For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, December 3, 2019 					USDL-19-2103

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


			    WORK EXPERIENCE OF THE POPULATION -- 2018

A total of 166.4 million persons worked at some point during 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor 
Statistics reported today. The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16
and over who worked at some time during 2018 was 64.4 percent, little changed from 2017. The
number of persons who experienced some unemployment during 2018 declined by 1.3 million to 
13.2 million.

These data are based on information collected in the Annual Social and Economic Supplement
(ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey conducted by the
U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The ASEC collects information on
employment and unemployment experienced during the prior calendar year. Additional information
about the CPS and the ASEC, including concepts and definitions, is provided in the Technical 
Note.

Highlights from the 2018 data:

   --The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round in 2018 was 70.4 percent, up 0.9
     percentage point from the prior year. (See table 1.)

   --The "work-experience unemployment rate"--defined as the number of persons unemployed at some
     time during the year as a proportion of the number of persons who worked or looked for work
     during the year--declined by 0.8 percentage point to 7.8 percent in 2018. This is the lowest
     rate in this series, which began in 1958. (See table 3.) 

   --About 2.2 million individuals looked for a job but did not work at all in 2018, compared 
     with 2.4 million in 2017. (See table 3.)

Persons with Employment

Overall, 64.4 percent of the population worked in 2018, little changed from 64.2 percent in 2017.
The proportion of men who worked at some time during 2018 was 69.7 percent, little changed from 
2017. The proportion of women, however, increased by 0.6 percentage point to 59.4 percent in 2018.
(See table 1.)

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, the proportions of Whites (64.7 percent), Blacks 
(62.4 percent), Asians (64.5 percent), and Hispanics (66.6 percent) who worked at some time 
during 2018 showed little change from 2017. (See table 2.)

Among those with work experience in 2018, 80.8 percent usually worked full time, up 0.4 
percentage point from a year earlier. The proportion of women who usually worked full time 
increased 0.9 percentage point over the year to 74.4 percent in 2018. The share of men who 
usually worked full time was little changed at 86.7 percent. Among those who worked at some point
in 2018, Asians (84.7 percent) were more likely to work full time, followed by Blacks (82.4 
percent), and Hispanics (81.2 percent), and Whites (80.4 percent). (See tables 1 and 2.)

Of the total who worked during 2018, 80.8 percent were employed year round (working 50 to 52 
weeks, either full or part time), up from 80.1 percent in 2017. The share of men working year 
round increased by 1.1 percentage points to 83.1 percent in 2018, while the percentage of women
working year round was little changed at 78.3 percent. (See table 1.)

Persons with Unemployment

Overall, 168.6 million persons worked or looked for work at some time in 2018, up by 1.1 million
from the prior year. Of those, 13.2 million experienced some unemployment during 2018, down by 1.3
million from 2017. (See table 3.)

The work-experience unemployment rate (those looking for work during the year as a percent of 
those who worked or looked for work during the year) continued to decline. In 2018, the work-
experience unemployment rate fell by 0.8 percentage point to 7.8 percent--this is the lowest 
rate in the history of the series, which began in 1958. (See table 3.)

In 2018, men continued to have a higher work-experience unemployment rate than women, at 8.2 
percent and 7.4 percent, respectively. The rates for both men and women declined from the prior 
year. (See table 3.)

In 2018, the work-experience unemployment rates for Whites(7.3 percent) and Blacks (10.6 percent)
declined, while the rates for Hispanics(9.7 percent) and Asians (5.8 percent) were little changed.
Among Whites, the rate for men was higher than the rate for women, while among Blacks, Asians, and
Hispanics, the rates for men and women were little different from each other. (See table 4.)

Among those who experienced unemployment in 2018, the median number of weeks spent looking for 
work was 13.9 weeks. The number of persons who looked for a job but did not work at all in 2018
was little changed at 2.2 million. Of the 11.0 million individuals who both worked and experienced 
unemployment in 2018, 21.7 percent had two or more spells of unemployment, up 1.5 percentage 
points from 2017. (See table 3.)

Technical Note

   The data presented in this release were collected in the Annual Social and Economic
Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly sample
survey of about 60,000 eligible households, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for 
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Data from the CPS are used to obtain the 
monthly estimates of the nation's employment and unemployment levels. The ASEC, 
conducted in the months of February through April, includes questions about work 
activity during the prior calendar year. For instance, data collected in 2019 refer 
to the 2018 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 was about twice the number unemployed in an average 
month during the year.


					Employed	Unemployed
  2018 estimates (in thousands)
   Annual average of
    monthly estimates			155,761		6,314
   Annual supplement data		166,402		13,171


   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 the supplement contains fewer questions
for categorizing respondents. In regard to unemployment in particular, the 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 supplement data, whereas, for a specific monthly reference week, each person
is only counted in one category and employment activity takes precedence over job search 
activity.

   The data presented in this release are not strictly com-parable with data for earlier 
years due to the introduction of updated population controls used in the CPS. The 
population controls are updated each year in January to reflect the latest information 
about population change. Additional information is available at 
www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.

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.

   A full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and information on estimating 
standard errors is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.

Concepts and definitions

   The principle concepts and definitions used in connection with the data in this release 
are described briefly below.

   Persons who worked. In the 2019 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 2018?" or "Did you do any temporary, part-time, or seasonal work even for a 
few days during 2018?"

   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 2018, did you spend 
any time trying to find a job or on layoff?"

   Work-experience unemployment rate. The number of persons unemployed at some time during 
the year as a proportion of the number of persons who worked or looked for work during 
the year.

   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.

Other information

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