Hurricane Katrina Evacuees, November 2005

Evacuees identified in CPS-sampled households in November represented about 900,000 persons age 16 and over who had evacuated from where they were living in August due to Hurricane Katrina. Half of these persons had returned to the home from which they had evacuated. Of the 886,000 evacuees, just over half were in the labor force in November, and their unemployment rate was 20.5 percent. See table below.

Employment status in November 2005 of persons 16 years and over who evacuated from their August residence, even temporarily, due to Hurricane Katrina 1/

[Numbers in thousands, not seasonally adjusted]
Employment status in November 2005 Total Residence in November
Same as in
August		 Different than
in August

Civilian
noninstitutional
population

 886 442 443

Civilian labor force

 489 233 256

Participation rate

 55.2 52.7 57.7

Employed

 389 204 185

Employment-population ratio

 43.9 46.1 41.6

Unemployed

 100 29 71

Unemployment rate

 20.5 12.5 27.8

Not in labor force

 397 209 188

1/ Represents persons in the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over who resided in households that were eligible to be selected for CPS. These data are not representative of the total evacuee population because they do not include children or people residing in shelters, hotels, places of worship, or other units out of scope for CPS. The total number of evacuees estimated from the CPS may change from month to month as people move in and out of the scope of the survey and because of sampling variability.

Note: These data use population controls that have been adjusted to account for interstate moves by evacuees.

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Last Modified Date: May 2, 2006