Work Experience of the Population (Annual) News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, December 8, 2022           	      USDL-22-2266

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 -- 2021


The number of persons who experienced unemployment at some point during 2021 was
16.1 million, down significantly from 26.4 million in 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. Labor market conditions continued to improve in 2021,
reflecting the resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the
coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. The proportion of the 
civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over who worked at some time during 
2021 was 63.3 percent, little changed from 2020. The proportion who worked at some
time during 2021 was 1.6 percentage points below the pre-pandemic rate in 2019.

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 2021 data:

 --A total of 166.8 million persons worked at some point during 2021, up by 1.2 
   million from the prior year. (See table 1.)

 --The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round rose from 63.1 percent
   in 2020 to 69.8 percent in 2021. (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--decreased by 6.2 percentage points to 9.5 percent
   in 2021. (See table 3.)

 --About 2.9 million individuals looked for a job but did not work at all in 2021,
   essentially unchanged from the prior year. (See table 3.)

Persons with Employment

Overall, 63.3 percent of the population worked in 2021, little different from 63.5 
percent in 2020. The proportion of men who worked at some time during 2021 was 68.5
percent, while the proportion for women was 58.4 percent in 2021. Both measures were
little changed over the year. (See table 1.)

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, the proportion who worked at some time 
during 2021 declined by 1.0 percentage point to 61.2 percent for Blacks. The 
proportions for Whites (63.6 percent), Asians (64.7 percent), and Hispanics (66.1
percent) changed little over the year. (See table 2.)

Among those with work experience in 2021, 81.8 percent usually worked full time, up
0.9 percentage point from a year earlier. The proportion of men who usually worked
full time increased by 0.4 percentage point in 2021 to 86.7 percent. The proportion
of women working full time increased by 1.4 percentage points to 76.4 percent. Among 
those who worked at some point in 2021, Asians (83.9 percent) and Blacks (83.7 percent)
were more likely to usually work full time than Hispanics (82.1 percent) and Whites
(81.6 percent). (See tables 1 and 2.)

Of the total who worked during 2021, 79.1 percent were employed year round (working
50 to 52 weeks, either full or part time), up 8.1 percentage points from 2020. The
share of men working year round increased to 81.0 percent in 2021, and the percentage
of women working year round rose to 77.1 percent. (See table 1.)

Persons with Unemployment

Overall, 169.7 million persons worked or looked for work at some time in 2021, up
by 1.1 million from the prior year. The number who experienced some unemployment
decreased by more than one-third (10.3 million) to 16.1 million in 2021. (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) fell considerably,
decreasing 6.2 percentage points to 9.5 percent in 2021. This work-experience
unemployment rate remains 1.5 percentage points above the pre-pandemic rate in 2019.
(See table 3.)

In 2021, the work-experience unemployment rate for men (9.9 percent) was higher than
the rate for women (9.0 percent). The rates for both men and women fell significantly
from the prior year as the labor market continued to recover from the effects of 
the COVID-19 pandemic. (See table 3.)

The work-experience unemployment rate decreased sharply among all the major race
and ethnicity groups in 2021. The rates declined to 8.8 percent for Whites, 13.2
percent for Blacks, 8.6 percent for Asians, and 11.6 percent for Hispanics. Among 
Whites, Asians, and Hispanics, the rate for men was higher than the rate for women.
The rate for Blacks was little different between men and women. (See table 4.)

The number of individuals who both worked and experienced unemployment in 2021 was
13.3 million, decreasing by 10.2 million from the prior year. Among these workers,
51.8 percent looked for work for 15 weeks or more. Additionally, 19.7 percent of those
experiencing unemployment had two or more spells of unemployment, an increase of
5.6 percentage points from the prior year. In 2021, men were more likely than women
to experience multiple spells of unemployment (21.7 percent and 17.1 percent,
respectively). Asians (12.3 percent) were less likely than Whites (20.3 percent),
Blacks (19.6 percent), or Hispanics (19.7 percent) to experience two or more spells 
of unemployment in 2021. (See tables 3 and 4.)

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 2022 refer to the 2021 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
2021 estimates (in thousands)
Annual average of
monthly estimates	152,581		8,623
Annual supplement data	166,846		16,123

    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 comparable 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 2022 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 2021?" or "Did you do any
temporary, part-time, or seasonal work even for a few days during 2021?"

    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 2021, 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

    If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access 
telecommunications relay services.