Full text of 2001 : Text File, USDL 02-673
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Technical information: (202) 691-6378 USDL 02-673
http://www.bls.gov/cps/
For release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact: 691-5902 Tuesday, December 10, 2002
WORK EXPERIENCE OF THE POPULATION IN 2001
A total of 150.3 million persons worked at some point during 2001, some-
what fewer than in the previous year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of individuals who ex-
perienced unemployment during the year rose to 15.8 million in 2001, an in-
crease of 2.8 million from 2000.
These data are from the annual work experience supplement to the Current
Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey conducted by the U.S.
Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additional information
about the CPS and this annual supplement, including concepts and definitions,
is provided in the Technical Note.
Highlights from the 2001 data include:
--The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years
old and over that worked at some point during the year was 69.3 percent,
down from 70.4 percent in 2000.
--The proportion of workers employed full time, year round fell by 0.4 per-
centage point from 2000 to 66.3 percent in 2001, but remained high by
historical standards.
--The "work-experience unemployment rate"--unemployment as a proportion
of the persons who worked or looked for work during the year--rose by
1.8 percentage points to 10.4 percent. The rate rose for all of the
major demographic groups.
Persons with Employment
From 2000 to 2001, the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional popu-
lation 16 years and over that worked at some point during the year fell from
70.4 percent to 69.3 percent. Among those with work experience during 2001,
75.6 percent were employed year round (either full or part time), down from
76.0 percent in 2000. The percentage of men employed year round fell to
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| |
| Changes in Work Experience Estimates |
| |
| Estimates shown in this release for calendar years 2000 and 2001 |
| are based on Census 2000 population controls and an expanded sample. |
| For these reasons, the estimates for 2000 appearing in this release |
| may differ from those published earlier, which were based on popula- |
| tion controls derived from the 1990 census and a smaller sample. Es- |
| timates for 2000 and 2001 are not strictly comparable with estimates |
| for earlier years. For further information on these changes, see the |
| Technical Note. |
| |
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78.6 percent in 2001 from 79.7 percent in 2000. Continuing a long-term
growth trend, full-year employment among women increased to 72.3 percent
from 71.8 percent in 2000.
Overall, about 4 out of 5 of those who were employed at some time during
the year worked full time, the same as in the prior year. There also was
little or no change in the proportions of men or women with work experience
who worked full time. (See table 1.)
Persons with Unemployment
Overall, 152.3 million persons worked or looked for work at some time
in 2001. Of these, 15.8 million experienced some unemployment during the
year, 2.8 million more than the year before. Men accounted for about three-
fifths of the rise.
The "work-experience unemployment rate" in 2001 was 10.4 percent, 1.8 per-
centage points higher than in 2000. The rate for blacks, 15.4 percent, was
higher than the rate for either Hispanics (12.7 percent) or whites (9.6 per-
cent). As in 2000, men continued to have higher rates than women, both over-
all and in each of the three groups. (See tables 3 and 4.)
Among those who were unemployed in 2001, the median number of weeks unem-
ployed (time spent looking for work) was 13.7, up from 12.4 weeks the year
before. About 2 million of those who had looked for a job in 2001 did not
work at all during the year. Of the 13.8 million persons who had worked dur-
ing the year and also had experienced unemployment, 24.7 percent had two or
more spells of joblessness.
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Technical Note
The data presented in this release were collected through the Current
Population Survey (CPS) in an annual supplement on work experience. The
CPS is 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.
Beginning in 2001, the annual work experience supplement has been asked of
part of the CPS samples for February and April and the entire sample for
March. Previously, the supplement was asked of the March sample only. The
supplement includes questions about work activity during the prior calendar
year. For instance, data collected in 2002 refer to the 2001 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.
In addition, estimates from the 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 supple-
ment. In regard to unemployment in particular, the supplement has no ques-
tions 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.
The estimates for calendar years 2000 and 2001 shown in this release
incorporate two major changes. As a consequence, the estimates for 2000
shown here may differ from those previously published, and the estimates
for 2000 and 2001 are not strictly comparable with estimates for earlier
years.
First, the estimates for 2000 and 2001 are based on an expanded sample.
Beginning in 2001 (with the collection of data for 2000), the sample for
the work experience supplement to the CPS was expanded to 78,000 households
from its original 50,000 households. The additional 28,000 households were
added in order to improve estimates of children's health insurance coverage
by state. Work experience estimates previously published for calendar year
2000 were based on the 50,000-household sample. The additional 28,000
sample households were not used until their effect on the estimates had
been fully assessed.
The second change was the use of Census 2000-based population controls
in the estimation process for both calendar years 2000 and 2001. Sample
results from the CPS are weighted up to independent estimates of the popu-
lation by sex, age, race, and Hispanic/non-Hispanic origin. The weights, or
population controls, are developed using counts of the civilian noninstitu-
tional population derived from the decennial census and are updated using in-
formation from administrative records. Previously published estimates of
work experience in 2000 were based on population controls from the 1990 census.
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.
- 4 -
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 de-
pending 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 infor-
mation, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.
For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and in-
formation 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 2002 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 2001?" or "Did you do any temporary,
part-time, or seasonal work even for a few days during 2001?"
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 dur-
ing the year are considered unemployed if they responded "yes" to the ques-
tion "Even though you did not work in 2001, did you spend any time trying to
find a job or on layoff?"
Labor force participants. Persons who either worked or were unemployed
during the year.
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, 2000-01
Total Men Women
Extent of employment
2000r 2001 2000r 2001 2000r 2001
Numbers (in thousands)
Civilian noninstitutional population............................ 214,292 216,788 102,853 104,162 111,440 112,626
Total who worked or looked for work........................... 152,417 152,300 80,287 80,304 72,130 71,996
Percent of the population................................... 71.1 70.3 78.1 77.1 64.7 63.9
Total who worked during the year(1)........................... 150,787 150,286 79,446 79,300 71,341 70,986
Percent of the population................................... 70.4 69.3 77.2 76.1 64.0 63.0
Full time(2)................................................ 121,427 121,182 69,443 69,414 51,984 51,768
50 to 52 weeks............................................ 100,586 99,644 58,934 58,076 41,652 41,568
48 to 49 weeks............................................ 2,243 2,323 1,278 1,373 965 950
40 to 47 weeks............................................ 5,647 5,827 2,838 3,067 2,810 2,759
27 to 39 weeks............................................ 4,549 5,002 2,224 2,631 2,325 2,370
14 to 26 weeks............................................ 4,891 4,850 2,363 2,488 2,528 2,362
1 to 13 weeks............................................. 3,512 3,536 1,807 1,779 1,705 1,757
Part time(3)................................................ 29,360 29,103 10,003 9,885 19,357 19,218
50 to 52 weeks............................................ 13,974 14,025 4,397 4,298 9,578 9,727
48 to 49 weeks............................................ 876 828 303 262 573 566
40 to 47 weeks............................................ 2,677 2,562 843 801 1,833 1,761
27 to 39 weeks............................................ 2,723 2,747 894 924 1,829 1,823
14 to 26 weeks............................................ 4,364 4,188 1,693 1,672 2,671 2,516
1 to 13 weeks............................................. 4,746 4,753 1,873 1,928 2,873 2,825
Percent distribution
Total who worked during the year(1)............................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Full time(2).................................................. 80.5 80.6 87.4 87.5 72.9 72.9
50 to 52 weeks.............................................. 66.7 66.3 74.2 73.2 58.4 58.6
48 to 49 weeks.............................................. 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.4 1.3
40 to 47 weeks.............................................. 3.7 3.9 3.6 3.9 3.9 3.9
27 to 39 weeks.............................................. 3.0 3.3 2.8 3.3 3.3 3.3
14 to 26 weeks.............................................. 3.2 3.2 3.0 3.1 3.5 3.3
1 to 13 weeks............................................... 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.4 2.5
Part time(3).................................................. 19.5 19.4 12.6 12.5 27.1 27.1
50 to 52 weeks.............................................. 9.3 9.3 5.5 5.4 13.4 13.7
48 to 49 weeks.............................................. .6 .6 .4 .3 .8 .8
40 to 47 weeks.............................................. 1.8 1.7 1.1 1.0 2.6 2.5
27 to 39 weeks.............................................. 1.8 1.8 1.1 1.2 2.6 2.6
14 to 26 weeks.............................................. 2.9 2.8 2.1 2.1 3.7 3.5
1 to 13 weeks............................................... 3.1 3.2 2.4 2.4 4.0 4.0
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.
r = revised. Estimates for 2000 have been revised to reflect the use of Census 2000-based population controls
and the inclusion of data collected from an expanded sample. Estimates for 2000 and 2001 are not strictly
comparable with estimates for earlier years. See the Technical Note for additional information.
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, 2000-01
(Numbers in thousands)
Total Men Women
Extent of employment, race, and Hispanic origin
2000r 2001 2000r 2001 2000r 2001
WHITE
Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 177,468 179,293 86,053 87,105 91,415 92,188
Total who worked or looked for work......................... 126,554 126,353 67,776 67,703 58,778 58,650
Percent of the population................................. 71.3 70.5 78.8 77.7 64.3 63.6
Total who worked during the year(1)......................... 125,540 125,097 67,253 67,076 58,287 58,021
Percent of the population................................. 70.7 69.8 78.2 77.0 63.8 62.9
Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Full time(2).............................................. 80.0 80.2 87.5 87.8 71.3 71.5
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 66.4 66.3 74.6 73.8 57.0 57.5
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 8.2 8.6 7.9 8.9 8.6 8.4
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 5.3 5.3 5.0 5.1 5.7 5.6
Part time(3).............................................. 20.0 19.8 12.5 12.2 28.7 28.5
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 9.7 9.7 5.6 5.4 14.4 14.7
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 4.3 4.2 2.6 2.5 6.3 6.2
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 6.0 5.8 4.3 4.3 8.0 7.6
BLACK
Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 24,997 25,445 11,100 11,325 13,897 14,119
Total who worked or looked for work......................... 17,473 17,493 8,008 8,097 9,466 9,397
Percent of the population................................. 69.9 68.8 72.1 71.5 68.1 66.6
Total who worked during the year(1)......................... 16,986 16,876 7,764 7,787 9,222 9,089
Percent of the population................................. 68.0 66.3 69.9 68.8 66.4 64.4
Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Full time(2).............................................. 83.5 83.0 86.5 86.0 81.0 80.4
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 68.0 66.6 70.2 69.5 66.1 64.2
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 8.5 9.2 9.1 9.2 8.0 9.3
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 6.8 6.9
Part time(3).............................................. 16.5 17.0 13.5 14.0 19.0 19.6
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 6.6 6.9 4.8 5.1 8.1 8.4
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 3.3 3.4 2.4 2.7 4.2 4.1
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 6.5 6.7 6.3 6.2 6.7 7.1
HISPANIC ORIGIN
Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 24,634 25,642 12,536 13,051 12,098 12,591
Total who worked or looked for work......................... 17,653 18,093 10,234 10,484 7,419 7,609
Percent of the population................................. 71.7 70.6 81.6 80.3 61.3 60.4
Total who worked during the year(1)......................... 17,385 17,799 10,087 10,356 7,297 7,443
Percent of the population................................. 70.6 69.4 80.5 79.3 60.3 59.1
Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Full time(2).............................................. 84.9 84.2 90.1 90.0 77.7 76.2
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 67.7 67.1 74.5 73.3 58.4 58.5
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 9.5 9.9 9.4 10.2 9.6 9.5
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 7.7 7.2 6.2 6.5 9.8 8.2
Part time(3).............................................. 15.1 15.8 9.9 10.0 22.3 23.8
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 7.3 8.1 4.8 4.7 10.7 12.9
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 2.9 2.8 1.6 1.8 4.7 4.1
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 4.9 4.9 3.4 3.5 6.8 6.8
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.
r = revised. Estimates for 2000 have been revised to reflect the use of Census 2000-based population controls
and the inclusion of data collected from an expanded sample. Estimates for 2000 and 2001 are not strictly
comparable with estimates for earlier years. See the Technical Note for additional information.
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, 2000-01
Total Men Women
Extent of unemployment
2000r 2001 2000r 2001 2000r 2001
Numbers (in thousands)
Total who worked or looked for work............................. 152,417 152,300 80,287 80,304 72,130 71,996
Percent with unemployment..................................... 8.6 10.4 9.0 11.1 8.1 9.6
Total with unemployment....................................... 13,041 15,834 7,199 8,919 5,842 6,915
Did not work but looked for work............................ 1,630 2,014 841 1,004 789 1,010
1 to 14 weeks............................................. 732 939 340 419 392 520
15 weeks or more.......................................... 898 1,075 501 585 397 490
Worked during the year...................................... 11,411 13,820 6,358 7,915 5,053 5,905
Year-round workers(1) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment... 575 602 363 421 212 180
Part-year workers(2) with unemployment.................... 10,836 13,218 5,995 7,493 4,841 5,725
1 to 4 weeks............................................ 2,394 2,365 1,150 1,244 1,244 1,121
5 to 10 weeks........................................... 2,180 2,556 1,214 1,445 966 1,111
11 to 14 weeks.......................................... 1,575 2,038 920 1,207 655 831
15 to 26 weeks.......................................... 2,757 3,681 1,674 2,188 1,083 1,492
27 weeks or more........................................ 1,930 2,579 1,037 1,409 893 1,170
Median weeks of unemployment for all workers........ 12.4 13.7 13.0 13.8 11.6 13.6
With 2 spells or more of unemployment............... 3,157 3,420 1,890 2,099 1,267 1,321
2 spells.......................................... 1,412 1,642 810 1,001 602 641
3 spells or more.................................. 1,745 1,778 1,080 1,098 665 680
Percent distribution
Did not work but looked for work................................ 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1 to 14 weeks................................................. 44.9 46.6 40.4 41.7 49.7 51.5
15 weeks or more.............................................. 55.1 53.4 59.6 58.3 50.3 48.5
Worked during the year.......................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Year-round workers(1) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment....... 5.0 4.4 5.7 5.3 4.2 3.1
Part-year workers(2) with unemployment........................ 95.0 95.6 94.3 94.7 95.8 96.9
1 to 4 weeks................................................ 21.0 17.1 18.1 15.7 24.6 19.0
5 to 10 weeks............................................... 19.1 18.5 19.1 18.3 19.1 18.8
11 to 14 weeks.............................................. 13.8 14.7 14.5 15.2 13.0 14.1
15 to 26 weeks.............................................. 24.2 26.6 26.3 27.6 21.4 25.3
27 weeks or more............................................ 16.9 18.7 16.3 17.8 17.7 19.8
With 2 spells or more of unemployment............. 27.7 24.7 29.7 26.5 25.1 22.4
2 spells........................................ 12.4 11.9 12.7 12.6 11.9 10.9
3 spells or more................................ 15.3 12.9 17.0 13.9 13.2 11.5
1 Worked 50 or 51 weeks.
2 Worked less than 50 weeks.
r = revised. Estimates for 2000 have been revised to reflect the use of Census 2000-based population controls
and the inclusion of data collected from an expanded sample. Estimates for 2000 and 2001 are not strictly
comparable with estimates for earlier years. See the Technical Note for additional information.
NOTE: Data refer to persons 16 years and over.
Table 4. Extent of unemployment during the year by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, 2000-01
(Numbers in thousands)
Total Men Women
Extent of unemployment, race, and Hispanic origin
2000r 2001 2000r 2001 2000r 2001
WHITE
Total who worked or looked for work........................... 126,554 126,353 67,776 67,703 58,778 58,650
Percent with unemployment................................... 7.9 9.6 8.3 10.4 7.5 8.8
Total with unemployment..................................... 10,004 12,157 5,617 7,010 4,387 5,147
Did not work but looked for work.......................... 1,013 1,256 523 627 491 629
Worked during the year.................................... 8,991 10,900 5,094 6,383 3,896 4,517
Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............ 11.9 13.1 12.5 13.2 11.0 13.0
Percent who worked during the year(1)..................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Year-round workers(2) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment. 5.4 4.8 6.1 5.9 4.5 3.2
Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 94.6 95.2 93.9 94.1 95.5 96.8
1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 21.6 17.7 18.6 16.1 25.5 19.9
5 to 14 weeks......................................... 34.2 34.5 34.3 34.7 33.9 34.2
15 weeks or more...................................... 38.8 43.0 41.0 43.2 36.0 42.7
With 2 spells or more of unemployment........... 28.0 24.6 30.1 26.7 25.3 21.6
BLACK
Total who worked or looked for work........................... 17,473 17,493 8,008 8,097 9,466 9,397
Percent with unemployment................................... 12.9 15.4 14.6 16.9 11.4 14.0
Total with unemployment..................................... 2,248 2,689 1,171 1,372 1,077 1,317
Did not work but looked for work.......................... 487 617 244 309 244 307
Worked during the year.................................... 1,761 2,072 928 1,062 833 1,010
Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............ 16.1 17.8 16.0 17.5 16.2 18.0
Percent who worked during the year(1)..................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Year-round workers(2) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment. 3.6 2.2 4.3 2.5 2.9 1.8
Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 96.4 97.8 95.7 97.5 97.1 98.2
1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 17.2 14.2 14.9 13.9 19.8 14.5
5 to 14 weeks......................................... 26.8 27.0 28.6 27.1 24.8 26.8
15 weeks or more...................................... 52.4 56.7 52.3 56.4 52.5 56.9
With 2 spells or more of unemployment........... 26.5 25.4 27.0 25.1 25.8 25.8
HISPANIC ORIGIN
Total who worked or looked for work........................... 17,653 18,093 10,234 10,484 7,419 7,609
Percent with unemployment................................... 10.7 12.7 10.9 13.1 10.6 12.2
Total with unemployment..................................... 1,895 2,304 1,112 1,373 784 930
Did not work but looked for work.......................... 269 294 147 128 122 166
Worked during the year.................................... 1,627 2,010 965 1,245 662 764
Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............ 14.8 14.9 15.5 14.3 14.1 16.5
Percent who worked during the year(1)..................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Year-round workers(2) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment. 3.1 3.9 3.4 4.3 2.6 3.3
Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 96.9 96.1 96.6 95.7 97.4 96.7
1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 18.3 13.4 16.1 13.0 21.5 14.0
5 to 14 weeks......................................... 29.1 32.9 29.6 35.3 28.5 28.9
15 weeks or more...................................... 49.4 49.8 50.9 47.3 47.4 53.7
With 2 spells or more of unemployment........... 28.9 26.4 28.6 27.3 29.3 25.1
1 Time worked includes paid vacation and sick leave.
2 Worked 50 or 51 weeks.
3 Worked less than 50 weeks.
r = revised. Estimates for 2000 have been revised to reflect the use of Census 2000-based population controls
and the inclusion of data collected from an expanded sample. Estimates for 2000 and 2001 are not strictly
comparable with estimates for earlier years. See the Technical Note for additional information.
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.