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Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6378 USDL 00-333 Media contact: 691-5902 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Tuesday, November 14, 2000 WORK EXPERIENCE OF THE POPULATION IN 1999 A total of 147.5 million persons worked at some point during 1999, an increase of about 2.7 million persons from the prior year, according to the annual survey of work experience released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The number of individuals who experienced some unemployment during the year continued to decline. About 13 million individuals were in this category in 1999, down about 1 million from 1998. These data are from the March 2000 supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about 50,000 households that is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additional information about this annual supplement, including concepts and definitions, is provided in the Technical Note. Highlights from the 1999 data include: --The proportion of workers employed full time, year round continued to rise, edging up by 0.3 percentage point to 65.9 percent, the highest in the 50 years since the series began. --Between 1998 and 1999, the proportion of blacks who worked at some point during the year increased by 1.9 percentage points, compared with an increase of 0.5 percentage point for whites. --Of the 149 million persons who worked or looked for work at some time in 1999, 8.8 percent experienced some unemployment during the year. --The "work-experience unemployment rate" continued to decline for most major worker groups. Persons with Employment In 1999, the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years old and over that worked at some point during the year increased slightly to 70.6 percent. This upward movement has been the trend for the past three decades, with the exception of recessionary periods. The increasing participation of women in the workforce has been the main factor behind the rising employment rate. The proportion of women who worked at some point during the year has risen 11.9 percentage points since 1969, to 64.5 percent in 1999. In contrast, the proportion of men who worked at some time during 1999 was 77.2 percent, a decrease of 8.0 percentage points since 1969. A greater share of whites (71.0 percent) worked in 1999 than either Hispanics (69.3 percent) or blacks (68.4 percent). However, blacks had the largest over-the-year increase; the percentage of the black population employed rose by 1.9 percentage points in 1999, compared with an increase of 1.1 percentage points for Hispanics and 0.5 percentage point for whites. (See tables 1 and 2.) - 2 In 1999, 75.2 percent of persons with work experience were employed year round (either full or part time), compared with 63.9 percent in 1969. Full-year employment among women continued to increase, reaching 71.0 percent, 19.6 percentage points higher than in 1969. The percentage of men employed year round dipped to 78.9 percent in 1999 from 79.4 percent in 1998. The proportion of workers employed full time increased by 0.7 percentage point for women and was nearly unchanged for men. Persons with Unemployment Of the 149 million persons who worked or looked for work at some time in 1999, 13.1 million experienced some unemployment during the year, resulting in a "work-experience unemployment rate" of 8.8 percent. This rate was 0.8 percentage point lower than in 1998 and the lowest since the series began in 1958. (See table 3.) The "work-experience unemployment rate" for blacks, 12.6 percent, was higher than the rate for either Hispanics (11.3 percent) or whites (8.2 percent). The difference in the rates for men and women was negligible for blacks, as it was for Hispanics. The "work-experience unemployment rate" for white men (8.6 percent) was higher than that for white women (7.7 percent). Rates decreased for most of the various worker groups over the year. The median number of weeks of unemployment in 1999 was 12.6, virtually unchanged from the prior year. Of the 11.5 million persons who had worked during the year and also experienced unemployment, 27.9 percent had two or more spells of joblessness. Technical Note The data presented in this release were collected in March supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey of about 50,000 households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data from the CPS are used to obtain the monthly estimates of the nation's employment and unemployment levels. Each March, additional questions are asked about work activity during the prior calendar year. For instance, data collected in March 2000 refer to the 1999 calendar year. Because the reference period is a full year, the number of persons with some employment or unemployment greatly exceeds the average levels for any given month, which are based on a 1-week reference period, and the corresponding annual average of the monthly estimates. As shown below, for example, the number experiencing any unemployment during 1999 was about 2-1/4 times the number unemployed in an average month during the year. 1999 estimates (in thousands) Annual average of monthly estimates March supplement data Employed Unemployed 133,488 147,539 5,880 13,050 In addition, estimates from the March supplement differ from those obtained in the basic CPS because the questions used to classify workers as either employed or unemployed are different. More important, perhaps, is that fewer questions are asked in the supplement by which to categorize respondents. In particular, the March supplement has no questions on the type of job search activity or on the respondent's availability to work. Also, individuals can be counted as both employed and unemployed in the work experience data, whereas for a specific reference week, each person is only counted in one category and employment activity takes precedence over job search activity. Work experience data for 1999, collected in March 2000, are not strictly comparable with those for 1998 and earlier years because of minor adjustments made to the population controls in January 2000. The effect of these adjustments on work experience estimates is unknown. However, the effect of the change on the monthly CPS estimates was to decrease the January 2000 total employment level by about 120,000 relative to the December 1999 level. The effect on monthly unemployment estimates was negligible. For additional information, see "Revisions in the Current Population Survey Effective January 2000" in the February 2000 issue of Employment and Earnings. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339. Reliability of the estimates Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true" population values they represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies depending on the particular sample selected, and this variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is - 2 about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the "true" population value because of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence. The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data. For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and information on estimating standard errors, see the "Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error" section of Employment and Earnings. Concepts and definitions Persons who worked. In the March 2000 supplement, persons are considered to have worked if they responded "yes" to either the question "Did you work at a job or business at any time during 1999?" or "Did you do any temporary, part-time, or seasonal work even for a few days during 1999?" Unemployed persons. Persons who worked during the year but not in every week are counted as unemployed if they also reported looking for work or being on layoff from a job during the year. Those who reported no work activity during the year are considered unemployed if they responded "yes" to the question "Even though you did not work in 1999, did you spend any time trying to find a job or on layoff?" Labor force participants. during the year. Persons who either worked or were unemployed Usual full- and part-time employment. These data refer to the number of hours a worker typically works during most weeks of the year. Workers are classified as full time if they usually worked 35 hours or more in a week; part-time employment refers to workers whose typical workweek was between 1 and 34 hours. Year-round and part-year employment. Workers are classified as year round if they worked 50 to 52 weeks. Part-year employment refers to workers who worked fewer than 50 weeks. Table 1. Work experience of the population during the year by sex and extent of employment, 1998-99 Total Men Women Extent of employment 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 Numbers (in thousands) Civilian noninstitutional population............................ Total who worked or looked for work........................... Percent of the population................................... Total who worked during the year(1)........................... Percent of the population................................... 207,038 146,570 70.8 144,841 70.0 209,067 149,042 71.3 147,539 70.6 99,364 77,047 77.5 76,260 76.7 100,418 78,236 77.9 77,476 77.2 107,674 69,523 64.6 68,581 63.7 108,649 70,806 65.2 70,063 64.5 Full time(2)................................................ 50 to 52 weeks............................................ 48 to 49 weeks............................................ 40 to 47 weeks............................................ 27 to 39 weeks............................................ 14 to 26 weeks............................................ 1 to 13 weeks............................................. 115,697 95,077 2,095 5,502 4,545 4,870 3,608 118,368 97,248 2,190 5,634 4,449 5,060 3,787 66,603 56,322 1,177 2,827 2,190 2,355 1,731 67,698 56,901 1,217 2,916 2,252 2,485 1,927 49,094 38,755 918 2,675 2,355 2,515 1,877 50,669 40,346 973 2,718 2,198 2,575 1,860 Part time(3)................................................ 50 to 52 weeks............................................ 48 to 49 weeks............................................ 40 to 47 weeks............................................ 27 to 39 weeks............................................ 14 to 26 weeks............................................ 1 to 13 weeks............................................. 29,144 13,535 804 2,679 2,994 4,440 4,693 29,171 13,664 874 2,647 2,794 4,435 4,758 9,658 4,193 277 894 916 1,529 1,848 9,777 4,289 284 892 884 1,575 1,854 19,486 9,341 528 1,785 2,078 2,910 2,845 19,394 9,375 589 1,755 1,911 2,860 2,905 Percent distribution Total who worked during the year(1)............................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Full time(2).................................................. 50 to 52 weeks.............................................. 48 to 49 weeks.............................................. 40 to 47 weeks.............................................. 27 to 39 weeks.............................................. 14 to 26 weeks.............................................. 1 to 13 weeks............................................... 79.9 65.6 1.4 3.8 3.1 3.4 2.5 80.2 65.9 1.5 3.8 3.0 3.4 2.6 87.3 73.9 1.5 3.7 2.9 3.1 2.3 87.4 73.4 1.6 3.8 2.9 3.2 2.5 71.6 56.5 1.3 3.9 3.4 3.7 2.7 72.3 57.6 1.4 3.9 3.1 3.7 2.7 Part time(3).................................................. 50 to 52 weeks.............................................. 48 to 49 weeks.............................................. 40 to 47 weeks.............................................. 27 to 39 weeks.............................................. 14 to 26 weeks.............................................. 1 to 13 weeks............................................... 20.1 9.3 .6 1.8 2.1 3.1 3.2 19.8 9.3 .6 1.8 1.9 3.0 3.2 12.7 5.5 .4 1.2 1.2 2.0 2.4 12.6 5.5 .4 1.2 1.1 2.0 2.4 28.4 13.6 .8 2.6 3.0 4.2 4.1 27.7 13.4 .8 2.5 2.7 4.1 4.1 1 Time worked includes paid vacation and sick leave. 2 Usually worked 35 hours or more per week. 3 Usually worked 1 to 34 hours per week. NOTE: Data refer to persons 16 years and over. Data for 1999, which were collected in the March 2000 supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), are not strictly comparable with data for 1998 and earlier years because of the introduction in January 2000 of revised population controls used in the survey. For additional information, see the technical note and "Revisions in the Current Population Survey Effective January 2000" in the February 2000 issue of Employment and Earnings. Table 2. Work experience of the population during the year by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, 1998-99 (Numbers in thousands) Total Men Women Extent of employment, race, and Hispanc origin 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 172,544 173,867 83,621 84,298 88,923 89,569 WHITE Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... Total who Percent Total who Percent worked of the worked of the or looked for work......................... population................................. during the year(1)......................... population................................. 122,791 71.2 121,627 70.5 124,454 71.6 123,447 71.0 65,684 78.5 65,113 77.9 66,472 78.9 65,969 78.3 57,107 64.2 56,514 63.6 57,983 64.7 57,478 64.2 Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... Full time(2).............................................. 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 1 to 26 weeks........................................... Part time(3).............................................. 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 100.0 79.6 65.7 8.4 5.5 20.4 9.6 4.6 6.2 100.0 79.7 65.8 8.2 5.7 20.3 9.6 4.5 6.2 100.0 87.6 74.3 8.2 5.1 12.4 5.5 2.8 4.2 100.0 87.5 73.8 8.3 5.4 12.5 5.5 2.7 4.3 100.0 70.4 55.7 8.7 6.1 29.6 14.4 6.7 8.5 100.0 70.7 56.6 8.2 6.0 29.3 14.3 6.5 8.5 Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... Total who worked or looked for work......................... Percent of the population................................. Total who worked during the year(1)......................... Percent of the population................................. 24,726 16,902 68.4 16,436 66.5 25,110 17,556 69.9 17,164 68.4 11,080 7,739 69.8 7,572 68.3 11,271 8,070 71.6 7,870 69.8 13,645 9,163 67.2 8,864 65.0 13,839 9,486 68.5 9,294 67.2 Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... Full time(2).............................................. 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 1 to 26 weeks........................................... Part time(3).............................................. 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 100.0 81.4 65.4 8.2 7.7 18.6 7.4 4.3 6.9 100.0 83.2 66.5 8.9 7.8 16.8 7.3 3.3 6.2 100.0 85.8 70.2 8.3 7.3 14.2 5.2 3.0 6.0 100.0 86.4 70.4 8.2 7.8 13.6 5.7 2.3 5.6 100.0 77.7 61.4 8.2 8.1 22.3 9.3 5.3 7.7 100.0 80.5 63.2 9.5 7.8 19.5 8.6 4.1 6.8 Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... Total who worked or looked for work......................... Percent of the population................................. Total who worked during the year(1)......................... Percent of the population................................. 21,411 14,886 69.5 14,599 68.2 22,170 15,598 70.4 15,371 69.3 10,599 8,503 80.2 8,381 79.1 10,961 8,934 81.5 8,837 80.6 10,811 6,383 59.0 6,218 57.5 11,209 6,663 59.4 6,534 58.3 Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... Full time(2).............................................. 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 100.0 83.5 65.7 10.3 7.5 100.0 84.1 66.3 9.8 8.1 100.0 89.5 72.9 10.9 5.7 100.0 90.0 72.7 10.3 6.9 100.0 75.3 55.9 9.4 10.0 100.0 76.2 57.6 9.0 9.7 BLACK HISPANIC ORIGIN Part time(3).............................................. 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 16.5 7.7 3.0 5.9 15.9 8.0 2.7 5.2 10.5 4.6 2.0 3.9 10.0 5.0 1.6 3.4 24.7 11.9 4.3 8.5 23.8 11.9 4.3 7.5 1 Time worked includes paid vacation and sick leave. 2 Usually worked 35 hours or more per week. 3 Usually worked 1 to 34 hours per week. NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Data refer to persons 16 years and over. Also, see Note, table 1. Table 3. Extent of unemployment during the year by sex, 1998-99 Total Men Women Extent of unemployment 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 Numbers (in thousands) Total who worked or looked for work............................. Percent with unemployment..................................... 146,570 9.6 149,042 8.8 77,047 9.5 78,236 9.0 69,523 9.7 70,806 8.4 Total with unemployment....................................... Did not work but looked for work............................ 1 to 14 weeks............................................. 15 weeks or more.......................................... Worked during the year...................................... Year-round workers(1) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment... Part-year workers(2) with unemployment.................... 1 to 4 weeks............................................ 5 to 10 weeks........................................... 11 to 14 weeks.......................................... 15 to 26 weeks.......................................... 27 weeks or more........................................ 14,042 1,729 762 967 12,313 630 11,683 2,320 2,495 1,701 3,019 2,148 13,050 1,503 751 752 11,547 559 10,987 2,356 2,217 1,591 2,800 2,023 7,282 787 299 487 6,496 386 6,109 1,083 1,363 980 1,585 1,098 7,073 760 344 416 6,313 371 5,942 1,162 1,166 934 1,653 1,027 6,760 942 463 479 5,817 243 5,574 1,237 1,131 721 1,434 1,050 5,976 743 407 336 5,234 189 5,045 1,194 1,050 657 1,148 996 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers.............. 12.7 12.6 12.7 13.0 12.6 12.1 With 2 spells or more of unemployment..................... 2 spells................................................ 3 spells or more........................................ 3,629 1,650 1,978 3,225 1,449 1,776 2,014 880 1,134 1,845 787 1,058 1,615 770 844 1,379 662 717 Percent distribution Did not work but looked for work................................ 1 to 14 weeks................................................. 15 weeks or more.............................................. Worked during the year.......................................... Year-round workers(1) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment....... Part-year workers(2) with unemployment........................ 1 to 4 weeks................................................ 5 to 10 weeks............................................... 11 to 14 weeks.............................................. 15 to 26 weeks.............................................. 27 weeks or more............................................ 100.0 44.1 55.9 100.0 5.1 94.9 18.8 20.3 13.8 24.5 17.4 100.0 50.0 50.0 100.0 4.8 95.2 20.4 19.2 13.8 24.3 17.5 100.0 38.0 62.0 100.0 5.9 94.1 16.7 21.0 15.1 24.4 16.9 100.0 45.3 54.7 100.0 5.9 94.1 18.4 18.5 14.8 26.2 16.3 100.0 49.1 50.9 100.0 4.2 95.8 21.3 19.4 12.4 24.7 18.0 100.0 54.8 45.2 100.0 3.6 96.4 22.8 20.1 12.6 21.9 19.0 With 2 spells or more of unemployment......................... 2 spells.................................................... 3 spells or more............................................ 29.5 13.4 16.1 27.9 12.5 15.4 31.0 13.5 17.5 29.2 12.5 16.8 27.8 13.2 14.5 26.4 12.6 13.7 1 Worked 50 or 51 weeks. 2 Worked less than 50 weeks. NOTE: Data refer to persons 16 years and over. Table 4. Also, see Note, table 1. Extent of unemployment during the year by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, 1998-99 (Numbers in thousands) Total Men Women Extent of unemployment, race, and Hispanc origin 1998 WHITE 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 Total who worked or looked for work........................... Percent with unemployment................................... 122,791 8.9 124,454 8.2 65,684 8.9 66,472 8.6 57,107 8.9 57,983 7.7 Total with unemployment..................................... Did not work but looked for work.......................... Worked during the year.................................... 10,900 1,163 9,737 10,176 1,007 9,169 5,835 571 5,264 5,714 503 5,211 5,066 593 4,473 4,462 504 3,958 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers..... 12.1 11.8 12.0 12.4 12.2 11.0 Percent who worked during the year(1)..................... Year-round workers(2) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment. Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 5 to 14 weeks......................................... 15 weeks or more...................................... 100.0 5.5 94.5 19.6 34.9 40.0 100.0 5.4 94.6 21.5 34.1 39.0 100.0 6.6 93.4 17.4 36.9 39.1 100.0 6.2 93.8 19.1 34.8 39.9 100.0 4.3 95.7 22.3 32.4 41.0 100.0 4.4 95.6 24.5 33.2 37.8 With 2 spells or more of unemployment............. 28.5 28.8 30.5 29.3 26.2 28.0 Total who worked or looked for work........................... Percent with unemployment................................... 16,902 14.5 17,556 12.6 7,739 14.2 8,070 12.6 9,163 14.8 9,486 12.5 Total with unemployment..................................... Did not work but looked for work.......................... Worked during the year.................................... 2,452 465 1,987 2,206 392 1,814 1,099 166 933 1,017 199 818 1,353 299 1,054 1,188 192 996 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers..... 15.5 17.6 15.6 18.0 15.4 17.3 Percent who worked during the year(1)..................... Year-round workers(2) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment. Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 5 to 14 weeks......................................... 15 weeks or more...................................... 100.0 3.5 96.5 14.6 31.0 50.9 100.0 3.0 97.0 14.0 27.0 56.0 100.0 2.4 97.6 12.5 34.1 51.0 100.0 4.9 95.1 14.8 23.9 56.4 100.0 4.5 95.5 16.4 28.3 50.8 100.0 1.4 98.6 13.5 29.5 55.7 With 2 spells or more of unemployment............. 33.8 24.5 35.1 29.8 32.6 20.0 Total who worked or looked for work........................... Percent with unemployment................................... 14,886 12.7 15,598 11.3 8,503 12.2 8,934 11.4 6,383 13.5 6,663 11.2 Total with unemployment..................................... Did not work but looked for work.......................... Worked during the year.................................... 1,896 287 1,609 1,768 227 1,542 1,037 122 915 1,021 98 923 859 165 694 747 129 618 BLACK HISPANIC ORIGIN Median weeks of unemployment for all workers..... 14.2 14.9 13.5 14.8 15.5 15.4 Percent who worked during the year(1)..................... Year-round workers(2) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment. Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 5 to 14 weeks......................................... 15 weeks or more...................................... 100.0 4.3 95.7 16.5 31.5 47.7 100.0 3.0 97.0 15.4 31.9 49.7 100.0 4.9 95.1 16.1 33.9 45.2 100.0 4.1 95.9 13.9 33.0 49.1 100.0 3.6 96.4 17.1 28.4 51.0 100.0 1.3 98.7 17.7 30.4 50.6 With 2 spells or more of unemployment............. 29.2 28.0 30.9 26.9 26.9 29.6 1 Time worked includes paid vacation and sick leave. 2 Worked 50 or 51 weeks. 3 Worked less than 50 weeks. NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Data refer to persons 16 years and over. Also, see Note, table 1.