
57.3
70.6
78.4
71.1
69.0
40.9
21.9
20.1
25.8
23.7
25.7
19.2
13.9
18.2
19.6
15.9
14.7
37.8
21.2
15.5
17.0
10.2
7.7
10.8
11.4
Occupation
Managerial and professional specialty .............................................................................
Technical, sales, and administrative support....................................................................
Service occupations...........................................................................................................
Precision production, craft, and repair .............................................................................
Operators, fabricators, and laborers.................................................................................
Farming, forestry, and fishing............................................................................................
Industry
Agriculture..........................................................................................................................
Private nonagricultural industries .....................................................................................
Mining ............................................................................................................................
Construction...................................................................................................................
Manufacturing ...............................................................................................................
Transportation and public utilities .................................................................................
Wholesale and retail trade ............................................................................................
Finance, insurance, and real estate .............................................................................
Services..........................................................................................................................
Government........................................................................................................................
1 Data refer to wage and salary workers, excluding the incorporated self-employed, who were
at work during the survey week.
Whites were somewhat more likely to work at overtime
rates than blacks or Hispanic origin workers. But, regardless
of race or Hispanic origin, women were only half as likely
as men to work overtime.
Occupation and industry. Among the various occupa
tional groups, the highest proportion of workers reporting
some work at overtime rates was in the precision pro
duction, craft, and repair group. About 22 percent of the
1 1 . 1 million members of this group had received premium
rates for some of the hours worked during the May 1985
survey week. (See table 2.) Following closely behind at
20.7 percent were operators, fabricators, and laborers. To
gether, these two occupational groups accounted for more
2 Includes a small number of persons who did not report the number of overtime hours paid,
than half of the 10.5 million workers with some overtime
earnings.
The proportion of workers with overtime earnings was
much smaller among other occupational groups. For exam
ple, of the workers in the managerial and professional spe
cialty occupations, only 6 percent reported paid overtime
work. For the most part, these occupations are exempt from
the overtime pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act
which, as of 1983, applied to an estimated 56 million nonsupervisory jobs.
In terms of industry concentration, overtime work was
most common in mining, where 27 percent of the workers
reported receiving premium pay in May 1985. In manufac
turing, the proportion was 20 percent. Although fewer than
Table 3. Total wage and salary workers, those who received overtime pay, and the number of overtime hours paid, by
length of the workweek, May 1985
[Numbers In thousands]
Length of the workweek
Total
wage
and
salary
workers1
Received overtime pay
Number2
Percent
Percent receiving overtime pay for —
1 to 8
hours
9 to 15
hours
16 hours
and
over
Mean
overtime
hours
paid
Total, 16 years and over ....................................................................
90,892
10,528
11.6
63.8
21.8
14.3
9.0
Worked 41 hours or more ..................................................................
On one jo b .......................................................................................
On two jobs or m o re ........................................................................
Worked 40 hours or fewer ..................................................................
Worked 40 hours .............................................................................
Worked 39 hours or fewer ..............................................................
24,386
21,421
2,965
66,506
38,477
28,028
8,926
8,416
510
1,601
880
722
36.6
39.3
17.2
2.4
2.3
2.6
60.4
60.3
62.1
83.3
79.4
87.8
23.6
23.5
25.6
11.7
14.6
8.2
16.0
16.2
12.4
5.0
6.0
4.0
9.6
9.6
9.6
6.0
(3)
(3)
1 Data refer to wage and salary workers, excluding the Incorporated self-employed, who were
at work during the survey week.
38
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2 Includes a small number of persons who did not report the number of overtime hours paid,
3
avai|ah|e
one-fifth of all workers are now employed in manufactur
ing, the industry accounted for about two-fifths of those
with paid overtime work in May 1985. The construction
industry also had a relatively high proportion of workers
(15.8 percent) reporting some overtime earnings. In con
trast, in agriculture and such industries as finance, in
surance, and real estate, government, and services, the pro
portion of employees with overtime work did not exceed 10
percent, and was generally much lower.
Hours worked. As might be expected, the great majority
of persons receiving some overtime pay worked more than
the 40-hour standard workweek. The following tabulation
shows the number of wage and salary workers by hours
worked and by the number and proportion receiving some
overtime pay, May 1985 (numbers in thousands):
Received overtime
pay
At work
Total, all schedules............... . .90,892
Worked 41 hours or more . ..24,386
Had one job o n ly ............ . .21,421
Had two jobs or more .. . . .2,965
Worked 40 hours or fewer . .66,506
Number
Percent
10,528
8,926
8,416
510
1,601
11.6
36.6
39.3
17.2
2.4
About 24.4 million persons reported having worked more
than 40 hours in the May 1985 survey week. The great
majority of these workers (21.4 million) worked at only one
job. Our major interest— and the concern of the Fair Labor
Standards Act— lies with this group. About two-fifths of
them reported they had received overtime pay. This is about
equal to the percentage of workers with overtime pay found
in previous surveys of workers on long workweeks. As for
the other three-fifths— those working more than 40 hours
but not receiving any overtime pay— they appear to be
largely in jobs which did not fall under the provisions of the
Act. They were concentrated in managerial, professional,
technical, sales, and administrative support jobs, where the
payment of overtime premiums for hours worked in excess
of 40 is not widely practiced.
The workers receiving premium pay for having labored
beyond the 40-hour standard reported an average of 9.6
hours of overtime work. (See table 3.) Nearly two-thirds of
them had put in 8 hours or fewer of overtime work. Of the
remainder, most reported 9 to 15 hours of overtime; only a
small minority— 16 percent— reported 16 hours or more.
Even fewer hours of overtime were put in by those report
ing the receipt of overtime pay even though their workweek
had not exceeded the 40-hour standard. These persons
worked an average of 6 hours at overtime premiums. More
than four-fifths of them reported 8 or fewer hours for which
they had collected overtime pay.
Time-and-one-half was by far the predominant rate of pay
for overtime work in 1985. In fact, of the 10.5 million
workers with some overtime earnings in the May survey,
about 9.5 million, or more than 90 percent, said they were
paid “time-and-one-half.” Only about 200,000 reported re
ceiving “double-time.” Of the remainder, some reported a
“graduated rate,” but most responses were combined into an
“all other” category.
-FOOTNOTES1 Daniel E. Taylor and Edward S. Sekscenski, “Workers on long sched
ules, single and multiple jobholders,” Monthly Labor Review , May 1982,
pp. 4 7 -5 3 .
2 Data refer to wage and salary workers at work during the May 1985
survey week (May 12-18). Excluded are those who were employees of
corporations which they owned.
3 Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Fringe Benefits and Overtime Behavior (Lex
ington, m a , D.C. Heath and C o., 1971), p. 1.
4 Charles H. Livengood, Jr., The Federal Wage and Hour Law
(Philadelphia, p a , Amercian Law Association collaborating with the
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
American Bar Association, 1951), p. 6.
5
T. Aldrich Finegan, “Can a Case Be Made for Discourging Overtime?”
in William G. Bowen, ed., Labor and the National Economy (New York,
W.W. Norton and C o., Inc., 1965), p. 174.
6 Ehrenberg, Fringe Benefits, p. 1.
1 Joyce M. Nussbaum and Donald E. W ise, “The Employment Impact
of the Overtime Provisions of the f l s a ” (U.S. Department of Labor, 1977),
Bibliographic Data Sheet.
8 Nussbaum and W ise, “The Employment Impact,” p. 123.
39
Preferred hours of work
and corresponding earnings
Most workers are satisfied with the number
of hours they currently work, although about 1 of 4
especially young people and low earners
would prefer more hours and more money;
very few would trade income for leisure time
—
—
S usan E. S hank
If given a choice of working the same, fewer, or more hours
at the same rate of pay, most employees would prefer the
same number of hours. An additional one-fourth would
prefer to work more hours and earn more money, while 8
percent would choose to work fewer hours and earn propor
tionately less money. This finding that well over half of all
workers are satisfied with their present hours and pay is
based on information obtained from a new question on the
May 1985 supplement to the Current Population Survey
( c p s ) , and is consistent with results obtained from similar
questions asked by Katona and others in 1966 and by Louis
Harris and Associates in 1978.1
The degree of satisfaction with current hours and pay rises
steadily with age. It is also positively related to the number
of hours worked and the weekly earnings level. The “more
hours and more money” option appeals especially to young
people, many of whom are working only part time, and its
popularity declines steadily with age. A large proportion of
minority workers, especially men, would also prefer to
work more hours and earn more money.
Very few employed persons wanted to work fewer hours
and earn correspondingly less money. However, women
were more likely than men to prefer reduced hours, even
Susan E. Shank is an economist in the Division of Employment and Unem
ployment Analysis, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
40
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
though it meant lower earnings. Also, the proportion choos
ing this alternative increased with age to a peak in the 35to 44-age group.
The new c p s question asked for employee preferences on
hours of work and corresponding earnings— given the same
rate of pay. This question was last on the supplement be
cause it differs significantly from other labor force ques
tions, which focus on a person’s activity and emphasize
much more objective behavior. The question asked:
If you had a choice, would you prefer to work:
The same number of hours
and earn the same money? ..................................°
Fewer hours at the same rate
of pay and earn less money? ..............................O
More hours at the same rate
of pay and earn more money? ........................... O
Interviewers asked this question directly of the respon
dent— unlike other questions where a responsible person in
the household could respond for all other household mem
bers. Self-response was required because preference is in
herently individual and subjective. As a result, information
was not obtained for approximately 2 2 percent of all em
ployed persons. Nonresponse was higher for men than for
women, and was substantially higher for teenagers and
young adults than for persons age 25 and over. These were
the persons less apt to be at home during the day and early
evening hours when most interviews are conducted.
In spite of the difficulty in contacting individual respon
dents, answers were obtained from 8 of 10 wage and salary
workers age 25 and over. In this article, distributions of
persons wanting the same, fewer, or more hours and corre
sponding pay are based on the total who reported such
preferences. Also, the data pertain only to v/age and salary
workers (excluding incorporated self-employed persons).
Although the following sections analyze workweek pref
erences separately by various demographic and job charac
teristics, it is important to note that many of these character
istics tend to occur simultaneously. For example, young
people often work relatively few hours at low rates of pay
and express a strong preference for more hours and more
money. It should also be noted that preferences about work
hours are already reflected, to some degree, in the jobs
workers currently hold. This is particularly true for experi
enced adult workers who presumably have more control
over their work schedules than do young people. The anal
ysis of preferences by actual hours at work and by earnings
focuses on the 25- to 54-age group in order to exclude those
age categories where transition into and out of the labor
market have a major impact on hours.
Table 1.
Effect of worker and job characteristics
Preferences about hours and pay differed by age and
gender, as well as by present earnings level and actual hours
worked. Correlations between workweek preferences and
various worker and job characteristics were generally in the
expected direction, although some of the magnitudes were
surprising. For example, as weekly earnings rose, so did
both the proportion of workers expressing satisfaction with
their current schedules and the proportion opting for fewer
hours and less money. However, it is noteworthy that rela
tively few men expressed a preference for fewer hours and
less pay. Even among those who earned $1,000 or more per
week, only 1 0 percent selected this alternative.
Age and gender. Almost two-thirds of all workers ex
pressed satisfaction with their present hours and pay. This
proportion rose steadily with age— from about 40 percent in
the teen years to 80 percent for workers 55 and over. (See
table 1.) Many older workers, especially those age 65 and
over, voluntarily work part time, which contributes to the
high degree of satisfaction with their present workweek.
While the proportion wanting to work the same hours
increased with age, the percentage desiring more hours
moved in the opposite direction. Slightly more than half of
Workweek and pay preference of employed persons by selected characteristics, May 1985
[Numbers in thousands]
Reported preference
Characteristics
Total
Total, 16 years and o ve r....................................................................................
Wage and salary workers ...........................................................................
Incorporated self-employed......................................................
All other wage and salary workers................................................................
Total
Same hours,
same money
(percent)
Fewer hours,
less money
(percent)
More hours,
more money
(percent)
Did not
report
preference
106,878
97,110
2,831
94,280
83,699
76,195
1,963
74,232
64.9
64.8
75.0
64.6
7.6
7.5
11.4
7.3
27.5
27.7
13.7
28.1
23,180
20,915
868
20,048
Men, 16 years and o v e r...........................................................................
16 to 1 9 ...............................................................................
20 to 2 4 ....................................................................................
25 to 3 4 ...............................................................................
35 to 4 4 .............................................................................
45 to 5 4 .............................................................................
55 to 6 4 ...............................................................................
65 and over .................................................................................
51,106
3,208
6,980
15,583
11,387
7,684
5,236
1,029
37,400
1,950
4,883
11,957
8,376
5,521
3,932
780
63.5
39.7
48.5
60.4
66.8
72.6
79.5
81.9
5.9
2.6
3.9
6.0
6.7
6.7
6.8
7.4
30.6
57.8
47.7
33.6
26.5
20.6
13.7
10.7
13,706
1,257
2,097
3,625
3,012
2,163
1,304
249
Women, 16 years and o v e r ..................................................................
16 to 1 9 ...........................................................................
20 to 2 4 ...............................................................................
25 to 3 4 ..................................................................
35 to 4 4 .........................................................................
45 to 5 4 ..............................................................
55 to 6 4 .........................................................................
65 and over ..........................................................
43,173
2,875
6,363
12,704
9,642
6,362
4,300
927
36,832
1,867
5,079
11,153
8,528
5,574
3,802
829
65.7
42.8
57.4
65.5
65.6
71.2
77.3
81.3
8.8
3.4
6.1
9.7
10.7
9.4
7.5
6.9
25.5
53.8
36.6
24.8
23.6
19.4
15.2
11.8
6,341
1,008
1,284
1,551
1,114
778
498
98
White .............................................................................
M e n ........................................................
Women .....................................................................
81,699
44,808
36,891
64,419
32,806
31,613
65.5
64.5
66.5
7.7
6.2
9.4
26.8
29.3
24.2
17,280
12,002
5,278
Black ...............................................................................
M e n ..........................................................
Women ....................................................................
9,991
4,934
5,057
7,744
3,537
4,207
56.6
54.0
58.8
4.4
3.8
4.9
39.0
42.2
36.3
2,247
1,398
850
Hispanic origin ..........................................................................................
M en..................................................................
Women .......................................................................
6,040
3,663
2,376
4,782
2,816
1,966
60.4
58.0
63.7
3.8
2.6
5.6
35.8
39.3
30.7
1,258
848
410
9,768
7,504
66.1
8.9
25.0
2,264
All other workers1 ....................................................................................
includes the self-employed (unincorporated) and unpaid family workers.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
note :
Detail for the above race/Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for
the “other races” group are not shown and Hispanics are included in both the white and black groups.
41
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
P referred H ours o f W ork and C orresponding Earnings
the teenagers— many of whom work part time at low
wages— said they wanted more hours and pay, but relatively
few older workers wanted more hours. These differences
reflect factors such as older persons’ greater control over
their work schedules, their higher earnings, and less desire
for change.
The proportion preferring fewer hours and less pay was
small in all age groups. Of the minority who wanted to
change their schedules, more hours were preferred 4 to 1
over fewer hours. Only 4 percent of all workers under age
25 would like the fewer hours alternative. Even in the cen
tral age groups, where this option was most popular, fewer
than 1 0 percent preferred it.
Women were more likely than men to prefer fewer hours
and less pay. In the 25- to 54-age group, where child care
and other household responsibilities are greatest, about 10
percent of the women and 6 percent of the men wanted
fewer hours. The proportion of women preferring this op
tion then declined to about 7 percent in the 55 and over age
group. In contrast, the proportion of men wishing to work
fewer hours rose with age until the mid-thirties, but then held
steady at about 7 percent for subsequent age groups.
Men preferred to work longer hours somewhat more fre
quently than women. This difference was most evident in
the young adult years, when household formation and
spending for consumer goods is high. However, the propor
tions preferring to work more hours declined with age, and
in the 45 and over age groups were virtually the same for
women and men. In fact, for older workers there was little
difference between the preferences of men and women.
Approximately 80 percent of all workers 55 years and over
were satisfied with their hours; about 13 percent preferred
longer workweeks, while 7 percent opted for fewer hours.
W hites, blacks and H ispanics.
Satisfaction with current
hours and pay was greater for whites than minorities, with
this difference most apparent among men. (See table 1.) The
relatively low satisfaction level for both blacks and Hispan
ics is associated with high proportions wanting more hours
and more money. Approximately 4 of 10 black and Hispanic
Table 2. Workweek and pay preference of 25- to
54-year-old wage and salary workers, by actual hours at
work, May 1985
[Percent distribution]
Reported preference
Hours at work
1 to 1 4 .................................................
15 to 2 9 ...............................................
30 to 3 4 ...............................................
35 to 3 9 ...............................................
4 0 ........................................................
41 to 4 8 ...............................................
49 to 5 9 ...............................................
60 and o v e r.........................................
Same hours,
same money
Fewer hours,
less money
More hours,
more money
50.9
57.3
58.6
65.0
70.5
65.3
66.5
63.9
4.6
5.6
8.0
8.1
7.1
8.1
10.8
16.3
44.5
37.1
33.4
26.9
22.5
26.6
22.7
19.8
Note: Data exclude incorporated self-employed workers.
42FRASER
Digitized for
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Table 3. Workweek and pay preference of wage and
salary workers, by occupation and industry, May 1985
[Percent distribution]
Occupation or industry
Same hours,
same money
Fewer hours,
less money
More hours,
more money
72.3
9.7
18.0
66.1
56.6
8.3
4.5
25.6
38.9
63.5
6.4
30.1
59.4
49.4
5.6
5.0
35.0
45.6
49.4
64.8
66.3
58.6
66.7
68.7
66.3
56.3
7.3
7.3
8.0
5.3
7.5
7.8
7.4
6.4
43.3
27.8
25.6
36.1
25.8
23.5
26.3
37.3
68.6
65.6
72.3
8.0
7.8
7.2
23.5
26.5
20.5
Occupation
Managerial and professional
specialty.........................................
Technical, sales, and administrative
supp ort...........................................
Service occupations..........................
Precision production, craft, and
repair .............................................
Operators, fabricators, and
laborers .........................................
Farming, forestry, and fishing ...........
Industry
Agriculture .........................................
Nonagriculture ..................................
M ining.............................................
Construction ..................................
Manufacturing................................
Transportation and public utilities ..
Wholesale trade ............................
Retail tra d e ....................................
Finance, insurance, and real
estate .........................................
S e rvices.........................................
Public administration.....................
Note: Data exclude incorporated self employed workers.
men said they would prefer more hours, compared with
about 3 of 10 white men. The fewer hours and related paycut
option was selected by only 4 percent of all black and
Hispanic workers, whereas about 8 percent of whites made
this choice.
The proportion preferring the same hours
and the same money increased steadily with hours actually
worked up through 40 hours; it then turned downward. (See
table 2.) As would be expected, the fraction wanting more
hours and more money fell as hours worked rose— but again
only through 40 hours. The changes in preference patterns
at the 40-hour and 41- to 48-hours categories are somewhat
surprising. The peak in satisfaction at 40 hours may reflect
widespread acceptance of the traditional 40-hour workweek,
while the monetary influence of the initial hours paid at
premium rates, which many workers receive after 40 hours,
may explain the small increase in the more hours response.
In any case, the proportion wanting more hours declined
again when actual hours reached 49 to 59 per week, and fell
further (to about 2 0 percent) for those working 60 hours and
over. In contrast, the fraction preferring fewer hours rose
with actual worktime up to 35 to 39 hours; it then dipped at
40 hours before resuming its uptrend. However, even when
the workweek was 60 hours or more, the proportion prefer
ring more hours was larger than that preferring fewer hours.
H ours worked.
O ccupation and industry.
The pattern of workweek pref
erences differed sharply across occupations, but variations
were smaller among industry groups. (See table 3.) As would
be expected, satisfaction was greatest among highly educated
and well paid managerial and professional workers. These
occupations also scored relatively high on the fewer hours
choice and low on the more hours option.
Satisfaction with the current workweek and pay was less
common among semi- and low-skilled manual workers and
in the service occupations. Only about half of the helpers
and laborers, and farming, forestry, and fishing workers
wanted to keep the same hours. Here again, low satisfaction
with the status quo correlated with a high preference for
more hours. The latter alternative was picked by between 40
and 45 percent of the service workers, helpers and laborers,
and those in farming, forestry, and fishing occupations.
Public administration was the industry with the highest
proportion of workers preferring their current hours, and
agriculture was the lowest. Satisfaction was also relatively
low in retail trade, where the average workweek is short,
and in construction, where hours of work are often irregular.
Approximately 4 of 10 workers in retail trade, construction,
and agriculture wanted more hours. However, in public
administration only 2 of 1 0 preferred a longer workweek.
contrast, the income effect causes hours of work to fall
because at the higher income associated with the higher
wage rate, individuals will want to purchase more goods
generally, including leisure.
The interaction of these two effects determines whether
more or fewer hours of labor will be supplied when the wage
rate rises. Both the substitution and income effects are evi
dent in the backward-bending labor supply curve illustrated
below:
Wage rate
Work-leisure tradeoffs
The data on preferred hours of work may be used to
examine the effect of income on tradeoffs people make
between work and leisure. 2 According to labor supply the
ory, individuals decide how many hours to work based on
their preferences for leisure versus all other goods and serv
ices. The wage rate represents the amount of consumption
goods that can be obtained per hour worked. As the wage
rate rises, two opposing effects are brought to bear on the
hours decision . 3 The substitution effect leads to a decrease in
leisure consumed and an increase in hours worked because
leisure time costs more in terms of earnings forgone. In
Table 4. Workweek and pay preference of 25- to 54-yearold wage and salary workers, by sex and earnings, May
1985
[Percent distribution]
Weekly earnings
Same hours,
same money
Fewer hours,
less money
More hours,
more money
Men, to ta l...............................................
65.5
6.5
28.0
Less than $150..................................
$150 to $199 ....................................
200 to 249 ....................................
250 to 299 ....................................
300 to 399 ....................................
400 to 499 ....................................
500 to 599 ....................................
600 to 749 ....................................
750 and over ..................................
39.3
43.9
55.6
60.8
62.6
66.6
71.9
73.0
76.6
3.9
3.4
4.2
2.9
7.0
6.5
7.9
7.3
8.9
56.7
52.7
40.2
36.3
30.5
26.9
20.3
19.1
14.5
Women, total ........................................
67.2
10.9
21.9
Less than $150..................................
$150 to $199 ....................................
200 to 249 ....................................
250 to 299 ....................................
300 to 399 ....................................
400 to 499 ....................................
500 to 599 ....................................
600 to 749 ....................................
750 and over ..................................
55.6
66.6
66.6
66.2
72.6
75.7
72.0
73.2
63.6
5.0
7.4
12.2
14.1
11.9
12.4
15.2
13.9
39.4
25.9
21.2
19.7
15.5
11.9
12.8
12.9
14.6
n ote :
Data exclude incorporated self-employed workers.
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22.0
The lower part of the curve is positively sloped, meaning
that at lower wages, labor hours supplied increase as the
wage rises. However, above a certain wage rate (W2) , the
curve may begin to bend backward, as the income effect
dominates.
May 1985 data on preferred hours by earnings suggest
some indirect support for the backward-bending supply
curve theory .4 As earnings rise to high levels for prime
working-age adults, smaller proportions want to increase
their workweeks and larger fractions prefer to decrease their
hours of work . 5 (See table 4.) This finding could reflect a
strong income effect— causing workers with the highest
earnings to want to reduce their work hours— as occurs on
the negatively sloped part of the backward-bending supply
curve. It could also indicate that workers with lower weekly
earnings also have shorter workweeks and are more likely to
want to increase, rather than decrease, their hours. More
over, it is important to note that for men— even men earning
$750 or more per week— the proportion wanting more hours
of work exceeded that wanting fewer hours.
43
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Preferred Hours o f Work and Corresponding Earnings
Women are more willing than men to forgo income for
leisure. This was evident at virtually all earnings levels—
especially in the prime working-age groups. (See table 4.)
About 1 of 8 women earning $200-$499 per week would
prefer to work fewer hours. Moreover, when weekly earn
ings reached $500 or more, the proportion preferring fewer
hours was greater than that wanting more hours. No other
worker group studied displayed this preference pattern. In
the highest earnings category, about one-fifth of the women
expressed a preference for shorter hours (more leisure),
while only one-seventh wanted longer workweeks (more
income). It is also interesting to note that women’s satisfac
tion with their current hours increased as earnings rose only
up to a point. Once earnings reached $300 or more per week,
the proportion satisfied leveled off, and it then fell in the
highest earnings category.
The preference pattern for prime working-age men dif
fered sharply from that for women. At all earnings levels,
the proportion of men wanting more hours was substantially
larger than the proportion preferring more leisure. In the
$300 to $499 earnings range, men preferred more hours 4 to
1 over fewer hours. Even at weekly earnings of $500 and
over, only about 8 percent of prime working-age men were
willing to trade income for leisure, whereas 15 to 2 0 percent
wanted more hours and more money. Also, the proportion
of men satisfied with the length of their workweek continued
to rise as earnings increased. The substitution effect seems
to outweigh the income effect for prime working-age men—
even when earnings are extremely high.
In s u m , two of three employed persons in May 1985 said
they would prefer to work the number of hours they cur
rently work and earn the same money. An additional onefourth wanted to work more hours and earn more money.
Only 8 percent would choose a shorter workweek and less
money. As might be expected, the degree of satisfaction
with present hours rose with age and with weekly earnings.
In contrast, the proportion wanting to work more hours and
earn more money, which was high for young people and low
earners, fell sharply as age and earnings increased. Women
were more likely than men to prefer fewer hours and a
proportionate reduction in pay. Although the proportion of
men and women willing to forgo income for leisure time
was generally small, it rose steadily as weekly earnings
increased. This suggests that at very high earnings, the labor
supply curve may bend backward.
------FOOTNOTES
1 See G. Katona, B. Strumpel and E. Zahn, Aspirations and Affluence
(N ew Y ork, M cG raw -H ill, 1 971), pp. 1 2 8 -3 3 ; and Fred B est,
“Exchanging Earnings for Leisure: Findings of an Exploratory National
Survey on Work Time Preferences” (U .S. Department o f Labor, Employ
ment and Training Administration), R&D Monograph 79. The Katona and
others questions were asked of a nationally representative sample of house
hold heads. The Harris survey was based on a national sample of employed
civilians 17 years o f age and over. These two surveys obtained the follow
ing results:
Percent preferring:
Katona and others, 1966 .............................
Louis Harris and Associates, 1978 ...........
Same
Fewer
More
56
61
10
11
34
28
2 Leisure in this context represents all time except paid worktime. In
other words, it includes time spent on housework, child care, school atten
dance and numerous other activities that are not commonly defined as
leisure.
3 Economists have argued about the relationship between the wage rate
44
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and the quantity of labor supplied since the English mercantilists in the
1600’s. The landmark twentieth century work in this field is Lionel
Robbins’ “On the Elasticity of Demand for Income in Terms of Effort,”
Economica, June 1930, pp. 123-29. After pointing out that the demand for
income can also be viewed as the supply of effort, Robbins says there is no
a priori way to predict how a change in the wage rate will affect hours of
work. Rather, one must observe how individuals vary the amount of work
done when the wage rate changes. The same point is addressed in terms of
income versus substitution effects by Paul A. Samuelson in Economics, 3d
ed. (New York, McGraw-Hill, 1955), pp. 535-36.
4 Cross-sectional data on preferences for more and fewer hours of work
by weekly earnings are used as proxies for substitution and income effects.
Data on hours that individuals chose to work at different pay rates are not
available.
5 Because only one-quarter of the wage and salary workers in the sample
are asked the earnings questions, the standard errors of earnings estimates
are relatively large. For this reason, percentages are not shown where the
base is less than 100,000.
Temporary help workers:
who they are, what jobs they hold
These workers are disproportionately
female, young, and black;
they are more likely to work part time
and in clerical and industrial help jobs
W
ayne
J.
H ow e
Much attention, of late, has been given to the rapid employ
ment growth in the temporary help supply service industry.
This industry consists of businesses supplying temporary
help to other establishments on a contractual basis.
For the most part, the focus has been on the conditions
under which employers prefer to use temporary labor sup
plied by a temporary help supply agency . 1 For example, an
employer with a fluctuating workload, particularly when
unpredictable peakloads allow little time to recruit and hire
directly, is likely to utilize this service. Also, if a need for
additional workers is expected to be short term, a firm might
find the costs involved in hiring, particularly those related to
recruiting and training, to be excessive. The purchase of
temporary help services allows the employer to incur labor
costs for only the period the services are required, and to
avoid any severence costs. In contrast to the employerdemand focus of earlier analyses, this article provides infor
mation about the composition of the temporary help supply
service work force and the circumstances under which indi
viduals are attracted to temporary employment.
Data on wage and salary employment in the temporary
help supply service industry used in this article are obtained
from the May 1985 supplement to the Current Population
Survey ( c p s ) , a monthly sample survey of households. This
supplement included questions specifically designed to
Wayne J. Howe is an economist in the Division of Employment and
Unemployment Analysis, O ffice o f Employment and Unemployment
Statistics, Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
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identify workers who viewed their jobs as temporary and
whose salaries were being paid by a temporary help supply
agency. The characteristics of such workers could then be
examined through the information normally collected for all
persons in the c p s in terms of their age, sex, race, marital
status, full- or part-time employment, and occupation.
It should be noted that the temporary help supply employ
ment industry level derived from the c p s is not strictly com
parable to that obtained from the Current Employment
Statistics ( c e s ) program. The monthly c e s survey derives its
estimates from the payroll records of a sample of establish
ments. In the case of temporary help workers, the c e s
estimates relate to the total number of jobs in the industry,
including those of the personnel who operate the temporary
help agencies. By contrast, the new c p s data relate only to
those workers who view their jobs as temporary. Thus, these
data exclude not only the permanent employees who staff
the many agencies, but may also exclude many of the work
ers who do not view their jobs as temporary, as they have
a fairly continuous attachment to the temporary help
agency. This explains at least part of the reason the number
of temporary help workers identified in the c p s in May
1985—455,000— was much lower than the number of jobs
in the temporary help industry as measured through the
c e s — 689,000. The c p s data, while not representative of all
the employees in the industry, are representative of the
preponderance of them, particularly of those whose jobs are
truly temporary. And, the c p s supplies the only information
available on the characteristics of these workers.
45
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Temporary Help Workers
Who are these workers?
Just as employer demand for temporary workers increases
during times of uncertainty, many workers seek temporary
employment due to transitory or uncertain circumstances.
Such workers might include teachers and students out of
school for the summer or other vacation periods, or persons
entering or leaving the labor force gradually. Women and
young persons are more likely than others to experience
these transitory conditions. Therefore, it should not be sur
prising that there was a disproportionately high concentra
tion of both groups employed by temporary help supply
agencies in May 1985. Almost two-thirds of the industry’s
work force were women, in contrast to their 2 of 5 propor
tion of all wage and salary jobs. (See table 1.) This differ
ence clearly reflects the benefits offered to many women by
the temporary help supply service industry, particularly the
combination of flexible work schedules and the opportunity
to acquire needed experience and job market exposure. In
addition, the industry has a large number of administrative
support jobs, and a disproportionate number of women are
traditionally employed in such clerical positions.
Women with family responsibilities are particularly at
tracted to temporary employment because it provides the
flexible work schedules that allow them to reconcile work
outside the home with family commitments. Women who
reenter the labor force after a long absence may prefer tem
porary jobs until they are able to find suitable permanent
Table 1. Employed wage and salary workers in all indus
tries and in the temporary help supply industry, by selected
characteristics, May 1985
[Percent distribution]
All
industries
Temporary
help supply
industry
100.0
20.1
67.4
12.5
100.0
32.7
57.6
9.7
M e n ............................................................................................
Women .....................................................................................
55.0
45.0
35.8
64.2
W hite..........................................................................................
Black ..........................................................................................
86.9
10.4
75.4
20.2
W hite..........................................................................................
M e n ..........................................................................................
Women ...................................................................................
100.0
55.7
44.3
100.0
33.2
66.8
B la ck..........................................................................................
M e n ..........................................................................................
Women ...................................................................................
100.0
49.4
50.6
100.0
48.9
51.1
24.0
31.6
17.3
13.7
12.1
16.6
2.1
11.0
52.1
43.3
10.8
4.6
16.9
4.4
Characteristic
Age
Total, 16 years and over............................................................
16 to 2 4 ............................................................................................
25 to 5 4 .............................................................................................
55 and over .............................................................................
Sex and race
Occupations
Managerial and professional specialty......................................
Technical, sales, and administrative support............................
Administrative support, including clerical................................
Service occupations..................................................................
Precision production, craft, and repair.......................................
Operators, fabricators, and laborers ........................................
Farming, forestry, and fish in g ...................................................
46
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Table 2. Employed full- and part-time wage and salary
workers in the temporary help supply industry, by selected
characteristics, May 1985
[Percent distribution]
Characteristic
Full-time
workers
Part-time
workers
60.0
55.7
66.8
d)
40.0
44.3
33.2
d)
64.4
57.5
64.9
50.7
62.7
71.0
58.5
44.6
(D
d)
35.6
42.5
35.1
49.3
37.3
29.0
41.5
55.3
0)
(1)
66.1
66.6
55.3
51.8
33.9
33.4
44.7
48.2
Age
Total, 16 years and over..................................................................
16 to 2 4 ..........................................................................................
25 to 5 4 ..........................................................................................
55 and over ...................................................................................
Sex and race
M e n ..................................................................................................
Women2 ..........................................................................................
Single ............................................................................................
Married, spouse present................................................................
W hite................................................................................................
M e n ................................................................................................
Women ..........................................................................................
B la c k ................................................................................................
M e n ................................................................................................
Women .........................................................................................
Occupations
Technical sales, and administrative support ..................................
Administrative support, including clerical......................................
Operators, fabricators, and laborers ...............................................
All other occupations ......................................................................
1 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
2 Includes widowed, divorced, and separated women, not shown separately.
employment. Employment through a temporary help supply
agency enables them to test the market by sampling a range
of work environments until they find the right employment
situation. At the same time, temporary employment allows
these workers to acquire needed skills and experience while
building confidence and increasing their marketability. Such
skills and confidence can be lost during years outside the
labor force. Some women prefer the flexibility of the tempo
rary help environment for the long term. In either case, the
increasing tendency among firms to contract out for tempo
rary employees, particularly to staff administrative support
positions, has provided a growing temporary job market for
women.
Temporary employment is also appealing to young work
ers (16-24 years old) who want flexible schedules, allowing
time to attend school, or the opportunity to work during
vacations. Young workers held 1 of 3 temporary help supply
service jobs in May 1985, compared with 1 of 5 wage and
salary jobs in all industries. (See table 1.) The representation
of young workers in this industry increases during the sum
mer months, when many working mothers leave the labor
force to care for school age children and students step in to
take their places. 2
Young persons who have little work experience may also
be attracted to employment in temporary help agencies as
a means of attaining higher paying permanent positions.
Job search costs, in terms of both time and money, can
be reduced by allowing a temporary help agency to estab
lish contact with potential employers. However, contracts
between employers and temporary help supply agencies
may sometimes limit this type of job-switching.
In addition to the large concentration of women and
youth, there is also a relatively high proportion of black
temporary help workers. About 1 of 5 such workers is black,
nearly twice the proportion found among all industries. (See
table 1.) Only about half of the black workers in this indus
try were women, similar to the distribution of the black
work force found in all industries. In contrast, among white
workers, women accounted for two-thirds of the temporary
help work force, but only 44 percent of wage and salary
employment in all industries.
While the majority of temporary help supply employees
work full time, a very large proportion, 2 of 5, work part
time. (See table 2.) This was more than twice the average
for all wage and salary workers. Women were less likely
than men in this industry to work full time, but this de
pended largely on their marital status. Almost two-thirds of
the single women in temporary help jobs worked full time,
while only about half of the married women (with spouse
present) did so. As would be expected, young people were
less likely to work full time. Only 56 percent of youth age
16 to 24 were employed full time, while 67 percent of the
temporary help work force age 25 to 54 were full-time
workers.
What jobs do they hold?
Temporary help workers perform a variety of jobs, from
service workers earning the minimum wage to highly paid
technicians or administrators working as temporary special
ists on specific projects. When compared with all industries,
however, a particularly large concentration of temporary
help workers were in the administrative support and indus
trial help occupations: indeed, 43 percent held clerical posi
tions such as general office clerks, secretaries, typists, and
receptionists— 2xti times their proportion in all industries.
(See table 1.)
More than 9 of 10 clerical jobs in the temporary help
industry were filled by women. Skill requirements for many
of these clerical positions are relatively low, but more highly
skilled clerical workers, particularly those with word
processing skills, are much in demand; consequently, pay
for them is relatively high compared with other clericals.
Overall, the demand for temporary workers in clerical posi
tions is less sensitive to seasonal and cyclical changes than
is the demand for workers in other occupations. Future job
growth is expected to be particularly strong for highly
skilled workers who can operate the latest office equip
ment. 3
When compared with workers in other occupations within
the industry, persons in clerical positions are more likely to
work full time—two-thirds of them in May 1985. (See table
2.) Although many clerical workers fill in only for short
assignments or for workers who are ill, it is not unusual to
work in the same temporary job for weeks or even months.
Some stay with the temporary agency until they find perma
nent employment.
The second largest occupational market in this industry is
for industrial help workers— helpers, laborers, handlers,
and equipment cleaners. Little work experience is required
for many of these jobs, and the demand for these workers is
both seasonal and cyclical. 4 Many are employed as fill-ins
to handle temporary work overloads or to step in when
regular employees are ill or on vacation. Only 55 percent of
the workers in these occupations were full time, somewhat
lower than the proportion for administrative support work
ers. Moreover, just as women dominated the administrative
support occupation, almost 90 percent of the operators, fab
ricators, and laborers were men. Finally, there are a large
number of low skill, low paying laborer jobs in the tempo
rary help industry, which may be responsible for the high
concentration of black workers. Black men in particular are
much more likely than their white counterparts to be em
ployed in these jobs . 5
In s u m m a r y , data from the May 1985 supplement to the c p s
show that those temporary workers whose salaries are paid
by temporary help firms are disproportionately female,
young, and black. They are more likely than workers in
other industries to work part time, and they are heavily
concentrated in clerical and industrial help occupations. □
-FOOTNOTES1 For a discussion of these issues, see Max L. Cary and Kim L. Hazelbaker, “Employment growth in the temporary help industry,” Monthly
Labor Review, April 1986, pp. 29-36; and “Temporary Help Services—
Who Uses Them and W hy,” The Office, May 1984, pp. 135-40.
2 David Schwartz, “Life in the Temp Lane,” City Paper, Vol. 6, no. 28,
July 11-17, 1986, pp. 12-13.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
3 See Carey and Hazelbaker, “Employment growth,” p. 38.
4 Ibid.,
p. 40.
5 “Employment Conditions Among Black Americans,” a paper prepared
by the Division o f Employment and Unemployment Analysis, Office of
Employment and Unemployment Statistics (Bureau of Labor Statistics,
February, 1986), p. 16.
47
3
Conventions
Steelworkers press organizing
and coordinated bargaining
Joy K. R eynolds
The United Steelworkers of America ( a f l -c i o , c l c ) held its
23rd constitutional convention in Las Vegas, n v , August
25-29, 1986. Some 2,800 delegates took action to imple
ment the two major themes of the convention: celebrating
the union’s 50th anniversary (the Steel Workers Organizing
Committee was formed in June 1936) and addressing future
challenges. Delegates enacted constitutional changes that,
among other things, broadened the categories of persons
eligible for membership and clarified the power to merge
small locals. They elected five international tellers to 4-year
terms to perform duties in connection with the 1989 referen
dum election of international officers and passed resolutions
dealing with numerous topics, including collective bargain
ing, plant closings, and employee stock ownership plans.
The convention heard speeches from Steelworkers Interna
tional President Lynn Williams, a f l -c io President Lane
Kirkland, former Steelworkers President I.W. Abel, Amal
gamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union President
Murray Finley, Canadian Labour Congress ( c l c ) President
Shirley Carr, and numerous national and State or provincial
politicians from both the United States and Canada.
Speech highlights
In the keynote address, Steelworkers President Williams,
who was reelected to that post in a November 1985 referen
dum, outlined the results of this year’s bargaining in major
industries, including containers, aluminum, nonferrous
metals, and steel. Williams emphasized that the union in
tends to maintain its coordinated approach to bargaining
despite the breakdown of coordinated strategies on the em
ployer side. He admitted that the steel agreements reached
with l t v , Bethlehem, National, and Inland involve sacri
fices, but praised the employment security guarantees and
profit-sharing aspects of those settlements. He charged that
the union’s high priority on preserving jobs and limiting
contracting out was one major reason that usx (formerly
U.S. Steel Corp.) locked out more than 22,000 workers on
August 1. Williams thanked the a f l -c io for its recently
Joy K. Reynolds in an industrial relations specialist at the Bureau of
Labor-Management and Cooperative Programs, U .S . Department of
Labor.
48
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formed committee to support the usx workers, about whose
efforts Clothing and Textile Workers President Murray
Finley later addressed the convention. Williams criticized
the trade policies of the U.S. and Canadian governments,
arguing that “there is no such thing as free trade”; the union
seeks “managed” trade, aimed at raising the standard of
living in both seller and buyer nations.
R egarding developm ents within the Steelw drkers
“family,” Williams cited the union’s success in organizing
new members, not only in its traditional membership base
but also in public sector and other service industry units; the
pace of organizing in 1986 was reported to be more than five
new units a week. He noted the completion of the merger
with the 34,000-member Upholsterers International Union,
which became a division of the Steelworkers, with former
Upholsterers President John Serembus serving as director.
The continued connection of retirees with the Steelwork
ers was personified by the appearance at the convention of
former union president I.W. Abel, who has been appointed
to head s o a r , the Steelworkers Organization of Active Re
tirees. According to its bylaws, s o a r will “deal with the
social, economic, educational, legislative, and political de
velopments and concerns of its members and spouses, the
United Steelworkers of America, and the labor movement.”
President emeritus Abel, whose address anchored that por
tion of the convention celebrating the Steelworkers’ jubilee,
reviewed the history of the struggle to organize the steel
industry and highlighted accomplishments of the union
gained through both collective bargaining and involvement
in the legislative process (for example, supporting enact
ment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act).
In his address to the convention, a f l -c io President Lane
Kirkland pledged the Federation’s support to the Steelwork
ers in its struggle against usx. He urged Government trade
and employment policies that would help to preserve the
Nation’s industrial base, noting that “silicon chips cannot be
sold over the counter in a 7-Eleven.” He lauded the cooper
ative efforts of the union in attempting to meet the chal
lenges facing the industry, but warned that such cooperation
must be met by reciprocal actions on the part of employers.
Constitutional changes
The convention adopted constitutional changes and policy
recommendations in many areas. Among the amendments
enacted were the following:
• Replacement of references to membership in “a plant or
mill or any other place” with the words “an enterprise,
public or private,” to reflect the union’s expanding juris
diction.
• Amendment of Article III to permit membership by su
pervisors, including those empowered to hire or fire, sub
ject to terms established by the International Executive
Board. (Previous language had provided that only super
visors without such powers could join, subject to the
specific approval of the local union and the Board). Those
opposing this change argued that the union should not
rush to embrace persons who are firing their fellow work
ers. But the amendment carried on a standing vote after
members of the constitution committee explained that the
language was not intended to apply to mill foremen and
supervisors, but is largely aimed at expanding recruit
ment in the public sector, where, for example, a recently
organized unit of middle managers in Boston brought in
more than 400 members through the Salaried Employees
of North America, a division of the Steelworkers.
• Amendment of Article IV to provide for annual, instead
of semiannual, audits of the international union finances.
• Amendment of Article V to provide, in part, that protests
regarding local union voting for national officers must be
“received’ by the international tellers within 15 days of
the election. Prior language had required such protests to
be “filed” with the tellers no later than 10 days after the
election.
• Amendment of Article VII to provide that 100 or more
persons (formerly 10) eligible for membership shall con
stitute a local union upon receipt of a charter from the
international secretary. Smaller groups may be chartered
upon the authority of the international president. Further,
language was added to provide for International Execu
tive Board rules governing transfer of jurisdiction of one
local to another. Supporters of these changes cited the
large number of small locals (of 4,232 locals, 557 have
nine or fewer members and 2,692 have fewer than 100
members) and the strength that comes from amalgama
tion. They argued that the amendment reflects existing
Board power to combine locals and promised that merg
ers would be accomplished in consultation with district
directors and the affected locals. According to Williams,
“Obviously those that are functioning properly will con
tinue.” Floor discussion was closed before opponents of
the measure spoke, as a delegate later took the floor to
point out. The outcome of the voice vote being in doubt,
a standing vote was held, and the change was adopted.
• Amendment of Article XIV to provide that when the
assets of the strike and defense fund exceed $200 million
in any month, payments to it shall cease until the balance
falls below $150 million, instead of $180 million as pre
viously provided. (Interim payments will be divided
equally between the international and local unions.) In
response to a resolution that a mechanism be established
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
to enforce local affiliation with State and provincial cen
tral bodies, Article XIV was amended to provide for
deduction for dues to such bodies from local per capita
refunds by the international treasurer with the approval of
the international president.
• Addition of Article XVIII to provide an associate mem
bership aimed at organizing new membership and also to
provide a means for continued affiliation by laid-off
members who have gone beyond the 24-month period
provided for continued membership status under Article
XI, as well as for persons organized in units that subse
quently fail to vote for union representation. The new
article provides that associate members shall not be eligi
ble to run or vote for international or local office but may
participate in organizations of associates to the extent and
under rules provided by the International Executive
Board. These members will be eligible for benefits such
as prepaid legal services, credit cards, and insurance cov
erage. Adoption of this category of membership parallels
a recommendation of the a f l -c i o ’ s Committee on the
Evolution of Work.
Among the constitutional amendments proposed but not
adopted were those reducing or capping members’ dues and
salaries of international officers and district directors,
providing full voting membership for retirees, providing
mail ballots in elections of international officers, expanding
the access of members to absentee ballots in such elections,
permitting locals to hold quarterly rather than monthly meet
ings, and providing for removal of local officers without
“costly” trial procedures. In the collective bargaining area,
amendments considered but not adopted included those to
postpone conventions in years of major contract negotia
tions, to hold conventions in cities most affected by layoffs
of members, to increase the amount of strike benefits, and
to provide for strike benefits payment as a matter of right
rather than after determination of need by the local union.
Other actions
As the union’s “court of last resort,” the convention heard
appeals on matters such as local elections and trial proce
dures. The convention also adopted resolutions in the areas
of politics, collective bargaining strategies and specific dis
putes, and legislative policies. For example, the union en
dorsed new strategies in collective bargaining, including
consumer boycotts and corporate campaigns; adopted stand
ards for the negotiation of Employee Stock Ownership Plans
(they must be part of the labor agreement, must never be
used as a substitute for an adequate, funded, Governmentguaranteed pension plan, and should be based on thorough
analysis of the company’s finances and prospects for sur
vival); and endorsed legislation to require advance notice of
plant closings and bargaining over alternatives to closings or
layoffs.
□
49
M ajor Agreements
Expiring Next M onth
This list of selected collective bargaining agreements expiring in December is based on information
collected by 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
Labor organization1
Number of
workers
Constructors Association of Western Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania) . . . .
Constructors Association of Western Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania) . . . .
National Electrical Contractors Association, Western Pennsylvania
Chapter (Pennsylvania)
Iowa Beef Processors, Inc. (Nebraska) ......................................
Plastic Soft Material Manufacturers Association (New York, NY) . . . .
Westvaco Corp. (Virginia and Maryland) ........................................
Huntington Alloys Inc. (Huntington, w v ) .............................................
Copperweld Corp. (Warren, oh) .......................................................
Neenah Foundry Co. (Neenah, wi) ..................................
AVX Corp., AVX Ceramics (Myrtle Beach, SC)............................
Dana Corp. (Interstate) ......................................................
Great Lakes Association of Stevedores (Interstate)............................
Northwest Airlines, flight attendants (Interstate)..................................
Republic Airlines, clerical and office (Interstate) ..................................
Western Airlines, pilots (Interstate) ..........................................
Ozark Airlines, clerical and office (Interstate) ....................................
General Telephone Co. of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania) ......................
Public Service Co. of Colorado (Denver, CO)....................................
Southern California Edison Co. (California) ............................
New York Oil Heating Association (New York, NY)............................
New York-Bronx Meat and Food Dealers Inc. (New York, ny) ..........
Kroger Co. (Dayton, OH) ...............................................................
San Mateo Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association (California) . . . .
Operating Engineers ........................
Laborers...........................................
Electrical Workers (ibew) ................
3,000
3,600
1,500
Food and Commercial Workers . . . .
Ladies’ Garment Workers................
Paperworkers ....................................
Steelworkers ....................................
Steelworkers ....................................
Molders ...........................................
Electrical Workers (ibew) ................
Auto Workers ..................................
Longshoremen’s Association ..........
Teamsters (Ind.) ..............................
Air Line Pilots..................................
Air Line Pilots..................................
Machinists ........................................
Electrical Workers (ibew) ................
Electrical Workers (ibew) ................
Electrical Workers (ibew) ................
Teamsters (Ind.) ..............................
Food and Commercial Workers . . . .
Food and Commercial Workers . . . .
Hotel Employees and Restaurant
Employees
Bob’s Employees’ Association (Ind.)
Service Employees ..........................
2,000
2,600
1,050
1,000
2,000
1,000
1,400
7,000
6,000
3,000
6,300
1,200
1,800
2,000
3,000
5,750
1,700
1,600
2,000
5,200
5,200
18,000
Service Employees ..........................
Service Employees ..........................
36,000
6,000
State Employees Association ..........
Laborers........................................
State, County and Municipal
Employees
State, County and Municipal
Employees
Civil Service Employees Association
State, County and Municipal
Employees
Civil Service Employees Association
State, County and Municipal
Employees
State, County and Municipal
Employees
Civil Service Employees Association
State, County and Municipal
Employees
State, County and Municipal
Employees
State, County and Municipal
Employees
Police Association............................
Police ................................................
Fire Fighters ...................................
Education Association (Ind.) ..........
Education Association (Ind.) ..........
Education Association (Ind.) ..........
7,900
1,500
3,000
Industry or activity
Private
Construction....................................
Food products ................................
Apparel ..........................................
Paper ..............................................
Primary metals................................
Electrical products..........................
Transportation equipment ..............
Water transportation ......................
Air transportation ..........................
Communication ..............................
Utilities ..........................................
Wholesale trade..............................
Retail trade ....................................
Restaurants......................................
Real estate ......................................
Services ..........................................
Public
General government ......................
Bob’s Big Boy Restaurants (California) ................................................
Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, Inc., Commercial Building
Agreement (New York, NY)
Service Employers Association (New York) ............................
Associated Guard and Patrol Agencies (Chicago, il) ..........................
Alaska:
Minnesota:
State general unit .................................................
State labor trades and crafts............................................
Hennepin County general unit ........................
Florida:
Dade County classified employees ........................
New York:
Broome County white-collar employees ................
Dutchess County general unit ........................................
Oneida County general unit ............................................
Onondaga County general unit........................................
Orange County general unit ...........................................
Nebraska:
Chautauqua County general unit ....................................
Omaha municipal employees ..........................
Wisconsin:
Milwaukee County general u n it..................
Milwaukee municipal employees..........................
Law enforcement............................
Fire protection ................................
Education........................................
1 Affiliated with
50
a f l cio
Milwaukee Police Department ........................................
Ohio:
Cincinnati Police Department..................................
Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Fire Department ..........................
California:
San Diego Unified School District, office ..................
Colorado:
Boulder District 21, teachers ............................
Cherry Creek teachers ...................................................
except where noted as independent (Ind.).
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
10,000
1,100
1,200
1,000
3,500
1,500
1,200
1,050
6,000
2,800
1,800
1,050
1,050
2,300
1.250
1,500
Developments in
Industrial Relations
Steel update
The financially beleagured steel industry continued to
suffer, as usx Corp. and Timken Co. were involved in work
stoppages; Armco Inc. was unable to negotiate cuts in labor
costs it had sought at its Middletown, o h , mill; and ltv
Corp. filed for bankruptcy.
The Armco settlement with the Armco Employees Inde
pendent Federation does provide for a wage and benefit
freeze for the 42-month contract term, but the company had
been seeking a paycut of more than 75 cents an hour, cuts
in holiday, vacation, and insurance benefits, and adoption
of a two-tier pay system.
Armco said it accepted the terms, which ended a 5-day
strike by the 4,200 employees, “primarily in the interest of
the customer and [out of] growing concern for the com
pany’s financial position.” Armco’s ability to sustain a long
strike was hampered by its financial commitments, includ
ing an $85 million pension payment due September 13.
Despite the company’s dissatisfaction with the overall
settlement, it did win the right to reopen negotiations in
March of 1988 and 1989 if the mill fails to earn $50 million
before taxes on operations during the preceding calendar
year. However, the union maintains that even if earnings are
below $50 million, the provision could be exercised only
with its consent.
At usx Corp., there was a continuing dispute over which
side impelled the stoppage that began on August 1, when the
previous contract expired. The United Steelworkers con
tended the stoppage was a lockout, which would enable the
idled employees to draw State unemployment benefits. Ac
cording to usx, the stoppage was a strike, precluding the
employees from drawing unemployment benefits. There
was no single answer from the affected States— Pennsylva
nia, Ohio, Alabama, and Minnesota ruled the stoppage a
lockout, while Illinois and Utah held that it was a strike. In
some cases, the rulings were being appealed.
Both the company and the United Steelworkers viewed
the Timken Co. stoppage as a strike. The 5,800 employees
walked out of the three Ohio plants after the company de
manded a 60-cent-an-hour wage decrease, and the union
countered by offering a wage and benefit freeze.
“Developments in Industrial Relations” is prepared by George Ruben of the
Division of Developments in Labor-Management Relations, Bureau of
Labor Statistics, and is largely based on information from secondary
sources.
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The most significant recent event in the steel industry was
Corp., filing for protection from creditors under Chap
ter 11 of the bankruptcy code, ltv is the Nation’s second
largest steel producer. At the time, ltv reported assets of
$6.14 billion and liabilities of $4.59 billion. The attempt to
reorganize and return to profitability came just 3 months
after the United Steelworkers had agreed to a $3.15 an hour
cut in wages and benefits to aid the company, which has
suffered $1.7 billion in losses since 1982. (See Monthly
Labor Review, June 1986, p. 45.) The bankruptcy filing
meant that further compensation cuts might be required of
the employees, particularly after ltv officially informed the
union that it wanted to renegotiate the April contract. The
union’s initial response was that it would not automatically
agree to the proposal. The filing also raises the possibility
that other companies that had already settled would press for
renegotiation of their contracts to maintain competitive par
ity with LTV.
In conjunction with the Chapter 11 filing, ltv cancelled
health and life insurance benefits for 76,000 retirees, includ
ing 61,000 retired Steelworkers. This triggered a strike by
4,400 workers at l t v ’ s Indiana Harbor Works in East
Chicago, i n , as well legal action by the Steelworkers to
force a restoration of the benefits. The strike ended after 5
days when a bankruptcy judge acceded to l t v ’ s request for
permission to restore the benefits. The company said that
ending the walkout was vital to improving its financial con
dition.
In another indication of l t v ’s difficult financial condi
tion, the company asked the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Board ( p b g b ) to assume payments to retirees covered by one
pension plan, and the pbg b itself moved to take control of
another underfunded plan. These events, combined with a
possible pbg b takeover of two other ltv pension plans,
could raise the pbg b obligation to more than $2.5 billion.
ltv
Dispute settled in meat processing
In the meat processing industry, a long dispute that pitted
employees against management and a local union against
the parent United Food and Commercial Workers ( u fc w )
apparently ended when the u fc w settled with Geo. A
Hormel and Co.’s flagship plant in Austin, m n . Concurrent
with the Austin accord, Hormel and the u fc w also negoti
ated a new contract for seven plants in six states. The diffi
culties at the Austin plant, which included a “corporate
51
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Developments in Industrial Relations
campaign” against Hormel that was initiated by the Local
P-9 before the ufcw removed its officers and a year-long
strike that ended with the contract settlement, can be traced
through a number of developments in recent years:
• In 1982, Local P-9 agreed to a 3-year contract that in
cluded a no-strike guarantee, as well as elimination of an
incentive pay plan. In return for these inducements to
locate a new $100 million plant in Austin, Hormel pledged
to maintain the employees standard wage rate at the same
level as at other major companies in the industry.
• In 1983, the industry was hit by bankruptcies and plant
closings, leading to cuts in the previous $10.69 an hour
standard pay rate. Hormel pressed employees at all eight
of its plants for similar cuts to remain competitive. Unlike
employees at the other plants, those in Austin rejected the
offer, contending that the “me-too” clause in their con
tract was only intended to raise wages. An arbitrator later
ruled that Hormel could cut the rate at Austin to between
$8 and $9 an hour.
• In 1984, employees of the seven other plants negotiated
with Hormel on the issue and settled on an immediate $9
rate, rising to $10 in September 1985. Austin employees
rejected the proposal and initiated the corporate campaign
to bring consumer pressure against Hormel. At the same
time, Hormel cut the pay rate to $8.25 at Austin. Leaders
of the parent union condemned Local P-9’s action in
breaking ranks with the other locals and questioned the
value of the corporate campaign tactic. Despite the con
demnation, the local did not change.
• In August 1985, 1,400 employees struck the plant after
negotiators failed to agree on a new contract to succeed
the 1982 contract. To increase pressure on the company,
Local P-9 accelerated the corporate campaign, which was
declared to be an illegal secondary boycott in a National
Labor Relations Board ruling issued the following month.
• In January 1986, Hormel began hiring replacements for
the strikers, leading to intensified picketing at the plant
and a call-up of the National Guard, as well as efforts by
pickets to increase pressure on Hormel by traveling to
other company plants. This led to the firing of 500 work
ers at the Ottumwa, ia , plant for honoring the roving
picket line. At the end of the month, Hormel said that it
had nearly a full work force, comprising 550 returning
strikers and 550 replacement workers.
• In March 1986, the ufcw declared the strike a lost cause
and moved to place Local P-9 in trusteeship, leading to
legal actions that culminated in a ruling that the ufcw ’s
action was proper.
• In July 1986, some of the former strikers formed the
North American Meatpackers Union in an attempt to
eventually supplant the ufcw as bargaining agent for the
Austin employees.
• In August 1986, Hormel and the ufcw settled for the
Austin operations. The accord provides for pay increases
52
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
totaling 70 cents an hour for the strikers who returned to
work in January. The replacement workers hired in Janu
ary also will move up to $10.70 an hour over the contract
term. Previously, they were paid $8 an hour to start and
a maximum of $9 later. The union did not win immediate
rehiring of the strikers who remained out until the stop
page was concluded, but Hormel did agree that for 2 years
the strikers will have priority in filling openings that
occur.
The new Austin contract runs for 4 years, compared with
3 years for the other locations, where concurrent settlements
resulted in the same pay rates as for Austin. Hormel said that
in the 1990 negotiations for the seven plants, it will agree to
a common expiration date at all locations, including Austin,
a major union goal to strengthen its bargaining position. The
seven plants are in Fremont, n e , Beloit, wi, Algona, ia ,
Charlotte, nc , Dallas and Houston, tx , and Atlanta, g a .
In a related event, an arbitrator ordered Hormel to rehire
the 500 workers it had fired in January for refusing to cross
picket lines. Hormel accepted the ruling in principle, but
noted that the January shutdown of part of the Ottumwa
facility precluded rehiring all of the workers.
Elsewhere in meat processing, the ufcw settled with
Oscar Mayer Co. for 2,300 workers in Davenport, ia ,
Madison, wi, and Chicago, il . The 3-year accord provides
for wage increases totaling 65 cents an hour, bringing the
standard rate to $10.70; a new supplemental retirement plan;
an additional paid holiday; and health care improvements.
Chrysler farms out work to American Motors
In an unusual move, Chrysler Corp. contracted out pro
duction of its large, rear-drive cars to American Motors
Corp. (amc). Chrysler said the farm-out was necessitated by
the planned conversion of its St. Louis plant from large car
to van production and by the unexpected continuing high
demand for the large cars.
A major factor in winning the production contract was an
agreement between amc and Local 72 of the Auto Workers
that lowered labor costs at the company’s Kenosha, wi,
plant, where the Chrysler cars will be produced on an as
sembly line that had been idle because of slow sales of amc
cars. The plant’s other assembly line will continue to assem
ble amc cars.
The AMC-Local 72 accord cut the 162 job classifications
to 14 for skilled trade workers and to 32 for other workers.
The number of classifications was a difficult issue, but a
settlement did not come until the bargainers agreed on the
precise duties each classification will encompass.
Locals of the Machinists and Teamsters unions also aided
in the winning of the production contract by agreeing to
cost-cutting measures for about 400 employees in Kenosha.
uaw Local 75 also agreed to a cut in job classifications and
other contract changes at amc ’s parts plants in Milwaukee.
According to Chrysler, the production contract was ex-
pected to run for 2xh years, with an option for extension.
Despite the pickup in production, which was expected to
result in the recall of more than 3,000 laid-off a m c em
ployees, the company continued to indicate that it consid
ered the Kenosha facility to be obsolete and that it was
considering the possibility of opening a replacement plant in
Kenosha, or elsewhere in the United States.
Talks completed for ‘Chrysler Electronics City’
Another step toward the expected 1988 opening of
“Chrysler Electronics City” in Huntsville, a l , occurred
when the company and Auto Workers Local 1413 agreed on
a contract to become effective in 1988. The favorable vote
by the local union’s members, who are employed at other
Chrysler facilities in the area, was 706 to 2.56. A union
official said the contract will provide for “substantial” wage
increases, a reduction in job classifications, and “pay-forknowledge” provisions under which employees will receive
higher pay for mastering more than one job.
The plant, covering 750,000 square feet on a 325 acre
site, will produce electronic components for Chrysler
vehicles. Chrysler hopes to attract some of its suppliers to
the site. The plant is expected to employ 2,500 u a w
members.
gm
offers departure incentives
General Motors Corp. moved to reduce operating costs by
announcing “incentives” to resign or retire that could be
offered to any white-collar employee of the company’s
North American automotive operations. This was part of the
company’s announced plan to reduce its white-collar work
force by 25 percent by 1989. g m currently has 133,000
salaried employees involved in automotive production in the
United States and 9,000 in Canada.
The announcement was applauded by industry observers
who contended that g m is overstaffed, compared with Ford
Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp., which have been reducing
their white-collar staffs since the early 1980’s, gm did offer
departure inducements to white-collar workers in 1984, and
an undisclosed number accepted. Under the 1986 program,
the inducements were to be made to individuals at the dis
cretion of management. The affected employees could re
fuse the offer.
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Police officers pick assignments, work schedules
The Arlington County, v a ., police department has
adopted an experimental program under which officers
demonstrating superior performance will have priority in
picking their beats and days they work. Previously, assign
ments and work schedules were based strictly on length of
service. A department official said the program was estab
lished because “there are always people who work harder
than other people, and we had no way to reward them.” The
experiment is limited to the 29-member day section.
Under the evaluation procedure of the new program, offi
cers will receive 1 point for issuing a parking ticket, ranging
up to 50 points for a felony arrest. If the program proves
workable during the 6-month trial, officers who average at
least 35 points a day during the period will be given priority
in selecting neighborhood assignments and work schedules
for the next 12 months. Within the group of eligible officers,
those with the most seniority would have the first choice.
The president of the Arlington County Police Beneficial
Association said it was too early to comment on the exper
iment. Under Virginia law, public employee unions can
discuss contract provisions with employers, but they are not
permitted to engage in binding collective bargaining.
Shipbuilding companies bargain separately
Bargaining in the West Coast shipbuilding industry led
off with a settlement between Todd Shipyard Corp.’s Los
Angeles shipyard and Local 9 of the Marine and Shipbuild
ing Workers. The 3-year accord could set a pattern for
settlements between other shipyards and the Pacific Coast
Metal Trades Council, comprising 11 unions with 10,000
members. Since the 1950’s, the employers had bargained
with the Trades Council as a unit, the Pacific Coast Ship
builders Association, but the member companies decided to
bargain individually in 1986.
The 3-year Todd agreement froze top pay rates, leaving
most workers at the $13.48 an hour rate that applies to
nearly all trades. There was a change in pay progression,
with new employees starting at $9.50 an hour and moving
to the top rate after 3 years. Previously, they started at $8.50.
Todd also agreed to take over a union-administered pen
sion and benefit plan, to establish a health maintenance
organization, to offer dental coverage, and to increase sick
ness and accident benefits.
53
Book Reviews
Labor in a turbulent era
American Workers, American Unions, 1920-1985. By
Robert H. Zieger. Baltimore, m d , The Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1986. 233 pp. $25, cloth; $9.95,
paper.
Books on the history of the American workers and their
unions are a rare occurrence indeed and for this reason alone
Professor Robert H. Zieger’s contribution is to be wel
com ed. W ithin the scope he has set for him self— no new
sources and no original research— Zieger has succeeded in
delineating the major economic and political events that
have shaped the current labor movement and that in turn
have been shaped by it. Although the author’s sympathies
are clear throughout the volume, the treatment of issues is
even-handed, an approach further supported by a judi
ciously selected bibliography. It should serve as an excellent
supplementary text in undergraduate courses in industrial
relations and labor economics.
In his first chapter, the author takes us, perhaps too
quickly, through the 1920’s, stressing the economic plight
of millions of workers during these much acclaimed years of
prosperity.
Organized labor’s massive and unexpected gains during
the 1930’s are the subject of chapter 2, which includes an
insightful treatment of John L. Lewis, the cio, and the
organizing campaigns in steel, auto, and other manufactur
ing industries.
Chapter 3 discusses labor’s role during World War II, a
subject typically ignored in general history texts or those
devoted to that period. Students of the labor movement will
be grateful to the author not only for his discussion of black
and women workers, but also for drawing attention to the
flip-flop of the Communist party and its adherents before
and after the German-Russian nonaggression pact. Unfortu
nately, his criticism of the National War Labor Board leads
him to overlook the fact that the Board’s policies, while
trying to maintain some degree of wage control, also set the
stage for an unprecendented growth in fringe benefits.
An undue emphasis on political radicalism and its effects
on organized labor mars chapter 4. While the candidacy of
Henry A. Wallace did gamer some support from a few
unions and while Jay Lovestone was indeed an interesting
figure in the top echelon of the a f l , the extended discussion
54
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given to these matters is likely to leave the general reader
with the impression that all of this was of major concern to
workers and their unions. Even more regrettable are several
characterizations such as “ . . . the ouster of the Communistoriented elements in 1949-50 and the attacks on the expelled
affiliates . . . usually degenerated into repression and vio
lence.” It needs to be remembered that, for example, the
contest between the International Union of Electrical, Radio
and Machine Workers ( iu e ) and the United Electrical, Radio
and Machine W orkers of America ( u e ) was decided in rep
resentation elections conducted by the National Labor Rela
tions Board, and not by strong-arm tactics.
Chapter 5 describes the merger between the a fl -cio in
1955 and the surprising gains scored by unions among work
ers in the public sector. Chapter 6 takes us into the 1960’s
and closes with the defeat of Hubert Humphrey in 1968,
described as labor’s political “Last Hurrah,” an event it can
be argued that actually occurred as early as 1947.
In what appears to be an attempt to give the book greater
currency, the author added a 7-page epilogue, “Into the
Eighties.” This, unfortunately, was a mistake since many
issues facing labor are either barely referred to or are omit
ted altogether. It is hoped that the author will do full justice
to these topics in the next edition.
— H arry P. C ohany
Department of Management
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA
Publications received
Econom ic and social statistics
Bloom, David E. and Neil G. Bennett, “Childless Couples,” Amer
ican Demographics, August 1986, beginning on p. 22.
Duncan, Greg J., Martha Hill, Willard Rodgers, “The Changing
Fortunes of Young and Old,” American Demographics, August
1986, pp. 26-33.
Exter, Thomas G ., “How to Think About Age,” American Demo
graphics, September 1986, pp. 50-51.
Hall, Bronwyn H., The Relationship Between Firm Size and Firm
Growth in the U.S. Manufacturing Sector. Cambridge, MA, Na
tional Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1986, 57 pp. ( nber
Working Paper Series, 1965.) $2, paper.
Ohta, Makoto and Zvi Griliches, Automobile Prices and Quality:
Did the Gasoline Price Increases Change Consumer Tastes in
the U.S. ? Reprinted from the Journal o f Business and Economic
Statistics, April 1986, pp. 187-98. Cambridge, m a , National
Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1986. ( nber Reprint, 712.)
$ 2.
Pol, Louis, “Demography Goes to Business School,” American
Demographics, August 1986, beginning on p. 34.
Econom ic grow th and developm ent
Brothwell, John F., “The General Theory After Fifty Years: Why
Are We Not All Keynesians Now?” Journal o f Post Keynesian
Economics, Summer 1986, pp. 531-47.
Dewar, Margaret E ., “The Role of Analysis in Economic Develop
ment: Lessons from Minnesota’s Iron Range,” Rural Develop
ment Perspectives, June 1986, pp. 22-27.
Hines, Fred K., Bernal L. Green, Mindy F. Petrulis, “Vul
nerability to Farm Problems Varies by Region,” Rural Develop
ment Perspectives, June 1986, pp. 10-14.
Walker, John F. and Harold G. Vatter, “Stagnation— Performance
and Policy: A Comparison of the Depression Decade with 1973—
1984,” Journal o f Post Keynesian Economics, Summer 1986,
pp. 515-30.
H ealth and safety
Smoking, Drugs, and the Healthy Employee—A Special report:
“Smoking in the Workplace,” by Elaine F. Gruenfeld; “Drug
Screening: Protecting the Workplace and the Employee,” by
J. Thomas Menaker; “Drug Screening: Usually Unnecessary,
Frequently Unreliable, and Perhaps Unlawful,” by Arthur B.
Spitzer; “Lessons from eaps for Drug Screening,” by William J.
Sonnenstuhl and Harrison M. Trice; “The Healthy Employee: A
Shift in Emphasis at IBM,” by William J. Colucci, ilr Report,
Spring 1986, pp. 9-33.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, A Brief Guide to Recordkeeping
Requirements fo r Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. Prepared
by Stephen Newell. Washington, 1986, 18 pp.
Industrial relations
Australia, Department of Employment and Industrial Relations,
“Industrial Democracy in Australia, 1972-1992: Profiting from
Our Experience,” by Alastair Crombie and others, Work and
People, Vol. 11, No. 2, 1985, pp. 27-32.
Butler, Art, “Unions in the Military? Why Not?” Labor Center
Review, Spring 1986, pp. 34-40.
Edwards, Harry T., “Storm Warnings in Labor Arbitration,” ILR
Report, Spring 1986, pp. 2-5.
Freeman, Richard B., Unionism Comes to the Public Sector.
Reprinted from the Journal o f Economic Literature, March
1986, pp. 41-86. Cambridge, MA, National Bureau of Eco
nomic Research, Inc., 1986. (nber Reprint, 717.) $2.
Hertz, Debra, ‘“ Baby Boomers’: Changing Arbitrators’ Atti
tudes,” Labor Center Review, Spring 1986, pp. 27-33.
Weiner, Stuart E., “Union COLA’S on the Decline,” Economic
Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, June 1986, pp.
10-25.
International econom ics
Krueger, Anne O., Developing Countries’ Debts and Growth
Prospects: Frank M. Engle Lecture Series. Bryn Mawr, PA, The
American College 1986, 31 pp.
Martin, Preston and Bryon Higgins, “The World Financial Scene:
Balancing Risks and Rewards,” Economic Review, Federal Re
serve Bank of Kansas City, June 1986, pp. 3-9.
Scholl, Russell B., “The International Investment Position of the
United States in 1985,” Survey o f Current Business, June 1986,
beginning on p. 26.
The World Bank— International Bank for Reconstruction and De
velopment, Explaining the Trade Balance: A General Equi
librium Approach, by Ricardo Caballero and Cittorio Corbo
(DRD Report 141, 51 pp.); Adverse Selection, Competitive Ra
tioning and Government Policy in Credit Markets, by Arvind
Virmanj (DRD Report 143, 27 pp.); The Role o f the Real Ex
change Rate in Macroeconomic Adjustment: The Case o f Chile,
1973-82, by Vittorio Corbo (drd Report 145, 33 pp.); Ex
change Rate Responses to Exogenous Shocks in Developing
Countries, by Mohsin S. Khan (drd Report 146, 23 pp.); Ad
justment Policies in Socialist and Private Market Economies, by
Bela Balassa ( drd Report 148, 74 pp.). Washington, 1986.
Available from The World Bank— International Bank for Re
construction and Development, Research Department, Wash
ington.
L abor force
American Foundation for the Blind, The Future o f Work fo r Dis
abled People: Employment and the New Technology. New
York, 1986, 108 pp. $10, paper.
Bloom, David E ., “Women and Work,” American Demographics,
September 1986, pp. 24-30.
DeFreitas, Gregory, “A Time-Series Analysis of Hispanic Unem
ployment,” The Journal o f Human Resources, Winter 1986, pp.
24-43.
Great Britain, Department of Employment, “Restart— A New
Deal,” by Evelyn Smith, Employment Gazette, August 1986,
pp. 300-02.
Leonard, Jonathan S ., On the Size Distribution o f Employment and
Establishments. Cambridge, m a , National Bureau of Economic
Research, Inc., 1986, 23 pp. (nber Working Paper Series,
1951.) $2, paper.
Supple, Terry Stevenson, “The Coming Labor Shortage,” Ameri
can Demographics, September 1986, pp. 32-35.
M anagem ent and organization theory
American Management Association, The 1986 American Manage
ment Association Report on Information Centers. New York,
American Management Association, 1986, 120 pp. $245, ama
members; $295, nonmembers, paper.
Kagel, Sam, Anatomy o f a Labor Arbitration. 2d ed. Washington,
The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., 1986, 182 pp. $17.50,
paper. Available from bna Books Distribution Center, 300 Rar
itan Center Parkway, C.N. 94, Edison, NJ 08818.
Fisk, George, ed ., Marketing Management Technology as a Social
Process. New York, Praeger Publishers, 1986, 320 pp. $37.95.
Kochan, Thomas A., Harry C. Katz, Robert B. McKersie, The
Transformation o f American Industrial Relations. New York,
Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1986, 272 pp. $22.95.
Stahl, Michael J., Managerial and Technical Motivation: Assess
ing Needs fo r Achievement, Power and Affiliation. New York,
Praeger Publishers, 1986, 165 pp., bibliography. $35.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
55
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Book Reviews
M onetary and fiscal policy
Barth, James R., George R. Iden, Frank S. Russek, “The Eco
nomic Consequences of Federal Deficits: An Examination of the
Net Wealth and Instability Issues,” Southern Economic Journal,
July 1986, pp. 27-50.
Hubbard, R. Glenn and Kenneth L. Judd, “Liquidity Constraints,
Fiscal Policy, and Consumption,” Brookings Papers on Eco
nomic Activity, 1, 1986, pp. 1-59.
Keeton, William R., “Deposit Deregulation, Credit Availability,
and Monetary Policy,” Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank
of Kansas City, June 1986, pp. 26-42.
Lindholm, Richard W., ed., Examination o f Basic Weaknesses of
Income as the Major Federal Tax Base. New York, Praeger
Publishers, 1986, 320 pp. $37.95.
Mankiw, N. Gregory, The Term Structure of Interest Rates Revis
ited,” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1, 1986, pp.
61-96.
Rivlin, Alice M., “The Need for a Better Budget Process,” The
Brookings Review, Summer 1986, pp. 3-10.
Prices and living conditions
Community Council of Greater New York, Annual Price Survey—
Family Budget Costs, October 1985. 22d ed. New York, Com
munity Council of Greater New York, Research and Program
Planning Information Department, 1986, 55 pp.
Glezakos, Constantine and Jeffrey B. Nugent, “Inflation and Rel
ative Price Variability Once Again,” Journal o f Post Keynesian
Economics, Summer 1986, pp. 607-13.
Gronau, Reuben, The Intrafamily Allocation o f Goods— How to
Separate the Men from the Boys? Cambridge, MA, National
Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1986, 57 pp. ( nber Work
ing Paper Series, 1956.) $2, paper.
Wihlborg, Clas and Madelyn Antoncic, “Relative Price Changes
and Exchange Rate Determination with Slow Price Adjustment:
An Empirical Analysis,” Southern Economic Journal, July
1986, pp. 217-32.
Productivity and technological change
Australia, Department of Employment and Industrial Relations,
“Technological Change and Its Impact on Industrial Democ
racy,” by Dexter C. Dunphy, Work and People, Vol. 11, No. 2,
1985, pp. 17-20.
Bowlby, Roger L. and William R. Schriver, “Observations on
Productivity and Composition of Building Construction Output
in the United States, 1972-82,” Construction Management and
Economics, 1986, 4, pp. 1-18.
Knapp, John L. and others, Implications o f High-Technology Man
ufacturing fo r a Community: A Case Study o f the General Elec
tric Company Plant in Albemarle County, Virginia. Charlot
tesville, University of Virginia, The Colgate Darden Graduate
School of Business Administration, Tayloe Murphy Institute,
1986, 98 pp.
Tweedale, Geoffrey, “Metallurgy and Technological Change: A
Case Study of Sheffield Specialty Steel and America, 18301930,” Technology and Culture, April 1986, pp. 189-222.
W ages and com pensation
Alpert, William T., The Minimum Wage in the Restaurant Indus
try. New York, Praeger Publishers, 1986, 161 pp. $35.95.
Digitized for 56
FRASER
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Altonji, Joseph G., and Christina H. Paxson, Job Characteristics
and Hours o f Work. Cambridge, MA., National Bureau o f Eco
nomic Research, Inc., 1986, 63 pp. (nber working Paper
Series, 1895.) $2, paper.
Bloom, David E. and Gilíes Grenier, Models o f Firm Behavior
Under Minimum Wage Legislation. Cambridge, MA, National
Bureau o f Economic Research, Inc., 1986, 16 pp. (nber Work
ing Paper Series, 1877.) $2, paper.
Devlin, Elizabeth, “Comparable Worth: Issues of the ‘80s,” Labor
Center Review, Spring 1986, pp. 41-48.
W elfare program s and social insurance
Bane, Mary Jo and David T. Ellwood, “Slipping Into and Out of
Poverty: The Dynamics of Spells,” The Journal o f Human Re
sources, Winter 1986, pp. 1-23.
Bishop, John H. and Mark Montgomery, “Evidence on Firm Par
ticipation in Employment Subsidy Programs,” Industrial Rela
tions, Winter 1986, pp. 56-64.
Chen, Yung-Ping and George F. Rohrlich, eds., Checks and Bal
ances in Social Security: Symposium in Honor o f Robert J.
Myers. Lanham, MD, University Press o f America, Inc., 1986,
382 pp. $32.25, cloth; $17.50, paper.
□
U.S. Postal Service
STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION
(Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685)
1B. Publication No. 00981818
1.
— Title of Publication: Monthly Labor Review
2.
— Date of Filing: 10-21-86
3.
— Frequency of Issue: Monthly
4 — Annual Subscription Price: $16
5.
— Location of Known Office of Publication: 441 G Street, N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20212
6.
— Location of the Headquarters of General Business Offices of the Publishers:
441 G Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20212
7.
— Names and Complete Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Executive Editor:
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office
of Publications, 441 G Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20212; Editor:
Henry Lowenstern, Editor-in-Chief, same address; Executive Editor:
Robert Fisher, same address
8.
— Owner: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 441 G Street,
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20212
9.
— Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or
Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages or
Other Securities: None
10.— Extent and Nature of Circulation:
Actual No. of
Average No.
Copies of
Copies Each Single Issue
Issue During Published
Preceding
Nearest To
12 Months
Filing Date
A. T o ta l n um be r copie s printed (net p ress run) ..
B. Paid circulation:
1. S ales through d e a le rs and carriers, street
vendors, and co u n te r s a le s ....................
2. M ail su bscriptio n s .....................................
C. T o ta l paid circula tio n ..............................................
D. Free distrib utio n by mail, carrier, o r o th e r m eans
(sam ples, com p lim e nta ry, and o th e r free
c o p ie s )..................................................................
E. Total distrib utio n (sum o f C and D ) ....................
F. C opies not distrib ute d:
1. O ffice use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled
a fte r p r in tin g ................................................
2. R eturns fro m new s a g e n ts ......................
G. T o ta l (sum of E, F1 and 2 — should e qual net
press run sh ow n in A) .....................................
13,394
13,606
1,139
10,800
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1,377
10,800
12,177
1,355
13,294
1,354
13,531
100
75
NA
NA
13,394
13,606
I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete.
(Signed) Henry Lowenstern, Editor-in-Chief
Current
Labor Statistics
Schedule of release dates for major
Notes on Current Labor Statistics
bls
statistical series
......................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................
58
59
Comparative indicators
1. Labor market indicators..................................................................................
2. Annual and quarterly percent changes in compensation, prices, and productivity ........................................................................................
3. Alternative measures of wage and compensation changes ...................................................................................................................................
gg
69
69
Labor force data
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Employment status of the total population, data seasonally ad ju sted .................................................................................................................
Employment status of the civilian population, data seasonally adjusted ...........................................................................................................
Selected employment indicators, data seasonally adjusted ...................................................................................................................................
Selected unemployment indicators, data seasonally adjusted ...............................................................................................................................
Unemployment rates by sex and age, data seasonally adjusted ..........................................................................................................................
Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment, data seasonally a d ju sted ..................................................................................................
Duration o f unemployment, data seasonally adjusted ............................................................................................................................................
Unemployment rates o f civilian workers, by State ........................................
Employment o f workers by State ................................................................................................................................................................................
Employment o f workers by industry, data seasonally adjusted...........................................................................................................................
Average weekly hours by industry, data seasonally adjusted ...............................................................................................................................
Average hourly earnings by industry ..........................................................................................................................................................................
Average weekly earnings by industry..........................................................................................................................................................................
Hourly Earnings Index by industry..............................................................................................................................................................................
Indexes o f diffusion: proportion of industries in which employment increased, seasonally adjusted ......................................................
Annual data: Employment status of the noninstitutional population
........................................................................................................
Annual data: Employment levels by industry ..........................................................................................................................................................
Annual data: Average hours and earnings levels by industry...............................................................................................................................
70
71
72
73
74
74
74
75
75
76
77
78
79
79
80
80
80
81
Labor compensation and collective bargaining data
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
Employment Cost Index, compensation, by occupation and industry group ..................................................................................................
Employment Cost Index, wages and salaries, by occupation and industry g r o u p .........................................................................................
Employment Cost Index, private nonfarm workers, by bargaining status, region, and area s i z e ..............................................................
Specified compensation and wage adjustments from contract settlements, and effective wage adjustments,
situations covering 1,000 workers or more ......................................
Average specified compensation and wage adjustments, bargaining situationscovering 1,000 workers or m o r e ...................................
Average effective wage adjustments, bargaining situations covering 1,000 workers or more ......................................................................
Specified compensation and wage adjustments, State and local government bargaining
situations covering 1,000 workers or more ..............................................................................................................................................................
Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more .................................................................................................................................................
g2
83
84
g5
85
86
86
86
Price data
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
Consumer Price Index: U .S. City average, byexpenditure category and commodity and service groups ................................................
Consumer Price Index: U.S. City average and local data, allitems ..................................................................................................................
Annual data: Consumer Price Index, all items and major groups ......................................................................................................................
Producer Price Indexes by stage o f processing ........................................................................................................................................................
Producer Price Indexes, by durability of product ...................................................................................................................................................
Annual data: Producer Price Indexes by stage of processing ...............................................................................................................................
U .S. export price indexes by Standard International Trade C lassification ........................................................................................................
U .S. import price indexes by Standard International Trade C lassification........................................................................................................
U .S. export price indexes by end-use category
.....................................................................................................................................................
U .S. import price indexes byend-use ca teg o ry .........................................................................................................................................................
U .S. export price indexes by Standard Industrial C lassification..........................................................................................................................
U .S. import price indexes by Standard Industrial Classification ........................................................................................................................
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87
90
91
92
93
93
94
95
96
96
96
97
57
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics
Contents— Continued
Productivity data
97
42. Indexes o f productivity, hourly compensation, and unit costs, data seasonally adjusted
43. Annual indexes of multifactor productivity .............................................................................
44. Annual indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and p r ic e s ................
98
98
International comparisons
99
100
101
45. Unemployment rates in nine countries, data seasonally adjusted ......................................
46. Annual data: Employment status of civilian working-age population, ten countries ..
47. Annual indexes of productivity and related measures, twelve countries .........................
Injury and illness data
102
48. Annual data: Occupational injury and illness incidence r a te s.............................................
Schedule of release dates for
b ls
statistical series
MLR table
number
Release
date
Period
covered
Release
date
Period
covered
Release
date
Period
covered
Employment situation ............................
November 7
October
December 5
November
January 9
December
1; 4-21
Occupational injuries and illnesses —
November 13
1985
November
January 9
December
2; 33-35
Series
48
Producer Price Index..............................
November 14
October
December 12
Consumer Price Index............................
November 25
October
December 19
November
January 21
December
2; 30-32
December 19
November
January 21
December
14-17
December 2
3d quarter
Real earnings.........................................
November 25
October
Productivity and costs:
Nonfarm business and
2; 42-44
January 29
4th quarter
1986
2; 42-44
3; 25-28
Major collective bargaining settlements...
January 27
January 27
4th quarter
1-3; 22-24
U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes ..
January 29
4th quarter
36-41
58
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N O TES ON C U R R EN T LA BO R STA TISTIC S
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 are briefly described, key definitions are given, notes on the
data are set forth, and sources o f additional information are cited.
Adjustments for price changes. 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 of $3
and a current price index number of 150, where 1967 = 100, the hourly rate
expressed in 1967 dollars is $2 ($3/150 x 100 = $2). The $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:
Seasonal adjustment.
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, 17, and 18.) Begin
ning in January 1980, the bls introduced two major modifications in the
seasonal adjustment methodology for labor force data. First, the data are
seasonally adjusted with a procedure called X—11 arima, which was devel
oped at Statistics Canada as an extension of the standard x - ii method
previously used by bls . A detailed description of the procedure appears in
The x -ii a r im a Seasonal Adjustment Method by Estela Bee Dagum (Statis
tics Canada, Catalogue No. 12-564E, February 1980). The second change
is that seasonal factors are calculated for use during the first 6 months of
the year, rather than for the entire year, and then are calculated at midyear
for the July-December period. However, revisions of historical data con
tinue 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 o f 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 the July 1986 Review using the x - n 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 available for this series.
Data that supplement the tables in this section are published by the
Bureau in a variety of sources. News 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 are published in the two-volume data
book— Labor Force Statistics Derived From the Current Population Sur
vey, Bulletin 2096. More data from the establishment survey appear in two
data books— Employment, Flours, and Earnings, United States, and Em
ployment, Hours, and Earnings, States and Areas, and the annual supple
ments to these data books. More detailed information on employee com
pensation and collective bargaining settlements is published in the monthly
periodical, Current Wage Developments. More detailed data on consumer
and producer prices are published in the monthly periodicals, The c p i
Detailed Report, and Producer Prices and Price Indexes. Detailed data on
all of the series in this section are provided in the Handbook of Labor
Statistics, which is published biennally by the Bureau, bls bulletins are
issued covering 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; employee compensation and collective bargaining; prices;
productivity; international 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 incom
plete 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 elsewhere specified.
C O M PA R A TIV E IN D IC ATO R S
(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.
Labor market indicators 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 ”)
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
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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 changes in compensation, prices, and productivity are pre
sented in table 2. Measures of rates of change of compensation and wages
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 of all persons) are provided for major sectors.
59
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics
Alternative measures of wage and compensation rates of change,
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 o f each series and notes on the data are contained in later
sections of these notes describing each set of data. For detailed descriptions
of each data series, see b l s Handbook of 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 Review’s “Current Labor
Statistics Notes.” Historical data for many series are provided in the Hand
book of Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985).
Users may also wish to consult Major Programs, Bureau of Labor Statis
tics, Report 718 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985).
E M PLO Y M EN T DA TA
(Tables 1; 4-21)
H ousehold survey data
the various data series appear in the Explanatory Notes of Employment and
Earnings.
Description of the series
in this section are obtained from the Current Population
Survey, a program o f personal interviews conducted monthly by the Bureau
o f 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
o f age and older. Households are interviewed on a rotating basis, so that
three-fourths o f the sample is the same for any 2 consecutive months.
Data in tables 4 -1 0 are seasonally adjusted, based on the seasonal
experience through December 1985.
employment data
Definitions
Employed persons include (1) all civilians who worked for pay any time
during the week which includes the 12th day of the month or who worked
unpaid for 15 hours or more in a family-operated enterprise and (2) those
who were temporarily absent from their regular jobs because of illness,
vacation, industrial dispute, or similar reasons. Members of the Armed
Forces stationed in the United States are also included in the 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.
Unemployed persons are those who did not work during the survey
week, but were available for work except for temporary illness and had
looked for jobs within the preceding 4 weeks. Persons who did not look for
work because they were on layoff or waiting to start new jobs within the
next 30 days are also counted among the unemployed. The overall unem
ployment rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of the labor
force, including the resident Armed Forces. The civilian unemployment
rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of the civilian labor
force.
The labor force consists of all employed or unemployed civilians plus
members o f the Armed Forces stationed in the United States. Persons not
in the labor force are those not classified as employed or unemployed; this
group includes persons who are retired, those engaged in their own house
work, those not working while attending school, those unable to work
because o f long-term illness, those discouraged from seeking work because
of personal or job market factors, and those who are voluntarily idle. The
noninstitutional population comprises all persons 16 years of age and
older who are not inmates of penal or mental institutions, sanitariums, or
homes for the aged, infirm, or needy, and members of the Armed Forces
stationed in the United States. The labor force participation rate is the
proportion of the noninstitutional population that is in the labor force. The
employment-population ratio is total employment (including the resident
Armed Forces) as a percent of the noninstitutional population.
Notes on the data
From time to time, and especially after a decennial census, adjustments
are made in the Current Population Survey figures to correct for estimating
errors during the preceding years. These adjustments affect the comparabil
ity o f historical data. A description of these adjustments and their effect on
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Additional sources of information
For detailed explanations of the data, see b l s Handbook of Methods ,
Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 1, and for
additional data, Handbook of 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 1981 are available in Labor Force Statistics Derived from the
Current Population Survey: A Databook, 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
Employment, 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 250,000
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 establishment 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.
Employed persons are all persons who received pay (including holiday
and sick pay) for any part of the payroll period including the 12th o f the
month. Persons holding more than one job (about 5 percent of all persons
in the labor force) are counted in each establishment which reports them.
Production workers in manufacturing include working supervisors and
all nonsupervisory workers closely associated with production operations.
Those workers mentioned in tables 12-17 include production workers in
manufacturing and mining; construction workers in construction; and non
supervisory workers in the following industries: transportation and public
utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and
services. These groups account for about four-fifths of the total employ
ment on private nonagricutural payrolls.
Earnings are the payments production or nonsupervisory workers re
ceive during the survey period, including premium pay for overtime or
late-shift work but excluding irregular bonuses and other special payments.
Real earnings are earnings adjusted to reflect the effects of changes in
consumer prices. The deflator for this series is derived from the Consumer
Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers ( c p i - w ). The
Hourly Earnings Index is calculated from average hourly earnings data
adjusted to exclude the effects of two types of changes that are unrelated
to underlying wage-rate developments: fluctuations in overtime premiums
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.
Hours represent the average weekly hours of production or nonsupervi
sory workers for which pay was received and are different from standard
or scheduled hours. Overtime hours represent the portion of gross average
weekly hours which were in excess o f regular hours and for which overtime
premiums were paid.
The Diffusion Index, introduced in the May 1983 Review, represents
the percent o f 185 nonagricultural industries in which employment 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 measur
ing the dispersion o f economic gains or losses and is also an economic
indicator.
Notes on the data
Establishment data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are peri
odically adjusted to com prehensive counts o f em ploym ent (called
“benchmarks”). The latest complete adjustment was made with the release
o f May 1986 data, published in the July 1986 issue o f 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 1984; seasonally adjusted data have been revised back to January
1981. These revisions were published in the Supplement to Employment
and Earnings (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1986). Unadjusted data from
April 1985 forward, and seasonally adjusted data from January 1982 for
ward are subject to revision in future benchmarks.
In the establishment survey, estimates for the 2 most recent months are
based on incomplete returns and are published as preliminary in the tables
(13 to 16 in the Review). When all returns have been received, the esti
mates are revised and published as final in the third month of their appear
ance. Thus, August data are published as preliminary in October and
November and as final in December. For the same reason, quarterly estab
lishment data (table 1) are preliminary for the first 2 months of publication
and final in the third month. Thus, second-quarter data are published as
preliminary in August and September and as final in October.
Additional sources of information
Detailed data from the establishment survey are published monthly in the
periodical, Employment and Earnings. Earlier comparable unadjusted
and seasonally adjusted data are published in Employment, Hours, and
Earnings, United States, 1909-84, Bulletin 1312-12 (Bureau o f Labor
Statistics, 1985) and its annual supplement. For a detailed discussion o f the
methodology o f the survey, see b l s Handbook of Methods, Bulletin 2134-1
(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 2. For additional data, see
Handbook of Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of Labor Statistics,
1985).
bls
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 .
U nem ploym ent 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 of 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 reliability. Data for the remaining 39 States and the District o f Columbia
are derived using 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 o f Labor
Statistics periodical, Employment and Earnings, and the annual report,
Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment (Bureau o f Labor
Statistics). See also b l s Handbook of Methods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 4.
C O M PE N SA TIO N AND W A G E DA TA
(Tables 1-3; 22-29)
Compensation 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.
E m ploym ent Cost Index
Description of the series
The Employment Cost Index ( e c i ) is a quarterly measure of the rate of
change in compensation per hour worked and includes wages, salaries, and
employer costs of 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 o f 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
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November 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.
Beginning with June 1986 data, fixed employment weights from the
1980 Census of Population are used each quarter to calculate the indexes
for civilian, private, and State and local governments. (Prior to June 1986,
the employment weights are from the 1970 Census of Population.) These
fixed weights, also used to derive all of the industry and occupation series
indexes, ensure that changes in these indexes reflect only changes in com
pensation, not employment shifts among industries or occupations with
different levels o f wages and compensation. For the bargaining status,
region, and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area series, however, employ
ment data by industry and occupation are not available from the census.
Instead, the 1980 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 aggregate, industry, and occupation
series.
Definitions
Total compensation costs include wages, salaries, and the employer’s
costs for employee benefits.
Wages and salaries consist of earnings before payroll deductions, in
cluding production bonuses, incentive earnings, commissions, and cost-ofliving adjustments.
Benefits 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) of the quarterly rates of change are presented in the
May issue of the bls monthly periodical, Current Wage Developments.
Additional sources of information
For a more detailed discussion of the Employment Cost Index, see the
Handbook of Methods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982),
chapter 11, and the fo llo w in g M onthly Labor Review articles:
“Employment Cost Index: a measure of change in the ‘price of labor’,” July
1975; “How benefits will be incorporated into the Employment Cost In
dex,” January 1978; “Estimation procedures 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 of Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217
(Bureau o f Labor Statistics, 1985).
(wage and benefit 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— firstyear— 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.
Effective wage adjustments 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
Wage rate changes 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.
Compensation changes 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 o f 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.
Contract duration 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.
Notes on the data
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.
Additional sources of information
C ollective bargaining settlem ents
Description of the series
For a more detailed discussion on the series, see the b l s Handbook of
Methods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 10.
Collective bargaining settlements data provide statistical measures of
negotiated adjustments (increases, decreases, and freezes) in compensation
Comprehensive data are published in press releases issued quarterly (in
January, April, July, and October) for private industry, and semi-
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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
monthly periodical, Current Wage Developments. Historical data appear in
the b l s Handbook of Labor Statistics.
Developments.
O ther com pensation data
W ork stoppages
Other bls data on pay and benefits, not included in the Current Labor
Statistics section o f the Monthly Labor Review, appear in and consist o f the
following:
Description of the series
Data on work stoppages 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 of 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
Number of stoppages: The number of strikes and lockouts involving
1,000 workers or more and lasting a full shift or longer.
Workers involved: The number of workers directly involved in the
stoppage.
Number of days idle: The aggregate number of workdays lost by
workers involved in the stoppages.
Days of idleness as a percent of estimated working time: Aggregate
workdays lost as a percent of the aggregate number of standard workdays
in the period multiplied by total employment in the period.
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
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 of the data and special analyses also appear in the Monthly
Labor Review.
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 of 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 of 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 of 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.
PR IC E DA TA
(Tables 2; 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).
C onsum er Price Indexes
Description of the series
The Consumer Price Index (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 of income is
derived from the employment o f 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 of 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 are 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
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MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 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
bls
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
Handbook of Methods, Volume II, The Consumer Price Index, Bulletin
2 1 3 4 -2 (Bureau o f Labor Statistics, 1984). The recent change in the mea
surement o f 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 Detailed Report, a monthly publication of
the Bureau. Historical data for the overall cpi and for selected groupings
may be found in the Handbook of Labor Statistics , Bulletin 2217 (Bureau
For a discussion of the methodology for computing Producer Price In
dexes, see b l s Handbook of Methods , Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau o f 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 of Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau o f Labor
Statistics, 1985).
o f Labor Statistics, 1985).
International price indexes
Producer Price Indexes
Description of the series
Producer Price Indexes (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 of Producer Price Indexes organizes products by class of
buyer and degree o f 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 of 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.
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
manufacturing sectors; a shift from a commodity to an industry orientation;
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Description of the series
The bls International Price Program 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 (su e). 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 of the
Laspeyres 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 o f 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 o f 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 o f 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 of Methods , 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 bls analysts. Selected historical data may be found in the
Handbook of Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of Labor Statistics,
1985).
P R O D U C T IV IT Y D A TA
(Tables 2; 42—44)
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 produc
tivity (output per unit of 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.
Definitions
Output per hour of all persons (labor productivity) is the value of
goods and services in constant prices produced per hour of labor input.
Output per unit of capital services (capital productivity) is the value of
goods and services in constant dollars produced per unit of capital services
input.
Multifactor productivity 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 the wages and salaries of employees plus
employers’ contributions for social insurance and private benefit plans, and
the wages, salaries, and supplementary payments for the self-employed
(except for nonfinancial corporations in which there are no selfemployed)— the sum divided by hours paid for. Real compensation per
hour is compensation per hour deflated by the change in the Consumer
Price Index for All Urban Consumers.
Unit labor costs are the labor compensation costs expended in the
production o f a unit o f output and are derived by dividing compensation by
output. Unit nonlabor payments include profits, depreciation, interest,
and indirect taxes per unit of output. They are computed by subtracting
compensation o f all persons from curretit dollar value of output and divid
ing by output. Unit nonlabor costs contain all the components of unit
nonlabor payments except unit profits.
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Unit profits include corporate profits and the value of inventory adjust
ments per unit of output.
Hours of all persons are the total hours paid of payroll workers, selfemployed persons, and unpaid family workers.
Capital services is the flow of services from the capital stock used in
production. It is developed from measures of the net stock o f physical
assets— equipment, structures, land, and inventories— weighted by rental
prices for each type of asset.
Labor and capital inputs 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
Output measures for the business sector and the nonfarm businesss sector
exclude the constant dollar value o f owner-occupied housing, rest o f 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 o f 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 of 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.
Additional sources of information
Descriptions of methodology underlying the measurement of output per
hour and multifactor productivity are found in the b l s Handbook of Meth
ods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 13. His
torical data for selected industries are provided in the Bureau’s Handbook
of Labor Statistics , 1985, Bulletin 2217.
65
MONTHLY LABOR
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
(Tables 45-47)
Labor force and unemployment
Description of the series
Tables 45 and 46 present comparative measures of the labor force,
employment, and unemployment— approximating U .S. concepts— for the
United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and six European countries. The
unemployment statistics (and, to a lesser extent, employment statistics)
published by other industrial countries are not, in most cases, comparable
to U .S. unemployment statistics. Therefore, the Bureau adjusts the figures
for selected countries, where necessary, for all known major definitional
differences. Although precise comparability may not be achieved, these
adjusted figures provide a better basis for international comparisons than
the figures regularly published by each country.
Definitions
For the principal U .S. definitions of the labor force, employment, and
unemployment, see the Notes section on EMPLOYMENT DATA: House
hold Survey Data.
Notes on the data
The adjusted statistics have been adapted to the age at which compulsory
schooling ends in each country, rather than to the U .S. standard of 16 years
of age and over. Therefore, the adjusted statistics relate to the population
age 16 and over in France, Sweden, and from 1973 onward, Great Britain;
15 and over in Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and
prior to 1973, Great Britain; and 14 and over in Italy. The institutional
population is included in the denominator o f the labor force participation
rates and employment-population ratios for Japan and Germany; it is ex
cluded for the United States and the other countries.
In the U .S. labor force survey, persons on layoff who are awaiting recall
to their job are classified as unemployed. European and Japanese layoff
practices are quite different in nature from those in the United States;
therefore, strict application of the U .S. definition has not been made on this
point. For further information, see Monthly Labor Review, December
1981, pp. 8 -1 1 .
The figures for one or more recent years for France, Germany, Great
Britain, Italy, and the Netherlands are calculated using adjustment factors
based on labor force surveys for earlier years and are considered prelimi
nary. The recent-year measures for these countries are, therefore, subject
to revision whenever data from more current labor force surveys become
available.
Additional sources of information
For further information, see International Comparisons of Unemploy
ment , Bulletin 1979 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1978), Appendix B and
unpublished Supplements to Appendix B available on request. The statis
tics are also analyzed periodically in the Monthly Labor Review . Additional
historical data, generally beginning with 1959, are published in the Hand
book of Labor Statistics and are available in unpublished statistical supple
ments to Bulletin 1979.
Manufacturing productivity and labor costs
Description of the series
Table 47 presents comparative measures of manufacturing labor produc
tivity, hourly compensation costs, and unit labor costs for the United
66
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States, Canada, Japan, and nine European countries. These measures are
limited to trend comparisons— that is, intercountry series of changes over
time— rather than level comparisons because reliable international com
parisons of the levels of manufacturing output are unavailable.
Definitions
Output is constant value output (value added), generally taken from the
national accounts of each country. While the national accounting methods
for measuring real output differ considerably among the 12 countries, the
use of different procedures does not, in itself, connote lack of comparabil
ity— rather, it reflects differences among countries in the availability and
reliability of underlying data series.
Hours refer to all employed persons including the self-employed in the
United States and Canada; to all wage and salary employees in the other
countries. The U .S. hours measure is hours paid; the hours measures for the
other countries are hours worked.
Compensation (labor cost) includes all payments in cash or kind made
directly to employees plus employer expenditures for legally required in
surance programs and contractual and private benefit plans. In addition, for
some countries, compensation is adjusted for other significant taxes on
payrolls or employment (or reduced to reflect subsidies), even if they are
not for the direct benefit of workers, because such taxes are regarded as
labor costs. However, compensation does not include all items o f labor
cost. The costs of recruitment, employee training, and plant facilities and
services— such as cafeterias and medical clinics— are not covered because
data are not available for most countries. Self-employed workers are in
cluded in the U .S. and Canadian compensation figures by assuming that
their hourly compensation is equal to the average for wage and salary
employees.
Notes on the data
For most of the countries, the measures refer to total manufacturing 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 and the figures for the Netherlands exclude
petroleum refining from 1969 to 1976. For all countries, manufacturing
includes the activities of government enterprises.
The figures for one or more recent years are generally based on current
indicators of manufacturing output, employment, hours, and hourly com
pensation and are considered preliminary until the national accounts and
other statistics used for the long-term measures become available.
Additional sources of information
For additional information, see the b l s Handbook of Methods , Bulletin
2134-1 (Bureau o f Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 16 and periodic Monthly
Labor Review articles. Historical data are provided in the Bureau’s Hand
book of Labor Statistics, Bulletin‘2217, 1985. The statistics are issued
twice per year— in a news release (generally in May) and in a Monthly
Labor Review article (generally in December).
O C C U PA T IO N A L IN JU R Y A N D ILLN ESS DA TA
(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 o f 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 of participating State agencies, an independent sam
ple is selected for each State. The sample is selected to represent all pri
vate 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 o f 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
allocation and a ratio estimator. The characteristics used to stratify the
establishments are the Standard Industrial Classification (sic) code and size
o f employment.
Definitions
Recordable occupational injuries and illnesses are: (1) occupational
deaths, regardless o f the time between injury and death, or the length of the
illness; or (2) nonfatal occupational illnesses; or (3) nonfatal occupational
injuries which involve one or more o f the following: loss of consciousness,
restriction o f work or motion, transfer to another job, or medical treatment
(other than first aid).
Occupational injury is any injury such as a cut, fracture, sprain, ampu
tation, and so forth, which results from a work accident or from exposure
involving a single incident in the work environment.
Occupational illness 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.
Lost workday cases are cases which involve days away from work, or
days o f restricted work activity, or both.
Lost workday cases involving restricted work activity are those cases
which result in restricted work activity only.
Lost workdays away from work 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.
Lost workdays— restricted work activity 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
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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.
The number of days away from work or days of restricted work
activity 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.
Incidence rates 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 of the estimates are in the form of incidence rates, defined as the
number of 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 of 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
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.
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 of 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 of 1970. For additional data, see Occupational Injuries and
Illnesses in the United States, by Industry, annual Bureau o f Labor
Statistics bulletin; bls Handbook of Methods , Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 17; Handbook of Labor Statistics , Bulletin
2217 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985), pp. 411-14; annual reports in the
Monthly Labor Review, and annual U .S. Department of Labor press
releases.
67
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Comparative Indicators
1. Labor market indicators
1986
Selected indicators
Employment data
Employment status of the civilian noninstitutionalized population
(household survey)'
Labor Force participation r a te ..........................................................
Employment-population r a 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 v e r....................................
2.1
64.8
60.1
7.3
7.1
14.1
5.4
7.6
13.1
6.0
2.0
64.7
60.0
7.3
7.1
14.2
5.4
7.5
13.0
6.0
2.0
64.7
60.1
7.2
7.0
14.0
5.3
7.4
12.7
5.9
2.0
64.9
60.4
7.0
6.9
14.0
5.2
7.2
13.1
5.5
1.9
65.1
60.5
7.1
6.8
13.3
5.3
7.3
13.2
5.7
1.9
65.3
60.6
7.2
7.1
14.5
5.4
7.3
13.2
5.7
1.9
94,977
78,914
24,891
19,489
70,086
95,907
79,736
24,943
19,486
70,964
96,581
80,341
24,970
19,439
71,611
97,295
80,958
24,947
19,323
72,347
97,897
81,414
24,866
19,241
73,031
98,668
82,069
24,937
19,261
73,731
99,403
82,731
25,028
19,284
74,375
99,848
83,144
24,952
19,194
74,896
35.1
40.6
3.3
35.1
40.5
3.4
35.0
40.4
3.3
34.9
40.4
3.2
34.9
40.6
3.3
34.9
40 8
3.5
34.9
40.7
3.4
1.6
.6
.6
.6
.5
.7
1.1
1.1
1.1
.7
.8
.9
1.1
1.0
.6
.6
.5
.6
1.0
1.2
.2
.9
64.4
59.5
7.5
7.4
14.4
5.7
7.6
13.3
6.0
2.4
64.8
60.1
7.2
7.0
14.1
5.3
7.4
13.0
5.9
2.0
64.4
59.7
7.4
7.3
14.5
5.5
7.6
13.1
6.0
2.3
64.5
59.8
7.2
7.1
13.8
5.4
7.5
12.9
5.9
Total .........................
Private sector ......
Goods-producing ..
Manufacturing ....
Service-producing
94,496
78,472
24,727
19,378
69,769
97,614
81,199
24,930
19,314
72,684
Average hours
Private sector ......
Manufacturing .
O vertim e........
35.2
40.7
3.4
34.9
40.5
3.3
Employment, nonagricultural (payroll data), in thousands:1
34.8
40.7
3.4
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 w o rk e rs .......................................
Workers by bargaining status (private industry)
U n io n ...................................................................
Nonunion ............................................................
1 Quarterly data seasonally adjusted.
2 Annual changes are December to December change. Quarterly changes are calculated us
ing last month of each quarter.
68
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1.3
.8
.9
.7
3.5
1.2
1.3
1.1
1.4
1.0
1.3
1.2
1.5
.7
.8
.7
1.0
1.0
1.2
.2
1.3
.6
1.8
3.4
.7
.9
1.1
1.3
.7
1.6
.6
1.0
.8
1.4
2 Good-producing industries include mining, construction, and-manufacturing. Serviceproducing industries include all other private sector industries.
-
Data not available.
2. Annual and quarterly percent changes in compensation, prices, and productivity
1984
Selected measures
1984
1985
1986
1985
III
IV
I
II
III
IV
I
II
Compensation data: 1, 2
Employment Cost Index-com pensation (wages, salaries,
benefits)
Civilian nonfarm ................................
Private nonfarm ..............................
Employment Cost Index-wages and salaries
Civilian nonfarm ........................................
Private nonfarm ...............................................
-
_
-
-
_
_
-
-
4.0
3.8
1.2
.3
1.0
1.1
.7
.9
-.4
.6
1.7
1.6
1.8
1.3
-1.6
1.8
1.5
2.7
-.3
-5.6
-.5
-.5
-.5
-.4
-2.0
.9
.8
1.1
-.1
-1.2
.0
-.3
1.3
-.4
-3.1
.7
.7
.4
.2
-2.1
-1.4
-1.4
-1.4
-.5
-4.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
.4
4.3
-3.1
-4.1
.2
-2.9
-7.6
.3
.2
.5
-.8
-2.2
1.3
.8
1.2
1.3
1.3
1.2
0.7
.8
1.6
1.3
0.6
.6
1.1
1.1
0.7
.8
1.3
.8
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.2
.9
1.1
1.7
1.3
.6
.6
1.0
1.0
.8
.9
Price data1
Consumer Price Index (All urban consumers): All ite m s ......
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........................................................
Productivity data 3
Output per hour of all persons:
Business s e c to r.......................................
Nonfarm business sector ........................................
Nonfinancial corporations 4 ........................................
1.0
2.3
1.8
2.0
-.3
- .7
-1 .6
.5
1.2
/-\"iiuai u ia n y c i aic L-»eeeiiiuer-iu-ueufcimoer cnange. uuaneriy cnanges
are calculated using the last month of each quarter. Compensation and price
data are not seasonally adjusted and the price data are not compounded.
2 Excludes Federal and private household workers.
.9
.3
-.1
-.4
1.1
3.4
2.2
4.9
2.7
1.8
2.2
.8
-3 .2
-3 5
-2 .8
-.3
- .5
-2 .3
-.5
a nn ua l raie;> ui e iia n y e are u u m pu ie u uy co m p a rin g annual averages, u u a n e riy
percent changes reflect annual rates of change in quarterly indexes. The data are
seasonally adjusted.
4 Output per hour of all employees.
-
Data not available.
3. Alternative measures of wage and compensation changes
Quarterly average
Components
1985
I
Average hourly compensation:1
All persons, business se c to r...........................................
All employees, nonfarm business s e c to r............................................
Employment Cost Index-compensation:
Civilian nonfarm 2 .....................................................................
Private nonfarm ..........................................................................................
Union ..................................................
N onunion.......................................................
State and local governm ents.................................................
Employment Cost Index-wages and salaries:
Civilian nonfarm2 ......................................................................................
Private nonfarm ...........................................................................................
Union .............................................
N o nunion......................................................
State and local gove rnm ents....................................................................
Total effective wage adjustments3 .....................................................................
From current settlem ents.....................................................
From prior settlements ......................................................................
From cost-of-living provision..............................................................
Negotiated wage adjustments from settlements3
First-year adjustments ....................................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t.................................................................
Negotiated wage and benefit adjustments from settlements:4
First-year adju stm e n t....................................................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t.................................................................
1 Seasonally adjusted.
2 Excludes Federal and household workers.
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Four quarters ended-
II
1986
III
IV
I
1985
II
I
II
1986
III
IV
I
II
3.9
3.9
5.1
4.4
3.8
4.4
3.2
3.6
2.5
3.1
2.7
2.1
3.9
3.9
4.5
4.2
4.4
3.9
3.8
3.9
3.6
3.0
1.3
1.2
.7
1.6
1.2
.7
.8
.6
1.0
.2
1.6
1.3
.8
1.4
3.4
.6
.6
.5
.6
.7
1.1
1.1
1.0
1.2
1.0
.7
.8
.2
.9
.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
4.3
3.9
2.6
4.6
5.7
4.1
3.8
2.9
4.2
5.5
4.0
3.8
2.5
4.2
5.8
1.2
1.2
.7
1.4
1.0
.7
.1
.6
.1
.9
1.1
1.1
1.1
.2
.8
.2
.5
.1
1.7
1.3
.9
1.5
3.5
1.2
.2
.5
.4
.6
.6
.5
.6
.8
.5
.1
.2
.1
1.0
1.0
.7
1.1
1.0
.6
.0
.4
.2
.8
.9
.4
.9
.4
.7
.2
.6
.0
4.4
4.1
3.0
4.6
5.6
3.6
.7
2.2
.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
4.4
4.1
3.1
4.6
5.6
3.3
.7
1.8
.7
4.2
3.9
3.2
4.3
5.5
3.1
.6
1.7
.8
4.1
3.7
2.5
4.1
5.7
2.9
.5
1.8
.7
3.3
3.2
2.5
2.8
2.0
3.1
2.1
1.9
1.0
1.6
1.3
2.0
2.4
2.3
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.5
2.3
2.7
2.0
2.5
1.7
2.3
3.6
2.7
3.5
3.4
2.0
3.0
2.0
1.4
.4
1.3
.7
1.6
3.4
2.6
3.4
2.7
3.1
2.7
2.6
2.7
2.3
2.6
1.5
2.0
3 Limited
most recent
4 Limited
most recent
4.4
3.3
to major collective bargaining units of 1.000 workers or more. The
data are preliminary.
to major collective bargaining units of 5.000 workers or more. The
data are preliminary.
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Employment Data
4. Employment status of the total population, by sex, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
1986
1985
A nn u al average
E m p loym en t statu s
1984
1985
Sept.
O ct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
TO TAL
N o n institu tion a l pop ulatio n ' , 2 ........
L ab or fo rc e 2 .........................................
P articipa tio n rate 3 ....................
T o ta l em p loye d 2 .............................
E m p loym en t-p op u latio n
ra tio 4 ..........................................
R esid en t A rm e d Fo rce s 1 ........
C ivilian e m p lo y e d ........................
A gricultu re ..................................
N o na g ricu ltural in d u s trie s ......
U n e m p lo y e d ......................................
U n em ploym e n t rate 5 ..............
N o t in labor fo rc e ..............................
178,080
115,241
64.7
106,702
179,912
117,167
65.1
108,856
180,304
117,522
65.2
109,251
180,470
117,814
65.3
109,513
180,642
117,832
65.2
109,671
180,810
117,927
65.2
109,904
181,361
118,477
65.3
110,646
181,512
118,779
65.4
110,252
181,678
118,900
65.4
110,481
181,843
118,929
65.4
110,587
181,998
119,351
65.6
110,797
182,183
119,796
65.8
111,353
182,354
119,744
65.7
111,554
182,525
119,879
65.7
111,852
182,713
119,936
65.6
111,607
59.9
60.5
1,706
107,150
3,179
103,971
8,312
7.1
62,744
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
6 2,656
60.7
1,702
107,969
3,070
104,899
8,161
6.9
6 2,810
60.8
1,698
108,206
3,151
105,055
8,023
6.8
62,883
61.0
1,691
108,955
3,299
105,655
7,831
6.6
62,885
60.7
1,691
108,561
3,096
105,465
8,527
7.2
62,733
60.8
1,693
108,788
3,285
105,503
8,419
7.1
62,778
60.8
1,695
108,892
3,222
105,670
8,342
7.0
62,914
60.9
1,687
109,110
3,160
105,950
8,554
7.2
62,647
61.1
1,680
109,673
3,165
106,508
8,443
7.0
62,387
61.2
1,672
109,882
3,112
106,769
8,190
6.8
62,610
61.3
1,697
110,155
3,048
107,107
8,027
6.7
62,646
61.1
1,716
109,891
3,121
106,770
8,329
6.9
62,777
86,025
86,217
86,293
86,374
86,459
66,074
76.6
61,629
66,227
76.7
61,656
66,176
76.6
61,731
66,139
76.5
61,793
86,882
66,679
76.7
62,458
86,954
66,838
76.9
62,243
87,035
66,864
76.8
62,288
87,120
66,757
76.6
62,254
87,195
66,943
76.8
62,190
87,288
66,964
76.7
62,322
87,373
66,936
76.6
62,365
87,460
66,944
76.5
62,515
87,556
67,094
76.6
62,483
1,697
105,005
3,321
101,685
8,539
7.4
62,839
M e n , 16 y e a rs a n d o v e r
N o n institu tion a l pop ulatio n
2 ........
L ab or fo rc e 2 .........................................
85,156
65,386
Participation rate 3 ..................
Total employed 2 ..........................
Employment-population
ratio 4 ......................................
Resident Armed Forces 1 .......
Civilian employed ......................
Unem ployed..................................
Unemployment rate 6 ............
76.8
60,642
65,967
76.7
61,447
71.2
1,551
59,091
4,744
7.3
71.4
1,556
59,891
4,521
6.9
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
71.9
71.6
71.6
71.5
71.3
71.4
71.4
1,539
60,919
4,221
6.3
1,539
60,704
4,595
6.9
1,540
60,748
4,577
6.8
1,541
60,713
4,503
6.7
1,533
60,657
4,754
7.1
1,525
60,797
4,642
6.9
1,518
60,847
4,571
6.8
71.5
1,541
60,974
4,429
6.6
1,560
60,923
4,611
6.9
92,924
49,855
53.7
46,061
93,886
51,200
54.5
47,409
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
94,479
51,797
54.8
48,187
94,558
51,941
54.9
48,009
94,643
52,036
55.0
48,194
94,723
52,172
55.1
48,333
94,803
52,408
55.3
48,608
94,895
52,832
55.7
49,031
94,981
52,808
55.6
49,189
95,065
52,935
55.7
49,337
95,156
52,842
55.5
49,125
49.6
146
45,915
3,794
7.6
50.5
150
47,259
3,791
7.4
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
51.0
152
48,035
3,610
7.0
50.8
152
47,857
3,932
7.6
50.9
153
48,041
3,842
7.4
51.0
154
48,179
3,839
7,
51.3
154
48,454
3,800
7.3
51.7
155
48,876
3,801
7.2
51.8
154
49,035
3,619
6.9
51.9
156
49,181
3,598
6.8
51.6
156
48,969
3,717
7.0
71.4
W o m e n , 16 y e a rs a n d o v e r
Noninstitutional population 1, 2 .......
Labor force2 ....................................
Participation rate 3 .................
Total employed2 ..........................
Employment-population
ratio 4 .....................................
Resident Armed Forces 1 ......
Civilian employed .....................
Unem ployed.................................
Unemployment rate 6 ...........
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.
70
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
4 Total employed as a percent of the noninstitutional population.
5 Unemployment as a percent of the labor force (including
Forces).
the resident Armed
5. Employment status of the civilian population, by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, monthly data seasonally
adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
Annual average
1986
1985
Employment status
1984
1985
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
TOTAL
Civilian noninstitutional
p o p u la tio n '.......................................
Civilian labor fo rc e ..........................
Participation rate ....................
Employed ......................................
Employment-population
ratio2 .......................................
Unem ployed..................................
Unemployment r a te ...............
Not in labor force ...........................
176,383
113,544
64.4
105,005
178,206
115,461
64.8
107,150
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
179,670
116,786
65.0
108,955
179,821
117,088
65.1
108,561
179,985
117,207
65.1
108,788
180,148
117,234
65.1
108,892
180,311
117,664
65.3
109,110
180,503
118,116
65.4
109,673
180,682
118,072
65.3
109,882
180,828
118,182
65.4
110,155
180,997
118,220
65.3
109,891
59.5
8,539
7.5
62,839
60.1
8,312
7.2
62,744
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
60.6
7,831
6.7
62,885
60.4
8,527
7.3
62,733
60.4
8,419
7.2
62,778
60.4
8,342
7.1
62,914
60.5
8,554
7.3
62,647
60.8
8,443
7.1
62,387
60.8
8,190
6.9
62,610
60.9
8,027
6.8
62,646
60.7
8,329
7.0
62,777
76,219
59,701
78.3
55,769
77,195
60,277
78.1
56,562
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
78,101
61,212
78.4
57,706
78,171
61,183
78.3
57,384
78,236
61,268
78.3
57,459
78,309
61,053
78.0
57,391
78,387
61,208
78.1
57,312
78,484
61,387
78.2
57,560
78,586
61,323
78.0
57,499
78,634
61,235
77.9
57,607
78,722
61,345
77.9
57,547
73.2
2,418
53,351
3,932
6.6
73.3
2,278
54,284
3,715
6.2
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
73.9
2,349
55,356
3,507
5.7
73.4
2,258
55,127
3,799
6.2
73.4
2,411
55,048
3,809
6.2
73.3
2,347
55,043
3,663
6.0
73.1
2,278
55,034
3,897
6.4
73.3
2,320
55,241
3,827
6.2
73.2
2,266
55,233
3,824
6.2
73.3
2,173
55,435
3,628
5.9
73.1
2,272
55,275
3,798
6.2
85,429
45,900
53.7
42,793
86,506
47,283
54.7
44,154
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
87,112
47,895
55.0
44,980
87,185
47,921
55.0
44,710
87,263
47,952
55.0
44,797
87,355
48,107
55.1
45,009
87,444
48,409
55.4
45,284
87,547
48,805
55.7
45,701
87,629
48,916
55.8
45,918
87,689
48,989
55.9
45,999
87,779
48,922
55.7
45,879
50.1
595
42,198
3,107
6.8
51.0
596
43,558
3,129
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
51.6
696
44,284
2,915
6.1
51.3
593
44,117
3,211
6.7
51.3
598
44,199
3,155
6.6
51.5
576
44,433
3,097
6.4
51.8
609
44,675
3,125
6.5
52.2
565
45,136
3,104
6.4
52.4
608
45,309
2,998
6.1
52.5
627
45,372
2,990
6.1
52.3
610
45,269
3,042
6.2
14,735
7,943
53.9
6,444
14,506
7,901
54.5
6,434
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
14,458
7,678
53.1
6,269
14,465
7,984
55.2
6,467
14,485
7,987
55.1
6,532
14,484
8,074
55.7
6,492
14,480
8,047
55.6
6,515
14,472
7,923
54.7
6,411
14,467
7,833
54.1
6,465
14,505
7,958
54.9
6,549
14,496
7,953
54.9
6,465
43.7
309
6,135
1,499
18.9
44.4
305
6,129
1,468
18.6
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
43.4
254
6,015
1,409
18.4
44.7
246
6,221
1,517
19.0
45.1
276
6,256
1,455
18.2
44.8
298
6,194
1,582
19.6
45.0
274
6,241
1,532
19.0
44.3
280
6,131
1,512
19.1
44.7
238
6,227
1,368
17.5
45.2
249
6,300
1,409
17.7
44.6
239
6,226
1,488
18.7
152,347
98,492
64.6
92,120
153,679
99,926
65.0
93,736
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
154,784
100,961
65.2
95,165
154,889
101,232
65.4
94,803
155,005
101,248
65.3
94,958
155,122
101,249
65.3
95,081
155,236
101,515
65.4
95,180
155,376
101,975
65.6
95,731
155,502
101,922
65.5
95,760
155,604
102,189
65.7
96,271
155,723
102,127
65.6
95,953
60.5
6,372
6.5
61.0
6,191
6.2
61.1
6,124
6.1
61.2
6,164
6.1
61.3
5,971
5.9
61.3
5,948
5.9
61.5
5,796
5.7
61.2
6,429
6.4
61.3
6,290
6.2
61.3
6,168
6.1
61.3
6,335
6.2
61.6
6,244
6.1
61.6
6,162
6.0
61.9
5,918
5.8
61.6
6,174
6.0
19,348
12,033
62.2
10,119
19,664
12,364
62.9
10,501
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
19,837
12,548
63.3
10,737
19,863
12,545
63.2
10,690
19,889
12,656
63.6
10,791
19,916
12,740
64.0
10,856
19,943
12,781
64.1
10,889
19,974
12,754
63.9
10,825
20,002
12,601
63.0
10,836
20,028
12,473
62.3
10,654
20,056
12,630
63.0
10,757
52.3
1,914
15.9
53.4
1,864
15.1
53.2
1,878
15.2
53.5
1,846
14.9
53.1
1,939
15.6
53.8
1,865
14.9
54.1
1,810
14.4
53.8
1,855
14.8
54.3
1,865
14.7
54.5
1,884
14.8
54.6
1,892
14.8
54.2
1,929
15.1
54.2
1,766
14.0
53.2
1,819
14.6
53.6
1,873
14.8
Men, 20 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional
p o p u la tio n '.......................................
Civilian labor fo rc e ..........................
Participation rate ....................
E m ployed......................................
Employment-population
ratio2 .......................................
A g riculture..................................
Nonagricultural industries........
Unem ployed..................................
Unemployment r a te ...............
Women, 20 years ond over
Civilian noninstitutional
p o p u la tio n '.......................................
Civilian labor fo rc e ..........................
Participation rate ....................
Employed ......................................
Employment-population
ratio2 .......................................
A g riculture..................................
Nonagricultural industries........
Unem ployed..................................
Unemployment r a te ...............
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian noninstitutional
p o p u la tio n '.......................................
Civilian labor fo rc e ..........................
Participation rate ....................
Employed ......................................
E mployment-population
ratio2 .......................................
A g riculture..................................
Nonagricultural industries........
Unem ployed..................................
Unemployment ra te ...............
White
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 .......................................
Civilian labor fo rc e ..........................
Participation rate ....................
Employed ......................................
Employment-population
ratio2 .......................................
Unem ployed..................................
Unemployment r a te ...............
Black
Civilian noninstitutional
p o p u la tio n '.......................................
Civilian labor fo rc e ..........................
Participation rate ....................
Employed ......................................
Employment-population
ratio2 .......................................
Unem ployed..................................
Unemployment r a te ...............
See footnotes at end of table.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
71
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Employment Data
5. Continued— Employment status of the civilian population, by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, monthly data seasonally
adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
Annual average
1985
1986
Employment status
1984
1985
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
11,478
7,451
64.9
6,651
11,915
7,698
64.6
6,888
12,004
7,844
65.3
7,026
12,040
7,854
65.2
6,982
12,075
7,782
64.4
6,953
12,111
7,772
64.2
6,962
12,148
7,787
64.1
6,998
12,184
7,943
65.2
6,969
12,219
7,920
64.8
7,105
12,255
7,975
65.1
7,144
12,290
8,002
65.1
7,123
12,326
8,110
65.8
7,251
12,362
8,123
65.7
7,274
12,397
8,102
65.4
7,213
12,432
8,170
65.7
7,264
57.9
800
10.7
57.8
811
10.5
58.5
818
10.4
58.0
872
11.1
57.6
829
10.7
57.5
810
10.4
57.6
789
10.1
57.2
974
12.3
58.2
815
10.3
58.3
832
10.4
58.0
878
11.0
58.8
858
10.6
58.8
849
10.5
58.2
889
11.0
58.4
906
11.1
Sept.
Hispanic origin
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 .......................................
Civilian labor fo rc e ..........................
Participation rate ....................
Employed ......................................
Employment-population
ratio2 .......................................
Unem ployed.............................
Unemployment ra te ...............
The population figures are not seasonally adjusted.
2 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
in both the white and black population groups.
Selected employment indicators, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
Annual average
1986
1985
Selected categories
1984
1985
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
CHARACTERISTIC
Civilian employed, 16 years and
o v e r.................................................
M e n ..............................................
Women ........................................
Married men, spouse present ..
Married women, spouse
p re s e n t.......................................
Women who maintain families .
105,005
59,091
45,915
39,056
107,150
59,891
47,259
39,248
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
108,955
60,919
48,035
39,615
108,561
60,704
47,857
39,382
108,788
60,748
48,041
39,365
108,892
60,713
48,179
39,555
109,110
60,657
48,454
39,614
109,673
60,797
48,876
39,626
109,882
60,847
49,035
39,611
110,155
60,974
49,181
39,716
109,891
60,923
48,969
39,623
25,636
5,465
26,336
5,597
26,531
5,556
26,702
5,514
26,721
5,605
26,804
5,693
26,958
5,702
26,593
5,733
26,656
5,771
26,802
5,812
26,920
5,718
27,427
5,668
27,523
5,829
27,438
5,826
27,203
5,927
1,555
1,553
213
1,535
1,458
185
1,438
1,414
179
1,465
1,436
172
1,537
1,361
158
1,572
1,409
164
1,673
1,492
163
1,519
1,444
156
1,689
1,453
172
1,587
1,475
180
1,480
1,486
186
1,498
1,504
154
1,486
1,427
171
1,469
1,379
178
1,501
1,472
157
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
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
97,911
16,418
81,494
1,256
80,238
7,655
273
97,516
16,104
81,412
1,197
80,216
7,669
270
97,698
16,095
81,604
1,213
80,390
7,644
240
97,831
16,187
81,643
1,321
80,322
7,571
253
97,994
16,325
81,669
1,275
80,394
7,757
229
98,372
16,387
81,984
1,279
80,705
7,807
235
98,206
16,647
81,559
1,243
80,317
8,081
254
98,667
16,479
82,188
1,261
80,927
7,982
282
98,738
16,307
82,432
1,234
81,198
7,927
277
5,744
2,430
2,948
13,169
5,590
2,430
2,819
13,489
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
5,543
2,364
2,883
13,958
5,377
2,369
2,703
13,817
5,538
2,330
2,953
13,754
5,923
2,603
2,974
13,933
5,980
2,659
2,893
13,638
5,537
2,434
2,810
14,268
5,399
2,484
2,624
13,991
5,443
2,411
2,711
14,023
5,544
2,496
2,764
13,860
5,512
2,291
2,866
12,704
5,334
2,273
2,730
13,038
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
5,275
2,208
2,776
13,441
5,158
2,224
2,636
13,369
5,301
2,159
2,861
13,285
5,621
2,430
2,849
13,599
5,673
2,523
2,790
13,191
5,320
2,308
2,724
13,779
5,191
2,323
2,579
13,656
5,259
2,286
2,660
13,683
5,298
2,327
2,712
13,468
MAJOR INDUSTRY AND CLASS
OF WORKER
Agriculture:
Wage and salary w o rk e rs ........
Self-employed w o rk e rs .............
Unpaid family w o rk e rs ..............
Nonagricultural industries:
Wage and salary w o rk e rs ........
Government .............................
Private in dustries.....................
Private households..............
O th e r ......................................
Self-employed w o rke rs.............
Unpaid family w o rk e rs ..............
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 .......................
1 Excludes persons “ with a job but not at work” during the survey period for such
72
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
reasons as vacation, illness, or industrial disputes.
7.
Selected unemployment indicators, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Unemployment rates)
Annual average
1986
1985
Selected categories
1984
1985
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Total, all civilian w o rke rs .............................................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 y e a rs ...................................
Men, 20 years and over ........................................
Women, 20 years and o v e r...................................
7.5
18.9
6.6
6.8
7.2
18.6
6.2
6.6
7.1
18.1
6.1
6.7
7.1
19.8
6.1
6.4
7.0
18.4
6.0
6.4
6.9
18.8
5.9
6.2
6.7
18.4
5.7
6.1
7.3
19.0
6.2
6.7
7.2
18.2
6.2
6.6
7.1
19.6
6.0
6.4
7.3
19.0
6.4
6.5
7.1
19.1
6.2
6.4
6.9
17.5
6.2
6.1
6.8
17.7
5.9
6.1
7.0
18.7
6.2
6.2
White, total ...............................................................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 y e a rs ................................
Men, 16 to 19 years ......................................
Women, 16 to 19 y e a rs .................................
Men, 20 years and over .....................................
Women, 20 years and o v e 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
6.1
15.3
16.2
14.4
5.2
5.7
6.1
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
5.7
14.9
14.7
15.1
5.0
5.3
6.4
16.2
16.5
15.8
5.4
5.9
6.2
14.5
15.3
13.7
5.5
5.8
6.1
16.4
17.2
15.6
5.2
5.5
6.2
16.0
17.3
14.7
5.5
5.5
6.1
16.2
17.8
14.4
5.4
5.4
6.0
15.0
15.3
14.7
5.5
5.3
5.8
15.2
16.7
13.5
5.0
5.2
6.0
16.1
17.0
15.2
5.4
5.3
Black, total ...............................................................
Both sexes, 16 to 19 y e a rs ................................
Men, 16 to 19 y e a rs ......................................
Women, 16 to 19 y e a rs.................................
Men, 20 years and over .....................................
Women, 20 years and o v e r ................................
15.9
42.7
42.7
42.6
14.3
13.5
15.1
40.2
41.0
39.2
13.2
13.1
15.2
38.8
41.1
36.1
13.3
13.5
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
14.4
41.9
41.3
42.4
12.7
12.0
14.8
39.1
38.7
39.5
13.3
12.5
14.7
43.7
44.1
43.4
12.6
12.2
14.8
42.6
41.4
43.7
12.6
12.5
14.8
40.8
40.8
40.8
12.7
12.8
15.1
40.2
38.5
41.9
13.3
12.8
14.0
38.6
41.6
35.1
12.7
11.9
14.6
39.5
37.4
41.8
13.2
12.5
14.8
38.3
38.9
37.8
13.7
12.5
Hispanic origin, to ta l...............................................
10.7
10.5
10.4
11.1
10.7
10.4
10.1
12.3
10.3
10.4
11.0
10.6
10.5
11.0
11.1
Married men, spouse p re se n t...............................
Married women, spouse p re s e n t..........................
Women who maintain fa m ilie s ..............................
Full-time workers .....................................................
Part-time workers ...................................................
Unemployed 15 weeks and o v e r..........................
Labor force time lost1 ............................................
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
4.3
5.6
11.3
6.8
9.3
2.0
8.1
4.2
5.3
10.4
6.8
9.6
2.0
7.9
4.3
5.5
10.0
6.7
8.8
1.9
7.9
4.3
5.3
9.4
6.6
9.0
1.9
7.8
4.3
5.1
9.9
6.4
8.4
1.8
7.6
4.5
5.5
9.9
6.9
9.4
2.0
8.1
4.5
5.6
10.1
6.9
9.1
1.9
8.1
4.2
5.3
9.4
6.7
9.6
1.8
8.1
4.5
5.4
10.2
7.0
9.2
1.9
8.3
4.5
5.2
10.1
6.7
9.1
2.0
8.1
4.4
5.3
9.2
6.6
9.0
1.9
7.7
4.1
5.1
10.3
6.4
9.3
1.9
7.7
4.2
5.0
10.1
6.7
9.3
2.0
8.0
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
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
6.7
10.9
12.9
7.0
7.0
7.1
4.3
7.2
5.2
3.4
10.9
7.2
9.2
13.2
7.2
7.4
7.0
5.3
7.8
5.9
3.8
14.3
7.2
10.4
13.0
7.2
6.8
7.7
6.1
7.6
5.7
4.0
11.9
7.2
12.8
12.0
6.8
6.8
6.8
5.6
8.1
5.9
3.5
13.4
7.3
13.7
13.3
7.5
7.3
7.7
5.3
8.1
5.5
3.7
15.8
7.1
17.6
12.1
7.3
7.1
7.5
5.5
7.7
5.4
3.6
13.2
7.2
17.0
13.2
6.9
6.7
7.2
6.1
7.8
5.7
3.2
11.6
6.9
16.7
12.2
6.8
6.9
6.7
4.6
7.4
5.7
3.2
13.8
7.0
13.3
12.7
7.0
6.5
7.8
4.7
7.6
5.6
3.5
13.5
CHARACTERISTIC
INDUSTRY
Nonagricultural private wage and salary workers ....
M in in g ........................................................................
Construction .............................................................
Manufacturing ..........................................................
Durable g o o d s .......................................................
Nondurable goods ................................................
Transportation and public utilities ........................
Wholesale and retail tra d e ....................................
Finance and service in dustries.............................
Government workers ....................................................
Agricultural wage and salary workers .......................
1 Aggregate hours lost by the unemployed and persons on part time for economic
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
reasons as a percent of potentially available labor force hours.
73
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
8.
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Employment Data
Unemployment rates by sex and age, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Civilian workers)
1986
average
Sex and age
1984
Jan.
Dec.
Nov.
Oct.
Sept.
1985
Apr.
Mar.
Feb.
Sept.
Aug.
July
June
May
Total, 16 years and over..........
16 to 24 years........................
16 to 19 years.....................
16 to 17 years ..................
18 to 19 years ..................
20 to 24 years.....................
25 years and over..................
25 to 54 years ..................
55 years and over............
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
7.1
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
6.7
13.0
18.4
20.9
16.4
10.4
5.1
5.4
3.9
7.3
13.6
19.0
21.8
17.2
10.8
5.7
5.9
4.4
7.2
13.2
18.2
19.4
17.1
10.6
5.7
5.9
4.3
7.1
13.9
19.6
20.9
18.9
10.9
5.4
5.8
3.9
7.3
14.2
19.0
21.1
17.5
11.7
5.5
5.9
3.6
7.1
13.5
19.1
20.6
17.9
10.7
5.6
5.9
3.7
6.9
13.0
17.5
19.4
15.7
10.8
5.4
5.8
3.8
6.8
12.8
17.7
19.6
16.6
10.2
5.3
5.6
3.7
7.0
13.8
18.7
20.3
17.4
11.2
5.4
5.6
4.1
Men, 16 years and over......
16 to 24 years ..................
16 to 19 years................
16 to 17 years.............
18 to 19 years.............
20 to 24 years................
25 years and over............
25 to 54 years.............
55 years and over.......
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
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
6.5
12.8
18.2
20.9
16.2
10.3
5.0
5.3
3.9
7.0
13.6
19.3
23.2
16.6
10.7
5.5
5.7
4.4
7.0
13.6
18.9
20.0
17.8
11.0
5.5
5.7
4.3
6.9
14.5
20.2
21.2
19.7
11.6
5.2
5.5
3.9
7.3
15.0
20.4
21.6
19.6
12.2
5.4
5.8
3.8
7.1
14.0
20.1
19.4
20.4
11.0
5.5
5.8
4.1
7.0
13.5
18.2
20.0
16.1
11.2
5.5
5.8
3.9
6.8
13.3
19.2
21.0
18.1
10.3
5.3
5.5
4.1
7.0
14.5
19.4
21.9
17.4
12.0
5.3
5.5
4.3
Women, 16 years and over
16 to 24 years.................
16 to 19 years..............
16 to 17 years ...........
18 to 19 years ...........
20 to 24 years ..............
25 years and over..........
25 to 54 years ..........
55 years and over.....
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
7.5
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
7.0
13.2
18.5
20.8
16.5
10.5
5.3
5.6
3.8
7.6
13.6
18.6
20.2
17.7
11.0
5.9
6.2
4.4
7.4
12.7
17.5
18.7
16.3
10.1
5.9
6.3
4.4
7.4
13.2
19.0
20.5
18.1
10.0
5.8
6.2
3.8
7.3
13.3
17.6
20.5
15.3
11.1
5.7
6.1
3.4
7.2
13.0
18.0
21.9
15.1
10.4
5.7
6.1
3.1
6.9
12.5
16.6
18.7
15.3
10.4
5.4
5.7
3.6
6.8
12.1
16.0
18.1
15.0
10.1
5.4
5.8
3.1
7.1
12.9
17.9
18.5
17.3
10.3
5.5
5.8
3.8
9.
Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
1986
1985
Annual average
Reason for unemployment
1984
New entrants .................................................................
Sept.
1985
Nov.
Oct.
Apr.
Mar.
Feb.
Jan.
Dec.
Sept.
Aug.
July
June
May
3,831
990
2,841
978
2,232
1,000
4,044
1,014
3,030
1,043
2,118
1,044
4,421
1,171
3,250
823
2,184
1,110
4,139
1,157
2,982
877
2,256
1,039
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
3,776
1,163
2,613
996
2,066
1,025
4,162
1,152
3,010
1,001
2,292
1,097
4,246
1,164
3,082
1,002
2,197
1,000
4,034
1,028
3,006
1,110
2,191
1,059
4,311
1,133
3,178
975
2,217
1,062
4,335
1,066
3,269
1,013
2,064
1,059
3,937
1,079
2,858
1,034
2,223
965
51.8
13.7
38.1
9.6
25.6
13.0
49.8
13.9
35.9
10.6
27.1
12.5
50.2
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
48.0
14.8
33.2
12.7
26.3
13.0
48.7
13.5
35.2
11.7
26.8
12.8
50.3
13.8
36.5
11.9
26.0
11.8
48.1
12.2
35.8
13.2
26.1
12.6
50.3
13.2
37.1
11.4
25.9
12.4
51.2
12.6
38.6
12.0
24.4
12.5
48.3
13.2
35.0
12.7
27.2
11.8
47.6
12.3
35.3
12.2
27.8
12.4
49.0
12.3
36.7
12.6
25.7
12.7
3.9
.7
1.9
1.0
3.6
.8
2.0
.9
3.6
.7
2.0
.8
3.5
.8
1.9
.9
3.5
.7
1.9
.9
3.4
.8
1.9
.9
3.2
.9
1.8
.9
3.6
.9
2.0
.9
3.6
.9
1.9
.9
3.4
.9
1.9
.9
3.7
.8
1.9
.9
3.7
.9
1.7
.9
3.3
.9
1.9
.8
3.2
.8
1.9
.8
3.4
.9
1.8
.9
PERCENT OF UNEMPLOYED
New entrants ..............................................................
PERCENT OF
CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE
Job losers ......................................................................
Job leavers ....................................................................
Reentrants .....................................................................
New entrants .................................................................
10.
Duration of unemployment, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
1986
1985
Annual average
Weeks of unemployment
1984
1985
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
3,628
2,685
2,135
1,001
1,134
3,705
2,737
2,209
1,072
1,137
3,384
2,708
2,320
1,036
1,284
3,394
2,486
2,256
1,066
1,190
3,427
2,379
2,295
1,086
1,209
3,407
2,533
2,405
1,114
1,291
14.3
6.5
14.4
6.6
15.2
7.3
15.0
7.1
15.8
7.2
15.6
27 weeks and over ............................................
3,350
2,451
2,737
1,104
1,634
3,498
2,509
2,305
1,025
1,280
3,484
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
3,311
2,441
2,056
969
1,087
3,562
2,622
2,340
1,149
1,191
3,589
2,640
2,258
1,099
1,159
Median duration in w e e k s ....................................
18.2
7.9
15.6
6.8
15.5
6.9
15.4
7.0
15.7
6.9
15.4
6.9
14.9
6.8
15.3
6.9
14.4
6.8
Digitized for74
FRASER
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
11.
Unemployment rates of civilian workers by State, data not seasonally adjusted
Aug.
1985
Aug.
1986
Alabama....................
Alaska ...........................................
Arizona...................................................
Arkansas.................................................
California.................
8.4
7.9
6.9
7.7
7.3
10.1
10.2
6.9
8.5
6.7
Colorado .........................
Connecticut ........................
Delaware...................
District of Columbia................
Florida ............................
5.5
48
6.2
8.4
5.8
6.6
3.9
4.1
8.4
5.9
Georgia ......................
Hawaii...........................
Idaho .............................
Illinois .....................
Indiana .............................
6.6
5.7
7.4
8.8
7.1
5.9
47
82
7.9
7.1
4.8
8.5
11.8
6.8
5.3
7.5
12.3
State
Nebraska...........................
Nevada ....................................
New Hampshire.........................
New Jersey ....................
Iowa...........................
Kansas ................
Kentucky.........................................
Louisiana.....................................................
Maine.......................
9.7
5.1
10.4
6.1
6.4
4.9
7.3
3.6
6.5
3.9
5.2
2.9
4.4
8.6
4.5
9.0
5.9
5.1
5.5
8.8
6.8
7.8
7.3
4.5
8.0
9.2
South Carolina............................................
6.7
4.4
7.7
7.0
5.0
5.9
4.1
9.1
5.3
4.0
5.4
7.1
7.6
Texas ...............................
Utah .....................................
4.0
3.7
7.9
43
12.7
6.3
NOTE: Some data in this table may differ from data
published elsewhere because of the continual updating of the
Aug.
1986
Ohio ...............................
4.4
4.2
3.7
Aug.
1985
5.8
4.9
Vermont.......................
Maryland ......................
Massachusetts...............
Michigan................
Minnesota ...............
Mississippi...................
Missouri............................
12.
State
3.5
11.6
6.1
6,
8.0
database,
Employment of workers on nonagricultural payrolls by State, data not seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
Aug., 1985
July, 1986
Aug., 1986p
A la b a m a .................
Alaska ....................
A riz o n a ...................
Arkansas ................
C a lifornia................
1,425.3
249.2
1,262.3
805.6
10,948.1
1,446.5
243.3
1,331.6
817.3
11,160.2
1,436.5
243.5
1,335.4
823.4
11,173.1
Colorado ................
Connecticut ...........
D elaw are................
District of Columbia
Florida .....................
1,419.5
1,569.8
295.9
645.1
4,367.5
1,444.3
1,605.5
298.6
669.4
4,502.1
1,447.9
1,607.6
301.7
667.1
4,508.2
Georgia ...................
H a w aii......................
Idaho .......................
Illinois ......................
Indiana ....................
2,583.6
423.7
341.2
4,788.7
2,185.9
2,634.0
431.3
335.0
4,807.2
2,253.1
Io w a .........................
Kansas ....................
K e n tu cky.................
Louisiana.................
M ain e .......................
1,072.3
968.1
1,248.3
1,589.9
476.4
1,063.4
961.9
1,272.8
1,511.3
477.9
Maryland .................
M assachusetts......
M ichigan..................
M in n e so ta ..............
M ississippi..............
M issouri...................
M o ntana..................
1,900.5
2,928.3
3,506.7
1,879.0
831.6
2,111.2
280.9
1,949.3
2,959.4
3,549.3
1,899.0
840.7
2,153.9
274.1
Aug., 1985
July, 1986
Aug., 1986p
N e bra ska..........................................................
Nevada .............................................................
New Ham pshire..............................................
649.4
451.7
478.1
653.7
467.7
490.5
654.7
468.6
494.7
New J e rs e y ......................................................
New Mexico .....................................................
New Y o rk ..........................................................
North Carolina ................................................
North Dakota ...................................................
3,470.5
516.4
7,799.1
2,623.3
252.3
3,563.8
520.2
7,927.9
2,681.9
249.5
3,563.6
521.4
7,912.7
2,697.3
248.6
Ohio ..................................................................
O klaho m a.........................................................
2,651.4 O re g o n ..............................................................
431.5 Pennsylvania...................................................
335.7 Rhode Isla n d ...................................................
4,825.7
2,263.7 South C a rolina................................................
South D a k o ta ...................................................
1,063.7 Tennessee .......................................................
989.7 Texas ................................................................
1,275.4 Utah ..................................................................
1,500.6
485.6 V e rm o n t............................................................
V irg in ia ..............................................................
1,942.1 Washington ................................................
2,966.4 West V irg inia................................................
3,577.9 W iscon sin.........................................................
1,906.3
835.0 W yom ing...........................................................
2,162.9 Puerto Rico ......................................................
273.1 Virgin Islands ...................................................
4,385.8
1,173.2
1,034.7
4,756.4
426.1
4,515.6
1,149.5
1,046.4
4,808.8
424.7
4,523.9
1,139.3
1,059.4
4,833.3
430.6
1,301.1
250.4
1,875.1
6,677.0
626.9
1,339.0
251.5
1,929.3
6,664.5
632.7
1,345.8
252.0
1,943.8
6,653.4
632.7
223.9
2,446.9
1,720.9
600.3
1,991.9
223.0
2,534.2
1,761.0
603.3
2,020.7
224.6
2,536.5
1,773.0
597.1
2,032.1
213.5
673.4
36.8
203.0
725.9
37.4
200.8
697.2
37.2
p = preliminary
NOTE: Some data in this table may differ from data published elsewhere
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
State
because of the continual updating of the database.
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
13.
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Employment Data
Employment of workers on nonagricultural payrolls by industry, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
1986
1985
Annual average
Industry
May
June
July
Aug.p
Sept.p
1984
1985
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
TOTAL ..........................................
PRIVATE SECTOR ........................
94,496
78,472
97,614
81,199
98,128
81,592
98,428
81,853
98,666
82,073
98,910
82,281
99,296
82,659
99,429
82,748
99,484
82,785
99,783
83,072
99,918
83,198
99,843
83,161
00,105
83,508
00,261
83,641
100,368
83,746
GOODS PR O D UC IN G ......................
Mining ...............................................
Oil and gas extraction ..................
24,727
966
607
24,930
930
585
24,843
917
577
24,903
913
571
24,931
907
565
24,977
901
560
25,101
897
556
25,038
880
541
24,945
852
518
25,038
821
488
24,965
790
461
24,854
772
446
24,869
768
442
24,886
752
431
24,843
745
426
Construction ...................................
General building contractors.......
4,383
1,161
4,687
1,251
4,728
1,267
4,754
1,276
4,765
1,283
4,787
1,287
4,901
1,330
4,864
1,320
4,838
1,298
4,972
1,315
4,974
1,314
4,947
1,299
4,980
1,299
5,012
1,305
5,014
1,299
M anufacturing.................................
Production w o rk e rs .......................
19,378
13,285
19,314
13,130
19,198
13,029
19,236
13,059
19,259
13,074
19,289
13,100
19,303
13,111
19,294
13,097
19,255
13,061
19,245
13,060
19,201
13,025
19,135
12,979
19,121
12,961
19,122
12,966
19,084
12,942
Durable g o o d s ...............................
Production w o rk e rs .......................
11,505
7,739
11,516
7,660
11,421
7,572
11,447
7,594
11,453
7,594
11,461
7,595
11,466
7,595
11,455
7,579
11,418
7,545
11,415
7,547
11,378
7,519
11,307
7,462
11,294
7,441
11,296
7,445
11,258
7,422
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
p roducts..........................................
Fabricated metal products............
704
487
593
857
700
493
591
813
702
491
590
795
705
493
591
797
708
493
591
801
710
494
593
803
716
494
596
798
716
494
597
795
715
493
594
787
719
494
600
785
719
496
599
780
721
496
597
761
724
498
593
/58
729
499
593
742
732
496
595
741
334
1,463
305
1,468
304
1,459
304
1,460
302
1,459
303
1,456
300
1,455
299
1,452
293
1,450
291
1,451
288
1,447
286
1,440
285
1,428
265
1,430
264
1,432
2,198
2,182
2,147
2,146
2,139
2,133
2,137
2,127
2,118
2,111
2,100
2,089
2,079
2,075
2,048
2,208
1,901
862
714
2,207
1,971
876
723
2,179
1,970
871
723
2,181
1,987
873
722
2,179
1,993
870
723
2,182
1,998
872
725
2,182
1,996
867
724
2,181
1,998
864
725
2,177
1,989
858
726
2,177
1,986
854
723
2,175
1,972
839
721
2,143
1,974
839
717
2,169
1,969
824
713
2,169
1,978
831
716
2,164
1,973
827
714
382
369
365
365
367
367
368
370
369
369
369
369
363
365
363
7,837
5,516
7,830
5,513
7,823
5,506
7,828
5,517
7,827
5,520
7,826
5,521
7,826
5,520
Machinery, except electrica l.........
Electrical and electronic
equipm ent.......................................
Transportation equipm ent.............
Motor vehicles and equipment ....
Instruments and related products
Miscellaneous manufacturing
in du strie s........................................
Nondurable g o o d s .........................
Production w o rkers.........................
7,873
5,546
7,798
5,470
7,777
5,457
7,789
5,465
7,806
5,480
7,828
5,505
7,837
5,516
7,839
5,518
Food and kindred p ro d u cts ..........
Tobacco manufactures .................
Textile mill p ro d u c ts .......................
Apparel and other textile
p roducts..........................................
Paper and allied products ............
1,612
64
746
1,608
65
704
1,607
65
697
1,610
64
699
1,612
65
701
1,623
64
702
1,623
64
702
1,631
63
705
1,632
63
707
1,633
63
703
1,640
62
705
1,648
62
707
1,645
62
710
1,650
59
711
1,651
57
709
1,185
681
1,125
683
1,121
682
1,121
683
1,122
687
1,130
686
1,133
687
1,122
687
1,117
688
1,119
689
1,113
689
1,106
690
1,108
687
1,106
685
1,103
687
Printing and publishing...................
Chemicals and allied products.....
Petroleum and coal pro d u c ts.......
Rubber and mise, plastics
p roducts..........................................
Leather and leather products ......
1,376
1,049
189
1,435
1,046
178
1,442
1,042
171
1,447
1,040
171
1,454
1,037
170
1,457
1,035
169
1,461
1,034
168
1,467
1,032
167
1,469
1,031
166
1,472
1,028
166
1,474
1,024
166
1,477
1,026
164
1,483
1,025
163
1,480
1,026
163
1,482
1,025
163
780
189
790
166
785
165
790
164
794
164
798
164
802
163
803
162
804
160
800
157
796
154
797
151
792
152
794
152
798
151
SERVICE-PRODUCING ...................
Transportation and public
u tilities.............................................
T ransportation.................................
Communication and public
u tilitie s .............................................
69,769
72,684
73,285
73,525
73,735
73,933
74,195
74,391
74,539
74,745
74,953
74,989
75,236
75,375
75,525
5,159
2,917
5,242
3,006
5,257
3,023
5,260
3,026
5,272
3,040
5,277
3,046
5,286
3,056
5,277
3,048
5,280
3,053
5,266
3,040
5,265
3,037
5,167
3,035
5,288
3,057
5,250
3,059
5,279
3,058
2,242
2,236
2,234
2,234
2,232
2,231
2,230
2,229
2,227
2,226
2,228
2,132
2,231
2,191
2,221
5,849
3,483
2,366
5,872
3,488
2,384
5,874
3,489
2,385
Wholesale t r a d e .............................
Durable g o o d s ................................
Nondurable g o o d s .........................
General merchandise s to re s .......
Food s to re s ....................................
Automotive dealers and service
Eating and drinking p la c e s ..........
5,555
3,276
2,279
5,740
3,409
2,331
5,777
3,432
2,345
5,796
3,442
2,354
5,796
3,451
2,345
5,809
3,460
2,349
5,830
3,470
2,360
5,843
3,482
2,361
5,841
3,480
2,361
5,864
3,485
2,379
5,872
3,488
2,384
5,829
3,454
2,375
16,545
2,267
2,637
17,360
2,320
2,779
17,489
2,326
2,813
17,543
2,329
2,828
17,589
2,326
2,845
17,622
2,317
2,870
17,734
2,328
2,880
17,795
2,333
2,891
17,828
2,333
2,901
17,851
2,342
2,910
17,911
2,344
2,917
17,944
2,350
2,932
17,992
2,354
2,938
18,026
2,360
2,950
18,069
2,371
2,951
1,799
5,388
1,892
5,715
1,910
5,761
1,916
5,772
1,918
5,783
1,922
5,801
1,929
5,831
1,938
5,854
1,939
5,868
1,940
5,859
1,944
5,889
1,945
5,918
1,950
5,931
1,961
5,921
1,972
5,938
5,689
2,854
1,757
1,078
5,953
2,979
1,830
1,144
6,014
3,011
1,846
1,157
6,038
3,024
1,852
1,162
6,070
3,039
1,862
1,169
6,095
3,053
1,868
1,174
6,123
3,066
T ^78
1,179
6,157
3,082
1,889
1,186
6,184
3,095
1,900
1,189
6,228
3,120
1,910
1,198
6,261
3,137
1,918
1,206
6,295
3,159
1,927
1,209
6,334
3,176
1,945
1,213
6,365
3,193
1,952
1,220
6,385
3,203
1,962
22,924
4,755
6,543
23,072
4,792
6,571
23,176
4,835
6,601
23,242
4,845
6,634
23,296
4,885
6,656
16,720
2,899
3,936
9,885
16,682
2,875
3,927
9,880
16,597
2,866
3,921
9,810
16,620
2,876
3,917
9,827
16,622
2,911
3,902
9,809
Finance, Insurance, and real
Finance .........................................
L o c a l................................................
20,797
4,057
6,122
21,974
4,452
6,310
22,212
4,542
6,350
22,313
4,567
6,375
22,415
4,604
6,401
22,501
4,631
6,424
22,585
4,660
6,447
22,638
4,687
6,471
22,707
4,698
6,497
22,825
4,750
6,511
16,024
2,807
3,734
9,482
16,415
2,875
3,848
9,692
16,536
2,899
3,878
9,759
16,575
2,895
3,895
9,785
16,593
2,904
3,901
9,788
16,629
2,913
3,904
9,812
16,637
2,918
3,916
9,803
16,681
2,918
3,924
9,839
16,699
2,923
3,927
9,849
16,711
2,914
3,938
9,859
p = preliminary
NOTE: See notes on the data for a description of the most recent benchmark
76
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
revision.
1,220
14. Average weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls by industry,
monthly data seasonally adjusted
Annual
average
1985
1986
Industry
1984
PRIVATE SECTOR ........................................
1985
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
35.2
34.9
CO NSTRUCTIO N...............................................
37.8
37.7
-
-
-
-
M ANUFACTURING .....................................................
Overtime h o u rs .......................................
40.7
3.4
40.5
3.3
40.7
3.3
40.7
3.4
40.7
3.4
40.9
3.6
40.8
3.5
40.7
3.4
40.7
3.4
40.7
3.4
40.7
3.4
40.6
3.3
Durable g o o d s ............................
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 industries .........................................
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
40.7
41.4
41.2
3.5
39.9
39.4
41.9
41.5
41.1
41.3
41.3
3.5
40.1
39.4
42.0
41.5
41.1
41.5
41.3
3.5
40.2
39.5
42.1
41.8
41.6
41.5
41.3
3.6
39.9
39.4
41.8
41.9
41.9
41.5
41.6
3.7
40.2
39.9
41.8
42.1
41.9
41.6
41.5
3.6
40.4
40.0
42.7
41.9
41.7
41.5
41.4
3.5
40.0
39.7
41.9
42.1
41.8
41.5
41.4
3.6
40.2
39.4
41.9
41.9
41.7
41.4
41.3
3.6
40.3
39.1
42.4
41.3
40.5
41.2
41.2
3.4
40.3
39.4
42.3
41.7
41.5
41.1
Machinery except electrical ...................................
Electrical and electronic equipm 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
41.6
40.5
42.9
43.6
40.9
-
41.5
40.6
42.8
43.7
40.9
41.6
40.9
42.7
43.6
41.0
-
41.7
41.1
43.0
44.0
41.6
-
41.6
41.0
42.8
43.6
41.1
41.6
40.9
42.7
43.4
41.2
-
41.6
41.0
42.7
43.3
41.3
-
41.8
41.1
42.1
41.9
41.3
-
N ondurable g o o d s ..................................................
Overtime h o u rs ...................................................
Food and kindred pro d u cts....................................
Tobacco m anufactures...........................................
Textile mill p ro d u cts................................................
Apparel and other textile products........................
Paper and allied products ......................................
39.7
3.1
39.8
38.9
39.9
36.4
43.1
39.6
3.1
40.0
37.2
39.7
36.4
43.1
39.8
3.1
40.1
40.5
36.6
43.1
39.8
3.2
40.2
40.7
36.6
43.2
39.8
3.2
40.0
40.0
3.4
40.1
_
39.9
3.3
40.1
_
39.7
3.2
39.8
39.8
3.2
39.9
40.8
36.8
43.3
41.0
36.8
43.5
40.8
36.7
43.6
40.6
36.3
43.5
Printing and publishing............................................
Chemicals and allied products...............................
Petroleum and coal p roducts.................................
Leather and leather products ................................
37.9
41.9
43.7
36.8
37.8
41.9
43.0
37.2
37.9
41.7
43.3
37.9
41.9
43.2
-
38.1
42.0
43.6
-
37.9
41.8
44.2
-
38.0
41.9
43.5
-
38.0
41.8
43.7
-
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC U T ILITIE S ....
39.4
39.5
39.5
39.5
39.4
39.5
39.4
WHOLESALE T R A D E ...............................................
38.5
38.4
38.4
38.4
38.4
38.4
38.5
RETAIL TRADE ..........................................................
29.8
29.4
29.4
29.3
29.3
29.2
29.3
SERVICES .......................................................
32.6
32.5
32.4
32.5
32.4
32.5
32.6
Data n o t available.
= prelim inary
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
34.9
34.9
-
34.8
-
34.9
-
35.0
-
-
34.9
34.9
34.8
34.8
34.7
July
34.7
34.8
Sept.P
34.7
-
-
40.6
3.4
40.8
3.5
40.8
3.5
41.2
3.5
39.9
39.4
42.2
41.6
41.1
41.1
41.1
3.5
40.1
39.4
42.2
41.3
41.2
41.1
41.4
3.5
40.2
39.9
42.5
41.9
41.7
41.3
41.5
3.6
40.3
40.1
42.5
42.2
42.6
41.5
41.8
41.0
41.9
41.8
40.9
-
41.7
41.0
42.2
42.4
41.0
41.4
41.1
42.1
42.4
40.8
41.6
41.2
42.8
43.0
40.9
41.8
41.2
42.3
42.4
40.7
39.9
3.3
40.2
39.9
3.4
40.2
39.8
3.2
40.0
39.8
3.4
40.0
39.9
3.4
40.2
39.9
3.3
39.9
40.7
36.5
43.5
41.3
36.9
43.0
41.1
36.5
43.2
40.8
36.5
43.1
40.9
36.6
43.2
41.4
36.4
43.4
41.4
36.5
43.2
38.0
41.9
43.8
-
38.0
41.9
43.6
-
38.0
42.0
43.4
37.8
41.9
44.0
37.9
41.9
43.5
37.9
42.0
44.4
38.0
41.8
43.7
39.5
39.6
39.2
39.2
39.1
39.2
39.0
38.9
38.4
38.5
38.5
38.4
38.3
38.3
38.3
38.3
29.3
29.3
29.2
29.2
29.1
29.2
29.3
29.2
32.6
32.5
32.5
32.5
32.4
32.4
32.4
32.4
-
_
-
_
-
-
-
-
Aug.p
NO TE: S ee "N o te s on th e d a ta " fo r a d escriptio n o f th e m o st re ce nt
b en ch m a rk adjustm ent.
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Employment Data
15. Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls by
industry
Annual
average
1986
1985
Industry
1984
1985
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.p
Sept.P
PRIVATE S E C TO R ..................................................... $8.32
Seasonally adjusted .............................................
-
$8.57
$8.67
8.62
$8.64
8.63
$8.66
8.65
$8.71
8.70
$8.72
8.68
$8.74
8.71
$8.73
8.73
$8.72
8.72
$8.72
8.73
$8.71
8.74
$8.69
8.73
$8.69
8.75
$8.81
8.77
11.63
11.98
12.05
12.00
12.07
12.27
12.24
12.32
12.35
12.43
12.44
12.50
12.46
12.45
12.49
12.33
12.31
12.31
12.40
12.55
M IN IN G .........................................................................
-
CO NSTRUCTIO N........................................................
12.13
12.31
12.46
12.42
12.28
12.47
12.34
12.35
12.22
12.29
M ANUFACTURING.....................................................
9.19
9.53
9.57
9.56
9.63
9.74
9.70
9.70
9.72
9.70
9.71
9.70
9.74
9.67
9.75
10.26
8.43
7.46
10.04
11.94
13.88
9.88
10.27
8.36
7.44
10.06
12.06
14.08
9.84
10.22
8.40
7.46
10.07
11.86
13.91
9.81
10.30
8.44
7.52
10.10
11.96
14.09
9.88
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 cts............................
Primary metal industries .........................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel p ro d u c ts ..........
Fabricated metal products .....................................
9.74
8.03
6.84
9.57
11.47
12.98
9.40
10.10
8.22
7.17
9.84
11.68
13.34
9.70
10.15
8.33
7.27
9.91
11.69
13.43
9.74
10.15
8.30
7.29
9.87
11.61
13.32
9.71
10.22
8.29
7.32
9.91
11.77
13.43
9.76
10.34
8.35
7.38
9.95
11.84
13.44
9.91
10.27
8.30
7.36
9.96
11.81
13.48
9.85
10.29
8.36
7.31
9.94
11.96
13.81
9.85
10.30
8.33
7.35
9.93
11.99
13.80
9.88
10.28
8.32
7.36
10.00
12.00
13.82
9.84
10.28
8.37
7.39
10.04
12.02
13.86
9.85
Machinery, except electrical ..................................
Electrical and electronic equipm ent......................
Transportation equipm ent.......................................
Motor vehicles and equipm ent............................
Instruments and related products .........................
Miscellaneous m anufacturing.................................
9.96
9.04
12.20
12.73
8.84
7.05
10.29
9.47
12.72
13.42
9.16
7.30
10.38
9.54
12.78
13.48
9.25
7.33
10.41
9.55
12.78
13.44
9.24
7.32
10.48
9.61
12.85
13.52
9.27
7.37
10.55
9.68
13.06
13.81
9.39
7.48
10.50
9.60
12.91
13.66
9.32
7.48
10.53
9.60
12.87
13.59
9.39
7.50
10.58
9.62
12.90
13.66
9.41
7.51
10.55
9.62
12.83
13.54
9.41
7.50
10.55
9.64
12.79
13.47
9.40
7.54
10.55
9.61
12.78
13.41
9.41
7.54
10.57
9.68
12.78
13.40
9.47
7.59
10.56
9.67
12.74
13.34
9.53
7.52
10.60
9.74
12.88
13.54
9.57
7.56
8.38
Nondurable g o o d s ...................................................
8.39
Food and Kindred p ro d u cts....................................
11.22
Tobacco m anufactures...........................................
6.46
Textile mill p ro d u c ts ................................................
5.55
Apparel and other textile products........................
Paper and allied products ...................................... 10.41
8.71
8.57
11.94
6.71
5.73
10.82
8.73
8.53
11.34
6.75
5.75
10.91
8.72
8.51
11.31
6.76
5.74
10.91
8.79
8.61
11.97
6.79
5.75
10.97
8.87
8.71
11.78
6.83
5.80
11.07
8.86
8.72
11.89
6.85
5.82
11.02
8.86
8.71
12.38
6.83
5.79
10.99
8.88
8.74
12.76
6.86
5.80
11.03
8.88
8.75
12.84
6.87
5.81
11.05
8.90
8.78
13.38
6.88
5.78
11.12
8.91
8.74
13.68
6.87
5.79
11.15
8.99
8.75
13.48
6.90
5.76
11.31
8.93
8.64
13.41
6.98
5.79
11.18
8.98
8.68
12.51
7.04
5.87
11.17
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 ................................
9.41
11.07
13.44
8.29
5.71
9.71
11.56
14.06
8.54
5.82
9.81
11.65
14.09
8.56
5.83
9.78
11.70
13.99
8.54
5.77
9.83
11.80
14.07
8.63
5.83
9.92
11.85
14.24
8.73
5.83
9.85
11.86
14.26
8.69
5.86
9.86
11.81
14.21
8.69
5.83
9.90
11.78
14.22
8.72
5.86
9.87
11.82
14.16
8.68
5.89
9.91
11.89
14.02
8.75
5.88
9.88
11.94
14.14
8.75
5.88
9.96
12.04
14.16
8.82
5.89
10.00
11.98
14.08
8.81
5.89
10.10
12.03
14.50
8.81
5.94
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC U T ILITIE S ....
11.12
11.40
11.54
11.48
11.59
11.61
11.59
11.64
11.62
11.55
11.54
11.57
11.61
11.58
11.67
9.29
9.29
9.32
9.30
9.31
9.35
WHOLESALE T R A D E ...............................................
8.89
9.16
9.22
9.16
9.23
9.33
9.28
9.36
9.33
RETAIL TRADE ..........................................................
5.85
5.94
5.98
5.95
5.97
5.99
6.03
6.04
6.03
6.01
6.00
5.99
5.97
5.95
6.04
8.28
8.30
8.29
8.31
8.37
8.30
8.34
8.41
8.17
8.18
8.12
8.10
8.10
8.04
8.04
8.20
FINANCE, INSURANCE, AND REAL ES TA T E ....
7.63
7.94
8.04
8.01
8.06
8.15
8.14
SERVICES ...................................................................
7.59
7.89
7.99
7.99
8.05
8.12
8.12
p
78
Data not available.
_- preliminary
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
NOTE: See “ Notes on the data" tor a description of the most recent
benchmark revision.
16. Average weekly earnings of production or norisupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls by industry
Annual average
1985
1986
Industry
1984
1985
(Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.p
Sept.p
PRIVATE SECTOR
Current d o lla rs ........................................................ $292.86 $299.09 $303.45 $301.54 $301.37 $306.59 $302.58 $300.66 $302.93 $301.71 $302.58 $303.98 $304.15 $305.02 $307.47
Seasonally adjusted...........................................
300.84 301.19 301.02 303.63 303.80 303.98 304.68 303.46 303.80 303.28 302.93 304.50 304.32
Constant (1977) dollars .......................................
172.78 170.42 171.83 170.36 169.59 172.05 169.32 168.82 171.05 170.94 170.85 170.78 170.97 171.17
M IN IN G .........................................................................
503.58
519.93
526.59
518.40
521.42
537.43
543.46
522.37
522.41
522.06
519.99
525.00
518.34
527.88
533.32
CO NSTRUCTIO N........................................................
458.51
464.09
479.71
475.69
450.68
460.14
459.05
434.72
444.81
462.10
467.31
465.32
471.47
474.92
485.69
MANUFACTURING
Current d o lla rs .........................................................
Constant (1977) d o lla rs .........................................
374.03
220.67
385.97
219.93
390.46
221.10
390.05
220.37
393.87
221.65
406.16
227.92
394.79
220.92
390.91
219.49
395.60
223.38
392.85
222.58
394.23
222.60
395.76
222.34
391.55
220.10
393.57
220.86
399.75
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
271.55
401.94
478.30
528.29
389.16
416.12
327.98
282.50
412.30
484.72
548.27
400.61
420.21
338.20
289.35
421.18
486.30
653.32
405.18
419.20
335.32
291.60
419.48
480.65
544.79
403.94
424.13
327.46
291.34
414.24
491.99
557.35
406.02
439.45
335.67
303.32
414.92
504.38
564.48
422.17
425.18
329.51
289.98
414.34
493.66
556.72
407.79
421.89
328.55
284.36
403.56
503.52
578.64
403.85
426.42
333.20
288.12
412.10
504.78
576.84
409.03
423.54
334.46
286.30
425.00
499.20
569.38
403.44
423.54
338.99
288.21
428.71
501.23
576.58
404.84
424.76
342.26
294.67
429.71
499.09
577.41
408.04
417.99
334.40
287.93
427.55
495.67
582.91
398.52
421.06
341.04
298.40
432.00
492.19
575.87
403.19
428.48
345.20
304.56
435.31
505.91
600.23
411.01
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
520.94
557.57
365.09
277.77
427.04
384.48
541.87
583.77
375.56
287.62
431.81
387.32
544.43
585.03
380.18
293.20
430.97
387.73
545.71
585.98
376.07
295.00
438.06
396.89
551.27
588.12
382.85
296.27
452.60
408.50
577.25
625.59
400.01
304.44
437.85
394.56
555.13
595.58
383.05
297.70
437.00
389.76
545.69
583.01
384.99
294.75
442.24
395.38
552.12
592.84
389.57
299.65
437.83
392.50
542.71
574.10
385.81
297.75
437.83
393.31
537.18
567.09
382.58
297.08
439.94
394.01
540.59
572.61
385.81
298.58
431.26
391.07
530.37
560.12
382.59
294.49
435.07
395.50
533.81
557.61
386.92
295.54
443.08
402.26
540.96
571.39
391.41
299.38
Nondurable g o o d s ...................................................
Food and kindred p ro d u cts ....................................
Tobacco manufactures ...........................................
Textile mill p ro d u c ts ................................................
Apparel and other textile products........................
Paper and allied p ro d u c ts ......................................
332.69
333.92
436.46
257.75
202.02
448.67
344.92
342.80
444.17
266.39
208.57
466.34
349.20
348.02
434.32
275.40
210.45
473.49
347.93
343.80
444.48
276.48
211.23
472.40
351.60
346.12
435.71
279.75
212.75
477.20
359.24
354.50
448.82
283.45
215.18
490.40
352.63
347.93
448.25
278.80
213.01
479.37
347.31
339.69
453.11
274.57
207.28
472.57
352.54
344.36
478.50
278.52
211.70
477.60
351.65
346.50
469.94
278.92
211.48
474.05
354.22
352.08
504.43
282.08
210.97
479.27
355.51
350.47
523.94
283.04
213.65
480.57
356.00
350.00
483.93
278.07
209.09
486.33
357.20
350.78
485.44
290.37
211.34
482.98
360.10
352.41
480.38
293.57
214.26
485.90
Printing and publishing............................................
Chemicals and allied products...............................
Petroleum and coal p roducts.................................
Rubber and miscellaneous
plastics pro d u cts....................................................
Leather and leather products ................................
356.64
463.83
587.33
367.04
484.36
604.58
374.74
486.97
621.37
371.64
486.72
619.76
375.51
495.60
610.64
384.90
503.63
622.29
371.35
495.75
616.03
370.74
492.48
612.45
377.19
494.76
621.41
374.07
495.26
615.96
374.60
499.38
605.66
370.50
502.67
622.16
374.50
502.07
618.79
380.00
499.57
625.15
386.83
502.85
643.80
345.69
210.13
350.99
216.50
351.82
219.21
350.99
216.95
356.42
219.21
366.66
220.96
359.77
217.41
356.29
209.88
360.14
212.72
356.75
213.81
360.50
215.80
361.38
221.68
357.21
217.93
362.97
215.57
364.73
216.81
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC
U T IL IT IE S ...................................................................
438.13
450.30
458.14
453.46
457.81
460.92
452.01
456.29
457.83
450.45
450.06
455.86
457.43
455.09
456.30
WHOLESALE T R A D E ...............................................
342.27
351.74
354.97
351.74
355.36
360.14
355.42
355.68
357.34
355.81
356.74
358.82
358.05
357.50
359.04
RETAIL TRADE ..........................................................
174.33
174.64
175.81
173.74
173.73
178.50
173.06
172.74
174.27
173.69
174.60
176.71
178.50
178.50
176.37
FINANCE, INSURANCE, AND REAL
ESTATE ......................................................................
278.50
289.02
293.46
290.76
291.77
299.11
296.30
304.70
304.61
301.76
301.65
306.34
302.95
306.08
306.97
SERVICES ...................................................................
247.43
256.43
258.88
259.68
260.02
263.90
263.09
264.71
265.03
263.09
262.44
264.06
263.71
263.71
265.68
- 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 nonagricultural payrolls by
industry
N o t se a so na lly adjusted
Industry
Sept.
1985
July
1986
Aug.
1986p
S e a so na lly adju sted
Sept.
1986p
Sept.
1985
May
1986
June
1986
July
1986
Aug.
1986
Sept.
1986p
PRIVATE SECTOR (In current d o lla rs ) ...............................
166.7
168.5
168.4
170.0
M in in g ’ ...........................................................................................
C o n s tru c tio n ................................................................................
M a n u fa c tu rin g .............................................................................
T ra n sp o rta tio n and pub lic u tilit ie s .......................................
W h o le sa le tra d e ' .......................................................................
R etail tra de .................................................................................
Finance, insurance, and real e s t a t e '.................................
S e r v ic e s ........................................................................................
179.4
152.5
169.3
168.6
170.2
157.0
174.0
170.5
181.7
150.3
172.8
169.3
171.4
157.4
179.1
172.4
180.8
151.4
172.2
169.2
171.6
157.1
179.9
172.5
181.4
153.3
172.8
170.8
172.5
158.9
181.2
175.6
-
-
-
-
156.8
-
157.2
-
157.8
157.7
-
-
-
-
169.8
173.4
174.3
173.4
174.3
174.9
PRIVATE SECTOR (In constant dollars) .........................
94.4
94.7
94.5
-
94.4
95.4
95.2
95.1
95.1
-
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.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
166.4
168.7
169.2
168.9
169.2
169.7
150.7
169.5
167.9
151.0
172.5
170.1
151.4
172.5
170.7
150.8
172.7
170.3
151.4
173.0
169.7
-
151.5
173.0
170.1
-
158.2
158.8
p = preliminary,
NOTE: See "Notes on the data” for a description of the most recent benchmark
revision.
79
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
18.
November 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.
Oct.
Sept.
Nov.
Dec.
Over
1984
1985
1986
1-month span
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
67.8
52.4
59.7
72.7
47.8
53.5
67.6
53.8
45.1
67.6
49.2
54.1
62.4
51.6
49.2
65.4
47.0
46.2
62.2
56.2
54.6
55.9
56.8
55.7
50.5
50.8
51.4
63.0
61.9
Over
1984
1985
1986
3-month span
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
76.5
51.1
58.1
75.1
49.7
54.3
75.9
46.2
51.1
71.4
46.2
49.7
71.6
45.1
48.4
68.1
51.4
44.9
63.2
49.7
48.6
58.1
51.1
52.7
56.8
55.1
-
53.5
55.9
58.1
61.4
-
53.0
60.5
Over
1984
1985
1986
6-month span
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
78.1
49.2
53.8
76.5
47.8
53.8
77.0
43.0
47.6
75.1
45.9
45.9
69.2
44.3
46.8
65.1
44.3
47.8
63.2
48.9
59.2
50.8
"
58.6
54.1
53.2
57.0
49.7
57.0
54.9
55.9
Over
1984
1985
1986
12-month span
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
81.1
46.2
50.3
78.1
45.7
50.8
72.2
46.8
50.5
72.2
43.8
"
68.9
44.9
67.8
47.3
65.7
47.6
62.7
48.9
59.7
47.3
54.6
49.5
“
51.4
48.9
48.6
48.6
- Data not available.
NOTE: Figures are the percent of industries with employment rising. (Half of
the unchanged components are counted as rising.) Data are centered within the
19.
53.5
57.6
-
spans. Data for the most recent months shown in each span are preliminary. 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
(Numbers 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
Labor force
Total (num ber)........................................................
Percent of pop ulation ...........................................
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
58.3
1,656
97,679
59.7
1,631
100,421
60.3
1,597
100,907
59.6
1,604
102,042
59.4
1,645
101,194
58.2
1,668
102,510
58.3
1,676
106,702
59.9
1,697
108,856
60.5
1,706
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
Unemployed
Total (num ber).................................................
Percent of labor fo r c e ...................................
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
Not in labor force (number) ...................................
60,025
59,659
59,900
60,806
61,460
62,067
62,665
62,839
62,744
Employed
Total (num ber)..................................................
Percent of population .....................................
Resident Armed F o rce s...............................
Civilian
Total .............................................................
A g riculture................................................
Nonagricultural industries.......................
20.
Annual data: Employment levels by industry
(Numbers in thousands)
Industry
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
Total em plo ym en t...........................................................................
Private se c to r................................................................................
G oods-producing.......................................................................
M in in g .....................................................................................
Construction .........................................................................
M anufacturing.......................................................................
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
90,200
74,330
23,334
952
3,948
18,434
94,496
78,472
24,727
966
4,383
19,378
97,614
81,199
24,930
930
4,687
19,314
Service-producing......................................................................
Transportation and public u tilitie s ......................................
Wholesale t r a d e ....................................................................
Retail trade ............................................................................
Finance, insurance, and real e s ta te ..................................
S e rvices...................................................................................
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
66,866
4,954
5,268
15,613
5,468
19,694
69,769
5,159
5,555
16,545
5,689
20,797
72,684
5,242
5,740
17,360
5,953
21,974
G overnm ent..........................................................................
F ederal.............................................................................
S ta te ..................................................................................
Local ................................................................................
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
2,866
3,610
9,765
16,031
2,772
3,640
9,619
15,837
2,739
3,640
9,458
15,869
2,774
3,662
9,434
16,024
2,807
3,734
9,482
16,415
2,875
3,848
9,692
NOTE:
See “ Notes on the data" for a description of the most
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
57.0
59.5
recent benchmark revision.
21. Annual data: Average hours and earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on nonagricultural
payrolls, by industry
Industry
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
Private sector
Average weekly h o u rs .................................................................
Average hourly earnings (in d ollars).........................................
Average weekly earnings (in dollars) .......................................
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
35.2
8.32
292.86
34.9
8.57
299.09
Mining
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in dollars) ...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
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
11.98
519.93
Construction
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in dollars) ...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
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
37.8
12.13
458.51
37.7
12.31
464.09
Manufacturing
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in dollars) ...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
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
9.19
374.03
40.5
9.53
385.97
Transportation and public utilities
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in d o lla rs )...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
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
11.12
438.13
39.5
11.40
450.30
Wholesale trade
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in dollars) ...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
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
38.5
8.89
342.27
38.4
9.16
351.74
Retail trade
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in d o lla rs )...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
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
29.8
5.85
174.33
29.4
5.94
174.64
Finance, insurance, and real estate
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in d o lla rs )...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
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
7.63
278.50
36.4
7.94
289.02
Services
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in dollars) ...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
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
32.6
7.59
247.43
32.5
7.89
256.43
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics: Compensation and Industrial Relations Data
22. Employment Cost Index, compensation,1 by occupation and industry group
(June 1981=100)
Series
June
Sept.
Mar.
Dec.
June
Percent change
1986
1985
1984
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
3
months
ended
12
months
ended
June 1986
Civilian workers 2 ..........................................................................
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar w o rk e rs .................................................................
Blue-collar w o rkers....................................................................
Service occupations..................................................................
Workers, by industry division:
Manufacturing ............................................................................
Nonm anufacturing.....................................................................
Public administration 3 ...........................................................
Private industry w o rk e rs ..........................................................
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar w o rkers...............................................................
Blue-collar w o rke rs.................................................................
Service occup ations...............................................................
Workers, by industry division:
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:
Elementary and secondary.............................................
Hospitals and other services4 ...........................................
Public administration3 .............................................................
122.4
123.9
125.5
126.4
128.4
129.2
130.6
131.5
0.7
4.0
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
131.6
124.9
131.8
133.1
126.2
133.1
134.2
126.8
133.7
.8
.5
.5
4.6
3.0
4.5
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
126.0
130.6
137.1
134.8
127.7
131.9
138.8
136.8
128.7
132.8
139.4
138.0
.8
.7
.4
.9
3.3
4.4
5.1
5.9
120.8
120.1
121.1
122.7
124.2
125.2
126.8
127.5
128.9
129.9
.8
3.8
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
129.8
124.4
129.5
131.3
125.7
130.9
132.5
126.3
131.1
.9
.5
.2
4.2
2.9
3.6
119.1
120.7
120.4
121.6
122.0
123.1
123.9
124.4
124.6
125.6
125.5
127.6
126.0
128.4
127.7
129.7
128.7
130.6
.8
.7
3.3
4.0
124.4
128.8
130.1
131.7
132.0
136.5
137.5
138.9
139.7
.6
5.8
140.0
134.7
140.5
136.3
.4
1.2
5.7
6.1
140.4
141.5
143.0
136.8
136.8
140.8
141.7
143.2
137.9
138.0
.3
.1
.1
.8
.9
5.7
6.0
6.4
4.9
5.9
125.0
122.3
129.7
125.0
131.1
125.9
132.5
128.1
132.9
128.5
137.6
131.9
138.6
132.7
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
139.1
140.3
142.0
135.2
134.8
1 Cost (cents-per-hour worked) measured in the Employment Cost Index
consists of wages, salaries, and employer cost of employee benefits.
2 Consist of private industry workers (excluding farm and household workers)
82
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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)
1984
1985
1986
Percent change
Series
June
!3ept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
3
months
ended
12
months
ended
June 1986
Civilian workers 1 ..........................................................................
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar workers .................................................................
Blue-collar w o rkers....... ............................................................
Service occupations..................................................................
118.8
120.3
121.7
123.1
124.2
126.3
127.0
128.3
129.3
0.8
4.1
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
129.8
122.3
128.6
131.2
123.4
129.8
132.4
124.1
130.0
.9
.6
.2
4.7
3.0
3.8
Workers, by industry division
Manufacturing ............................................................................
Nonm anufacturing.....................................................................
S e rv ic e s ....................................................................................
Public administration 2 ...........................................................
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
123.8
128.4
134.8
132.0
125.3
129.6
136.4
133.8
126.5
130.4
137.0
134.6
1.0
.6
.4
.6
3.4
4.3
5.0
5.8
118.2
119.2
120.6
122.0
123.3
124.9
125.6
126.8
127.9
.9
3.7
119.9
123.8
120.9
125.2
122.3
127.3
124.0
127.7
125.5
128.7
127.3
131.2
128.3
131.5
129.6
132.7
131.1
134.0
1.2
1.0
4.5
4.1
119.2
111.9
121.0
110.5
122.2
111.6
123.8
116.3
126.5
117.4
127.7
119.3
128.4
122.5
130.5
122.4
132.1
124.3
1.2
1.6
4.4
5.9
120.7
122.0
122.9
124.7
125.6
127.1
127.9
129.6
130.8
.9
4.1
Private industry w o rk e rs .......................................................
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar w o rke rs............................................................
Professional specialty and technical occup ations......
Executive, administrative, and managerial
occupations ......................................................................................
Sales occupations.............................................................
Administrative support occupations, including
c le ric a l...............................................................................................
Blue-collar w o rk e rs ..............................................................
Precision production, craft, and repair
occupations ......................................................................................
Machine operators, assemblers, and in spectors........
Transportation and material moving occupations.......
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and
laborers .............................................................................................
Service occupations ............................................................
115.9
116.7
118.0
119.1
120.3
121.7
122.0
123.1
123.7
.5
2.8
117.3
115.8
112.7
118.0
116.6
113.4
119.4
117.9
114.0
120.8
118.9
114.5
122.0
120.1
115.7
123.7
121.1
117.7
123.8
121.6
117.8
125.3
122.6
118.0
125.7
123.6
118.9
.3
.8
.8
3.0
2.9
2.8
114.1
119.3
114.7
121.2
115.9
123.7
116.7
123.8
118.5
124.4
118.6
126.3
119.8
126.6
120.0
128.0
120.3
128.0
.3
.0
1.5
2.9
Workers, by industry division:
M anufacturing.......................................................................
D u ra b le s.............................................................................
Nondurables.......................................................................
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
123.8
123.4
124.6
125.3
124.8
126.1
126.5
125.8
127.9
1.0
.8
1.4
3.4
3.1
4.3
Nonmanufacturing................................................................
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..............................................................................
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
126.6
117.9
125.2
123.7
128.3
121.9
126.5
134.1
127.7
118.3
126.3
124.5
129.7
122.5
126.6
136.2
128.7
119.8
126.6
125.8
131.2
123.7
128.0
136.9
.8
1.3
.2
1.0
1.2
1.0
1.1
.5
3.9
2.7
3.1
3.9
3.5
4.0
5.2
4.5
State and local government w o rkers................................
Workers, by occupational group
White-collar w o rke rs............................................................
Blue-collar w o rk e rs ..............................................................
Workers, by industry division
Services ................................................................................
S ch ools...............................................................................
Elementary and se co n d a ry..........................................
Hospitals and other services 3 .......................................
Public administration 2 .........................................................
122.0
126.1
127.1
128.4
128.7
133.2
134.2
135.5
136.0
.4
5.7
122.5
119.6
127.1
121.9
128.0
122.5
129.3
124.2
129.6
124.5
134.3
127.9
135.3
128.4
136.6
130.4
137.0
131.9
.3
1.2
5.7
5.9
122.5
122.3
123.0
123.1
121.3
127.2
127.8
129.3
125.1
124.4
128.1
128.7
130.2
125.9
125.7
129.4
129.9
130.8
127.7
127.0
129.7
130.2
131.1
128.0
127.2
134.5
135.8
137.5
130.2
131.4
135.6
137.0
138.5
130.9
132.0
136.8
138.0
139.4
132.4
133.8
137.1
138.2
139.4
133.3
134.6
.2
.1
.0
.7
.6
5.7
6.1
6.3
4.1
5.8
1 Consists 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 Consists of legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory activities,
3 Includes, for example, library, social and health services.
83
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics: Compensation and Industrial Relations Data
24. Employment Cost Index, private nonfarm workers, by bargaining status, region, and area size
(June 1 9 8 1 = 1 0 0 )
1986
1985
1984
P ercen t chan ge
S eries
Ju ne
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Mar.
Dec.
June
3
12
m onths
e nded
m o n th s
e nded
June 1986
COMPENSATION
W orkers, by bargaining s ta tu s 1
Union ........................................................................................................
M a n ufa ctu rin g .....................................................................................
N o n m an u fa cturin g .............................................................................
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
127.1
125.5
128.6
128.4
127.0
129.7
128.7
126.9
130.4
0.2
-.1
.5
2.5
2.2
3.0
N o n u n io n ..................................................................................................
M a n ufa ctu rin g .....................................................................................
N o n m a n u fa c tu rin g .............................................................................
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
127.5
126.3
128.1
129.0
128.1
129.5
130.2
129.7
130.4
.9
1.2
.7
4.2
3.9
4.2
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
129.9
127.2
124.6
129.8
131.6
128.7
125.9
130.8
133.3
129.6
126.2
131.6
1.3
.7
.2
.6
5.5
3.5
2.9
2.9
120.6
117.4
121.5
119.0
123.2
119.8
124.7
121.4
125.7
122.5
127.3
123.9
128.1
123.9
129.5
125.5
130.5
126.4
.8
.7
3.8
3.2
Union ........................................................................................................
M a n ufa ctu rin g .....................................................................................
N o n m an u fa cturin g .............................................................................
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
124.7
123.3
125.9
125.6
124.2
126.9
126.1
124.6
127.4
.4
.3
.4
2.5
2.4
2.7
N o n u n io n .................................................................................................
M an ufa ctu rin g .....................................................................................
N o n m a n u fa c tu rin g .............................................................................
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
125.9
124.4
126.6
127.3
126.1
127.8
128.5
127.7
128.9
.9
1.3
.9
4.1
4.0
4.3
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
128.1
125.4
122.9
127.1
129.2
126.8
124.2
128.1
131.3
127.8
124.4
128.9
1.6
.8
.2
.6
5.4
3.6
2.7
3.0
118.6
116.0
119.5
117.5
121.0
118.3
122.4
119.6
123.8
120.6
125.5
121.9
126.3
122.0
127.4
123.6
128.5
124.5
.9
.7
3.8
3.2
W orkers, by region 1
N o rth e a s t.................................................................................................
S ou th ........................................................................................................
M idw e st (form e rly N orth C e n tr a l)....................................................
W e s t ...........................................................................................................
W orkers, by area size 1
M e tro po lita n a r e a s ...............................................................................
O th e r a r e a s .............................................................................................
W A G E S A N D S A LA R IE S
W orkers, by bargaining status 1
W orkers, by region 1
N o rth e a s t.................................................................................................
S outh ........................................................................................................
M idw e st (fo rm e rly N o rth C e n tr a l)....................................................
W e s t ..........................................................................................................
W orkers, by area size1
M e tro po lita n a r e a s ...............................................................................
O th e r a r e a s .............................................................................................
1 T he in dexes are ca lculate d d iffe re n tly fro m th o se fo r the o ccu p a tio n and
indu stry groups. Fo r a d eta ile d d e scriptio n o f the in de x ca lculatio n , se e th e
84
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
L a b o r R e v ie w T e ch n ica l
E m p loym en t C o st Index,” M ay 1982.
M o n th ly
N ote,
“ E stim a tion
p ro ced ures
fo r
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
Quarterly average
Measure
1984
1984
1985
1986
1985
III
IV
I
II
III
IV
I
II
Specified adjustments:
Total compensation 1 adjustm ents,2 settlements
covering 5,000 workers or more:
First year of c o n tra c t................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t............................
3.6
2.8
2.6
2.7
2.7
3.1
3.7
2.0
3.6
2.7
3.5
3.4
2.0
3.0
2.0
1.4
0.4
1.3
0.7
1.6
Wage adjustments, settlements covering 1,000
workers or more:
First year of c o n tra c t................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t............................
2.4
2.4
2.3
2.7
2.1
2.6
2.3
1.5
3.3
3.2
2.5
2.8
2.0
3.1
2.1
1.9
1.0
1.6
1.3
2.0
3.7
.8
3.3
.7
1.2
.2
.7
.3
.7
.1
.8
.2
1.2
.2
.5
.1
.6
.0
.7
.2
2.0
.9
1.8
.7
.7
.3
.2
.2
.6
.1
.5
.1
.5
.4
.2
.1
.4
.2
.6
.0
Effective adjustments:
Total effective wage adjustm ent3 ............................
From settlements reached in period .....................
Deferred from settlements reached in earlier
periods .......................................................
From cost-of-living-adjustments c la u s e s ..............
' C o m p en sa tion in clu de s w ages, salaries, and e m p lo ye rs’ c o s t o f em p loye e
b e n e fits w h e n co n tra c t is neg otia ted .
2 A d ju stm e n ts a re th e n e t re su lt o f increases, d ecrea ses, a nd no ch an ge s in
co m p en satio n o r w ages,
3 B eca u se o f rou nd in g to ta l m ay n o t e qu al sum o f parts.
p
= p relim inary.
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
1984
III
1985
IV
I
II
1986
III
IV
I
II
Specified total compensation adjustments, settlements covering 5,000
workers or more, all industries:
First year of c o n tra c t..........................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t......................................
4.2
3.2
3.6
2.8
3.4
2.6
3.4
2.7
3.1
2.7
2.6
2.7
2.3
2.6
1.5
2.0
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
1.5
2.8
2.4
1.9
2.7
2.5
1.8
3.0
2.3
1.6
2.7
2.7
2.5
2.8
2.0
1.6
2.2
2.5
2.5
2.5
1.7
16
1.7
2.3
25
2.2
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
1.5
1.0
3.0
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.6
1.4
2.4
.8
.8
.9
1.8
2.1
1.6
.9
8
.9
1.8
2.1
1.5
1
7
- 4
14
20
g
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
3.2
4.0
3.0
3.3
3.9
3.2
3.3
3.6
3.3
3.3
3.6
3.3
2.8
3.5
2.7
3.0
3.6
2.9
2.7
3.2
2.6
2.9
3.3
2.8
.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
1.7
4.6
1.7
1.7
2.4
.7
25
2.6
11
2.6
Specified wage adjustments, settlements covering 1,000 workers or
more:
All industries
First year of c o n tra c t...................................................
Contracts with COLA c la u s e s ......................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses .........................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t......................................................
Contracts with COLA c la u s e s .....................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses .........................................................
Manufacturing
First year of contract ........................................................
Contracts with COLA c la u s e s...........................................
Contracts without COLA clauses ............................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t..........................................................
Contracts with COLA c la u s e s .......................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses ..........................................
Nonmanufacturing
First year of contract ..................................................................
Contracts with COLA cla u s e s ...............................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses .........................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t.............................................................
Contracts with COLA cla u s e s ...............................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses ............................................
Construction
First year of c o n tra c t..............................................................................
Contracts with COLA c la u s e s..................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses ............................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t......................................
Contracts with COLA c la u s e s...............................................
Contracts without COLA clauses ...................................................
1 Data do not meet publication standards.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
p
= preliminary.
1.0
1.5
O
(')
(1)
(’ )
1.7
(')
(1)
(1)
(1)
2.1
2.2
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics: Compensation and Industrial Relations Data
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 endingEffective wage adjustment
1984
1985
1986
IV
I
II
III
For all workers:1
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 ..................
3.7
.8
2.0
.9
3.6
.7
2.2
.7
3.5
.9
1.9
.7
For workers receiving changes:
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 .....................
4.4
3.0
4.0
2.7
4.5
2.9
4.2
2.3
4.2
2.9
3.9
2.3
1 Because of rounding total may not equal sum of parts.
IV
I
llp
3.5
.9
1.8
.8
3.3
.7
1.8
.7
3.1
6
1.7
.8
2.9
5
18
.7
4.3
2.8
3.7
2.8
4.1
3.4
3.7
2.2
4.0
2.9
35
2.5
3.8
25
34
2.1
preliminary.
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
1986p
Measure
1984
1985
5.2
5.4
4.2
5.1
6.7
6.4
4.8
5.1
4.6
5.4
6.1
6.0
5.0
1.9
3.1
(4)
5.7
4.1
1.6
(4)
1.8
0.6
1.2
(4)
Specified adjustments:
Total compensation 1 adjustments, 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 c o n tra c t......................................................
Effective adjustments:
Total effective wage adjustm ent3 ....................................
From settlements reached in perio 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.
3 Because of rounding total may not equal sum of parts.
* Less than 0.05 percent.
p = preliminary.
Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more
Annual totals
1985
1986p
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
time1 ..............................................
1985
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Mar.
Feb.
Apr.
May
62
68
54
61
11
20
376.0
323.9
69.5
76.6
26.2
8.2
7.6
24.0
11.2
6.1
391.0
584.1
93.9
119.3
47.0
38.0
12.0
28.4
38.6
17.6
8,499.0
7,079.0
863.8
1,428.8
688.2
661.9
170.0
309.5
367.5
297.3
.04
.03
.04
.06
.04
.03
.01
.02
.02
.02
6
20
3
13
1 Agricultural and government employees are included in the total employed and total
working time: private household, forestry, and fishery employees are excluded. An
explanation of the measurement of Idleness as a percentage of the total time worked is
86
Jan.
4
7
2
9
3
7
2
8
4
8
June
6
10
July
Aug.
Sept.
11
15
13
22
28.6
198.0
46.7
113.3
32.4
41.2
205.9
66.3
144.8
84.0
303.6
3,684.3
894.5
1,612.1
1,191.7
.02
.07
.04
.07
.06
10
22
5
16
found in ‘“ Total economy’ measure of strike idleness,” Monthly Labor Review, October
1968, pp. 54-56.
p
= preliminary
30. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: U.S. city average, by expenditure category and commodity or
service group; and CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, all items
(1967=100, unless otherwise indicated)
Annual
1985
1986
3
Series
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
322.2
374.7
324.5
377.4
325.5
378.5
326.6
379.9
327.4
380.8
328.4
381.9
327.5
380.8
326.0
379.1
325.3
378.3
326.3
379.5
327.9
381.4
328.0
381.4
328.6
382.1
330.2
384.1
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
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
307.9
315.6
302.5
322.0
271.5
257.2
334.4
365.7
405.1
292.1
459.7
298.0
353.1
237.5
307.7
315.3
301.5
322.5
268.4
257.3
320.7
375.1
408.6
291.4
485.3
299.5
354.2
238.3
307.8
315.4
301.2
322.7
267.7
256.8
319.2
375.7
408.4
290.2
488.0
299.3
355.5
238.8
308.5
316.1
301.5
322.5
264.2
256.8
329.5
376.1
411.4
288.5
487.4
300.2
357.0
239.5
309.4
317.0
302.1
323.8
263.4
257.1
336.5
374.6
411.2
287.2
481.9
301.4
358.8
239.4
309.5
317.1
301.6
326.1
265.1
257.2
327.8
374.1
411.5
287.0
480.0
301.7
360.2
240.1
312.2
320.1
305.5
326.3
274.9
258.4
330.3
373.7
412.4
287.3
478.3
301.8
360.8
240.4
314.6
322.7
308.9
328.2
283.0
258.3
332.1
374.0
413.1
287.8
476.9
303.2
361.8
240.1
315.1
323.2
309.0
328.5
284.7
258.5
329.1
373.7
413.7
285.6
475.7
303.8
363.3
240.4
Flousing ............................................
Shelter ..........................................................
Renters’ costs ( 1 2 /8 2 = 1 0 0 )..........................
Rent, reside ntial...................................................
Other renters' costs ......................................
Flomeowners’ costs (1 2 /8 2 = 1 0 0 ).................................
Owners’ equivalent rent ( 1 2 /8 2 = 1 0 0 ) .....................................
Household insurance (1 2 /8 2 = 1 0 0 )..........................................
Maintenance and repairs..........................................
Maintenance and repair services ..............................................
Maintenance and repair com m odities.......................................
Fuel and other u tilitie s .........................................
Fuels ................................................................
Fuel oil, coal, and bottled gas .................................................
Gas (piped) and electricity ....................................................
Other utilities and public services ...................
Household furnishings and ope ratio ns...........................................
H ousefurnishings.............................................................................
Housekeeping supplies...................................................................
Housekeeping services...................................................................
336.5
361.7
10B.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
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
356.8
393.8
118.8
273.4
401.1
116.7
116.7
115.7
379.1
432.6
277.1
394.6
484.7
650.3
442.6
247.3
248.8
199.8
318.3
343.9
356.5
394.8
119.0
273.7
404.1
117.0
117.0
117.4
379.6
432.8
277.8
390.0
476.3
591.2
444.5
247.9
249.0
199.7
318.6
344.5
357.0
397.0
119.6
275.0
405.5
117.9
117.9
118.0
367.5
422.4
266.1
385.5
467.6
549.9
442.3
249.0
249.8
201.0
317.9
345.1
358.0
400.1
120.9
277.9
410.8
118.7
118.7
118.3
367.6
424.6
264.5
381.8
459.6
518.3
439.2
251.3
249.6
200.4
318.5
345.4
358.5
400.9
121.1
278.4
411.3
118.9
118.9
118.8
367.1
425.5
262.9
382.5
460.6
496.8
444.6
251.5
249.9
200.8
318.3
345.8
361.2
401.6
121.6
279.4
415.2
119.0
119.0
118.9
366.6
427.4
260.7
393.8
477.0
486.6
466.0
255.2
250.2
200.8
319.6
346.1
361.5
403.5
122.5
281.2
420.1
119.4
119.4
119.9
369.2
430.1
262.7
389.4
469.2
459.4
462.3
255.6
250.5
201.2
319.5
346.6
362.4
405.2
122.9
281.7
425.7
119.9
119.9
119.9
376.4
434.2
271.3
389.5
469.0
447.3
464.5
255.9
250.5
200.9
319.8
347.4
363.7
407.6
123.6
283.2
429.1
120.7
120.7
120.2
376.2
437.0
268.7
388.3
467.2
453.5
461.1
255.6
251.5
202.2
320.1
347.8
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...........................
Foo tw ear..................................................
Other apparel com m odities................................
Apparel se rvice s.....................................................
200.2
187.0
192.4
163.6
287.0
209.5
216.4
306.0
206.0
191.6
197.9
169.5
299.7
212.1
215.5
320.9
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
205.0
189.5
198.6
164.4
313.9
209.1
215.5
329.8
204.1
188.5
196.8
163.4
311.6
207.9
216.1
330.7
206.3
190.8
198.3
167.6
313.1
210.1
214.6
331.5
207.3
191.7
199.7
168.0
316.6
211.4
215.3
332.9
206.4
190.7
200.2
164.9
318.5
211.5
215.4
333.6
204.5
188.4
198.1
161.3
319.7
210.0
215.8
334.3
203.2
187.0
195.8
159.8
307.5
209.1
218.1
334.6
207.0
191.2
197.8
167.2
310.6
209.6
221.6
334.7
212.1
196.6
203.2
175.7
309.7
212.0
221.1
336.7
Transportation ....................................................
Private transportation..........................................
New ve h icle s..........................................................
New c a rs .........................................................................................
Used c a r s ..........................................................................................
Motor f u e l..........................................................................................
G a soline..........................................................................................
Maintenance and re p a ir..................................................................
Other private tran sportation..................................................
Other private transportation com m o dities................................
Other private transportation services........................................
Public transportation ..........................................................................
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
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
323.9
317.3
219.7
219.9
374.1
373.3
372.5
357.9
297.7
203.4
325.5
419.6
319.2
312.2
220.2
220.4
370.7
351.5
350.8
358.9
299.2
202.9
327.6
422.2
309.6
302.1
220.1
220.3
367.2
308.5
307.7
359.3
301.5
203.6
330.3
421.2
303.3
295.3
221.0
221.2
364.8
279.5
278.6
360.6
301.6
202.2
330.9
422.2
305.7
297.8
222.8
223.0
363.6
289.3
288.7
361.3
301.3
202.4
330.4
423.7
308.6
300.8
224.0
224.2
362.5
299.4
299.1
362.1
303.0
201.5
332.8
425.4
304.7
296.5
224.5
224.7
360.3
280.2
279.8
363.4
304.5
201.6
334.6
428.0
301.3
292.8
224.5
224.7
358.0
265.9
265.3
364.3
304.5
201.8
334.6
428.0
302.2
293.7
224.2
224.5
359.5
271.1
270.6
365.0
302.3
200.3
332.3
428.5
Medical c a r e .....................................................................
Medical care com m o dities................................................................
Medical care se rvice s........................................................................
Professional se rvice s......................................................................
Other medical care se rvic e s ..........................................................
379.5
239.7
410.3
346.1
486.0
403.1
256.7
435.1
367.3
517.0
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
418.2
264.5
451.9
378.9
540.3
422.3
267.4
456.2
381.6
546.4
425.8
269.4
460.1
385.0
550.8
428.0
271.3
462.3
386.9
553.5
429.7
272.3
464.2
388.3
555.9
432.0
273.3
466.8
390.3
559.2
434.8
275.4
469.8
391.7
564.2
437.5
276.0
473.0
393.3
569.4
439.7
276.7
475.7
396.1
571.9
Entertainment .......................................................................................
Entertainment commodities ..............................................................
Entertainment se rvice s......................................................................
256.1
253.3
258.3
265.0
260.6
271.8
266.8
262.5
273.3
268.4
264.0
275.2
269.0
264.0
276.6
268.3
262.5
277.1
270.8
264.7
279.9
272.0
265.2
282.1
271.9
265.0
282.2
272.3
264.8
283.5
272.9
265.3
284.2
273.9
266.1
285.5
274.4
265.8
287.0
274.7
266.1
287.3
275.3
265.9
289.2
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
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
339.1
342.7
288.1
285.3
291.8
416.8
371.0
427.6
340.3
344.7
289.1
286.0
293.0
417.7
373.8
428.1
341.1
345.6
290.3
287.3
294.0
417.9
374.3
428.3
341.8
346.5
290.5
287.7
294.1
418.9
374.4
429.5
342.1
346.5
290.9
287.9
294.7
419.5
374.5
430.2
342.6
347.1
291.0
287.0
295.7
420.4
375.7
431.0
344.9
354.3
291.1
287.1
295.8
421.2
375.9
431.9
346.4
356.2
292.3
289.1
296.2
422.9
376.9
433.7
353.3
356.8
292.0
288.2
296.5
445.2
389.4
457.8
1984
1985
311.1
361.5
Food and beverages ................................
F o o d .................................................
Food at h o m e ............................................
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 s w e e ts ..........................................
Fats and o ils .............................................................
Nonalcoholic beverages..........................
Other prepared fo o d s ..........................................
Food away from home ..............................................
Alcoholic beverages............................................
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR ALL URBAN CONSUMERS:
All ite m s ....................................
All items (1 9 5 7 -5 9 = 1 0 0 )..................
See footnotes at end of table.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
87
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
30. Continued— Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: U.S. city average, by expenditure category and commodity or
service group; and CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, all items
(1 9 6 7 = 1 0 0 , u nless o th e rw ise in dicate d)
1986
1985
Annual
Series
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
325.5
287.9
302.5
327.4
289.9
305.6
286.8
194.2
339.1
271.4
328.4
290.1
307.9
284.9
189.5
338.7
271.4
327.5
287.4
307.7
285.3
196.7
335.6
270.2
326.6
289.2
303.6
286.8
196.8
337.8
271.5
278.6
188.5
329.5
270.5
326.0
283.7
307.8
268.9
190.8
313.6
269.7
325.3
281.2
308.5
262.0
191.7
302.6
269.2
326.3
282.1
309.4
263.3
190.7
305.2
269.6
327.9
282.8
309.5
264.7
188.4
308.4
269.9
328.0
281.9
312.2
259.8
187.0
301.7
269.6
328.6
281.9
314.6
258.1
191.2
296.9
269.0
330.2
283.5
315.1
261.5
196.6
299.5
269.3
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
391.7
117.4
111.4
349.0
451.9
324.8
393.3
117.7
111.8
351.0
456.2
326.1
394.9
118.5
111.6
352.4
460.1
326.6
396.8
119.4
111.6
353.2
462.3
327.6
397.9
119.7
112.3
353.4
464.2
328.2
401.0
119.9
115.2
355.3
466.8
329.2
402.3
120.5
114.9
357.1
469.8
330.1
403.7
120.9
115.3
357.3
473.0
330.8
405.5
121.7
114.9
356.2
475.7
337.9
323.3
303.9
109.7
317.7
272.5
326.2
305.7
110.4
319.9
273.1
327.4
306.3
110.7
320.8
274.4
328.5
307.2
111.1
321.9
275.7
328.9
307.9
111.3
322.6
275.7
329.5
308.8
111.6
323.4
274.7
328.5
307.4
111.2
322.2
270.9
325.7
303.6
110.1
319.7
261.2
326.7
304.7
110.4
320.6
262.1
328.6
306.5
111.1
322.2
263.0
328.0
306.1
111.0
322.1
260.2
2 5 9 .2
2 6 0 .5
2 6 1 .8
2 5 7 .3
292.9
286.3
117.4
387.2
361.8
324.4
324.8
262.1
313.3
393.8
295.2
287.4
117.8
388.3
367.6
325.0
325.3
262.2
319.3
394.5
298.1
288.2
119.2
391.3
380.6
325.5
325.9
262.0
327.1
395.9
292.2
287.1
119.5
392.5
366.5
326.9
326.9
262.0
306.6
397.7
328.1
306.4
111.2
322.6
259.0
255.6
287.9
287.4
119.8
393.6
358.6
328.3
327.9
262.9
292.4
399.0
330.0
307.9
111.7
324.2
261.1
258.9
290.2
289.4
120.2
395.4
360.6
330.0
329.9
264.5
297.7
401.4
Sept.
1984
1985
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.............................................................................................
311.1
280.7
295.1
322.2
286.7
302.0
-
-
-
-
275.7
187.0
325.8
266.5
282.1
191.6
333.3
270.7
284.6
195.3
335.3
268.7
S e rvices...................................................................................................
Rent of sh e lte r.....................................................................................
Household services less rent of shelter ........................................
Transportation se rvice 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
311.3
295.1
106.3
307.3
267.0
324.5
287.1
302.1
Special indexes:
All items less food .............................................................................
All items less shelter .........................................................................
All items less homeowners’ c o s ts ...................................................
All items less medical c a re ...............................................................
Commodities less fo o d ......................................................................
Nondurables less food ......................................................................
Nondurables less food and apparel ...............................................
N ondurables.........................................................................................
Services less rent of sh e lte r.............................................................
Services less medical c a r e ...............................................................
E nergy...................................................................................................
All items less e n e rg y .........................................................................
All items less food and energy ........................................................
Commodities less food and e n e rg y ................................................
Energy commodities ..........................................................................
Services less energy..........................................................................
2 7 0 .8
2 7 7 .2
2 7 9 .6
2 8 0 .7
2 8 2 .0
2 8 2 .0
2 8 0 .4
2 7 4 .5
311.9
286.6
108.5
355.6
423.6
302.9
301.2
253.1
409.8
356.4
319.2
293.2
113.5
373.3
426.5
314.8
314.4
259.7
409.9
375.9
321.0
294.6
115.0
378.3
432.6
316.8
316.9
260.2
411.2
380.2
322.0
295.1
115.1
379.3
427.1
318.4
318.9
262.0
410.1
382.5
324.0
296.4
115.2
380.1
425.1
319.8
320.4
262.7
415.2
384.8
325.1
297.4
115.4
380.8
426.5
320.5
320.7
262.2
417.9
385.8
324.9
297.7
116.2
382.7
424.7
321.8
321.6
261.8
413.2
387.9
316.8
294.3
116.8
384.0
408.9
322.3
322.3
261.6
386.5
389.4
326.6
305.2
110.5
320.5
265.2
265.6
302.7
289.5
117.1
385.4
381.3
323.3
323.6
262.0
343.0
391.5
Purchasing power of the consumer dollar:
1 9 6 7 -5 1 .0 0 ........................................................................................
195 7-5 9-51 .00 ..................................................................................
32.1
27.6
31.0
26.7
30.8
26.5
30.7
26.4
30.6
26.3
30.5
26.3
30.5
26.2
30.5
26.3
30.7
26.4
30.7
26.4
30.6
26.4
30.5
26.2
30.5
26.2
30.4
26.2
30.3
26.0
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR URBAN WAGE EARNERS
AND CLERICAL WORKERS:
All items ..................................................................................................
All items (1 9 5 7 -5 9 -1 0 0 )........................................................................
307.6
357.7
318.5
370.4
320.5
372.7
321.3
373.7
322.6
375.1
323.4
376.1
324.3
377.1
323.2
375.8
321.4
373.7
320.4
372.6
321.4
373.7
323.0
375.6
322.9
375.5
323.4
376.1
324.9
377.8
Food and beverages ............................................................................
F o o d ......................................................................................................
Food at home ..................................................................................
Cereals and bakery p roducts......................................................
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 s w 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
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
307.7
315.1
300.9
320.4
270.7
256.0
329.7
366.1
404.7
291.6
461.0
299.4
356.2
240.1
307.5
314.9
300.1
320.9
267.7
256.0
316.0
375.2
408.1
290.8
485.5
300.9
357.3
240.9
307.6
315.0
299.7
321.1
267.2
255.5
314.6
375.6
407.8
289.7
487.4
300.7
358.6
241.4
308.3
315.6
299.9
320.9
263.5
255.5
325.0
376.0
410.9
287.8
487.0
301.6
360.2
242.3
309.0
316.4
300.4
322.1
262.6
255.8
331.6
374.3
410.6
286.6
481.2
302.7
362.0
242.2
309.3
316.6
300.0
324.5
264.2
255.9
323.5
373.9
410.9
286.4
479.5
303.0
363.5
242.9
312.0
319.5
303.9
324.6
274.0
257.0
325.6
373.4
411.9
286.6
477.6
303.1
364.2
243.4
314.5
322.3
307.3
326.7
282.2
256.9
327.2
373.9
412.6
287.1
476.9
304.5
365.2
243.0
315.0
322.8
307.5
326.8
284.0
257.1
324.2
373.5
413.0
285.1
475.5
305.2
366.6
243.4
Housing ...................................................................................................
S h e lte r..................................................................................................
Renters’ costs (12/84 = 1 0 0 )........................................................
329.2
350.0
343.3
370.4
347.2
375.0
347.5
377.1
349.1
380.4
271.5
397.5
105.9
105.9
105.7
368.5
420.1
264.2
394.3
483.1
659.9
438.8
246.7
245.2
197.8
315.0
345.0
350.1
381.8
272.5
400.8
106.3
106.3
106.3
373.2
426.2
267.2
395.6
484.1
652.7
441.4
248.3
245.1
197.3
315.8
345.6
349.7
382.9
272.8
403.5
106.6
106.6
107.8
374.0
426.5
268.1
390.9
475.7
593.6
443.2
248.8
245.3
197.2
316.4
346.3
350.1
385.0
274.1
405.4
107.4
107.3
108.2
364.7
416.6
261.1
386.3
467.1
552.8
441.2
249.9
246.0
198.5
315.5
346.6
351.1
388.1
277.0
411.6
108.1
108.1
108.5
364.6
419.2
259.4
382.6
459.1
521.5
438.0
252.1
246.0
198.1
316.3
347.1
351.6
388.8
277.5
411.3
108.3
108.3
109.0
363.8
420.0
258.0
383.0
459.7
499.9
443.0
252.2
246.1
198.4
315.7
347.4
354.3
389.4
278.5
415.5
108.4
108.4
109.1
363.2
422.6
255.7
394.9
477.3
489.9
465.7
255.8
246.2
198.2
316.8
347.8
354.5
391.5
280.3
420.4
108.8
108.8
110.1
366.7
425.2
259.0
390.3
469.1
462.9
461.4
256.3
246.5
198.4
317.1
348.4
355.4
392.9
280.8
426.1
109.3
109.2
110.1
371.5
428.6
263.5
390.6
469.3
450.7
464.1
256.6
246.6
198.3
317.3
349.1
356.6
395.2
282.2
428.9
110.0
110.0
110.4
370.6
430.7
261.1
389.1
467.1
456.6
460.3
256.2
247.5
199.4
317.9
349.5
208.1
204.1
203.1 | 205.2
206.1
205.1
203.0
201.8
205.9
211.0
Other renters’ costs .....................................................................
Homeowners’ costs (12/84 = 1 0 0 )................................................
Owners’ equivalent rent (1 2 /8 4 —1 0 0 ).....................................
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 .......................................................................
Fuels ..................................................................................................
Fuel oil, coal, and bottled gas ...................................................
Gas (piped) and e le c tric ity .........................................................
Other utilities and public s e rv ic e s ...............................................
Household furnishings and ope ratio ns..........................................
Housefurnishings............................................................................
Housekeeping supp lie s..................................................................
Housekeeping services..................................................................
Apparel and u p k e e p .............................................................................
S ee fo o tn o te s a t end of table.
88
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
-
-
-
-
248.6
372.4
-
356.3
403.5
257.2
388.6
485.0
644.3
444.1
231.2
239.1
197.0
300.2
328.0
263.7
397.9
103.1
103.0
103.2
364.1
415.0
261.1
394.7
487.5
622.0
451.6
241.6
243.4
197.6
310.7
340.2
266.8
409.8
104.3
104.3
104.3
364.4
416.8
260.5
401.9
496.7
604.3
465.9
245.6
243.2
196.5
311.0
342.9
268.9
411.6
104.8
104.8
105.2
364.6
417.4
260.5
396.3
487.2
618.1
452.0
245.7
244.5
197.7
312.7
343.9
348.3
379.3
270.7
408.0
105.5
105.5
105.2
367.7
420.9
262.7
393.2
481.0
644.3
439.5
246.8
245.1
198.3
313.5
344.5
199.1
205.0
208.7
210.2
210.2
-
30. Continued— Consumer Price Index for Ail Urban Consumers: U.S. city average, by expenditure category and commodity or
service group; and CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, all items
(1967 = 100, unless otherwise indicated)
Series
Annual
average
1985
1986
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
191.3
198.2
171.3
311.7
212.5
203.1
318.5
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
189.4
198.8
166.1
332.7
209.9
203.5
327.2
188.2
196.8
165.2
328.6
208.4
204.2
328.1
190.4
198.0
169.0
329.6
210.7
203.5
329.0
191.2
199.3
169.3
331.3
212.1
204.1
330.2
190.1
200.0
165.9
334.3
212.0
203.8
330.9
187.7
198.0
162.0
335.6
210.6
204.5
331.9
186.3
195.4
160.8
323.7
209.6
206.5
332.2
190.8
197.1
169.3
328.6
209.9
209.5
332.3
196.2
202.3
178.1
326.2
212.0
209.0
334.2
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
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
325.1
320.2
219.0
219.2
374.1
375.3
374.6
359.4
296.9
205.6
323.7
408.6
320.1
314.8
219.4
219.7
370.7
353.0
352.3
360.4
298.4
205.4
325.7
412.6
310.3
304.5
219.4
219.5
367.2
309.6
308.8
360.9
300.6
206.0
328.3
412.0
303.5
297.4
220.2
220.4
364.8
280.1
279.1
362.2
300.4
204.6
328.5
413.0
305.9
299.9
222.0
222.3
363.6
290.3
289.6
362.8
299.8
204.9
327.7
413.8
308.7
302.8
223.2
223.4
362.5
300.6
300.3
363.6
301.2
203.9
329.6
415.1
304.6
298.3
223.7
223.9
360.3
280.9
280.5
365.0
302.4
203.8
331.2
418.0
300.9
294.4
223.6
223.9
358.0
266.7
266.1
365.7
302.2
204.0
330.9
418.4
301.8
295.3
223.3
223.7
359.5
271.9
271.4
366.6
299.7
202.7
328.1
418.8
Medical c a r e ...........................................................................................
Medical care commodities ................................................................
Medical care se rvice s........................................................................
Professional s e rv ic e s ......................................................................
Other medical care se rvic e s ..........................................................
377.7
239.7
407.9
346.5
484.7
401.2
256.3
432.7
367.7
513.9
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
416.0
264.1
449.2
379.3
536.9
420.0
267.0
453.5
382.2
543.0
423.5
268.8
457.3
385.6
547.3
425.7
270.7
459.5
387.4
550.0
427.3
271.7
461.3
388.8
552.3
429.6
272.5
464.0
390.8
555.8
432.4
274.6
466.9
392.3
560.7
435.0
275.2
470.1
394.0
565.8
437.1
275.8
472.6
396.6
568.1
E n tertainm ent.........................................................................................
Entertainment commodities ..............................................................
Entertainment se rvice s......................................................................
251.2
247.7
258.5
260.1
254.2
271.6
261.6
256.0
272.6
263.0
257.1
274.6
263.7
257.2
276.3
263.0
255.7
276.8
265.4
257.8
280.0
266.5
258.3
282.0
266.5
258.3
282.1
266.9
258.4
283.0
267.3
258.7
283.6
268.4
259.8
284.8
269.0
259.6
286.5
269.2
259.8
286.7
270.0
259.8
288.9
Other goods and services ...................................................................
Tobacco p ro d u c ts ..............................................................................
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 ..............................................
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
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
334.9
342.4
285.9
285.9
286.4
418.9
375.6
429.7
336.1
344.4
286.8
286.7
287.4
419.9
378.4
430.3
337.0
345.2
288.0
288.1
288.4
420.1
379.0
430.5
337.6
346.0
288.2
288.4
288.4
421.2
379.1
431.8
338.0
346.0
288.6
288.6
289.0
422.0
379.1
432.8
338.4
346.7
288.6
287.6
290.0
422.9
380.2
433.6
341.2
354.0
288.8
287.8
290.2
423.8
380.5
434.6
342.6
355.9
289.9
289.7
290.5
425.1
381.4
436.0
347.5
356.5
289.5
288.7
290.8
446.1
393.9
458.7
All items .....................................................................................................
Com 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 ....................
D urables.............................................................................................
307.6
280.4
296.2
269.3
277.5
186.6
327.0
261.1
318.5
286.5
301.8
320.5
286.8
301.8
321.3
287.6
302.2
322.6
288.9
303.4
323.4
289.7
305.4
324.3
289.8
307.7
323.2
287.0
307.5
321.4
283.1
307.6
320.4
280.4
308.3
321.4
281.3
309.0
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
286.5
195.1
336.4
263.1
287.0
196.6
336.5
264.5
288.5
196.5
338.8
265.7
288.7
194.1
340.1
265.7
286.9
189.4
339.6
265.6
280.1
188.2
330.1
264.6
269.6
190.4
313.2
263.7
262.0
191.2
301.6
263.3
263.6
190.1
304.5
263.5
322.9
281.1
312.0
260.1
186.3
301.0
263.2
323.4
281.1
314.5
283.8
191.3
334.2
265.2
323.0
282.0
309.3
265.2
187.7
308.0
263.6
258.1
190.8
295.9
262.6
324.9
282.6
315.0
261.5
196.2
298.4
263.0
S e rvices...................................................................................................
Rent of shelter ( 1 2 / 8 4 - 1 0 0 ) ...........................................................
Flousehold services less rent of shelter (1 2 /8 4 = 1 0 0 )...............
Transportation se rvice s.....................................................................
Medical care se rvice s........................................................................
Other services ....................................................................................
358.0
317.2
407.9
292.9
377.3
103.2
102.6
332.2
432.7
310.1
382.0
104.5
104.8
331.4
438.1
315.0
383.0
105.1
103.3
335.5
440.6
316.7
384.2
105.8
102.1
339.3
443.2
317.8
385.1
106.1
102.0
340.5
445.4
318.3
387.2
106.4
102.6
343.3
449.2
320.4
388.8
106.7
103.0
345.4
453.5
321.6
390.5
107.4
102.8
347.0
457.3
322.1
392.2
108.3
102.7
347.5
459.5
322.9
393.2
108.5
103.4
347.3
461.3
323.6
396.4
108.7
106.4
348.9
464.0
324.6
397.7
109.2
106.0
350.6
466.9
325.6
399.0
109.6
106.4
350.7
470.1
326.0
400.4
110.3
106.0
349.2
472.6
332.2
307.5
295.1
350.5
423.3
298.3
295.8
250.5
410.5
350.8
319.4
303.4
101.8
314.3
272.8
279.0
320.3
293.9
102.6
369.0
426.3
309.9
308.7
256.8
410.9
371.1
321.9
304.8
102.4
316.1
273.4
281.5
322.3
295.2
103.8
373.6
432.5
311.5
310.7
257.2
412.6
374.9
322.9
305.4
102.6
316.9
274.5
282.4
323.1
295.7
103.9
374.5
426.6
313.0
312.7
258.8
411.2
377.3
324.2
306.4
103.0
318.1
275.9
283.8
325.0
297.1
103.9
375.5
425.4
314.5
314.2
259.5
416.3
379.8
324.6
307.2
103.2
318.9
275.9
283.9
326.3
298.2
104.2
376.2
426.8
315.3
314.6
259.2
418.9
380.8
325.1
307.9
103.5
319.6
275.0
282.3
325.9
298.4
104.9
378.2
424.7
316.5
315.4
258.8
414.1
382.9
323.8
306.4
103.0
318.3
270.9
276.1
317.5
295.0
105.5
379.5
408.1
316.9
316.1
258.5
387.3
384.5
321.5
303.8
102.3
316.2
264.9
266.4
302.6
289.8
105.7
381.0
379.0
317.8
317.2
258.7
343.3
386.5
320.2
302.1
101.8
315.2
260.7
259.4
292.2
286.3
105.9
382.7
358.4
318.8
318.3
258.8
312.9
388.8
321.2
303.0
102.1
316.1
261.6
260.9
294.9
287.5
106.2
383.6
364.6
319.2
318.6
258.8
319.8
389.4
323.2
304.8
102.7
317.7
262.6
262.4
298.0
288.4
107.6
386.8
378.1
319.7
319.1
258.5
328.1
390.8
322.3
304.3
102.6
317.4
259.6
257.7
291.8
287.2
107.8
387.9
363.1
321.1
320.1
258.5
307.2
392.6
322.2
304.6
102.7
317.8
258.3
255.8
287.3
287.5
108.1
389.0
354.8
322.4
321.0
259.3
292.9
393.7
323.9
305.9
103.2
319.3
260.3
259.1
289.6
289.5
108.3
390.3
356.9
323.9
322.7
260.9
298.2
395.7
32.5
28.0
31.4
27.0
31.2
26.8
31.1
26.8
31.0
26.7
30.9
26.6
30.8
26.5
30.9
26.6
31.1
26.8
31.2
26.8
31.1
26.8
31.0
26.6
31.0
26.6
30.9
26.6
30.8
26.S
1984
1985
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........................................................
Foo tw ear............................................................................................
Other apparel com m odities............................................................
Apparel se rvice s.................................................................................
186.6
192.9
166.0
297.6
210.0
20A5
302.9
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 transportation...........................................................
Other private transportation com m o dities................................
Other private transportation services........................................
Public transportation..........................................................................
Special indexes:
All items less food .............................................................................
All items less shelter .........................................................................
All items less homeowners' costs (12/84 = 100 )..........................
All items less medical c a r e ...............................................................
Commodities less fo o d ......................................................................
Nondurables less food ......................................................................
Nondurables less food and apparel ...............................................
N ondurables.........................................................................................
Services less rent of shelter (12/84 — 1 0 0 )...................................
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 energy..........................................................................
Purchasing power of the consumer dollar:
1 9 6 7 -$ 1 .0 0 .........................................................................................
1957-59 —$ 1 .0 0 ..................................................................................
-
304.0
267.1
272.6
313.2
287.4
-
-
Data not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
89
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
31. Consumer Price Index: U.S. city average and available local area data: all items
(1967=100, unless otherwise indicated)
All Urban Consumers
Area'
Pricing
sche
dule2
Other
index
base
1985
Anchorage, Alaska
(10/67 = 100) ........................
Baltimore, Md.............................
Boston, Mass.............................
Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind............
Denver-Boulder, Colo................
Miami, Fla. (11/77 - 1 0 0 ).....
Milwaukee, Wis..........................
Northeast, Pa.............................
Portland, Oreg.-Wash................
St. Louis, Mo.-lll.........................
San Diego, Calif.........................
Seattle-Everett, Wash...............
Washington, D.C.-Md.-Va.........
Oct.
May
June
July
Aug.
Oct.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
-
325.5
326.3
327.9
328.0
328.6
330.2
320.5
321.3
321.4
323.0
322.9
323.4
324.9
-
326.3
320.5
322.6
319.7
324.2
321.7
330.4
321.0
331.1
318.4
331.4
323.2
333.9
321.1
312.1
310.3
308.9
309.7
309.6
311.0
315.6
310.2
316.0
307.5
316.2
312.8
318.3
310.5
M
323.8
326.1
329.4
331.3
330.9
330.9
334.6
317.7
320.0
322.7
324.5
323.8
323.5
326.8
M
M
316.9
316.5
317.4
317.4
320.6
318.9
322.8
321.7
325.1
323.0
325.9
323.1
326.6
325.8
309.3
319.1
309.9
320.3
312.3
320.8
314.4
323.5
316.5
324.6
317.2
324.4
317.5
326.7
-
-
-
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
-
-
278.4
327.9
320.8
324.9
352.4
171.6
350.1
307.8
303.4
320.6
345.0
310.1
330.2
_
-
-
281.8
326.8
319.3
324.8
350.3
173.4
350.6
308.1
303.2
314.2
345.2
309.4
330.2
-
-
288.9
329.1
322.6
332.0
356.3
173.0
332.0
309.2
314.6
318.6
382.8
323.5
329.6
-
277.9
330.9
325.2
324.7
357.2
174.5
351.7
310.2
306.3
320.7
347.4
312.3
334.6
_
-
330.0
295.3
327.0
337.5
302.7
335.0
312.9
_
-
335.5
294.0
328.2
337.4
306.5
330.9
311.4
_
-
335.4
292.5
329.9
339.1
308.3
330.5
311.9
_
-
336.0
309.9
331.0
-
336.2
308.3
338.1
-
334.5
309.2
339.0
-
M
M
-
-
Alanta, Ga...................................
Buffalo, N.Y................................
Cleveland, O h io ........................
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.
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
_
-
_
-
333.0
309.3
348.6
343.9
295.6
337.6
323.1
_
-
338.5
308.9
350.6
344.7
299.2
333.3
322.9
_
-
338.9
307.5
352.7
346.2
301.5
332.9
323.9
_
-
2
2
2
-
-
340.3
330.1
345.5
-
-
-
342.1
328.6
344.0
-
-
340.6
328.4
336.7
-
-
-
-
Region3
N o rth e a st................................
North C e n tra l..........................
S o u th .......................................
West ........................................
2
2
2
2
12/77
12/77
12/77
12/77
-
175.0
176.2
176.4
179.0
-
-
-
-
Population size class3
A-1 ...........................................
A - 2 ...........................................
B ...............................................
C ..............................................
D ..............................................
2
2
2
2
2
12/77
12/77
12/77
12/77
12/77
-
176.6
179.1
176.6
175.0
173.8
-
-
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
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
90
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
10/67
11/77
-
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
Sept.
286.2
334.0
328.2
333.0
362.9
174.3
332.9
311.3
318.0
325.7
385.9
326.3
332.3
See footnotes at end of table.
1986
324.5
Sept.
U.S. city ave ra g e .....................
Chicago, III.-Northwestern
Ind...............................................
Detroit, Mich...............................
Los Angeles-Long Beach,
Anaheim, Calif...........................
New York, N.Y.-Northeastern
N.J...............................................
Philadelphia, Pa.-N.J.................
Urban Wage Earners
1985
1986
-
-
-
-
-
-
172.5
174.9
175.7
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
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
286.3
330.2
323.6
332.4
358.4
171.2
331.3
309.0
314.7
325.6
383.1 ~
323.7
329.3
-
174.2
176.1
176.3
178.7
-
175.7
178.9
177.0
174.7
173.4
-
171.8
180.3
176.8
181.8
175.2
174.1
178.5
178.3
-
-
-
-
-
173.1
180.7
176.7
182.0
174.7
172.5
178.6
178.1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
“
“
-
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
171.8
169.5
173.9
178.4
-
-
-
-
-
“
-
171.6
172.2
175.2
176.3
-
171.0
175.2
174.1
174.6
174.2
-
167.7
174.7
176.1
177.1
172.2
169.7
174.6
178.7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
172.2
172.2
175.3
176.4
-
171.8
175.3
173.5
174.8
174.5
-
168.8
175.0
176.1
176.9
-
171.8
168.1
174.6
178.3
-
-
-
-
-
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
Area'
Pricing
sche
dule2
Other
index
base
1985
Sept.
Class C:
Northeast .............................
North C e n tra l.......................
South ....................................
W e s t......................................
2
2
2
2
12/77
12/77
12/77
12/77
Class D:
Northeast .............................
North C e n tra l.......................
South ....................................
W e s t......................................
2
2
2
2
12/77
12/77
12/77
12/77
-
-
”
Oct.
181.7
170.1
174.3
169.7
175.6
171.6
174.8
174.5
May
June
July
183.4
170.7
174.5
171.6
-
-
176.1
171.3
173.9
174.1
-
' 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, III.Northwestern 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.
-
-
-
-
1986
1985
1986
Aug.
Sept.
182.8
171.2
174.8
173.0
176.8
171.4
174.3
174.9
Oct.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
May
186.5
166.9
175.7
168.3
-
-
175.3
173.1
176.2
176.0
-
-
June
187.8
167.2
175.2
169.9
175.5
172.6
174.6
175.4
July
-
-
-
-
Aug.
Sept.
187.2
167.7
175.3
171.1
176.2
172.4
175.0
176.3
Series
Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and
Clerical Workers
All items:
In d e x ............................................................................
Percent ch a n g e ....................................................................
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1977
-
-
“
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 byproducts 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 and major groups
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 ch a n g e .......................................
Apparel and upkeep:
In d e x ............................................
Percent ch a n g e ..................................
Transportation:
In d e x .................................................
Percent ch a n g e ................................................
Medical care:
In d e x ...................................................
Percent ch a n g e .......................................................
Entertainment:
In d e x .....................................................................
Percent ch a n g e ...........................................................
Other goods and services:
In d e x .................................................................
Percent ch a n g e .................................................................
-
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1
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
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
33. Producer Price Indexes, by stage of processing
(1967 = 100)
1986
1985
Annual average
Grouping
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
com ponents...................................................
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 fe e d s tu ffs ..........................
Nonfood materials1 ......................................
Special groupings
Finished goods, excluding fo o d s ..................
Finished energy goods ...................................
Finished goods less e n e rg y ...........................
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 ...............................................................
Intermediate materials less foods and
fe e d s .................................................................
Intermediate foods and fe e d s ........................
Intermediate energy goods ............................
Intermediate goods less e n e rg y ....................
Intermediate materials less foods and
e n e rg y...............................................................
Crude energy m aterials...................................
Crude materials less energy ..........................
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
1984
1985
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
291.1
290.3
273.3
293.7
291.8
271.2
294.7
292.3
268.2
296.4
294.4
271.8
297.2
295.4
275.0
296.0
293.8
275.0
291.9
288.4
272.0
288.0
283.4
271.6
287.2
281.9
271.9
288.9
284.1
274.8
288.9
284.1
275.1
288.0
282.7
280.7
288.3
283.1
283.6
287.5
282.7
282.2
294.1
337.3
236.8
294.0
297.3
339.3
241.5
300.5
299.4
340.3
244.9
303.5
300.7
342.6
245.0
303.8
300.7
343.2
244.3
303.7
298.3
339.6
243.5
303.9
291.8
328.0
243.9
304.3
284.6
315.4
243.7
304.3
282.2
309.8
245.7
305.6
284.0
313.0
245.5
305.7
283.8
312.6
245.8
305.8
278.8
303.4
246.3
306.4
278.0
302.0
246.2
306.3
278.1
304.8
242.7
304.2
320.0
318.7
317.6
318.1
318.9
317.4
313.5
309.5
307.1
306.7
307.1
305.0
304.5
306.1
301.8
271.1
290.5
325.1
287.5
299.5
258.8
285.9
320.2
291.5
298.0
252.3
283.3
318.6
292.3
297.7
254.0
282.8
317.5
292.3
297.9
254.3
283.1
317.6
292.4
297.1
252.8
283.8
313.4
293.1
296.5
249.2
282.4
313.1
293.6
296.4
246.7
282.5
313.6
293.7
295.5
244.8
279.3
313.7
294.1
295.4
248.7
278.2
313.2
294.1
295.3
247.8
278.0
313.3
294.2
295.8
251.6
278.2
313.3
294.6
296.0
255.7
277.2
313.4
294.9
296.2
254.3
277.3
314.5
295.1
310.3
566.2
302.3
283.4
315.2
548.9
311.2
284.2
315.5
542.6
310.4
285.1
315.0
550.5
309.8
285.6
315.7
557.2
310.6
285.7
316.2
540.8
311.2
286.6
316.5
500.8
310.9
286.4
317.0
453.4
312.3
286.8
318.3
428.5
312.8
287.2
318.3
424.2
313.6
287.1
317.7
429.3
313.6
287.3
318.0
401.6
314.2
287.4
317.6
395.2
316.4
287.1
317.9
409.1
317.8
287.9
330.8
259.5
484.5
306.1
235.0
459.2
297.8
224.6
455.3
304.7
236.6
451.6
304.3
236.8
450.0
301.0
231.7
450.6
289.0
227.2
422.7
281.1
224.4
403.9
273.7
220.3
389.4
279.4
229.9
386.9
274.9
226.1
380.7
278.0
233.6
374.1
275.5
236.3
360.0
275.5
231.9
369.6
294.8
750.3
265.1
257.8
262.3
299.0
720.9
269.2
261.3
268.7
301.3
716.5
270.5
262.1
271.6
302.4
729.5
271.6
263.4
271.8
302.4
733.8
272.2
264.3
271.4
300.7
700.9
272.7
264.8
272.1
296.3
629.3
272.2
264.0
272.5
291.2
554.1
272.1
263.9
272.5
289.9
517.2
273.1
264.9
273.9
291.2
534.1
274.0
266.1
274.0
291.1
531.5
274.2
266.2
274.1
287.8
467.8
276.4
269.0
275.0
287.2
459.1
277.2
270.0
275.0
286.6
477.2
275.4
268.4
273.1
245.9
252.1
254.9
255.0
254.6
255.5
256.0
256.0
257.3
257.5
257.6
258.6
258.6
256.9
239.0
246.2
248.3
248.5
248.3
250.5
251.1
251.2
252.0
252.3
252.3
253.8
253.8
253.6
325.0
253.1
545.0
303.8
325.0
232.8
528.3
304.0
324.1
228.6
522.2
303.4
324.5
231.4
529.3
303.2
325.3
232.7
536.2
303.5
323.6
232.6
520.0
303.4
319.7
228.9
482.0
303.0
315.5
227.8
437.0
303.3
313.0
227.0
413.3
303.1
312.4
229.3
409.1
303.0
312.8
229.0
413.9
302.9
310.5
230.3
387.1
303.4
309.9
232.4
380.8
303.5
311.5
233.3
393.8
304.0
303.6
305.2
304.6
304.2
304.5
304.3
304.2
304.5
304.3
304.0
303.9
304.2
304.2
304.7
737.1
233.2
244.6
735.6
233.0
242.9
732.8
229.8
245.8
662.9
226.5
246.5
614.5
224.7
247.9
577.0
221.9
249.1
570.6
229.2
249.3
554.2
226.5
250.0
538.7
232.0
249.2
524.5
231.1
236.1
544.1
228.5
239.2
785.2
255.5
266.1
748.1
233.2
249.7
743.1
224.7
246.5
34. Producer Price indexes, by durability of product
(1967 = 100)
Annual average
1985
1986
Grouping
1984
1985
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Total durable g o o d s ......................................
Total nondurable g o o d s ...............................
293.6
323.3
297.3
317.2
298.8
314.3
298.5
317.6
298.5
318.8
298.1
316.8
298.4
308.4
298.6
300.7
299.7
296.0
299.6
297.9
299.6
297.4
300.0
294.9
300.1
294.0
299.2
295.6
Total m anufactures..........................................
D u rab le.........................................
Nondurable .................................................
302.9
293.9
312.3
304.3
298.1
310.5
304.4
299.7
309.2
305.4
299.5
311.4
306.0
299.5
312.5
304.8
299.0
310.6
301.1
299.3
302.9
297.3
299.4
294.9
296.1
300.5
291.2
296.7
300.4
292.6
297.0
300.5
293.1
295.4
300.9
289.2
295.6
300.9
289.7
296.2
300.1
292.0
Total raw or slightly processed goods ........
D u rab le.........................................................
Nondurable .....................................................
346.6
266.7
351.4
327.9
252.2
332.4
320.6
248.1
324.9
326.2
245.2
331.2
327.6
244.3
332.7
326.0
248.2
330.6
316.3
251.2
320.2
310.3
252.4
313.6
303.0
253.1
305.8
306.2
252.1
309.3
302.6
250.9
305.5
304.3
248.9
307.4
299.7
252.4
302.3
299.2
253.2
301.7
35. Annual data: Producer Price Indexes, by stage of processing
(1967=100)
Index
Finished goods:
Total ...........................................................................
Consumer g o o d s .................................................
Capital equipment ...............................................
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
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
293.7
291.8
300.5
Intermediate materials, supplies, and
components:
Total ...........................................................................
Materials and components for
m anufacturing......................................................
Materials and components for construction ....
Processed fuels and lubricants .........................
C o n ta in e rs.............................................................
S u p p lie s.................................................................
201.5
215.6
243.2
280.3
306.0
310.4
312.3
320.0
318.7
195.4
203.4
282.5
188.3
188.7
208.7
224.7
295.3
202.8
198.5
234.4
247.4
364.8
226.8
218.2
265.7
268.3
503.0
254.5
244.5
286.1
287.6
595.4
276.1
263.8
289.8
293.7
591.7
285.6
272.1
293.4
301.8
564.8
286.6
277.1
301.8
310.3
566.2
302.3
283.4
299.5
315.2
548.9
311.2
284.2
Crude materials for further processing:
Total ...........................................................................
Foodstuffs and feedstuffs ..................................
Nonfood materials except fuel ..........................
Fuel ........................................................................
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
306.1
235.0
355.3
909.6
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
93
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
36.
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
U.S. export price indexes by Standard International Trade Classification
(June 1977=100, unless otherwise indicated)
Category
1974
SITO
1983
Dec.
June
1986
1985
1984
Mar.
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
99.5
100.2
101.5
99.3
98.1
97.5
97.5
96.5
96.7
97.0
96.7
Food (3/8 3 = 100) ................................................................................................
Meat ( 3 /8 3 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................................................................................
Fish (3 /8 3 -1 0 0 ) ................................................................................................
Grain and grain preparations (3 /8 0 = 1 0 0 ) ...................................................
Vegetables and fruit (3 /8 3 -1 0 0 ) ...................................................................
Feedstuffs for animals (3/83 = 10 0 )................................................................
Misc. food products ( 3 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) ....................................................................
0
01
03
04
05
08
09
108.8
101.2
100.4
105.6
116.1
117.4
101.7
106.2
108.9
99.8
102.7
116.2
106.9
104.9
109.6
108.7
98.7
107.4
126.8
98.8
110.6
103.5
105.6
98.0
101.2
125.5
83.5
109.5
96.5
104.4
98.7
92.9
114.6
82.4
108.4
95.8
103.9
101.0
92.4
119.4
72.8
110.6
94.0
104.7
103.6
90.3
120.1
68.6
109.2
90.2
106.1
102.6
82.6
126.8
75.7
108.1
93.6
112.2
101.8
87.1
118.8
83.4
107.7
90.5
111.5
102.2
82.1
115.2
88.5
106.0
89.5
114.7
106.2
79.1
125.7
85.5
104.7
Beverages and tobacco ( 6 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) .............................................................
Beverages (9 /8 3 —1 0 0 )....................................................................................
Tobacco and tobacco products (6/83 —1 0 0 )................................................
1
11
12
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
98.6
100.9
98.4
95.6
101.9
95.1
96.5
103.0
95.9
Crude materials ( 6 /8 3 -1 0 0 ) ...........................................................................
Raw hides and skins ( 6 /8 0 - 1 0 0 ) ..................................................................
Oilseeds and oleaginous fruit (9/77 = 1 0 0 )....................................................
Crude rubber (including synthetic and reclaimed) (9/83 = 1 0 0 ).................
W o o d ....................................................................................................................
Pulp and waste paper (6 /8 3 —100) ................................................................
Textile fib e rs ........................................................................................................
Crude fertilizers and m inerals..........................................................................
Metalliferous ores and metal scrap ................................................................
2
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
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
92.5
139.9
63.9
106.0
128.1
92.7
97.7
165.5
78.7
95.8
138.9
66.9
106.0
128.7
98.8
101.6
168.0
83.4
95.6
148.9
65.8
106.1
128.7
109.7
98.6
166.1
80.5
Mineral fu e ls .........................................................................................................
3
99.2
99.1
99.7
99.7
99.7
100.1
99.2
97.6
96.6
91.9
86.2
Animal and vegetables oils, fats, and w a x e s .............................................
Fixed vegetable oils and fats (6/83 —1 0 0 )....................................................
4
42
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
101.4
108.7
90.8
95.4
84.4
95.3
Chemicals ( 3 / 8 3 - 1 0 0 ) .......................................................................................
Organic chemicals (12/83 —100) ....................................................................
Fertilizers, manufactured (3 /8 3 —1 0 0 )............................................................
5
51
56
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
96.6
95.4
90.0
96.5
93.5
88.6
95.4
89.3
84.0
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
149.695.9
79.8
105.4
99.1
78.5
148.7
148.2
98.2
78.2
104.4
100.3
77.8
151.0
152.2
98.4
80.2
105.3
101.2
82.5
150.0
158.7
99.4
79.1
105.5
67
68
69
7
71
72
73
74
75
76
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
142.9
167.4
155.7
155.1
152.0
100.0
133.3
116.1
133.9
196.6
143.1
167.1
156.0
156.3
152.4
99.9
134.1
115.3
133.8
199.3
143.3
167.5
156.2
158.4
152.2
99.4
134.5
113.8
135.0
200.7
144.0
169.1
155.5
159.0
152.3
99.9
136.5
115.1
135.5
203.3
144.1
169.2
154.7
158.9
153.3
99.2
137.0
114.1
136.4
205.6
Other manufactured articles ...........................................................................
Apparel ( 9 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) ..........................................................................................
Professional, scientific, and controlling Instruments and apparatus.........
Photographic apparatus and supplies, optical goods, watches and
clocks ( 1 2 /7 7 - 1 0 0 ) .........................................................................................
77
78
79
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
178.7
100.3
105.3
178.8
102.6
182.2
103.4
183.8
8
132.0
132.0
131.3
132.7
130.3
128.0
129.1
127.5
128.5
131.6
132.9
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s....................................................
84
98.2
98.5
97.9
95.2
94.1
92.4
93.1
93.1
92.4
95.6
95.6
Gold, non-monetary (6 /8 3 —1 0 0 )....................................................................
971
96.2
95.8
93.5
81.7
79.5
69.1
75.4
77.4
77.5
81.8
82.2
ALL COMMODITIES ( 9 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) .....................................................................
Intermediate manufactured products (9 /8 1 —1 0 0 )....................................
Leather and furskins (9 /7 9 —1 0 0 )...................................................................
Rubber manufactures ........................................................................................
Paper and paperboard products (6 /7 8 —1 0 0 )..............................................
Iron and steel (3 /8 2 —100) ..............................................................................
Nonferrous metals (9 /8 1 —100) ......................................................................
Metal manufactures, n.e.s. (3/82 —100) ........................................................
Machinery and transport equipment, excluding military
and commercial aircraft (1 2 /7 8 —1 0 0 ).........................................................
Power generating machinery and equipment (1 2 /7 8 -1 0 0 ) ......................
Machinery specialized for particular Industries (9/78 — 100) ......................
Metalworking machinery (6 /7 8 -1 0 0 ) ............................................................
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 ........
-
Data not available.
94FRASER
Digitized for
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
6
61
62
64
-
~
37.
U.S. import price indexes by Standard International Trade Classification
(June 1977=100, unless otherwise indicated)
Category
1974
SITC
ALL COMMODITIES ( 9 /8 2 - 1 0 0 ) .....................................................................
1984
June
Sept.
1986
1985
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
98.3
96.7
95.7
93.5
93.0
92.9
94.2
88.5
83.2
Food ( 9 /7 7 = 1 0 0 ) .................................................................................................
Meat .....................................................................................................................
Dairy products and eggs (6/81 = 100) ..........................................................
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 ..............................................................................................
0
01
02
03
103.5
133.8
99.8
134.2
102.0
135.4
98.9
134.2
98.1
132.3
98.4
133.9
98.5
130.4
98.3
132.9
96.8
118.2
97.9
129.4
94.9
120.6
99.1
129.7
102.8
131.2
100.5
132.7
113.4
122.7
106.7
139.3
104.7
118.5
107.1
144.8
04
05
06
07
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
141.9
131.3
111.9
64.6
146.9
119.4
124.6
85.9
149.3
119.4
121.6
69.2
Beverages and tobacco ...................................................................................
Beverages ...........................................................................................................
1
11
156.3
153.6
157.1
153.5
156.5
152.8
156.2
154.2
157.1
154.3
158.0
156.0
162.1
159.1
163.2
161.8
165.5
163.9
Crude materials ...................................................................................................
Crude rubber (inc. synthetic & reclaimed) (3 /8 4 —1 0 0 )..............................
Wood (9 /8 1 = 1 0 0 ) .............................................................................................
Pulp and waste paper (1 2 /8 1 —1 0 0 )..............................................................
Crude fertilizers and crude minerals (12/83 — 100) .....................................
Metalliferous ores and metal scrap (3 /8 4 —1 0 0 ).........................................
Crude vegetable and animal materials, n.e.s.................................................
2
23
24
25
27
28
29
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
91.2
73.2
99.4
75.8
102.1
90.1
102.5
94.2
78.8
104.3
74.9
101.5
94.5
103.6
95.3
75.5
106.3
79.9
100.0
95.6
104.4
Fuels and related products (6 /8 2 —1 0 0 ).......................................................
Petroleum and petroleum products (6 /8 2 —100) ..........................................
3
33
88.0
88.1
86.9
87.0
85.2
85.2
82.9
83.8
80.9
81.6
79.8
80.3
79.1
80.1
55.3
54.7
37.4
36.1
Fats and oils (9/83 = 1 0 0 ).................................................................................
Vegetable oils (9/83 = 1 0 0 )..............................................................................
4
42
141.8
143.1
124.4
125.3
114.9
115.3
89.9
89.5
76.7
75.9
57.6
56.2
50.6
48.9
41.4
39.3
39.3
37.4
Chemicals ( 9 /8 2 - 1 0 0 ) .......................................................................................
Medicinal and pharmaceutical products (3/84 —100) .................................
Manufactured fertilizers ( 3 /8 4 - 1 0 0 ) ..............................................................
Chemical materials and products, n.e.s. (9 /8 4 —1 0 0 ).................................
5
54
56
59
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
94.9
95.1
82.0
95.6
94.5
95.3
80.8
96.9
94.2
96.7
78.5
97.8
94.6
102.9
79.2
99.9
93.3
104.9
79.7
100.2
Intermediate manufactured products (12 /7 7 —100) .................................
Leather and furskins ..........................................................................................
Rubber manufactures, n.e.s...............................................................................
Cork and wood manufactures .........................................................................
Paper and paperboard products .....................................................................
T extiles.................................................................................................................
Nonmetallic mineral manufactures, n.e.s........................................................
Iron and steel (9/78 = 1 0 0 )..............................................................................
Nonferrous metals (12/81 = 100) ....................................................................
Metal manufactures, n.e.s..................................................................................
6
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
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
133.4
141.3
138.1
124.0
156.5
128.1
162.3
118.3
80.4
121.6
134.0
141.6
136.5
130.8
157.1
131.2
164.2
117.3
79.4
124.4
135.6
143.0
137.7
134.3
157.1
132.9
169.6
118.1
78.9
127.8
Machinery and transport equipment (6/81 = 1 0 0 )....................................
Machinery specialized for particular industries (9 /7 8 —1 0 0 )......................
Metalworking machinery (3/80 — 100) ............................................................
General industrial machinery and parts, n.e.s. (6 /8 1 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
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 (12/81 = 100) .....................................
Road vehicles and parts (6/81 — 1 0 0 )............................................................
7
72
73
74
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
94.3
107.2
104.9
98.1
98.0
111.5
112.1
105.0
103.8
115.3
115.4
107.7
109.0
75
96.7
94.1
92.2
89.6
89.4
90.3
93.7
96.9
100.8
76
77
78
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
88.6
83.1
117.8
89.4
84.5
123.4
91.6
87.4
127.1
Mise, manufactured articles (3 /8 0 = 1 0 0 ) ......................................................
Plumbing, heating, and lighting fixtures (6 /8 0 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................
Furniture and parts (6/80 —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 ) ..........................................
8
81
82
84
85
101.5
112.0
140.8
132.5
140.8
99.7
110.7
138.4
135.4
138.4
100.0
111.6
142.5
138.5
142.5
97.0
113.9
137.4
136.7
137.4
98.0
114.1
136.7
133.9
136.7
99.6
117.8
142.1
134.5
142.1
100.8
115.0
142.7
134.5
142.7
103.3
120.1
147.0
133.4
147.0
104.8
123.5
142.2
135.3
142.2
87
97.8
95.6
92.9
89.2
92.3
98.8
102.4
106.4
112.5
88
89
92.8
104.0
91.2
98.3
91.3
96.3
88.9
91.2
89.5
95.2
91.1
96.4
94.5
97.9
99.3
102.1
103.7
103.4
Gold, non-monetary ( 6 /8 2 - 1 0 0 ) ....................................................................
971
-
-
-
-
Data not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
-
-
-
-
-
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
38.
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
U.S. export price indexes by end-use category
(September 1983 = 100 unless otherwise indicated)
Category
Percentage
of 1980
trade
value
June
16.294
30.696
21.327
9.368
30.186
7.483
7.467
3.965
3.501
39.
Sept.
98.5
102.5
104.4
97.7
103.9
105.3
100.9
99.6
102.1
1986
1985
1984
Dec.
88.8
100.5
102.8
95.0
104.6
105.3
101.3
99.4
103.0
Mar.
83.0
99.1
101.4
93.3
105.6
105.7
100.8
99.3
102.3
June
Sept.
80.9
97.2
99.5
91.6
106.6
108.0
101.1
99.2
103.0
81.5
97.6
99.6
92.6
106.2
106.7
100.9
99.1
102.7
Mar.
Dec.
76.2
96.5
98.7
91.1
106.6
108.1
101.9
100.4
103.3
June
74.7
94.8
96.0
91.9
107.5
110.4
104.5
101.8
107.2
75.5
96.0
97.5
92.5
107.4
109.5
103.7
101.8
105.5
77.5
95.9
97.9
91.0
106.6
109.2
101.4
99.5
103.3
U.S. import price indexes by end-use category
(December 1982=100)
Category
Foods, feeds, and beverages .............................................................
Petroleum and 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 e n g in e s ...........................................
Consumer g o o d s ...................................................................................
Durable .................................................................................................
Nondurable...........................................................................................
40.
Percentage
of 1980
trade
value
7.477
31.108
19.205
9.391
9.814
13.164
11.750
14.250
5.507
8.743
June
107.2
88.5
104.3
102.1
106.7
99.8
104.9
101.9
101.4
102.5
Sept.
1986
1985
1984
Mar.
Dec.
105.6
87.5
102.5
101.7
103.3
98.0
104.0
100.6
98.8
103.0
101.8
85.7
101.1
100.7
101.6
97.8
105.2
101.1
98.5
104.6
Sept.
June
100.4
82.1
95.8
93.9
97.8
96.3
105.9
99.4
97.0
102.5
102.1
84.4
96.3
95.0
97.7
94.8
105.4
99.5
97.0
103.0
99.0
80.9
95.4
93.5
97.4
97.6
106.4
101.0
98.9
103.9
June
Mar.
Dec.
115.8
55.4
94.5
91.1
98.1
102.8
115.6
104:5
103.4
106.0
106.0
80.5
93.9
91.8
96.2
100.0
111.4
102.4
100.7
104.7
U.S. export price indexes by Standard Industrial Classification 1
1984
1986
1985
Industry group
June
Manufacturing:
Food and kindred products (6 /8 3 = 1 0 0 ) .............................
Lumber and wood products, except furniture
(6 /8 3 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................................................
Furniture and fixtures (9 /8 3 = 1 0 0 ) .......................................
Paper and allied products (3/81 = 1 0 0 ) ................................
Chemicals and allied products (12/84 = 1 0 0 )......................
Petroleum and coal products (12/83 = 1 0 0 )........................
Primary metal products (3/82 = 100) ....................................
Machinery, except electrical (9 /7 8 = 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 ) ............................................................................
1 SIC - based classification.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
112.7
105.6
103.3
99.5
99.5
96.7
98.1
97.0
95.0
100.1
103.1
104.3
102.3
102.1
104.0
137.9
109.5
157.2
97.0
103.5
106.2
101.3
100.7
100.0
138.0
110.7
157.8
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
91.2
140.4
111.3
160.5
99.5
106.5
94.7
99.6
102.7
92.7
140.5
112.4
161.9
98.3
107.1
93.2
99.7
102.0
93.6
140.6
111.9
162.8
101.2
108.4
92.1
99.2
99.1
93.6
140.5
111.2
164.3
101.5
109.2
95.7
98.9
93.5
96.4
140.6
112.6
165.2
101.2
109.7
101.6
98.3
83.1
96.6
140.3
112.2
166.9
153.2
156.0
153.0
154.9
156.6
156.2
156.7
159.7
161.2
108.2
36.7
94.0
89.7
98.7
106.6
119.0
106.6
106.6
106.6
41.
U.S. import price indexes by Standard Industrial Classification 1
1984
1985
1986
In d u s try group
June
Manufacturing:
Food and kindred products (6 /7 7 = 1 0 0 ) ......
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 (6/80 = 1 0 0 )................................
Paper and allied products (6/77 = 1 0 0 ).......................................
Chemicals and allied products ( 9 /8 2 = 1 0 0 ) ...............................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastic products
(12/80 = 1 0 0 )..................................................
Leather and leather products ...................................................
Primary metal products (6/81 =100) ..........................................
Fabricated metal products (12/84 = 1 0 0 )....................................
Machinery, except electrical (3 /8 0 = 1 0 0 ) ...................................
Electrical machinery ( 9 /8 4 - 1 0 0 ) ................................
Transportation equipment (6 /8 1 = 1 0 0 ) ............................
Scientific instruments; optical goods; clocks
( 1 2 /7 9 = 1 0 0 ).................................................................................
Miscellaneous manufactured commodities
(9 /8 2 = 1 0 0 ) ....................................................................................
Sept.
Dec.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
126.6
103.8
129.6
124.1
104.3
133.9
122.6
104.7
138.2
118.8
102.8
135.6
115.0
101.0
133.0
114.2
100.4
133.9
115.1
101.8
134.4
117.7
104.7
133.4
115.6
106.4
135.1
121.1
96.9
141.9
101.8
117.3
96.2
146.0
99.8
120.0
95.6
145.5
98.2
116.3
93.9
141.5
95.3
120.6
96.1
139.8
93.9
117.5
97.7
138.7
93.3
115.8
98.2
137.4
95.8
122.1
101.2
137.6
98.6
124.8
103.5
139.4
102.1
98.5
143.7
91.9
97.8
141.6
88.3
-
-
96.9
139.1
82.2
99.0
91.8
95.1
113.1
96.7
138.9
83.0
99.1
93.4
95.8
114.2
96.6
142.3
83.4
101.0
96.6
94.5
114.8
97.5
144.0
81.9
102.6
100.0
95.8
119.6
100.9
145.8
82.0
104.9
105.5
97.0
123.9
100.6
144.6
82.4
108.5
108.9
100.2
128.0
111.6
95.5
100.0
110.7
98.0
144.2
86.6
100.0
94.1
98.6
112.9
95.5
94.4
93.2
90.7
91.7
94.6
98.8
103.9
109.5
99.1
95.8
96.4
95.1
95.1
96.6
98.7
99.9
101.7
97.1
-
1 SIC - based classification.
42.
Mar.
-
Data not available.
Indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, and unit costs, quarterly data seasonally adjusted
(1977 = 100)
Annual
average
Item
Quarterly Indexes
1983
1984
1985
1986
1984
IV
I
II
III
IV
I
II
III
IV
1
II
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 ................................................
105.3
168.1
98.1
159.7
156.3
158.5
103.8
163.6
98.0
157.7
150.6
155.2
104.9
165.9
98.1
158.2
154.1
156.7
105.6
167.1
97.9
158.3
156.7
157.7
105.5
169.0
98.1
160.2
157.0
159.0
105.5
170.6
98.2
161.7
157.7
160.3
105.7
172.3
98.4
163.1
158.3
161.4
106.4
174.5
98.7
164.0
160.0
162.6
107.3
176.4
99.1
164.4
161.4
163.4
106.4
178.0
99.0
167.3
159.6
164.6
107.3
179.1
99.2
167.0
162.2
165.3
107.2
180.4
100.3
168.2
161.9
166.0
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 ................................................
104.3
167.9
98.0
161.0
156.1
159.3
103.3
163.4
97.9
158.2
152.3
156.2
103.9
165.6
97.9
159.4
153.2
157.2
104.6
166.9
97.8
159.5
156.4
158.4
104.4
168.7
98.0
161.5
157.2
160.0
104.3
170.4
98.1
163.3
157.9
161.4
104.4
172.1
98.2
164.8
158.9
162.7
104.9
174.0
98.4
165.9
160.8
164.1
105.4
175.4
98.5
166.3
163.0
165.2
104.5
177.0
98.4
169.3
160.3
166.2
105.6
178.3
98.8
168.8
163.9
167.1
105.5
179.3
99.7
170.0
163.5
167.7
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 ................................................
105.6
165.9
96.8
161.5
157.0
174.6
133.4
160.1
158.1
104.5
161.7
96.8
159.0
154.8
171.4
128.6
156.4
155.3
105.3
163.6
96.8
159.4
155.4
171.1
134.4
158.3
156.4
105.9
164.8
96.6
160.1
155.7
173.1
138.5
161.0
157.5
105.5
166.6
96.7
162.6
157.9
176.4
130.3
160.3
158.7
105.8
168.3
96.8
163.8
159.1
177.5
130.5
161.0
159.8
106.0
169.9
97.0
164.9
160.3
178.5
129.3
161.3
160.6
106.5
171.6
97.0
165.8
161.1
179.8
130.2
162.5
161.6
107.8
173.1
97.2
165.0
160.5
178.3
141.7
165.5
162.2
107.0
174.5
97.0
167.2
163.0
179.8
131.2
162.8
162.9
106.9
175.4
97.1
168.3
164.0
181.1
131.7
163.8
164.0
106.3
176.0
97.9
169.4
165.6
180.9
128.4
162.5
164.5
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 ..........................................................
116.6
168.2
98.1
144.2
113.3
163.6
97.9
144.3
114.7
165.4
97.8
144.1
115.7
166.8
97.8
144.2
117.8
169.1
98.2
143.5
118.2
171.5
98.7
145.1
119.3
173.8
99.2
145.7
121.7
175.6
99.3
144.3
123.0
178.1
100.0
144.8
122.9
179.3
99.7
145.8
123.4
180.2
99.8
146.1
124.0
181.4
100.9
146.2
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
43.
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Productivity Data
Annual indexes of multifactor productivity and related measures, selected years
(1977 = 100)
Item
1960
1970
1974
1973
1978
1976
1979
1982
1981
1980
1984
1983
Private business
Productivity:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............................
Output per unit of capital s e rv ic e s .......................
Multifactor productivity...........................................
O u tp u t..........................................................................
Inputs:
Hours of all persons...............................................
Capital services .......................................................
Combined units of labor and capital in p u t.........
Capital per hour of all persons................................
67.3
102.4
78.2
55.3
88.4
102.0
92.9
80.2
95.9
105.3
99.1
93.0
93.8
98.8
95.6
91.2
98.4
97.2
98.0
94.5
100.8
102.0
101.2
105.8
99.5
99.8
99.7
107.9
99.2
94.2
97.4
106.6
100.6
92.4
97.7
108.9
100.3
86.6
95.2
105.4
103.0
88.3
97.6
109.9
105.4
92.4
100.6
118.9
82.2
54.0
70.7
65.7
90.8
78.7
86.3
86.7
96.9
88.3
93.8
91.1
97.2
92.4
95.5
95.0
96.1
97.2
96.5
101.2
105.0
103.8
104.5
98.8
108.4
108.0
108.2
99.7
107.5
113.1
109.4
105.3
108.2
117.8
111.5
108.8
105.2
121.7
110.7
115.7
106.7
124.4
112.6
116.7
112.8
128.7
118.1
114.1
70.7
103.7
80.9
54.4
89.2
102.8
93.7
79.9
96.4
106.0
99.6
92.9
94.3
99.2
96.0
91.1
98.5
97.3
98.1
94.4
100.8
101.9
101.2
106.0
99.2
99.0
99.1
107.9
98.7
93.4
96.9
106.6
99.6
91.1
96.7
108.4
99.1
85.1
94.1
104.8
102.4
87.3
97.0
110.0
. 104.3
90.9
99.6
118.9
77.0
52.5
67.3
68.2
89.6
77.7
85.3
86.8
96.3
87.6
93.3
91.0
96.6
91.9
95.0
95.1
95.8
97.0
96.2
101.3
105.1
104.0
104.7
98.9
108.8
109.0
108.9
100.1
108.0
114.1
110.0
105.6
108.8
119.0
112.2
109.4
105.7
123.2
111.4
116.5
107.4
126.1
113.5
117.4
114.0
130.8
119.4
114.7
62.2
102.5
71.9
52.5
80.8
98.6
85.2
78.6
93.4
111.4
97.9
96.3
90.6
101.2
93.3
91.7
97.1
96.2
96.8
93.1
101.5
102.1
101.7
106.0
101.4
99.7
101.0
108.1
101.4
91.2
98.7
103.2
103.6
89.2
99.8
104.8
105.9
81.8
99.2
98.4
112.0
86.9
105.1
104.7
116.6
94.4
110.7
116.0
84.4
51.2
73.0
60.7
97.3
79.7
92.2
82.0
103.1
86.4
98.4
83.8
101.2
90.6
98.3
89.5
95.9
96.7
96.1
100.9
104.4
103.7
104.2
99.4
106.5
108.4
107.0
101.7
101.7
113.1
104.5
111.2
101.1
117.5
105.0
116.2
92.9
120.3
99.2
129.4
93.5
120.6
99.7
129.0
99.5
122.9
104.8
123.6
Private nonfarm business
Productivity:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............................
Output per unit of capital s e rv ic e s .......................
Multifactor p 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 of all persons................................
Manufacturing
Productivity:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............................
Output per unit of capital se rv ic 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................................
44.
Annual indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices, selected years
(1977 = 100)
Item
1960
1970
1973
1974
1976
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
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 ................................................
67.6
33.6
68.9
49.7
46.4
48.5
88.4
57.8
90.2
65.4
59.4
63.2
95.9
70.9
96.7
73.9
72.5
73.4
93.9
77.6
95.4
82.7
76.4
80.5
98.3
92.8
98.7
94.3
93.3
94.0
100.8
108.5
100.8
107.6
106.7
107.3
99.6
119.1
99.4
119.5
112.5
117.0
99.3
131.5
96.7
132.5
118.7
127.6
100.7
143.7
95.7
142.7
134.6
139.8
100.3
154.9
97.3
154.5
136.6
148.1
103.0
161.5
98.2
156.8
146.3
153.0
105.3
168.1
98.1
159.7
156.3
158.5
106.4
175.3
98.8
164.8
159.7
163.0
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 ................................................
71.0
35.3
72.3
49.7
46.3
48.5
89.3
58.2
90.8
65.2
60.0
63.4
96.4
71.2
97.1
73.9
69.3
72.3
94.3
78.0
95.9
82.7
74.0
79.7
98.5
92.8
98.8
94.3
93.0
93.8
100.8
108.6
100.9
107.7
105.6
107.0
99.3
118.9
99.2
119.7
110.5
116.5
98.8
131.3
96.6
132.9
118.5
127.8
99.8
143.6
95.7
144.0
133.5
140.3
99.2
154.8
97.2
156.0
136.5
149.2
102.4
161.5
98.2
157.7
148.1
154.3
104.3
167.9
98.0
161.0
156.1
159.3
104.8
174.6
98.4
166.7
160.6
164.6
Nonfinancial corporations:
Output per hour of all em plo yees...........................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per h o u r ...................................
Unit labor costs ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
73.4
36.9
75.5
50.2
51.5
50.7
91.1
59.2
92.4
65.0
60.1
63.3
97.5
71.6
97.6
73.4
68.9
71.9
94.6
78.2
96.1
82.6
73.1
79.4
98.4
92.9
98.9
94.3
93.8
94.2
100.6
108.4
100.7
107.8
104.4
106.6
99.8
118.7
99.1
119.0
108.4
115.4
99.1
131.1
96.4
132.3
118.6
127.6
99.6
143.3
95.5
143.8
137.8
141.7
100.4
154.3
96.9
153.8
142.1
149.8
103.5
159.9
97.3
154.5
152.1
153.7
105.6
165.9
96.8
157.0
160.1
158.1
106.8
172.3
97.0
161.2
163.0
161.8
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 ................................................
62.2
36.5
74.8
58.7
60.0
59.1
80.8
57.4
89.5
71.0
64.1
69.0
93.4
68.8
93.8
73.7
70.7
72.8
90.6
76.2
93.6
84.1
67.7
79.3
97.1
92.1
98.1
94.9
93.5
94.5
101.5
108.2
100.5
106.6
101.9
105.2
101.4
118.6
99.1
117.0
98.9
111.7
101.4
132.4
97.4
130.6
97.8
121.0
103.6
145.2
96.7
140.1
111.8
131.8
105.9
157.5
98.9
148.7
114.0
138.6
112.0
162.4
98.8
145.0
128.5
140.2
116.6
168.2
98.1
144.2
136.9
142.1
121.7
176.7
99.5
145.1
134.4
142.0
Digitized for 98
FRASER
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
45. Unemployment rates in nine countries, quarterly data seasonally adjusted
Annual average
1984
1985
1986
Country
1984
1985
IV
I
II
III
IV
I
II
Total labor force basis
United S ta te s ........................................
Canada ..................................................
Australia ................................................
Japan ......................................................
7.4
11.2
8.9
2.7
7.1
10.4
8.2
2.6
7.1
11.1
8.6
2.7
7.2
11.0
8.5
2.6
7.2
10.5
8.4
2.5
7.1
10.2
8.1
2.6
6.9
10.1
7.8
2.9
7.0
9.7
7.9
2.6
F ra n c e ...................................................
G erm any................................................
Great Britain .........................................
Italy ’ , 2 ...................................................
Sweden .................................................
9.7
7.6
12.8
5.8
3.1
10.1
7.7
13.0
5.9
2.8
10.0
7.7
12.8
5.7
3.0
10.2
7.7
12.9
5.8
3.0
10.1
7.8
13.0
5.7
2.9
10.2
7.7
13.2
5.9
2.7
9.9
7.7
12.8
6.2
2.7
10.0
7.6
13.0
6.2
2.8
10.3
7.5
13.1
6.3
2.6
United S ta te s ........................................
Canada ..................................................
Australia ................................................
Japan .....................................................
7.5
11.3
9.0
2.8
7.2
10.5
8.3
2.6
7.2
11.1
8.6
2.7
7.3
11.1
8.6
2.6
7.3
10.6
8.5
2.6
7.2
10.2
8.2
2.7
7.0
10.1
7.9
2.9
7.1
9.7
8.0
2.7
7.2
9.6
2.8
France ....................................................
G erm any................................................
Great Britain .........................................
Italy .........................................................
Sweden ..................................................
9.9
7.8
12.9
5.9
3.1
10.4
7.9
13.1
6.0
2.8
10.3
7.8
13.0
5.8
3.0
10.5
7.9
13.1
5.9
3.0
10.4
7.9
13.2
5.8
2.9
10.4
7.9
13.4
6.0
2.8
10.1
7.8
13.0
6.3
2.7
10.3
7.8
13.1
6.3
2.8
10.5
7.6
13.3
6.5
2.6
7.1
9.5
_
2.8
Civilian labor force basis
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
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
shown.
- Data not available.
NOTE: Quarterly figures for France, Germany, and Great
Britain are calculated by applying annual adjustment factors
to current published data and therefore should be viewed as
less precise indicators of unemployment under U.S.
concepts than the annual figures.
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 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
100
1976
1977
Labor force
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
France ..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Great B rita in ................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
96,158
10,203
6,244
53,100
22,000
25,900
25,290
20,300
4,890
4,149
Participation rate
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
F rance..........................................................................
G e rm any......................................................................
Great B rita in ................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
1978
1979
1980
99,009
10,500
6,358
53,820
22,300
25,870
25,430
20,530
4,950
4,168
102,251
10,895
6,443
54,610
22,470
26,000
25,620
20,630
5,010
4,203
104,962
11,231
6,519
55,210
22,670
26,250
25,710
20,910
5,100
4,262
106,940
11,573
6,693
55,740
22,790
26,520
25,870
21,210
5,290
4,312
61.6
61.1
62.7
62.4
57.3
53.8
63.2
47.8
49.1
66.0
62.3
61.6
62.7
62.5
57.6
53.4
63.2
48.0
49.0
65.9
63.2
62.7
62.0
62.8
57.5
53.3
63.3
47.7
48.8
66.1
63.7
63.4
61.7
62.7
57.5
53.3
63.2
47.8
49.0
66.6
Employed
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 ........................................................................
88,752
9,477
5,946
52,020
21,010
25,010
23,810
19,600
4,630
4,083
92,017
9,651
6,000
52,720
21,180
24,970
23,840
19,800
4,700
4,093
96,048
9,987
6,038
53,370
21,260
25,130
24,040
19,870
4,750
4,109
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 ........................................................................
56.8
56.7
59.7
61.1
54.8
52.0
59.5
46.1
46.5
64.9
57.9
56.6
59.2
61.2
54.7
51.6
59.3
46.3
46.5
64.8
Unemployed
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
France ..........................................................................
G e rm any......................................................................
Great B rita in ................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
7,406
726
298
1,080
990
890
1,480
700
260
66
Unemployment rate
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
F rance..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Great B rita in ................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w eden........................................................................
7.7
7.1
4.8
2.0
4.5
3.4
5.9
3.4
5.3
1.6
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
108,670
11,904
6,810
56,320
22,930
26,650
25,870
21,410
5,500
4,326
110,204
11,958
6,910
56,980
23,150
26,710
25,880
21,450
5,560
4,350
111,550
12,183
6,997
58,110
23,130
26,740
26,010
21,610
5,720
4,369
113,544
12,399
7,133
58,480
23,290
26,880
26,530
21,680
5,740
4,385
115,461
12,639
7,272
58,820
23,330
27,090
26,960
21,800
5,690
4,418
63.8
64.1
62.2
62.6
57.2
53.2
63.2
48.0
50.0
67.0
63.9
64.8
62.0
62.6
57.1
52.9
62.2
48.0
51.3
66.8
64.0
64.1
61.8
62.7
57.1
52.7
61.9
47.4
51.2
66.8
64.0
64.4
61.5
63.1
56.6
52.5
61.9
47.2
52.1
66.7
64.4
64.8
61.5
62.7
56.6
52.6
62.7
47.3
52.0
66.8
64.8
65.2
61.8
62.3
56.4
53.2
63.6
47.2
51.2
67.2
98,824
10,395
6,111
54,040
21,300
25,470
24,360
20,100
4,830
4,174
99,303
10,708
6,284
54,600
21,320
25,750
24,100
20,380
4,960
4,226
100,397
11,006
6,416
55,060
21,200
25,560
23,190
20,480
4,990
4,218
99,526
10,644
6,415
55,620
21,230
25,130
22,820
20,430
4,930
4,213
100,834
10,734
6,300
56,550
21,170
24,750
22,680
20,470
4,890
4,218
105,005
11,000
6,490
56,870
20,980
24,790
23,100
20,390
4,880
4,249
107,150
11,311
6,670
57,260
20,910
24,960
23,420
20,490
4,890
4,293
59.3
57.5
58.1
61.3
54.4
51.5
59.4
45.9
46.3
64.6
59.9
58.7
57.9
61.4
54.0
51.7
59.8
45.9
46.4
65.3
59.2
59.3
58.4
61.3
53.5
51.7
58.9
46.1
46.9
65.6
59.0
59.9
58.4
61.2
52.8
50.8
55.8
45.9
46.5
65.1
57.8
57.0
57.3
61.2
52.3
49.6
54.6
45.2
45.4
64.7
57.9
56.7
55.4
61.4
51.8
48.6
54.0
44.7
44.5
64.4
59.5
57.4
56.0
61.0
51.0
48.5
54.6
44.5
44.2
64.7
60.1
58.4
56.6
60.6
50.5
49.0
55.2
44.4
44.0
65.3
6,991
849
358
1,100
1,120
900
1,590
740
250
75
6,202
908
405
1,240
1,210
870
1,580
760
260
94
6,137
836
408
1,170
1,370
780
1,350
810
270
88
7,637
865
409
1,140
1,470
770
1,770
830
330
86
8,273
898
394
1,260
1,730
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
8,539
1,399
642
1,610
2,310
2,090
3,430
1,280
860
136
8,312
1,328
602
1,560
2,420
2,130
3,540
1,310
800
125
7.1
8.1
5.6
2.0
5.0
3.5
6.3
3.6
5.0
1.8
6.1
8.3
6.3
2.3
5.4
3.4
6.2
3.7
5.2
2.2
5.8
7.4
6.3
2.1
6.0
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
8.3
5.9
11.8
4.8
11.3
3.1
9.6
11.9
10.0
2.7
8.5
7.4
12.8
5.3
14.5
3.5
7.5
11.3
9.0
2.8
9.9
7.8
12.9
5.9
15.0
3.1
7.2
10.5
8.3
2.6
10.4
7.9
13.1
6.0
14.1
2.8
47. Annual indexes of productivity and related measures, twelve countries
(1977 = 100)
Item and country
Output per hour
United S ta te s ....................
Canada .....................................................................................
.
Japan ...............................
B e lgium .....................
Denmark .....................
France .............................................................................................
G erm any............................................................................................
Ita ly ......................................................................................................... ......
N etherlands......
N o rw ay..............................
S w e d e n ................................
United K ingdo m ...............
1960
1970
1973
1974
1976
1977
50.3
23.2
76.8
64.8
91.3
83.1
93.4
86.5
97.1
96.2
94.3
95.3
100.0
100.0
36.4
40.3
36.5
32 4
69.6
71.2
72.7
64.3
82.2
84.0
90.9
81.5
85.2
87.4
95.3
95.0
96.5
98.9
100.0
100.0
100.0
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
101.4
104.2
114.8
111.8
106.5
110.3
108.2
110.5
101.4
101.9
122.7
119.3
112.3
112.0
108.6
116.9
107.1
110.9
109.3
112.7
101.2
103.6
104.0
127.2
127.2
114.2
116.4
111.0
121.0
116.9
109.7
113.2
107.9
105.9
101.0
135.0
132.8
114.6
123.5
112.6
123.4
119.4
112.6
116.5
112.7
112.9
107.6
142.3
141.0
117.3
129.3
119.0
126.6
126.1
119.2
125.5
121.2
118.5
111.5
152.2
145.5
118.3
135.0
124.7
135.0
139.3
122.3
132.6
126.2
121.8
115.1
159.9
118.4
140.2
131.9
139.1
“
125.0
135.2
129.7
103.2
107.7
124.1
107.2
110.1
106.6
106.6
115.4
106.6
101.3
104.0
91.7
104.8
108.8
129.8
105.9
106.6
105.9
104.9
114.3
106.7
100.1
100.6
86.2
98.4
96.4
137.3
109.1
108.3
106.0
102.4
111.6
105.0
99.8
100.1
86.4
105.6
101.7
148.2
110.7
112.2
107.4
103.5
109.2
105.3
98.8
105.2
88.9
117.9
110.1
165.2
112.8
118.6
108.4
107.4
113.2
110.8
101.3
112.4
92.4
121.0
115.2
175.8
63.8
Output
United S ta te s .......................
Canada ...................................................................................................... "
Japan ........................................................................................................
B e lgium .................................................................................................
Denmark ................................
France ............................
G erm any......................................................................................................
Ita ly .............................................
N etherlands...............................................................................................
N o rw ay..............................
S w e d e n ...............................
United K ingdo m ..............................
41.5
19.2
41.7
75.1
69.9
78.1
94.6
91.9
95.8
98.0
91.7
99.6
93.1
98.1
94.8
99.5
100.0
100.0
100.0
50.0
37.4
44.8
55.1
52.6
71.0
86.6
78.0
84.4
87.0
92.5
94.7
96.1
90.5
95.8
99.5
100.3
104.7
95.4
96.3
100.0
104.0
105.7
103.5
98.0
97.9
99.0
101.4
106.1
98.2
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
108.1
110.9
113.9
104.2
105.4
106.1
106.6
108.6
106.1
100.3
103.6
100.5
Total hours
United S ta te s ................................
Canada .........................................................................................................
Japan ............................................................................................................
B e lgium ...................................................................................................
Denmark .......................................................................................................
F ra n ce ...........................................................................................................
G erm any.......................................................................................................
Ita ly .............................................................................................................. ’
N etherlands........................................
N o rw ay................................
S w e d e n ..........................................
United K ingdo m .........................
84.4
82.6
82.7
127.0
132.4
97.2
123.8
102.3
133.4
101.0
124.4
131.9
97.3
97.7
107.9
130.1
125.1
105.3
121.7
107.4
131.2
106.4
114.6
122.1
103.1
103.6
110.7
121.8
115.2
107.8
114.4
99.6
117.6
105.1
105.7
112.7
101.2
105.0
106.1
119.7
113.2
107.8
109.2
101.0
113.5
106.5
107.0
108.7
95.9
102.0
100.6
104.4
101.4
101.2
101.6
99.0
103.3
101.7
104.3
99.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
106.5
106.4
99.3
93.2
99.0
96.2
98.5
98.2
94.4
93.6
93.4
98.3
101.7
105.7
101.2
89.9
98.1
95.2
98.1
98.7
93.6
92.6
92.3
90.7
101.1
104.6
102.0
83.3
93.4
91.0
94.6
94.5
91.2
91.3
88.9
79.9
92.9
95.4
101.7
82.1
94.5
85.9
91.0
90.4
88.0
88.6
85.9
76.7
93.5
94.6
104.2
78.5
95.7
83.0
87.0
86.2
83.5
82.9
83.9
73.3
99.5
98.7
108.5
77.5
100.2
80.3
86.2
83.9
79.5
82.8
84.8
73.2
Compensation per hour
United S ta te s ...............................................................................................
Canada ...........................................
Japan ..............................................
B e lgium ..................................................................................................
D e n m a rk...........................................................................................
F ra n ce ................................................................................................
G erm any.........................................................
Ita ly ..............................................................................................................
N etherlands...........................................................................................
N o rw ay........................................
S w e d e n .............................................
United K ingdo m .....................................
36.5
27.1
8.9
13.8
12.6
15.1
18.8
8.3
12.5
15.8
14.7
14.8
57.3
46.5
33.9
34.9
36.3
36.6
48.0
26.1
39.0
37.9
38.5
30.8
68.8
59.2
55.1
53.5
56.1
52.3
67.5
43.7
60.5
54.5
54.2
44.8
76.2
68.5
72.3
65.2
67.9
62.0
76.9
54.5
71.9
63.6
63.8
56.9
92.1
89.9
90.7
89.5
90.4
88.9
91.3
84.2
91.9
88.8
91.5
88.4
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
118.6
118.3
113.4
117.6
123.1
129.3
116.1
134.7
117.0
116.0
120.1
137.7
132.4
130.6
120.7
130.4
135.9
147.5
125.6
160.2
123.6
128.0
133.6
165.8
145.2
151.5
129.8
144.6
149.6
170.3
134.5
197.1
129.1
142.8
148.1
188.9
157.5
167.1
136.6
152.0
162.9
200.8
141.0
237.3
137.5
156.0
158.9
206.4
163.2
179.3
140.7
163.7
174.3
226.2
148.4
276.4
144.7
173.5
173.3
222.4
169.1
182.1
144.8
176.6
183.9
246.5
155.3
303.0
152.8
188.3
190.7
237.2
Unit labor costs: National currency basis:
United S ta te s ...................................
Canada ......................................................................................................
Japan ............................................................................................................
B e lgium .....................................................................................................
D e n m a rk.......................................................................................................
France ..........................................................................................................
G e rm a n y.......................................................................................................
Ita ly ................................................................................................................
N etherlands..................................................................................................
N o rw ay...............................................
S w e d e n ............................................
United K ingdo m ......................................
58.7
53.9
38.4
42.0
33.8
41.6
46.6
22.8
38.5
29.0
34.8
27.6
70.9
60.6
52.3
58.1
55.4
52.6
67.4
36.0
60.7
46.4
47.7
39.7
73.7
64.8
66.4
68.0
67.4
63.6
80.3
48.1
74.3
57.6
57.2
48.2
84.1
73.3
83.6
78.3
79.0
72.8
88.0
57.2
81.6
65.2
64.6
59.7
94.9
93.5
96.2
93.9
92.1
93.6
94.6
85.1
96.0
89.1
90.0
89.2
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
117.0
113.5
98.8
105.2
115.7
117.3
107.3
121.9
104.1
108.2
108.3
134.7
130.6
128.1
98.4
109.3
121.0
131.7
115.7
137.0
108.5
117.0
118.6
163.8
140.1
145.7
102.0
113.6
131.1
146.3
121.2
162.9
110.4
130.2
130.9
175.1
148.7
165.4
101.2
114.4
142.2
162.6
125.2
192.4
115.2
138.6
136.3
183.1
144.5
166.7
98.9
116.1
148.6
175.0
124.7
218.3
114.7
145.5
138.1
183.5
142.8
163.2
95.1
121.4
155.5
182.5
124.6
224.5
109.7
154.0
143.8
187.9
58.7
59.0
26.5
30.2
29.5
41.7
25.9
32.5
25.1
21.7
30.1
44.4
70.9
61.7
39.1
42.0
44.4
46.8
42.9
50.6
41.2
34.5
41.1
54.4
73.7
68.8
65.6
62.8
67.2
70.4
70.4
73.1
65.6
53.4
58.7
67.7
84.1
79.7
76.8
72.1
77.9
74.5
79.1
77.6
74.6
62.8
65.1
80.1
94.9
100.7
86.9
87.2
91.5
96.3
87.3
90.5
89.1
86.9
92.3
92.3
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
117.0
103.0
121.3
128.5
132.0
135.5
135.9
129.5
127.4
113.8
112.9
163.9
130.6
116.4
116.8
134.1
129.0
153.4
147.9
141.4
134.2
126.2
125.3
218.3
140.1
129.1
123.8
109.9
110.3
132.2
124.9
126.3
108.9
120.6
115.4
203.1
148.7
142.3
108.8
89.5
102.3
121.5
119.7
125.4
105.8
114.2
96.9
183.5
144.5
143.7
111.5
81.3
97.5
112.9
113.4
126.8
98.6
106.1
80.4
159.4
142.8
133.9
107.2
75.3
90.1
102.7
101.6
112.8
83.9
100.4
77.7
143.9
Unit labor costs: U.S. dollar basis:
United S ta te s .....................................................
Canada .........................................................................................................
Japan ............................................................................................................
B e lgium .........................................................................................................
F ra n c e ...........................................................................................................
G e rm a n y.......................................................................................................
Ita ly ................................................................................................................
N etherlands..................................................................................................
N o rw ay..........................................................................................................
S w e d e n .........................................................................................................
United K ingdo m .......................................................
-
122.3
109.0
113.0
115.3
103.7
114.6
95.0
99.3
100.1
110.0
103.3
77.8
85.7
82.9
83.0
84.8
73.3
176.6
191.4
148.3
195.5
262.7
164.7
334.0
205.2
205.8
257.0
145.0
166.3
92.7
165.1
187.4
124.9
240.1
164.2
152 2
198.1
145.0
129.4
104.2
93.5
102.6
98.6
111 1
101.7
79 1
147.3
Data not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
101
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
November 1986 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Injury and Illness Data
48. Occupational injury and illness incidence rates by industry, United States
Incidence rates per 100 full-time workers2
Industry and type of case1
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
PRIVATE SECTOR3
Total c a s e s ..........................................................................................................
Lost workday cases ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkdays.....................................................................................................
9.2
3.5
60.5
9.3
3.8
61.6
9.4
4.1
63.5
9.5
4.3
67.7
8.7
4.0
65.2
8.3
3.8
61.7
7.7
3.5
58.7
7.6
3.4
58.5
8.0
3.7
63.4
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing3
Total c a s e s ..........................................................................................................
Lost workday cases ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkdays.....................................................................................................
11.0
4.7
83.3
11.5
5.1
81.1
11.6
5.4
80.7
11.7
5.7
83.7
11.9
5.8
82.7
12.3
5.9
82.8
11.8
5.9
86.0
11.9
6.1
90.8
12.0
6.1
90.7
Mining
Total c a s e s ..........................................................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.....................................................................................................
11.0
5.8
114.4
10.9
6.0
128.8
11.5
6.4
143.2
11.4
6.8
150.5
11.2
6.5
163.6
11.6
6.2
146.4
10.5
5.4
137.3
8.4
4.5
125.1
9.7
5.3
160.2
15.3
5.5
105.0
15.5
5.9
111.5
16.0
6.4
109.4
16.2
6.8
120.4
15.7
6.5
117.0
15.1
6.3
113.1
14.6
6.0
115.7
14.8
6.3
118.2
15.5
6.9
128.1
14.5
5.2
100.0
15.0
5.7
100.2
15.9
6.3
105.3
16.3
6.8
111.2
15.5
6.5
113.0
15.1
6.1
107.1
14.1
5.9
112.0
14.4
6.2
113.0
15.4
6.9
121.3
16.3
5.5
109.2
16.0
5.7
116.7
16.6
6.2
110.9
16.6
6.7
123.1
16.3
6.3
117.6
14.9
6.0
106.0
15.1
5.8
113.1
15.4
6.2
122.4
14.9
6.4
131.7
15.3
5.6
105.8
15.6
6.1
115.5
15.8
6.6
111.0
16.0
6.9
124.3
15.5
6.7
118.9
15.2
6.6
119.3
14.7
6.2
118.6
14.8
6.4
119.0
15.8
7.1
130.1
13.2
4.8
79.5
13.1
5.1
82.3
13.2
5.6
84.9
13.3
5.9
90.2
12.2
5.4
86.7
11.5
5.1
82.0
10.2
4.4
75.0
10.0
4.3
73.5
10.6
4.7
77.9
22.1
9.7
167.3
22.3
10.4
178.0
22.6
11.1
178.8
20.7
10.8
175.9
18.6
9.5
171.8
17.6
9.0
158.4
16.9
8.3
153.3
18.3
9.2
163.5
19.6
9.9
172.0
16.9
6.0
94.5
17.2
6.0
92.0
17.5
6.9
95.9
17.6
7.1
99.6
16.0
6.6
97.6
15.1
6.2
91.9
13.9
5.5
85.6
14.1
5.7
83.0
15.3
6.4
101.5
16.1
6.4
114.1
16.9
6.9
120.4
16.8
7.8
126.3
16.8
8.0
133.7
15.0
7.1
128.1
14.1
6.9
122.2
13.0
6.1
112.2
13.1
6.0
112.0
13.6
6.6
120.8
16.6
6.3
114.8
16.2
6.8
119.4
17.0
7.5
123.6
17.3
8.1
134.7
15.2
7.1
128.3
14.4
6.7
121.3
12.4
5.4
101.6
12.4
5.4
103.4
13.3
6.1
115.3
18.9
6.8
109.8
19.1
7.2
109.0
19.3
8.0
112.4
19.9
8.7
124.2
18.5
8.0
118.4
17.5
7.5
109.9
15.3
6.4
102.5
15.1
6.1
96.5
16.1
6.7
104.9
14.2
4.6
70.6
14.0
4.7
69.9
14.4
5.4
75.1
14.7
5.9
83.6
13.7
5.5
81.3
12.9
5.1
74.9
10.7
4.2
66.0
9.8
3.6
58.1
10.7
4.1
65.8
8.5
2.8
44.9
8.6
3.0
46.7
8.7
3.3
50.3
8.6
3.4
51.9
8.0
3.3
51.8
7.4
3.1
48.4
6.5
2.7
42.2
6.3
2.6
41.4
6.8
2.8
45.0
12.4
4.7
73.£
11.8
5.0
79.3
11.5
5.1
78.0
11.6
5.5
85.9
10.6
4.9
82.4
9.8
4.6
78.1
9.2
4.0
72.2
8.4
3.6
64.5
9.3
4.2
68.8
7.2
2.4
36.7
7.C
2.4
37.4
6.£
2.6
37.0
7.2
2.8
40.0
6.8
2.7
41.8
6.5
2.7
39.2
5.6
2.3
37.0
5.2
2.1
35.6
5.4
2.2
3 /.5
11.7
4.C
59.4
11.5
4.0
58.7
11.8
4.8
66.4
11.7
4.7
67.7
10.9
4.4
67.9
10.7
4.4
68.3
9.9
4.1
69.9
9.9
4.0
66.3
10.5
4.3
70.2
Construction
Total c a s e s ..........................................................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.....................................................................................................
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 c a s e s ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.....................................................................................................
Durable goods
Lumber and wood products:
Total c a s e s ..........................................................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.....................................................................................................
Furniture and fixtures:
Total c a s e s ..........................................................................................................
Lost workday cases ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.....................................................................................................
Stone, clay, and glass products:
Total c a s e s ..........................................................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkdays.....................................................................................................
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 rkda ys.....................................................................................................
Machinery, except electrical:
Lost workday c a s e s ...........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.....................................................................................................
Electric and electronic equipment:
Total c a s e s .........................................................................................................
Lost workday cases ..........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys....................................................................................................
Transportation equipment:
Lost workday c a s e s ..........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys....................................................................................................
Instruments and related products:
Lost workday c a s e s ..........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys....................................................................................................
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries:
Lost workday cases ..........................................................................................
Lost w o rkda ys....................................................................................................
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
Industry and type of case'
1976
Nondurable goods
Food and kindred products:
Total cases......................................................
Lost workday cases ........................................
Lost workdays..................................................
Tobacco manufacturing:
Total cases.......................................................
Lost workday cases.........................................
Lost workdays..................................................
Textile mill products:
Total cases.......................................................
Lost workday cases.........................................
Lost workdays...................................................
Apparel and other textile products:
Total cases.......................................................
Lost workday cases.........................................
Lost workdays...................................................
Paper and allied products:
Total cases.......................................................
Lost workday cases.........................................
Lost workdays...................................................
Printing and publishing:
Total cases........................................................
Lost workday cases..........................................
Lost workdays...................................................
Chemicals and allied products:
Total cases........................................................
Lost workday cases..........................................
Lost workdays...................................................
Petroleum and coal products:
Total cases........................................................
Lost workday cases..........................................
Lost workdays...................................................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products:
Total cases........................................................
Lost workday cases..........................................
Lost workdays....................................................
Leather and leather products:
Total cases........................................................
Lost workday cases.......................................... .
Lost workdays....................................................
Transportation and public utilities
Total ca se s..........................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ...........................................................
Lost w o rkd a ys...................................................................
Wholesale and retail trade
Total c a s e s ..
Lost workday cases
Lost w o rkdays.........
Wholesale trade:
Total c a s e s ..............
Lost workday cases
Lost w orkdays..........
Retail trade:
Total c a s e s ...............
Lost workday cases .
Lost w o rkda ys..........
Finance, insurance, and real estate
Total c a s e s ...........................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ............................................................
Lost w o rkda ys.......................................................................
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
19.8
8.5
130.1
19.4
8.9
132.2
19.9
9.5
141.8
18.7
9.0
136.8
17.8
8.6
130.7
16.7
8.0
129.3
16.8
7.9
131.2
16.7
8.1
131.6
9.1
3.8
66.7
8.7
4.0
58.6
9.3
4.2
64.8
8.1
3.8
45.8
8.2
3.9
56.8
7.2
3.2
44.6
6.5
3.0
42.8
7.7
3.2
51.7
55.5
10.2
2.9
57.4
10.2
3.4
61.5
9.7
3.4
61.3
9.1
3.3
62.8
8.8
3.2
59.2
7.6
2.8
53.8
7.4
2.8
51.4
8.0
3.0
54.0
6.7
1.9
31.0
6.7
2.0
31.7
6.5
2.2
32.4
6.5
2.2
34.1
6.4
2.2
34.9
6.3
2.2
35.0
6.0
2.1
36.4
6.4
2.4
40.6
6.7
2.5
40.9
13.7
4.7
94.8
13.6
5.0
101.6
13.5
5.7
103.3
13.5
6.0
108.4
12.7
5.8
112.3
11.6
5.4
103.6
10.6
4.9
99.1
10.0
4.5
90.3
10.4
4.7
93.8
6.8
2.6
40.3
6.8
2.7
41.7
7.0
2.9
43.8
7.1
3.1
45.1
6.9
3.1
46.5
6.7
3.0
47.4
6.6
2.8
45.7
6.6
2.9
44.6
6.5
2.9
46.0
8.2
3.1
50.6
8.0
3.1
51.4
7.8
3.3
50.9
7.7
3.5
54.9
6.8
3.1
50.3
6.6
3.0
48.1
5.7
2.5
39.4
5.5
2.5
42.3
5.3
2.4
40.8
7.9
3.2
62.5
8.1
3.3
59.2
7.9
3.4
58.3
7.7
3.6
62.0
7.2
3.5
59.1
6.7
2.9
51.2
5.3
2.5
46.4
5.5
2.4
46.8
5.1
2.4
53.5
16.8
7.1
113.3
16.8
7.6
118.1
17.1
8.1
125.5
17.1
8.2
127.1
15.5
7.4
118.6
14.6
7.2
117.4
12.7
6.0
100.9
13.0
6.2
101.4
13.6
6.4
104.3
11.6
4.1
69.0
11.5
4.4
68.9
11.7
4.7
72.5
11.5
4.9
76.2
11.7
5.0
82.7
11.5
5.1
82.6
9.9
4.5
86.5
10.0
4.4
87.3
10.5
4.7
94.4
9.8
5.0
94.0
9.7
5.3
95.9
10.1
5.7
102.3
10.0
5.9
107.0
9.4
5.5
104.5
9.0
5.3
100.6
8.5
4.9
96.7
8.2
4.7
94.9
8.8
5.2
105.1
7.5
2.8
43.2
7.7
2.9
44.0
7.9
3.2
44.9
8.0
3.4
49.0
7.4
3.2
48.7
7.3
3.1
45.3
7.2
3.1
45.5
7.2
3.1
47.8
7.4
3.3
50.5
8.1
3.3
51.8
8.5
3.6
52.5
8.9
3.9
57.5
8.8
4.1
59.1
8.2
3.9
58.2
7.7
3.6
54.7
7.1
3.4
52.1
7.0
3.2
50.6
7.2
3.5
55.5
7.2
2.6
39.7
7.4
2.7
40.5
7.5
2.8
39.7
7.7
3.1
44.7
7.1
2.9
44.5
7.1
2.9
41.1
7.2
2.9
42.6
7.3
3.0
46.7
7.5
3.2
48.4
2.0
.7
11.6
2.0
.8
10.4
2.1
.8
12.5
2.1
.9
13.3
2.0
.8
12.2
1.9
.8
11.6
2.0
.9
13.2
2.0
.9
12.8
1.9
.9
13.6
5.3
2.0
38.4
5.5
2.2
35.4
5.5
2.4
36.2
5.5
2.5
38.1
5.2
2.3
35.8
5.0
2.3
35.9
4.9
2.3
35.8
5.1
2.4
37.0
5.2
2.5
41.1
Services
Total c a s e s ...............
Lost workday cases
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.
103
* U. S. GOV ERN M EN T PR IN T IN G O F F IC E : 1986
1 8 1 - 5 1 2 /4 0 0 0 9
Employee Benefits
in Medium and Large
Firms, 1985
Employee Benefits in Medium
and Large Firms, 1985
U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor S ta tistics
July 1986
B ulletin 2262
U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bulletin 2262
The Bureau of Labor Statistics issues its 1985
Bulletin on employee benefits in medium and
large firms. This survey is the seventh in an
annual series.
Data available
• Incidence and detailed characteristics of 14
private sector employee benefits paid for at
least in part by the employer: Lunch and rest
periods, holidays, vacations, and personal,
funeral, jury duty, military, and sick leave;
sickness and accident, long-term disability,
health, and life insurance; and private
retirement/capital accumulation plans. Included
in the retirement data is information on defined
benefit plans, such as benefit formulas and
pension replacement rates, and on defined
contribution plans, such as salary reduction or
401 (k) plans.
• Incidence data on 17 other employee
benefits, including financial counseling,
prepaid legal services, and child care.
Source of data
• Sample of about 1,500 establishments in a
cross-section of the Nation’s private industries;
primarily by personal interview.
Coverage
• Major benefits in medium and large firms,
nationwide.
• Minimum employment in establishments
covered is generally 100 or 250 employees,
depending on the industry.
Uses
• Union contract negotiations.
• Conciliation and arbitration in public and
private sectors.
• Development of legislation affecting the
welfare of workers.
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