Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6378 USDL 00-22 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Monday, January 31, 2000 WORK EXPERIENCE OF THE POPULATION IN 1998 The total number of persons who worked at some point during the year increased by about 1.6 million in 1998 to 144.8 million, according to the annual survey of work experience released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The number who experienced some unemployment continued to decline--down almost 1.6 million from the previous year, to 14.0 million. These work experience data are from the March 1999 supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey of about 50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The CPS provides information on the employment status of the population; each March, supplementary questions are added that inquire about work experience during the previous calendar year. Additional information about this annual supplement, including concepts and definitions, is provided in the Technical Note on page 3. Highlights from the data for 1998 include: --The proportion of workers who were employed both year round and full time--65.6 percent--was the highest it had been in the nearly 50 years since the series began. --The proportion who experienced some unemployment during the year dropped to 9.6 percent (14.0 million) of those who either worked or looked for work at some time during the year; in 1997, this proportion was 10.8 percent. --About 12.3 percent (1.7 million) of persons who looked for a job in 1998 failed to find any work. Although this proportion has been declining in recent years, it remains well above the rate just prior to the recession of the early 1990s (9.1 percent). Persons with Employment In 1998, 70.0 percent of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years old and over worked at some time during the year, unchanged from 1997. With the exception of recessionary periods, this rate has trended upward over the past three decades, with the increase entirely attributable to the changing role of women in the work force over this period. The proportion of women who worked at some time during the year has risen 11.7 percentage points since 1968 to 63.7 percent in 1998; in contrast, the rate for men has declined 8.6 percentage points to 76.7 percent. A greater share of whites (70.5 percent) worked in 1998 than either blacks (66.5 percent) or Hispanics (68.2 percent). (See tables 1 and 2.) During 1998, 75.0 percent of persons with work experience were employed year round (either full or part time), compared with 64.3 percent in 1968. Once again, this primarily reflects the changing role of women in the labor market. Since 1968, the proportion of employed women working year round has climbed by nearly 20 percentage points to 70.1 percent. The rate for men has increased by only 5.8 percentage points over the same period; a large part of this increase (2.1 percentage points) in year-round work occurred in 1998. - 2 - Persons with Unemployment Of the 146.6 million persons who worked or looked for work at some time in 1998, 14.0 million experienced some unemployment during the year, resulting in a "work-experience unemployment rate" of 9.6 percent. This rate declined 1.2 percentage points from 1997. (See table 3.) The "work-experience unemployment rate" for blacks, 14.5 percent, was higher than the rates for either Hispanics (12.7 percent) or whites (8.9 percent). In 1998, the difference between the rates for men (9.5 percent) and women (9.7 percent) was negligible. Rates decreased for most of the various worker groups over the year. The median number of weeks spent looking for work in 1998 was 12.7, down slightly from 1997. Of the 12.3 million persons who worked during 1998 and also experienced unemployment, 29.5 percent had two or more spells of joblessness. The median number of weeks of unemployment was higher for blacks than either whites or Hispanics. Blacks also were more likely to experience multiple spells of unemployment during the year. (See table 4.) 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 Bureau of the Census 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 1999 refer to the 1998 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 1998 was about 2-1/4 times the number unemployed in an average month during the year. Employed Unemployed 1998 estimates (in thousands) Annual average of monthly estimates 131,463 6,210 March supplement data 144,841 14,042 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 1998, collected in March 1999, are not strictly comparable with those for 1997 and earlier years because of minor adjustments made to the population controls in January 1999. 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 January 1999 employ- ment levels for men by about 200,000 relative to December 1998 levels while increasing the employment levels for women by 260,000. The effect on monthly unemployment estimates was negligible. For additional information, see "Revisions in the Current Population Survey Effective January 1999" in the February 1999 issue of Employment and Earnings. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-606-5886; 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 the February 1994 and subsequent issues of Employment and Earnings. Concepts and definitions Persons who worked. In the March 1999 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 1998?" or "Did you do any temporary, part-time, or seasonal work even for a few days during 1998?" 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 1998, 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, 1997-98 Total Men Women Extent of employment 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 Numbers (in thousands) Civilian noninstitutional population............................ 204,551 207,038 98,410 99,364 106,141 107,674 Total who worked or looked for work........................... 145,323 146,570 76,704 77,047 68,619 69,523 Percent of the population................................... 71.0 70.8 77.9 77.5 64.6 64.6 Total who worked during the year(1)........................... 143,193 144,841 75,726 76,260 67,468 68,581 Percent of the population................................... 70.0 70.0 76.9 76.7 63.6 63.7 Full time(2)................................................ 113,128 115,697 65,423 66,603 47,705 49,094 50 to 52 weeks............................................ 91,909 95,077 54,268 56,322 37,640 38,755 48 to 49 weeks............................................ 2,227 2,095 1,269 1,177 958 918 40 to 47 weeks............................................ 5,615 5,502 2,919 2,827 2,697 2,675 27 to 39 weeks............................................ 4,644 4,545 2,436 2,190 2,208 2,355 14 to 26 weeks............................................ 5,015 4,870 2,596 2,355 2,419 2,515 1 to 13 weeks............................................. 3,718 3,608 1,935 1,731 1,782 1,877 Part time(3)................................................ 30,066 29,144 10,303 9,658 19,763 19,486 50 to 52 weeks............................................ 13,795 13,535 4,236 4,193 9,560 9,341 48 to 49 weeks............................................ 805 804 285 277 520 528 40 to 47 weeks............................................ 2,710 2,679 933 894 1,777 1,785 27 to 39 weeks............................................ 3,046 2,994 1,052 916 1,994 2,078 14 to 26 weeks............................................ 4,561 4,440 1,617 1,529 2,944 2,910 1 to 13 weeks............................................. 5,148 4,693 2,180 1,848 2,968 2,845 Percent distribution Total who worked during the year(1)............................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Full time(2).................................................. 79.0 79.9 86.4 87.3 70.7 71.6 50 to 52 weeks.............................................. 64.2 65.6 71.7 73.9 55.8 56.5 48 to 49 weeks.............................................. 1.6 1.4 1.7 1.5 1.4 1.3 40 to 47 weeks.............................................. 3.9 3.8 3.9 3.7 4.0 3.9 27 to 39 weeks.............................................. 3.2 3.1 3.2 2.9 3.3 3.4 14 to 26 weeks.............................................. 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.1 3.6 3.7 1 to 13 weeks............................................... 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.6 2.7 Part time(3).................................................. 21.0 20.1 13.6 12.7 29.3 28.4 50 to 52 weeks.............................................. 9.6 9.3 5.6 5.5 14.2 13.6 48 to 49 weeks.............................................. .6 .6 .4 .4 .8 .8 40 to 47 weeks.............................................. 1.9 1.8 1.2 1.2 2.6 2.6 27 to 39 weeks.............................................. 2.1 2.1 1.4 1.2 3.0 3.0 14 to 26 weeks.............................................. 3.2 3.1 2.1 2.0 4.4 4.2 1 to 13 weeks............................................... 3.6 3.2 2.9 2.4 4.4 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 1998, which were collected in the March 1999 supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), are not strictly comparable with data for 1997 and earlier years because of the introduction in January 1999 of revised population controls used in the survey. For additional information, see the technical note and "Revisions in the Current Population Survey Effective January 1999" in the February 1999 issue of Employment and Earnings. Table 2. Work experience of the population during the year by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, 1997-98 (Numbers in thousands) Total Men Women Extent of employment, race, and Hispanc origin 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 WHITE Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 170,955 172,544 83,037 83,621 87,918 88,923 Total who worked or looked for work......................... 121,772 122,791 65,366 65,684 56,406 57,107 Percent of the population................................. 71.2 71.2 78.7 78.5 64.2 64.2 Total who worked during the year(1)......................... 120,454 121,627 64,753 65,113 55,701 56,514 Percent of the population................................. 70.5 70.5 78.0 77.9 63.4 63.6 Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Full time(2).............................................. 78.6 79.6 86.6 87.6 69.4 70.4 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 64.1 65.7 72.1 74.3 54.8 55.7 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 8.8 8.4 8.8 8.2 8.7 8.7 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 5.8 5.5 5.7 5.1 5.9 6.1 Part time(3).............................................. 21.4 20.4 13.4 12.4 30.6 29.6 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 9.9 9.6 5.5 5.5 15.0 14.4 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 4.8 4.6 3.1 2.8 6.8 6.7 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 6.7 6.2 4.8 4.2 8.8 8.5 BLACK Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 24,255 24,726 10,870 11,080 13,385 13,645 Total who worked or looked for work......................... 16,782 16,902 7,719 7,739 9,063 9,163 Percent of the population................................. 69.2 68.4 71.0 69.8 67.7 67.2 Total who worked during the year(1)......................... 16,110 16,436 7,447 7,572 8,663 8,864 Percent of the population................................. 66.4 66.5 68.5 68.3 64.7 65.0 Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Full time(2).............................................. 81.4 81.4 85.0 85.8 78.3 77.7 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 64.4 65.4 68.3 70.2 61.1 61.4 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 8.8 8.2 8.7 8.3 8.9 8.2 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 8.1 7.7 8.0 7.3 8.2 8.1 Part time(3).............................................. 18.6 18.6 15.0 14.2 21.7 22.3 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 7.7 7.4 5.2 5.2 9.8 9.3 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 3.3 4.3 2.5 3.0 3.9 5.3 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 7.7 6.9 7.3 6.0 8.0 7.7 HISPANIC ORIGIN Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 20,854 21,411 10,626 10,599 10,229 10,811 Total who worked or looked for work......................... 14,586 14,886 8,567 8,503 6,019 6,383 Percent of the population................................. 69.9 69.5 80.6 80.2 58.8 59.0 Total who worked during the year(1)......................... 14,232 14,599 8,397 8,381 5,836 6,218 Percent of the population................................. 68.2 68.2 79.0 79.1 57.0 57.5 Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Full time(2).............................................. 82.0 83.5 88.1 89.5 73.2 75.3 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 63.8 65.7 70.7 72.9 53.8 55.9 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 9.8 10.3 9.7 10.9 10.0 9.4 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 8.4 7.5 7.7 5.7 9.3 10.0 Part time(3).............................................. 18.0 16.5 11.9 10.5 26.8 24.7 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 7.9 7.7 4.6 4.6 12.7 11.9 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 3.5 3.0 2.4 2.0 5.1 4.3 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 6.6 5.9 4.9 3.9 9.0 8.5 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, 1997-98 Total Men Women Extent of unemployment 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 Numbers (in thousands) Total who worked or looked for work............................. 145,323 146,570 76,704 77,047 68,619 69,523 Percent with unemployment..................................... 10.8 9.6 11.2 9.5 10.2 9.7 Total with unemployment....................................... 15,623 14,042 8,594 7,282 7,029 6,760 Did not work but looked for work............................ 2,129 1,729 978 787 1,151 942 1 to 14 weeks............................................. 955 762 385 299 570 463 15 weeks or more.......................................... 1,174 967 593 487 582 479 Worked during the year...................................... 13,494 12,313 7,616 6,496 5,878 5,817 Year-round workers(1) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment... 611 630 382 386 229 243 Part-year workers(2) with unemployment.................... 12,883 11,683 7,234 6,109 5,649 5,574 1 to 4 weeks............................................ 2,578 2,320 1,273 1,083 1,305 1,237 5 to 10 weeks........................................... 2,594 2,495 1,469 1,363 1,125 1,131 11 to 14 weeks.......................................... 1,822 1,701 1,068 980 754 721 15 to 26 weeks.......................................... 3,377 3,019 1,949 1,585 1,429 1,434 27 weeks or more........................................ 2,512 2,148 1,476 1,098 1,036 1,050 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers.............. 13.1 12.7 13.6 12.7 12.5 12.6 With 2 spells or more of unemployment..................... 4,041 3,629 2,436 2,014 1,605 1,615 2 spells................................................ 1,851 1,650 1,078 880 773 770 3 spells or more........................................ 2,190 1,978 1,358 1,134 832 844 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................................................. 44.8 44.1 39.4 38.0 49.5 49.1 15 weeks or more.............................................. 55.2 55.9 60.6 62.0 50.5 50.9 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....... 4.5 5.1 5.0 5.9 3.9 4.2 Part-year workers(2) with unemployment........................ 95.5 94.9 95.0 94.1 96.1 95.8 1 to 4 weeks................................................ 19.1 18.8 16.7 16.7 22.2 21.3 5 to 10 weeks............................................... 19.2 20.3 19.3 21.0 19.1 19.4 11 to 14 weeks.............................................. 13.5 13.8 14.0 15.1 12.8 12.4 15 to 26 weeks.............................................. 25.0 24.5 25.6 24.4 24.3 24.7 27 weeks or more............................................ 18.6 17.4 19.4 16.9 17.6 18.0 With 2 spells or more of unemployment......................... 29.9 29.5 32.0 31.0 27.3 27.8 2 spells.................................................... 13.7 13.4 14.2 13.5 13.1 13.2 3 spells or more............................................ 16.2 16.1 17.8 17.5 14.2 14.5 1 Worked 50 or 51 weeks. 2 Worked less than 50 weeks. NOTE: Data refer to persons 16 years and over. Also, see Note, table 1. Table 4. Extent of unemployment during the year by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, 1997-98 (Numbers in thousands) Total Men Women Extent of unemployment, race, and Hispanc origin 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 WHITE Total who worked or looked for work........................... 121,772 122,791 65,366 65,684 56,406 57,107 Percent with unemployment................................... 9.9 8.9 10.5 8.9 9.3 8.9 Total with unemployment..................................... 12,082 10,900 6,852 5,835 5,230 5,066 Did not work but looked for work.......................... 1,319 1,163 614 571 705 593 Worked during the year.................................... 10,764 9,737 6,238 5,264 4,526 4,473 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers..... 12.4 12.1 13.0 12.0 11.4 12.2 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. 5.2 5.5 5.7 6.6 4.4 4.3 Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 94.8 94.5 94.3 93.4 95.6 95.7 1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 20.3 19.6 17.5 17.4 24.2 22.3 5 to 14 weeks......................................... 33.6 34.9 33.9 36.9 33.1 32.4 15 weeks or more...................................... 41.0 40.0 42.9 39.1 38.3 41.0 With 2 spells or more of unemployment............. 29.6 28.5 32.4 30.5 25.9 26.2 BLACK Total who worked or looked for work........................... 16,782 16,902 7,719 7,739 9,063 9,163 Percent with unemployment................................... 16.5 14.5 16.6 14.2 16.4 14.8 Total with unemployment..................................... 2,766 2,452 1,281 1,099 1,484 1,353 Did not work but looked for work.......................... 672 465 272 166 400 299 Worked during the year.................................... 2,094 1,987 1,010 933 1,084 1,054 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers..... 17.8 15.5 18.4 15.6 17.3 15.4 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. 2.1 3.5 1.6 2.4 2.6 4.5 Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 97.9 96.5 98.4 97.6 97.4 95.5 1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 12.3 14.6 11.6 12.5 13.0 16.4 5 to 14 weeks......................................... 28.9 31.0 29.5 34.1 28.3 28.3 15 weeks or more...................................... 56.7 50.9 57.3 51.0 56.1 50.8 With 2 spells or more of unemployment............. 30.2 33.8 28.3 35.1 32.1 32.6 HISPANIC ORIGIN Total who worked or looked for work........................... 14,586 14,886 8,567 8,503 6,019 6,383 Percent with unemployment................................... 14.1 12.7 14.6 12.2 13.2 13.5 Total with unemployment..................................... 2,052 1,896 1,255 1,037 797 859 Did not work but looked for work.......................... 354 287 171 122 184 165 Worked during the year.................................... 1,698 1,609 1,084 915 613 694 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers..... 14.9 14.2 14.7 13.5 15.4 15.5 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. 3.9 4.3 4.5 4.9 2.9 3.6 Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 96.1 95.7 95.5 95.1 97.1 96.4 1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 15.6 16.5 14.3 16.1 18.0 17.1 5 to 14 weeks......................................... 30.8 31.5 32.3 33.9 28.1 28.4 15 weeks or more...................................... 49.7 47.7 48.9 45.2 51.0 51.0 With 2 spells or more of unemployment............. 34.5 29.2 37.5 30.9 29.2 26.9 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.