For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, December 8, 2009 USDL-09-1500
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 -- 2008
A total of 157.5 million persons worked at some point during 2008, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The proportion of workers who
worked full time, year round in 2008 was 65.6 percent, down from 68.4 per-
cent in 2007. The number of persons who experienced some unemployment in
2008 increased by 6.1 million to 21.2 million. This sharp increase reflects
weak labor market conditions due to a recession that began in December 2007.
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
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 2008 data include:
--The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16
and over who worked at some time during 2008 was 67.0 percent, down
from 67.7 percent in 2007.
--The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round in 2008
was 65.6 percent, down from 68.4 percent in the prior year.
--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--
was 13.2 percent in 2008, up from 9.5 percent in 2007.
--About 3.2 million individuals looked for a job but did not work
at all in 2008, up from 2.1 million in 2007.
Persons with Employment
The percent of men who worked during 2008 was 73.1 percent, down from 74.1
percent in 2007. The proportion of women who worked at some point during
2008 was 61.3 percent, little changed from 2007. (See table 1.)
The proportions of whites (67.7 percent), blacks (62.5 percent), and Asians
(67.4 percent) who worked at some time during the year fell in 2008. The
proportion of Hispanics who worked at some point during 2008 was 67.7 per-
cent, little different from 2007. (See table 2.)
Among those with work experience during 2008, 76.1 percent were employed
year round (working 50 to 52 weeks, either full or part time), down from
78.2 percent in 2007. The percentage of women working year round fell by
1.4 percentage points to 74.3 percent in 2008, and the percentage of men
employed year round fell by 2.8 percentage points to 77.7 percent. (See
table 1.)
Of those employed at some time during 2008, 79.5 percent usually worked
full time, down from 80.9 percent in 2007. Men were more likely to work
full time during the year (86.0 percent) than were women (72.2 percent).
The proportions of employed men and women working full time each declined
by 1.4 percentage points.
Persons with Unemployment
About 160.7 million persons worked or looked for work at some time in 2008.
Of those, 21.2 million experienced some unemployment during the year, up
from 15.1 million in 2007. Men accounted for the majority of the over-the-
year increase in unemployment. (See table 3.)
At 13.2 percent in 2008, 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) was 3.7 percentage points higher than in
2007. The 2008 rate was the highest since 1994. The rates for whites
(12.6 percent), blacks (17.7 percent), Hispanics (17.5 percent), and
Asians (10.0 percent) rose in 2008. (See tables 3 and 4.)
Overall, men continued to have higher "work-experience unemployment rates"
in 2008 than did women, 14.5 versus 11.7 percent, respectively. Among
whites, the rate for men (13.9 percent) was higher than that for women
(11.1 percent). This also was the case among blacks (20.5 and 15.3 per-
cent, respectively) and Hispanics (18.7 and 15.8 percent, respectively.)
The rates for Asian men (9.5 percent) and Asian women (10.5 percent) were
little different.
Among those who experienced unemployment in 2008, the median number of
weeks spent looking for work was 15.2, up from 13.8 in 2007. The number of
individuals who looked for a job but did not work at all increased by 1.1
million to about 3.2 million individuals in 2008. Of the 18.0 million per-
sons who worked during 2008 and also experienced unemployment, 22.1 percent
had 2 or more spells of joblessness, down from 23.8 percent in 2007.
Technical Note
The data presented in this release were collected in the Annual Social and
Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a
monthly sample survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau 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. The supplement, conducted
in the months of February through April, includes questions about work activity
during the prior calendar year. For instance, data collected in 2009 refer to
the 2008 calendar year. Because the reference period is a full year, the num-
ber 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 2008 was over twice
the number unemployed in an average month during the year.
Employed Unemployed
2008 estimates (in thousands)
Annual average of
monthly estimates 145,362 8,924
Annual supplement data 157,472 21,205
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 fewer questions by
which to categorize respondents are asked in the supplement. In regard to un-
employment in particular, the supplement has no questions on the type of job
search activity or on the respondent's availability to work. Also, individ-
uals 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 cate-
gory and employment activity takes precedence over job search activity.
Work experience data for 2008, which were collected in the 2009 Annual Social
and Economic Supplement to the CPS, are not strictly comparable with data for 2007
and earlier years because of the introduction in January 2009 of revised popula-
tion controls used in the CPS. The effect of the revised population controls on
the work experience estimates is unknown. However, the effect of the new controls
on the monthly CPS estimates was to decrease the December 2008 employment level by
407,000 and the unemployment level by 42,000. For additional information, see
"Adjustments to Household Survey Population Estimates in January 2009," available
on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cps/cps09adj.pdf.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired indi-
viduals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service:
(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 re-
present. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies depending on the parti-
cular 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 popula-
tion, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inabil-
ity 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 "Reliability of estimates from the CPS,"
available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.
Concepts and definitions
Persons who worked. In the 2009 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 2008?" or "Did you do any temporary, part-time, or
seasonal work even for a few days during 2008?"
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 lay-
off 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 2008, 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, 2007-08
Total Men Women
Extent of employment
2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008
Numbers (in thousands)
Civilian noninstitutional population....................... 232,995 235,086 112,695 113,758 120,300 121,328
Total who worked or looked for work...................... 159,750 160,658 84,614 84,781 75,136 75,878
Percent of the population.............................. 68.6 68.3 75.1 74.5 62.5 62.5
Total who worked during the year (1)..................... 157,653 157,472 83,538 83,109 74,115 74,363
Percent of the population.............................. 67.7 67.0 74.1 73.1 61.6 61.3
Full time (2).......................................... 127,538 125,116 72,994 71,443 54,544 53,673
50 to 52 weeks....................................... 107,858 103,265 62,287 59,163 45,571 44,101
48 to 49 weeks....................................... 2,031 2,221 1,203 1,353 829 868
40 to 47 weeks....................................... 5,235 6,177 2,810 3,403 2,425 2,774
27 to 39 weeks....................................... 4,623 4,981 2,560 2,854 2,063 2,127
14 to 26 weeks....................................... 4,704 5,071 2,474 2,792 2,230 2,279
1 to 13 weeks........................................ 3,087 3,402 1,661 1,878 1,426 1,524
Part time (3).......................................... 30,115 32,356 10,544 11,665 19,571 20,690
50 to 52 weeks....................................... 15,472 16,553 4,930 5,419 10,541 11,134
48 to 49 weeks....................................... 832 875 296 301 536 575
40 to 47 weeks....................................... 2,580 2,791 903 939 1,678 1,852
27 to 39 weeks....................................... 2,776 2,954 961 1,209 1,815 1,744
14 to 26 weeks....................................... 4,248 4,519 1,709 1,900 2,539 2,620
1 to 13 weeks........................................ 4,207 4,662 1,745 1,897 2,462 2,765
Percent distribution
Total who worked during the year (1)....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Full time (2)............................................ 80.9 79.5 87.4 86.0 73.6 72.2
50 to 52 weeks......................................... 68.4 65.6 74.6 71.2 61.5 59.3
48 to 49 weeks......................................... 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.1 1.2
40 to 47 weeks......................................... 3.3 3.9 3.4 4.1 3.3 3.7
27 to 39 weeks......................................... 2.9 3.2 3.1 3.4 2.8 2.9
14 to 26 weeks......................................... 3.0 3.2 3.0 3.4 3.0 3.1
1 to 13 weeks.......................................... 2.0 2.2 2.0 2.3 1.9 2.0
Part time (3)............................................ 19.1 20.5 12.6 14.0 26.4 27.8
50 to 52 weeks......................................... 9.8 10.5 5.9 6.5 14.2 15.0
48 to 49 weeks......................................... 0.5 .6 .4 .4 .7 .8
40 to 47 weeks......................................... 1.6 1.8 1.1 1.1 2.3 2.5
27 to 39 weeks......................................... 1.8 1.9 1.2 1.5 2.4 2.3
14 to 26 weeks......................................... 2.7 2.9 2.0 2.3 3.4 3.5
1 to 13 weeks.......................................... 2.7 3.0 2.1 2.3 3.3 3.7
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 2008, which were collected in the 2009 Annual Social and
Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey, are not strictly comparable with data for 2007 and earlier years
because of the introduction of updated population controls, which are introduced annually with the release of January
data. For additional information, see the Technical Note and "Adjustments to Household Survey Population Estimates in
January 2009," available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cps/cps09adj.pdf.
Table 2. Work experience of the population during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2007-08
(Numbers in thousands)
Total Men Women
Extent of employment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008
WHITE
Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 189,045 190,503 92,469 93,246 96,576 97,257
Total who worked or looked for work......................... 130,472 131,102 70,392 70,346 60,080 60,756
Percent of the population................................. 69.0 68.8 76.1 75.4 62.2 62.5
Total who worked during the year (1)........................ 129,078 128,882 69,659 69,192 59,419 59,690
Percent of the population................................. 68.3 67.7 75.3 74.2 61.5 61.4
Percent who worked during the year (1)...................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Full time (2)............................................. 80.5 79.1 87.5 86.1 72.3 70.8
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 68.1 65.3 74.7 71.5 60.3 58.1
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 7.6 8.6 7.9 9.3 7.2 7.7
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 4.8 5.2 4.8 5.3 4.8 5.0
Part time (3)............................................. 19.5 20.9 12.5 13.9 27.7 29.2
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 10.1 10.8 5.9 6.5 15.0 15.8
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 4.1 4.3 2.7 3.0 5.8 5.9
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 5.3 5.8 4.0 4.4 6.9 7.4
BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN
Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 27,709 28,117 12,448 12,644 15,261 15,474
Total who worked or looked for work......................... 18,112 18,296 8,347 8,489 9,765 9,807
Percent of the population................................. 65.4 65.1 67.1 67.1 64.0 63.4
Total who worked during the year (1)........................ 17,602 17,577 8,104 8,096 9,499 9,481
Percent of the population................................. 63.5 62.5 65.1 64.0 62.2 61.3
Percent who worked during the year (1)...................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Full time (2)............................................. 83.6 81.5 87.0 84.2 80.7 79.1
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 69.9 66.2 72.4 67.5 67.8 65.0
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 7.6 8.5 8.1 8.5 7.1 8.4
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 6.1 6.8 6.4 8.1 5.7 5.7
Part time (3)............................................. 16.4 18.5 13.0 15.8 19.3 20.9
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 7.9 9.1 5.6 6.9 9.9 10.9
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 2.9 3.3 1.9 2.6 3.7 3.9
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 5.6 6.2 5.5 6.3 5.8 6.0
ASIAN
Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 10,571 10,589 4,992 4,976 5,580 5,613
Total who worked or looked for work......................... 7,291 7,270 3,810 3,840 3,480 3,430
Percent of the population................................. 69.0 68.7 76.3 77.2 62.4 61.1
Total who worked during the year (1)........................ 7,171 7,138 3,745 3,783 3,427 3,356
Percent of the population................................. 67.8 67.4 75.0 76.0 61.4 59.8
Percent who worked during the year (1)...................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Full time (2)............................................. 83.7 83.0 89.1 88.7 77.8 76.6
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 74.3 72.0 80.5 77.6 67.5 65.7
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 5.6 6.2 5.3 6.2 5.9 6.1
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 3.8 4.8 3.4 4.8 4.4 4.8
Part time (3)............................................. 16.3 17.0 10.9 11.3 22.2 23.4
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 9.1 8.6 5.9 5.9 12.6 11.7
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 2.9 3.8 1.9 1.9 4.1 5.9
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 4.2 4.6 3.0 3.6 5.5 5.7
HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY
Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 31,820 32,585 16,355 16,736 15,465 15,849
Total who worked or looked for work......................... 22,092 22,546 13,113 13,189 8,978 9,358
Percent of the population................................. 69.4 69.2 80.2 78.8 58.1 59.0
Total who worked during the year (1)........................ 21,791 22,049 12,978 12,929 8,814 9,120
Percent of the population................................. 68.5 67.7 79.3 77.3 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)............................................. 84.1 81.5 90.0 87.4 75.5 73.2
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 69.4 64.8 74.8 70.0 61.5 57.3
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 9.4 10.4 10.3 11.5 8.1 8.9
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 5.3 6.4 4.9 5.9 6.0 7.1
Part time (3)............................................. 15.9 18.5 10.0 12.6 24.5 26.8
50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 8.3 9.6 5.0 6.2 13.3 14.6
27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 3.1 3.9 2.3 3.0 4.2 5.2
1 to 26 weeks........................................... 4.5 4.9 2.8 3.4 6.9 7.0
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: Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals shown in
table 1 because data are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of
any race. Also, see Note, table 1.
Table 3. Extent of unemployment during the year by sex, 2007-08
Total Men Women
Extent of unemployment
2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008
Numbers (in thousands)
Total who worked or looked for work............................. 159,750 160,658 84,614 84,781 75,136 75,878
Percent with unemployment..................................... 9.5 13.2 10.3 14.5 8.6 11.7
Total with unemployment....................................... 15,117 21,205 8,685 12,306 6,432 8,899
Did not work but looked for work............................ 2,097 3,187 1,076 1,672 1,021 1,514
1 to 14 weeks............................................. 918 1,124 390 479 527 645
15 weeks or more.......................................... 1,179 2,062 686 1,193 494 869
Worked during the year...................................... 13,020 18,018 7,609 10,633 5,411 7,385
Year-round workers (1) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment.. 500 763 365 484 135 279
Part-year workers (2) with unemployment................... 12,520 17,255 7,244 10,149 5,276 7,106
1 to 4 weeks............................................ 2,591 2,786 1,365 1,516 1,226 1,270
5 to 10 weeks........................................... 2,090 2,941 1,214 1,698 876 1,243
11 to 14 weeks.......................................... 1,888 2,435 1,163 1,464 725 971
15 to 26 weeks.......................................... 3,373 4,855 2,058 3,032 1,316 1,823
27 weeks or more........................................ 2,577 4,238 1,443 2,439 1,134 1,799
Median weeks of unemployment for all workers........ 13.8 15.2 14.0 15.7 13.6 14.7
With 2 spells or more of unemployment............... 3,098 3,989 1,982 2,621 1,116 1,368
2 spells.......................................... 1,420 1,985 840 1,232 580 753
3 spells or more.................................. 1,678 2,004 1,143 1,389 536 616
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................................................. 43.8 35.3 36.3 28.7 51.7 42.6
15 weeks or more.............................................. 56.2 64.7 63.7 71.3 48.3 57.4
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...... 3.8 4.2 4.8 4.6 2.5 3.8
Part-year workers (2) with unemployment....................... 96.2 95.8 95.2 95.4 97.5 96.2
1 to 4 weeks................................................ 19.9 15.5 17.9 14.3 22.6 17.2
5 to 10 weeks............................................... 16.1 16.3 16.0 16.0 16.2 16.8
11 to 14 weeks.............................................. 14.5 13.5 15.3 13.8 13.4 13.1
15 to 26 weeks.............................................. 25.9 26.9 27.0 28.5 24.3 24.7
27 weeks or more............................................ 19.8 23.5 19.0 22.9 21.0 24.4
With 2 spells or more of unemployment................. 23.8 22.1 26.1 24.7 20.6 18.5
2 spells............................................ 10.9 11.0 11.0 11.6 10.7 10.2
3 spells or more.................................... 12.9 11.1 15.0 13.1 9.9 8.3
1 Worked 50 or 51 weeks.
2 Worked less than 50 weeks.
NOTE: See Note, table 1.
Table 4. Extent of unemployment during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2007-08
(Numbers in thousands)
Total Men Women
Extent of unemployment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008
WHITE
Total who worked or looked for work............................ 130,472 131,102 70,392 70,346 60,080 60,756
Percent with unemployment.................................... 9.0 12.6 9.9 13.9 8.0 11.1
.
Total with unemployment...................................... 11,782 16,512 6,951 9,759 4,831 6,753
Did not work but looked for work........................... 1,394 2,220 733 1,154 661 1,066
Worked during the year..................................... 10,388 14,291 6,218 8,605 4,170 5,687
Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............. 13.4 14.7 13.6 14.8 13.0 14.3
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. 4.3 4.6 5.3 4.9 2.8 4.1
Part-year workers (3) with unemployment.................. 95.7 95.4 94.7 95.1 97.2 95.9
1 to 4 weeks........................................... 20.7 15.7 18.7 14.7 23.6 17.3
5 to 14 weeks.......................................... 30.8 31.0 31.2 31.0 30.1 30.8
15 weeks or more....................................... 44.2 48.8 44.8 49.5 43.5 47.8
With 2 spells or more of unemployment............ 24.3 22.7 26.5 25.3 20.9 18.7
BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN
Total who worked or looked for work............................ 18,112 18,296 8,347 8,489 9,765 9,807
Percent with unemployment.................................... 12.7 17.7 13.9 20.5 11.6 15.3
Total with unemployment...................................... 2,293 3,243 1,163 1,739 1,130 1,503
Did not work but looked for work........................... 510 719 244 393 266 326
Worked during the year..................................... 1,783 2,524 919 1,346 864 1,177
.
Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............. 17.4 19.8 17.1 21.6 17.7 18.0
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. 1.3 2.7 0.8 2.7 1.8 2.7
Part-year workers (3) with unemployment.................. 98.7 97.3 99.2 97.3 98.2 97.3
1 to 4 weeks........................................... 15.2 13.8 14.6 12.6 16.0 15.2
5 to 14 weeks.......................................... 28.5 24.1 30.0 22.6 26.8 25.9
15 weeks or more....................................... 55.0 59.3 54.5 62.1 55.4 56.1
With 2 spells or more of unemployment............ 21.4 20.4 22.9 22.0 19.9 18.6
ASIAN
Total who worked or looked for work............................ 7,291 7,270 3,810 3,840 3,480 3,430
Percent with unemployment.................................... 6.9 10.0 7.0 9.5 6.8 10.5
Total with unemployment...................................... 500 725 265 364 235 361
Did not work but looked for work........................... 119 132 66 57 54 74
Worked during the year..................................... 381 593 200 307 181 287
Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............. 13.5 16.2 15.4 17.3 12.1 14.3
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. 4.6 3.6 7.8 4.8 1.2 2.3
Part-year workers (3) with unemployment.................. 95.4 96.4 92.2 95.2 98.8 97.7
1 to 4 weeks........................................... 18.2 17.6 9.8 12.9 27.5 22.6
5 to 14 weeks.......................................... 31.7 26.4 30.9 26.5 32.5 26.3
15 weeks or more....................................... 45.5 52.4 51.5 55.8 38.9 48.8
With 2 spells or more of unemployment............ 15.9 15.3 12.9 15.9 19.1 14.7
HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY
Total who worked or looked for work............................ 22,092 22,546 13,113 13,189 8,978 9,358
Percent with unemployment.................................... 12.3 17.5 13.0 18.7 11.3 15.8
Total with unemployment...................................... 2,720 3,938 1,708 2,460 1,012 1,478
Did not work but looked for work........................... 300 497 136 260 165 238
Worked during the year..................................... 2,420 3,441 1,572 2,200 848 1,240
Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............. 14.2 16.6 13.9 16.6 14.6 16.6
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. 2.6 3.6 2.5 3.8 2.8 3.2
Part-year workers (3) with unemployment.................. 97.4 96.4 97.5 96.2 97.2 96.8
1 to 4 weeks........................................... 21.1 13.3 20.4 12.2 22.4 15.2
5 to 14 weeks.......................................... 29.9 29.1 31.9 29.6 26.3 28.2
15 weeks or more....................................... 46.4 54.0 45.3 54.4 48.5 53.3
With 2 spells or more of unemployment............ 27.8 26.1 30.8 30.2 22.1 18.7
1 Time worked includes paid vacation and sick leave.
2 Worked 50 or 51 weeks.
3 Worked less than 50 weeks.
NOTE: Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals shown in
table 3 because data are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of
any race. Also, see Note, table 1.
United States Department of Labor
