For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday, September 25, 2019 			     USDL-19-1692

Technical information: 	(202) 691-6378 * cpsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cps
Media contact: 	  	(202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov

(NOTE: This news release was reissued on November 7, 2019, to correct errors
in tables 1, 2, and 3 and in the text of the release. Tables 4 and 5 in this
release were not affected by the error. See the note beginning at the end of
this news release for more information about these changes.) 


		CHARACTERISTICS OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE APPLICANTS AND 
				BENEFIT RECIPIENTS -- 2018


In 2018, about 1 in 4 (26 percent) of the unemployed who worked in the past 12 months had 
applied for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 
reported today. Of the unemployed who had not applied, 3 out of 5 did not apply because 
they did not believe they were eligible to receive UI benefits.

Only people who have previously worked are eligible for UI benefits, and they generally 
must apply shortly after their last job. Therefore, estimates presented in this news 
release are restricted to people who had worked at some point in the 12 months prior to the 
survey. In 2018, nearly two-thirds of the unemployed had worked in the last 12 months. 
Other unemployed people, including those who entered the labor force for the first time 
and those who last worked more than a year ago, are excluded from these data.

This information was obtained in a supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), a 
monthly sample survey of about 60,000 households that provides data on employment and 
unemployment in the United States. This supplement, which was conducted in May and September 
2018, was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Chief Evaluation Office. Estimates in 
this news release--referred to as 2018 estimates--are averages of data collected in both months. 
The official measure of unemployment from the CPS is based on job search and current 
availability for employment, rather than on application for or receipt of UI benefits. A more 
detailed description of the concepts and definitions used in the supplement is included in 
the Technical Note in this news release.

Highlights from the 2018 data:

   --The majority--74 percent--of unemployed people who worked in the past 12 months had not 
     applied for UI benefits since their last job. Twenty-six percent of unemployed people who 
     worked in the past 12 months had applied for UI benefits. (See table 1.)

   --Unemployed people covered by a union contract on their last job were about twice as likely
     to have applied for UI benefits as those who were not covered: 53 percent versus 24 
     percent. (See table 2.)

   --Among unemployed people who had not applied for UI benefits, 59 percent did not apply 
     because they thought they were ineligible to receive benefits. Another 12 percent cited 
     attitudes about or barriers to applying, such as they did not need the money, they had a 
     negative attitude about UI, they did not know about UI, or they had problems with the 
     application process. (See table 3.)

   --Two-thirds of unemployed people who had applied for UI benefits since their last job 
     received benefits. (See table 1.)

Unemployment Insurance Applicants

In 2018, 26 percent of the unemployed who worked in the past 12 months had applied for UI 
benefits since their last job. (See table 1.)

The likelihood of applying for UI benefits varied by reason for unemployment. Thirty-eight 
percent of job losers and people who completed temporary jobs had applied for UI benefits 
since their last job. The figure was lower for people with other reasons for unemployment: 10 
percent for job leavers and 9 percent for reentrants to the labor force who worked in the last 
year. (Job leavers are unemployed people who left their jobs voluntarily, and reentrants are 
unemployed people who have past work experience but were not in the labor force before beginning 
their current job search.)

People with longer durations of unemployment were more likely to apply for UI benefits than were 
people with shorter durations of joblessness. For example, 38 percent of people looking for work 
for 15 to 26 weeks and 37 percent of those looking for 27 weeks and over had applied for UI 
benefits, compared with 27 percent of those looking for work for 5 to 14 weeks. Those unemployed 
for less than 5 weeks were the least likely to apply for UI benefits, at 17 percent. 

Unemployed men were more likely than unemployed women to have applied for UI benefits (27 percent,
compared with 23 percent). There was little difference in the likelihood of applying for benefits 
by race or Hispanic ethnicity.

The likelihood of applying for UI benefits increased with age. About 7 percent of unemployed 
people ages 16 to 24 had applied since their last job, compared with 32 percent of those ages 25 
to 54 and 37 percent of those 55 years and over. 

In general, unemployed people with higher educational attainment were more likely to have applied
for UI benefits than were those with lower educational attainment. Among unemployed people age 25
and older, 40 percent of those with a bachelor’s degree and higher had applied for UI benefits. 
By contrast, 22 percent of those with less than a high school diploma had applied.

Unemployed people with a professional certification or license, who tend to have greater 
educational attainment, were more likely to have applied for UI benefits than those without such a
credential (33 percent, compared with 24 percent).

People last employed in management, professional, and related occupations were the most likely to
have applied for UI benefits (38 percent), compared with people in other major occupational 
groups. Those last employed in service occupations were the least likely to have applied 
(15 percent). (See table 2.)

By industry, unemployed people who last worked in leisure and hospitality (12 percent) and in 
other services (10 percent) were least likely to have applied for UI benefits. In other industries, 
the likelihood of applying ranged from 46 percent for financial activities to 23 percent for 
wholesale and retail trade.

Unemployed people who were covered by a union contract on their last job were about twice as likely 
to have applied for UI benefits, 53 percent compared with 24 percent of those who were not covered.

Reason for Not Applying for Unemployment Insurance Benefits

Of the unemployed in 2018 who worked in the last 12 months but did not apply for UI benefits, 59 
percent did not apply because they believed they were ineligible. Eligibility issues include: their 
work was not covered by UI, they quit their job, they were terminated for misconduct, they had 
insufficient past work, and they had previously exhausted their benefits. (See table 3.)

Twelve percent of unemployed people who had not applied for UI benefits had not done so because of 
attitudes about or barriers to applying--for example, they did not need the money or want the 
hassle, they had a negative attitude about UI, they did not know about UI or did not know how to 
apply, or they had problems with the application process.

Another 25 percent of unemployed people who had not applied for UI benefits reported other reasons,
such as they expected to start work soon, they did not apply for personal reasons, or they planned 
to file for benefits soon.

About 5 percent of unemployed people who had not applied for UI benefits did not provide a reason 
for not applying.

Unemployment Insurance Benefit Recipients

In 2018, 66 percent of unemployed people who had applied for UI benefits since their last job 
received benefits. (See table 1.)

Among unemployed applicants, 69 percent of job losers and people who completed temporary jobs 
received benefits. This was higher than the figure of 55 percent for reentrants to the labor force.

Applicants who were unemployed less than 5 weeks were less likely to receive benefits (42 percent)
than were those with longer durations of joblessness. For example, 78 percent of applicants 
unemployed for 27 weeks and over had received benefits.

Men and women who applied for UI benefits were about equally likely to have received benefits
(66 percent and 65 percent, respectively). There was little difference in the likelihood of 
receiving benefits by race or Hispanic ethnicity.

Older applicants were more likely than younger applicants to have received UI benefits since their
last job. Seventy-eight percent of applicants age 55 and older had received UI benefits, compared
with 64 percent of applicants ages 25 to 54.

The majority of applicants age 25 and older had received benefits, regardless of their educational
attainment. For example, about two-thirds of high school graduates (with no college) received 
benefits since their last job. 

Seventy-one percent of applicants with a certification or license had received UI benefits, little
different from the 65 percent of those without a certification or license.

The percentage of applicants who had received benefits ranged from 54 percent for those who last
worked in production, transportation, and material moving occupations to 71 percent for those in 
natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations. (See table 2.)

Applicants who were covered by a union contract in their last job were more likely to have received
UI benefits. About four-fifths (82 percent) of applicants who were covered by a union contract had 
received benefits since their last job, compared with roughly two-thirds (64 percent) of applicants 
who were not covered.

People Marginally Attached to the Labor Force 

Some individuals may be eligible for UI benefits even though they were not classified as unemployed
in the survey. In 2018, 17 percent of people marginally attached to the labor force had applied 
for UI benefits since their last job. (These estimates are restricted to people who had worked in 
the past 12 months.) (See table 4.)

People marginally attached to the labor force are those who are neither employed nor unemployed,
who want a job, have searched for work during the prior 12 months (but not in the last 4 weeks), 
and were available to take a job. If they had looked for work in the last 4 weeks, they would be 
counted as unemployed.

More than half (54 percent) of people marginally attached to the labor force had not applied for UI 
benefits since their last job because they believed they were ineligible to receive benefits. 
Another 14 percent had not applied due to attitudes about or barriers to applying for UI benefits, 
and 23 percent had not applied for UI benefits for other reasons. Nine percent of people marginally
attached to the labor force who had not applied for UI benefits did not provide a reason for not 
applying. (See table 5.)


   ___________________________________________________________________________________________
  |                                                                                           |
  |                                     Data Corrections                                      |
  |                                                                                           |
  | This news release, originally issued on September 25, 2019, contained errors in tables 1, |
  | 2, and 3 and in the text of the release. The estimates in the original news release were  |
  | not correctly restricted to unemployed people who worked in the last 12 months, but also  |
  | included unemployed people who had worked more than 12 months ago.                        |
  |                                                                                           |
  | Estimates in this reissued news release have been restricted to unemployed people who     |
  | worked in the past 12 months. After this correction, the number of unemployed people who  |
  | had worked in the past 12 months was 3.7 million, rather than 5.3 million as originally   |
  | published. The corrected number of unemployed who had applied for UI benefits was         |
  | 947,000, instead of 1.2 million as originally published.                                  |
  |                                                                                           |
  | Although estimates of numbers of the unemployed and the numbers of UI applicants changed  |
  | considerably, most percentages derived from those levels showed little meaningful         |
  | difference, and the key analytical findings in this news release were largely unaffected. |
  | The corrected proportion of unemployed people who applied for UI benefits was 26 percent  |
  | for those who worked in the past 12 months, compared with 23 percent as originally        |
  | published. The share of the unemployed who applied for UI benefits remained roughly 1 in  |
  | 4.                                                                                        |
  |                                                                                           |
  | Estimates of people marginally attached to the labor force, including all data in tables  |
  | 4 and 5, were unaffected by the error.                                                    |
  |___________________________________________________________________________________________|

Technical Note

The data presented in this news release were collected through a supplement to the
May and September 2018 Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey
of about 60,000 eligible households that provides data on employment and unemployment
for the nation’s civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over. The CPS is 
conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Chief Evaluation Office sponsored the collection of 
the May and September 2018 supplement to obtain information about the number and 
characteristics of those who do and do not file for unemployment insurance (UI) 
benefits, as well as information on those who receive benefits. These data provide
information not available from the UI program administrative data or the monthly CPS.

One of the most persistent misconceptions about the CPS unemployment measure is that
it is based on the number of people who apply for or receive UI benefits. However, 
data on UI program participation cannot be used to determine unemployment because 
the CPS concept includes people who are not eligible for benefits, who have exhausted
their benefits, and who do not apply for benefits. The monthly CPS does not include 
questions about UI participation.

Only people who have previously worked are eligible for UI benefits, and they 
generally must apply shortly after their last job. Therefore, estimates presented 
in this news release are restricted to people who had worked at some point in the 
12 months prior to the survey. In 2018, nearly two-thirds of the unemployed had 
worked in the last 12 months. Other unemployed people, including those who entered 
the labor force for the first time and those who last worked more than a year ago, 
are excluded from this news release.

The estimates in this release--referred to as 2018 estimates--are averages of data 
collected in May and September 2018. Data are weighted to produce nationally 
representative estimates. The supplement weights are controlled to population estimates 
that are averaged over the 2 months.

Information in this news release will be made available to sensory-impaired individuals
upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Definitions

The principle definitions used in this news release are described below. Additional 
information about CPS concepts and definitions is available on the BLS website at 
www.bls.gov/cps/definitions.htm.

Unemployed who worked in the past 12 months. In the CPS, people are classified as 
unemployed if they were not employed during the survey reference week; were available
for work during the survey reference week (except for temporary illness); and had 
made at least one specific, active effort to find employment sometime during the 4-week 
period ending with the survey reference week. People who were waiting to be recalled to
a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be 
classified as unemployed.

Data in this news release exclude unemployed people with no previous work experience 
and those who last worked more than 12 months prior to the survey. However, all 
unemployed persons expecting to be recalled from temporary layoff are included, 
regardless of whether they worked in the 12 months prior to the survey.

Marginally attached to the labor force who worked in the past 12 months. People 
marginally attached to the labor force are those who are neither employed nor 
unemployed, who want a job, have searched for work during the prior 12 months, and were 
available to take a job during the survey reference week, but had not looked for work 
in the 4-week period ending with the survey reference week. If they had looked for work 
in the 4-week period, they would be counted as unemployed.

Data in this news release on people marginally attached to the labor force refer to 
those who worked in the past 12 months, a subset of total marginally attached.

Unemployment Insurance (UI). The federal-state UI program provides unemployment benefits
to eligible workers (as determined under state law). The UI payments (benefits) are 
intended to provide temporary financial assistance to unemployed workers. Each state 
administers a separate UI program within guidelines established by federal law. 
Eligibility for UI benefit amounts and the length of time benefits are available are 
determined by the state law under which UI claims are established. For more information 
about state UI programs, visit https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/uifactsheet.asp.

UI benefit applicants. In the CPS, UI applicants are people who applied for UI benefits 
since their last job. Whether a person applied for UI benefits was determined through 
answers to the question: “Have you applied for unemployment benefits since your last job?” 
Data in this news release refer to unemployed individuals and people marginally attached 
to the labor force who had worked in the past 12 months.

UI benefit recipients. In the CPS, these individuals are UI applicants who received UI 
benefits since their last job. This information was obtained from the following question: 
“Have you received any unemployment benefits since your last job?” This question was asked 
of people who had applied for UI benefits since their last job. Data in this news release
refer to unemployed individuals and people marginally attached to the labor force who had 
worked in the past 12 months.

Union coverage on last job. Data in this news release refer both to union members and to 
those who were covered by a union contract on their last job. Union coverage on the last 
job is based on the question: “Were you a union member or covered by a union contract on 
your last job?”

Main reason for not applying for UI benefits. This information is based on responses to 
the question: “There are a variety of reasons why people might not apply for unemployment 
benefits. What are the reasons you have not applied for unemployment benefits since your 
last job?” Interviewers could record more than one reason. If respondents provided more 
than one reason, interviewers asked which was their main reason.

Comparability of the estimates

Previous supplements collected data on UI applicants and benefit recipients in 2005, 1993,
1989, and 1976. The 2018 supplement questions used to identify UI applicants and benefit 
recipients were similar to the 2005 supplement but were different from questions used in 
earlier years.

The 2018 estimates are not strictly comparable with those from prior years. Changes in 
survey methods affect the comparability of estimates over time. For example, the questions 
were not the same in all supplements. Also, collection periods differed across supplements, 
and the supplements were not always administered to all CPS respondents. For example, the 
2018 supplement was collected in 2 nonconsecutive months (May and September) from the full 
CPS sample. The supplements for 2005, 1993, and 1989 were collected in 4 different months,
and the questions were asked of about one-fourth of the CPS sample (the outgoing rotations).
(Specifically, the 2005 supplement data were collected in January, May, July, and November; 
the 1993 supplement was administered in February, June, August, and November; and the 1989 
supplement was conducted in May, August, and November 1989 and in February 1990.) The 1976
supplement was administered to the full sample in May 1976.

Other factors should also be considered when analyzing the data. Different points in the 
business cycle, changes in state UI laws, and the seasonal nature of applying for UI benefits 
can further complicate comparisons of data over time. For example, the unemployment rate in 
2018 was relatively low by historical standards, which may impact the number and 
characteristics of people who apply for UI benefits.

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 component of this difference 
that occurs because samples differ by chance is known as sampling error, and its 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.

General information about the reliability of data from the CPS is available at 
www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.