Work Experience of the Population (Annual) News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, December 9, 2021 			       USDL-21-2100

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 -- 2020


The number of persons who experienced unemployment at some point during 2020 was 26.4 
million, up by 12.9 million from 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 2020 was 63.5 percent, a decrease of 1.4 percentage points
from 2019. These changes reflect the effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on
the labor market.

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 2020 data:

   --A total of 165.7 million persons worked at some point during 2020, down by 3.0
     million from the pre-pandemic level in 2019. (See table 1.)

   --The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round fell from 70.2 percent
     in 2019 to 63.1 percent in 2020. (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--nearly doubled to 15.7 percent in
     2020. (See table 3.)

   --About 2.9 million individuals looked for a job but did not work at all in 2020, up
     from 2.0 million in 2019. (See table 3.)

Persons with Employment

Overall, 63.5 percent of the population worked in 2020, down from 64.9 percent in 2019,
prior to the pandemic. The proportion of men who worked at some time during 2020 was 68.6
percent, a decline of 1.5 percentage points from the prior year. The proportion for women
decreased by 1.4 percentage points to 58.7 percent in 2020. (See table 1.)

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, the proportions who worked at some time during
2020 declined for Whites (63.5 percent), Asians (64.3 percent), and Hispanics (65.7 
percent). The proportion for Blacks (62.2 percent) showed little change from 2019. 
(See table 2.)

Among those with work experience in 2020, 80.9 percent usually worked full time, little 
different from a year earlier. The proportion of both men and women who usually worked 
full time was little changed in 2020, at 86.3 percent and 75.0 percent, respectively. 
Among those who worked at some point in 2020, Asians (83.1 percent) were more likely to
usually work full time than Blacks (81.9 percent), Hispanics (80.7 percent), and Whites
(80.7 percent). (See tables 1 and 2.)

Of the total who worked during 2020, 71.0 percent were employed year round (working 50 to
52 weeks, either full or part time), down 9.4 percentage points from 2019. The share of
men working year round declined to 73.4 percent in 2020, and the percentage of women
working year round fell to 68.3 percent. (See table 1.)

Persons with Unemployment

Overall, 168.6 million persons worked or looked for work at some time in 2020, down by 
2.1 million from the prior year. The number who experienced some unemployment during 
2020 nearly doubled to 26.4 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) nearly doubled, 
increasing from 8.0 percent in 2019 to 15.7 percent in 2020. This is the highest rate
since 2010, when it was 15.9 percent. (See table 3.)

In 2020, the work-experience unemployment rates for men and women were little different
from each other, at 15.6 percent and 15.8 percent, respectively. The rates for both men
and women rose sharply from the prior year. (See table 3.)

The work-experience unemployment rate increased among all the major race and ethnicity
groups in 2020. The rate rose to 14.8 percent for Whites, 15.9 percent for Asians, 19.4
percent for Blacks, and 19.6 percent for Hispanics. Among Asians, the rate for men was
lower than the rate for women, while the rate for Black men was higher than for Black 
women. (See table 4.)

The number of individuals who both worked and experienced unemployment in 2020 more 
than doubled, rising to 23.5 million. Among these workers, 54.9 percent looked for work
for 15 weeks or more, and 14.1 percent had two or more spells of unemployment. In 2020,
men and women were about equally likely to experience multiple spells of unemployment 
(14.3 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively). Asians were less likely than Whites, 
Blacks, or Hispanics to experience two or more spells of unemployment in 2020. 
(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 2021 refer to the 2020 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
2020 estimates (in thousands)
Annual average of
monthly estimates	147,795		12,947
Annual supplement data	165,666		26,439

    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 2021 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 2020?" or "Did you do any
temporary, part-time, or seasonal work even for a few days during 2020?"

    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 2020, 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.