For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, December 9, 2020				USDL-20-2217

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


			WORK EXPERIENCE OF THE POPULATION -- 2019


A total of 168.6 million persons worked at some point during 2019, 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 2019 was 64.9 percent, an increase of 0.5 
percentage point from 2018. The number of persons who experienced some unemployment during
2019 edged up 401,000 to 13.6 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 2019 data:

   --The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round in 2019 was 70.2 percent,
     little different 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--was 8.0 percent in 2019, little changed from 2018. 
     (See table 3.)

   --About 2.0 million individuals looked for a job but did not work at all in 2019, down
     from 2.2 million in 2018. (See table 3.)

Persons with Employment

Overall, 64.9 percent of the population worked in 2019, up from 64.4 percent in 2018. The
proportion of men who worked at some time during 2019 was 70.1 percent, up slightly from
the prior year (+0.4 percentage point). The proportion of women increased 0.7 percentage
point to 60.1 percent in 2019. (See table 1.)

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, the proportions who worked at some time during
2019 increased for Whites (65.1 percent), Asians (66.1 percent), and Hispanics (67.9 
percent). The proportion for Blacks (62.8 percent) showed little change from 2018. (See 
table 2.)

Among those with work experience in 2019, 80.8 percent usually worked full time, the same
as a year earlier. The proportion of women who usually worked full time edged up 0.5 
percentage point over the year to 74.9 percent in 2019. The share of men, however, 
declined 0.5 percentage point to 86.2 percent. Among those who worked at some point in 
2019, Asians (84.3 percent) were more likely to work full time than Blacks (81.7 percent),
Hispanics (81.3 percent), and Whites (80.4 percent). (See tables 1 and 2.)

Of the total who worked during 2019, 80.4 percent were employed year round (working 50 to
52 weeks, either full or part time), down 0.4 percentage point from 2018. The share of men
working year round declined 0.7 percentage point to 82.4 percent in 2019, while the 
percentage of women working year round was little changed at 78.2 percent. (See table 1.)

Persons with Unemployment

Overall, 170.7 million persons worked or looked for work at some time in 2019, up 2.0 
million from the prior year. Of those, the number who experienced some unemployment during
2019 edged up 401,000 to 13.6 million. (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) was 8.0 percent in 2019. This is 
little different from the series low of 7.8 percent reached in 2018 (the series began in 
1958). (See table 3.)

In 2019, men continued to have a higher work-experience unemployment rate than women, at 
8.3 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. The rates for both men and women changed little
from the prior year. (See table 3.)

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, the work-experience unemployment rate for 
Blacks increased to 11.5 percent in 2019, while the rates for Whites (7.3 percent), Asians
(6.1 percent), and Hispanics (10.0 percent) saw little or no change. Among Whites and 
Blacks, the rate for men was higher than the rate for women, while the rates for men and 
women were little different from each other for Asians and Hispanics. (See table 4.)

The number of individuals who both worked and experienced unemployment in 2019 rose to 
11.5 million. Among these workers, 46.1 percent looked for work for 15 weeks or more, and
20.9 percent had two or more spells of unemployment. Men continued to be more likely than
women to experience multiple spells of unemployment (22.4 percent and 19.2 percent, 
respectively). Asians were less likely than Whites, Blacks, or Hispanics to experience two
or more spells of unemployment in 2019. (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 2020 refer to the 2019 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
  2019 estimates (in thousands)
   Annual average of
    monthly estimates			157,538		6,001
   Annual supplement data		168,632		13,572


   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 2020 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 2019?" or "Did you do any temporary, part-time, or seasonal work even for a
few days during 2019?"

   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 2019,
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.