Charting the U.S. Labor Market in 2006

CHARTING THE U.S. LABOR MARKET IN 2006

• Title page (PDF)
• Overview and table of contents (PDF)

SECTION 1: MAJOR INDICATORS

• Chart 1-1. More than half of the population 16 years and over works full time (PDF)
• Chart 1-2. The unemployment rate is down from its most recent peak in June 2003 (PDF)
• Chart 1-3. In 2006, unemployment rates were lowest in the Mountain States and highest in the East North Central States (PDF)
• Chart 1-4. From the onset of the recession to the end of 2006, labor force participation rates were down, except among older workers (PDF)
• Chart 1-5. The percentage of the population that is employed has trended up since September 2003 (PDF)
• Chart 1-6. By the end of 2006, nonfarm payroll employment had risen by 7.3 million since its recent low in August 2003 (PDF)
• Chart 1-7. Private payroll employment has increased since August 2003 (PDF)
• Chart 1-8. Employment rose in most industries from August 2003 to December 2006 (PDF)
• Chart 1-9. Manufacturing employment has edged down since 2004, following 3 years of sharp declines (PDF)
• Chart 1-10. Total nonfarm employment continued to rise across most of the Nation in 2006 (PDF)
• Chart 1-11. The job openings rate generally has moved in the opposite direction of the unemployment rate (PDF)
• Chart 1-12. Since early 2003, the number of hires generally has exceeded separations (PDF)
• Chart 1-13. The number of mass layoff events spiked in September 2005 after the Gulf Coast hurricanes (PDF)
• Chart 1-14. In 2006, nearly forty percent of workers separated from their jobs due to the relocation of work were separated due to out-of-country relocations (PDF)
• Chart 1-15. Consumer prices usually increase more slowly than private employers' compensation costs (PDF)
• Chart 1-16. Increases in employer costs for wages and salaries matched gains in benefit costs in 2006 (PDF)
• Chart 1-17. Labor productivity began to accelerate in the mid-1990s, led by gains in manufacturing (PDF)
• Chart 1-18. Six of the 10 industries projected to grow the fastest are health related and one is computer related (PDF)
• Chart 1-19. Seven of the 10 occupations projected to grow the fastest are health related and three are computer related (PDF)

SECTION 2: EDUCATION

• Chart 2-1. The educational attainment of the labor force has improved over time (PDF)
• Chart 2-2. The higher the education level, the lower the unemployment rate (PDF)
• Chart 2-3. Regardless of race or Hispanic ethnicity, unemployment rates generally decline with higher levels of education (PDF)
• Chart 2-4. Education pays (PDF)
• Chart 2-5. Education pays for everyone, regardless of race or Hispanic ethnicity (PDF)
• Chart 2-6. Real median weekly earnings for college graduates have trended up over time (PDF)

SECTION 3: EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS

• Chart 3-1. Fewer than 2 in 10 employed persons work part time; fewer than 1 in 10 workers is self-employed (PDF)
• Chart 3-2. About 1 in 20 workers has more than one job (PDF)
• Chart 3-3. About 2 percent of nonfarm jobs are in temporary help services (PDF)
• Chart 3-4. In 2005, about 1 in 25 workers could be described as "contingent," believing that they could not work at their job indefinitely (PDF)
• Chart 3-5. In 2005, about 10 percent of employed persons worked in alternative employment arrangements, mostly as independent contractors (PDF)
• Chart 3-6. Displacement rates rise during recessions (PDF)
• Chart 3-7. Production, transportation, and material moving workers were most likely to be displaced in 2003-2004 (PDF)
• Chart 3-8. About one-third of workers displaced from full-time jobs in 2003-2004 found full-time jobs that paid at least what they made on their old jobs (PDF)
• Chart 3-9. Declining proportions of men have worked for their current employer for 10 years or longer (PDF)
• Chart 3-10. Rising proportions of women ages 40 to 54 have worked for their current employer for 10 years or longer (PDF)
• Chart 3-11. Union membership has declined over time (PDF)

SECTION 4: RACE AND HISPANIC ETHNICITY

• Chart 4-1. Selected labor force characteristics of blacks or African Americans (PDF)
• Chart 4-2. Selected labor force characteristics of Hispanics or Latinos (PDF)
• Chart 4-3. Selected labor force characteristics of Asians (PDF)
• Chart 4-4. Blacks are less likely to participate in the labor force than whites, Asians, or Hispanics (PDF)
• Chart 4-5. Unemployment rates for blacks and Hispanics have remained consistently higher than the rate for whites (PDF)
• Chart 4-6. Blacks and Hispanics are less likely than are whites and Asians to be employed in management and professional occupations (PDF)
• Chart 4-7. Earnings of blacks and Hispanics are lower than those of Asians and whites (PDF)

SECTION 5: WOMEN

• Chart 5-1. After rising for several decades, the labor force participation rate for women has shown no growth in recent years (PDF)
• Chart 5-2. Women's labor force participation patterns are now more like those of men (PDF)
• Chart 5-3. Unemployment rates for adult men and women have stayed quite close since the early 1980s (PDF)
• Chart 5-4. The employment-population ratios for adult men and women have edged up since mid-2003 (PDF)
• Chart 5-5. Women continue to be more likely than men to work part time (PDF)
• Chart 5-6. Year-round, full-time work has trended up (PDF)
• Chart 5-7. Women are concentrated in management, professional, sales, and office occupations (PDF)
• Chart 5-8. Women's earnings have increased substantially as a percent of men's (PDF)
• Chart 5-9. The change in real earnings since 1979 has been more favorable for women than for men at all levels of education (PDF)
• Chart 5-10. The women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio has increased for most major age groups (PDF)

SECTION 6: FAMILIES

• Chart 6-1. The proportion of all families maintained by men or by women with no spouse present has grown substantially (PDF)
• Chart 6-2. Most families have an employed member (PDF)
• Chart 6-3. Labor force participation rates have increased dramatically among mothers over the past 31 years (PDF)
• Chart 6-4. Black mothers have the highest labor force participation rates (PDF)
• Chart 6-5. In 2005, working wives contributed a little more than a third of their families’ income (PDF)
• Chart 6-6. Nine out of 10 children live with an employed parent (PDF)
• Chart 6-7. Families allocated about one-third of their total spending to housing and about one-fifth to transportation in 2005 (PDF)
• Chart 6-8. Single-parent families allocated more of their expenditure dollar to basic items—food and housing—than did married-couple families in 2005 (PDF)
• Chart 6-9. On weekdays that they worked, employed persons with children spent two-thirds of an average day working and sleeping (PDF)