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Technical information: (202) 691-6378 http://www.bls.gov/cps/ Media contact: 691-5902 USDL 01-401 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Tuesday, November 6, 2001 Work Experience of the Population in 2000 A total of 148.6 million persons worked at some point during 2000, an increase of about 1 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 12.3 million individuals were in this category in 2000, down about 800,000 from 1999. These data are from the March 2001 supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census 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 2000 data include: --The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years old and over that worked at some point during the year, 70.4 percent, was essentially unchanged from 1999. This proportion had been trending upward over the past three decades. --The proportion of workers employed full time, year round continued to increase, rising by 1.1 percentage points to 67.0 percent, the highest since the series began in 1950. --The "work-experience unemployment rate" continued to decline for most of the major demographic groups. Persons with Employment From 1999 to 2000, the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years old and over that worked at some point during the year was essentially unchanged at 70.4 percent. Among those with work experience, 76.4 percent were employed year round (either full or part time), compared with 62.3 percent in 1970. Full-year employment among women continued to increase, reaching 72.2 percent, 21.5 percentage points higher than in 1970. The percentage of men employed year round increased to 80.1 percent in 2000 from 78.9 percent in 1999. The proportion of workers employed full time increased by 0.9 percentage point for women and was unchanged for men from 1999 to 2000. (See table 1.) Persons with Unemployment Of the 150 million persons who worked or looked for work at some time in 2000, 12.3 million experienced some unemployment during the year. The "work-experience unemployment rate" in 2000 was 8.2 percent, 0.6 percentage point lower than in 1999 and the lowest since the series began in 1958. (See table 3.) The "work-experience unemployment rate" for blacks, 12.1 percent, was higher than the rate for either Hispanics (10.5 percent) or whites (7.6 percent). Men had higher rates than did women in each of these three groups, but this was especially true among blacks. The "work-experience unemployment rate" for black men (14.0 percent) was much higher than that for black women (10.5 percent). Black men were the only major group for whom the "work-experience unemployment rate" increased from 1999 to 2000. (See table 4.) The median number of weeks of unemployment in 2000 was 12.6, unchanged from the prior year. Of the 10.8 million persons who had worked during the year and also had experienced unemployment, 28.4 percent had two or more spells of joblessness. ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Revisions to Work Experience Data | | | | On November 6, BLS issued this news release on the Work Experience | | of the Population in 2000. Data in the release are derived from the | | Census Bureau's March 2001 Current Population Survey supplement. | | Subsequent to the November 6 release, the Census Bureau discovered a | | weighting error in the supplement microdata file and reissued it. The| | error primarily affected the estimates for persons under the age of | | 16; thus, there was a negligible impact on the information contained | | in the work experience news release, which provides data for persons | | age 16 and over. For example, the number of people with work experi- | | ence during the year increased by 5,000 (less than .003 percent) using| | the revised file. Because the differences in the estimates were so | | small, the Bureau of Labor Statistics decided not to reissue this | | Work Experience news release. Users of the release should be aware | | that small differences may exist between estimates in the news release| | and those obtained directly from the revised public use microdata | | file. | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Technical Note The data presented in this release were collected in March supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey 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 2001 refer to the 2000 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 2000 was over twice the number unemployed in an average month during the year. 2000 estimates (in thousands) Annual average of monthly estimates March supplement data Employed Unemployed 135,208 148,572 5,655 12,258 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 by which to categorize respondents are asked in the supplement. 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. 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 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. - 2 Concepts and definitions Persons who worked. In the March 2001 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 2000?" or "Did you do any temporary, part-time, or seasonal work even for a few days during 2000?" 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 2000, 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, 1999-2000 Total Men Women Extent of employment 1999 2000 1999 2000 1999 2000 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................................... 209,067 149,042 71.3 147,539 70.6 211,180 149,996 71.0 148,572 70.4 100,418 78,236 77.9 77,476 77.2 101,513 78,842 77.7 78,100 76.9 108,649 70,806 65.2 70,063 64.5 109,667 71,154 64.9 70,472 64.3 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............................................. 118,368 97,248 2,190 5,634 4,449 5,060 3,787 119,824 99,615 2,181 5,479 4,390 4,821 3,339 67,698 56,901 1,217 2,916 2,252 2,485 1,927 68,239 58,098 1,246 2,703 2,129 2,376 1,688 50,669 40,346 973 2,718 2,198 2,575 1,860 51,585 41,517 935 2,776 2,261 2,445 1,651 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............................................. 29,171 13,664 874 2,647 2,794 4,435 4,758 28,748 13,851 804 2,679 2,677 4,249 4,488 9,777 4,289 284 892 884 1,575 1,854 9,861 4,475 271 847 839 1,645 1,785 19,394 9,375 589 1,755 1,911 2,860 2,905 18,888 9,376 534 1,833 1,838 2,605 2,703 Percent distribution Total who worked during the year(1)............................. Full 50 48 40 27 14 time(2).................................................. to 52 weeks.............................................. to 49 weeks.............................................. to 47 weeks.............................................. to 39 weeks.............................................. to 26 weeks.............................................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 80.2 65.9 1.5 3.8 3.0 3.4 80.7 67.0 1.5 3.7 3.0 3.2 87.4 73.4 1.6 3.8 2.9 3.2 87.4 74.4 1.6 3.5 2.7 3.0 72.3 57.6 1.4 3.9 3.1 3.7 73.2 58.9 1.3 3.9 3.2 3.5 1 to 13 weeks............................................... 2.6 2.2 2.5 2.2 2.7 2.3 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............................................... 19.8 9.3 .6 1.8 1.9 3.0 3.2 19.3 9.3 .5 1.8 1.8 2.9 3.0 12.6 5.5 .4 1.2 1.1 2.0 2.4 12.6 5.7 .3 1.1 1.1 2.1 2.3 27.7 13.4 .8 2.5 2.7 4.1 4.1 26.8 13.3 .8 2.6 2.6 3.7 3.8 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. Table 2. Work experience of the population during the year by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, 1999-2000 (Numbers in thousands) Total Men Women Extent of employment, race, and Hispanic origin 1999 2000 1999 2000 1999 2000 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................................. 173,867 124,454 71.6 123,447 71.0 175,278 124,916 71.3 124,048 70.8 84,298 66,472 78.9 65,969 78.3 85,040 66,668 78.4 66,213 77.9 89,569 57,983 64.7 57,478 64.2 90,239 58,248 64.5 57,835 64.1 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 79.7 65.8 8.2 5.7 20.3 9.6 4.5 6.2 100.0 79.9 66.6 8.1 5.3 20.1 9.8 4.4 5.9 100.0 87.5 73.8 8.3 5.4 12.5 5.5 2.7 4.3 100.0 87.3 74.7 7.7 4.9 12.7 5.8 2.6 4.3 100.0 70.7 56.6 8.2 6.0 29.3 14.3 6.5 8.5 100.0 71.4 57.2 8.6 5.6 28.6 14.4 6.4 7.7 25,110 25,437 11,271 11,408 13,839 14,029 WHITE BLACK 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................................. 17,556 69.9 17,164 68.4 17,752 69.8 17,280 67.9 8,070 71.6 7,870 69.8 8,234 72.2 7,997 70.1 9,486 68.5 9,294 67.2 9,519 67.9 9,283 66.2 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 83.2 66.5 8.9 7.8 16.8 7.3 3.3 6.2 100.0 85.0 69.8 8.3 6.9 15.0 6.0 2.9 6.1 100.0 86.4 70.4 8.2 7.8 13.6 5.7 2.3 5.6 100.0 87.6 71.1 9.1 7.4 12.4 4.7 2.0 5.8 100.0 80.5 63.2 9.5 7.8 19.5 8.6 4.1 6.8 100.0 82.8 68.6 7.7 6.5 17.2 7.1 3.7 6.3 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................................. 22,170 15,598 70.4 15,371 69.3 22,884 16,219 70.9 15,981 69.8 10,961 8,934 81.5 8,837 80.6 11,285 9,125 80.9 8,999 79.7 11,209 6,663 59.4 6,534 58.3 11,599 7,094 61.2 6,983 60.2 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 84.1 66.3 9.8 8.1 15.9 8.0 2.7 5.2 100.0 84.4 67.5 9.3 7.6 15.6 7.6 3.0 5.0 100.0 90.0 72.7 10.3 6.9 10.0 5.0 1.6 3.4 100.0 89.9 74.6 9.3 6.0 10.1 4.9 1.7 3.5 100.0 76.2 57.6 9.0 9.7 23.8 11.9 4.3 7.5 100.0 77.3 58.4 9.3 9.5 22.7 11.0 4.8 6.9 HISPANIC ORIGIN 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. Table 3. Extent of unemployment during the year by sex, 1999-2000 Total Men Women Extent of unemployment 1999 2000 1999 2000 1999 2000 Numbers (in thousands) Total who worked or looked for work............................. Percent with unemployment..................................... 149,042 8.8 149,996 8.2 78,236 9.0 78,842 8.6 70,806 8.4 71,154 7.7 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........................................ 13,050 1,503 751 752 11,547 559 10,987 2,356 2,217 1,591 2,800 2,023 12,258 1,424 621 803 10,834 573 10,261 2,233 2,013 1,501 2,637 1,878 7,073 760 344 416 6,313 371 5,942 1,162 1,166 934 1,653 1,027 6,797 742 313 429 6,055 379 5,675 1,069 1,136 876 1,592 1,003 5,976 743 407 336 5,234 189 5,045 1,194 1,050 657 1,148 996 5,461 682 308 373 4,779 193 4,586 1,163 878 625 1,045 875 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers.............. 12.6 12.6 13.0 13.0 12.1 12.0 With 2 spells or more of unemployment..................... 2 spells................................................ 3 spells or more........................................ 3,225 1,449 1,776 3,079 1,397 1,682 1,845 787 1,058 1,807 804 1,004 1,379 662 717 1,272 594 678 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 50.0 50.0 100.0 4.8 95.2 20.4 19.2 13.8 24.3 17.5 100.0 43.6 56.4 100.0 5.3 94.7 20.6 18.6 13.9 24.3 17.3 100.0 45.3 54.7 100.0 5.9 94.1 18.4 18.5 14.8 26.2 16.3 100.0 42.1 57.9 100.0 6.3 93.7 17.7 18.8 14.5 26.3 16.6 100.0 54.8 45.2 100.0 3.6 96.4 22.8 20.1 12.6 21.9 19.0 100.0 45.2 54.8 100.0 4.0 96.0 24.3 18.4 13.1 21.9 18.3 With 2 spells or more of unemployment......................... 2 spells.................................................... 3 spells or more............................................ 27.9 12.5 15.4 28.4 12.9 15.5 29.2 12.5 16.8 29.9 13.3 16.6 26.4 12.6 13.7 26.6 12.4 14.2 1 Worked 50 or 51 weeks. 2 Worked less than 50 weeks. NOTE: Data refer to persons 16 years and over. Table 4. Extent of unemployment during the year by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, 1999-2000 (Numbers in thousands) Total Men Women Extent of employment, race, and Hispanic origin 1999 2000 1999 2000 1999 2000 Total who worked or looked for work........................... Percent with unemployment................................... 124,454 8.2 124,916 7.6 66,472 8.6 66,668 8.0 57,983 7.7 58,248 7.1 Total with unemployment..................................... Did not work but looked for work.......................... Worked during the year.................................... 10,176 1,007 9,169 9,461 868 8,593 5,714 503 5,211 5,313 455 4,858 4,462 504 3,958 4,147 413 3,735 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............ 11.8 11.9 12.4 12.5 11.0 11.1 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 5.4 94.6 21.5 34.1 39.0 100.0 5.8 94.2 21.2 33.8 39.2 100.0 6.2 93.8 19.1 34.8 39.9 100.0 6.8 93.2 18.3 34.0 40.9 100.0 4.4 95.6 24.5 33.2 37.8 100.0 4.4 95.6 25.0 33.6 37.0 With 2 spells or more of unemployment................... 28.8 28.6 29.3 29.8 28.0 27.1 Total who worked or looked for work........................... Percent with unemployment................................... 17,556 12.6 17,752 12.1 8,070 12.6 8,234 14.0 9,486 12.5 9,519 10.5 Total with unemployment..................................... Did not work but looked for work.......................... Worked during the year.................................... 2,206 392 1,814 2,155 473 1,682 1,017 199 818 1,156 237 919 1,188 192 996 998 236 763 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............ 17.6 16.4 18.0 16.1 17.3 16.8 WHITE BLACK 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 3.0 97.0 14.0 27.0 56.0 100.0 3.4 96.6 18.1 25.5 53.1 100.0 4.9 95.1 14.8 23.9 56.4 100.0 3.6 96.4 15.5 28.4 52.5 100.0 1.4 98.6 13.5 29.5 55.7 100.0 3.1 96.9 21.1 22.0 53.7 With 2 spells or more of unemployment................... 24.5 27.1 29.8 28.2 20.0 25.7 Total who worked or looked for work........................... Percent with unemployment................................... 15,598 11.3 16,219 10.5 8,934 11.4 9,125 10.9 6,663 11.2 7,094 10.0 Total with unemployment..................................... Did not work but looked for work.......................... Worked during the year.................................... 1,768 227 1,542 1,706 238 1,468 1,021 98 923 994 126 867 747 129 618 712 111 601 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............ 14.9 14.7 14.8 15.0 15.4 14.2 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 3.0 97.0 15.4 31.9 49.7 100.0 3.1 96.9 17.8 30.3 48.9 100.0 4.1 95.9 13.9 33.0 49.1 100.0 3.3 96.7 15.4 31.4 49.9 100.0 1.3 98.7 17.7 30.4 50.6 100.0 2.8 97.2 21.1 28.7 47.4 With 2 spells or more of unemployment................... 28.0 29.0 26.9 27.6 29.6 31.0 HISPANIC ORIGIN 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.