Internet address: http://stat.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6378 USDL 97-389 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 606-5902 Monday, November, 10, 1997 WORK EXPERIENCE OF THE POPULATION IN 1996 The number of persons who worked at some time during the year increased by more than 2 million in 1996 to 141.4 million, according to data from the annual survey of work experience released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. At the same time, the number who experienced some unemployment declined by 1.3 million to 16.8 million. These data are derived from supplemental questions asked each March as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about 50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additional information on the annual survey on work experience, including concepts and definitions, and a discussion on data comparability is provided in the Explanatory Note beginning on page 3. Highlights from the annual survey for 1996 are: --Persons with some work activity during the year accounted for 69.8 percent of the working-age population, 16 years of age and older, up 0.3 percentage point from 1995. This proportion was the highest for the nation since 1990. --Of those employed, 78.9 percent worked full time, that is they usually worked 35 hours or more a week. In addition, 72.8 percent were employed year round (50 to 52 weeks) either full or part time, compared with 72.0 percent during 1995. Approximately 63.3 percent worked year round and full time, a 0.4 percentage point increase from the prior year. --In 1996, 16.8 million persons experienced at least 1 week of unemployment. About 86.1 percent of those reporting unemployment also were employed at some time during the year. --Unemployment declined among all major worker groups in 1996. Persons with Employment In 1996, the share of persons with employment continued its long-term upward climb, rising 0.3 percentage point to 69.8 percent. For the past three decades, the share of persons with some employment during the year generally has trended upward except during recessionary periods. In 1966, 66.9 percent of the population age 16 years and older had a job at some point during the year; by 1989, the proportion was 70.3 percent. The recession in the early 1990s caused the share of persons with employment to drop to 69.0 percent in 1992 and 1993 before increasing to 69.5 percent in 1994 and 1995, as the economy recovered. This long-term rise in work activity reflects the increasing likelihood that women will work outside the home. While women are still less likely than men to engage in market work, the proportion of women who work rose from 50.4 percent in 1966 to 63.1 percent in 1996. In contrast, employment activity among men, at 85.4 percent in 1966, was 77.0 percent in 1996. In 1996, 78.9 percent of persons with employment activity worked full time--35 hours or more per week--up slightly from the prior year. (See table 1.) While shifts in the share of full- and part-time workers have been quite small over the years, shifts between full- and part-year work have been more noteworthy. In 1996, 72.8 percent of persons with work experience were employed year round either full or part time, and 63.3 percent worked year round and full time. Both measures have been trending upward, almost entirely reflecting the increasing likelihood of women who work to do so throughout the year. In fact, the proportion of men working year round and full time was relatively unchanged from 70.0 percent in 1966 to 70.8 percent in 1996, while the proportion of women working year round and full time rose from 40.1 to 54.8 percent. Whites continued to be more likely to work during 1996 than blacks or Hispanics (70.5 percent versus 64.8 and 67.6 percent, respectively). The proportion of workers employed full time, however, was lower among whites than blacks and Hispanics. (See table 2.) Persons with Unemployment Of the 143.7 million persons who participated in the labor force in 1996, 16.8 million experienced some unemployment during the year, resulting in a "work-experience unemployment rate" of 11.7 percent. (See table 3.) At the height of the recession in 1991 and as the economy began to recover in 1992, nearly 16 percent of all labor force participants experienced some unemployment during the year. During 1996, 13.9 percent of labor force participants who experienced some unemployment did not engage in any work activity during the year. Since 1993, this ratio has been declining steadily; however, it has remained above the 1989 level of 9.1 percent recorded just prior to the recession. Among the 14.5 million persons who had worked during the year and also experienced unemployment, 29.3 percent encountered at least two spells of joblessness. The median number of weeks spent looking for work was 13.8, about the same as in 1995. The "work-experience unemployment rate" continued to be higher for blacks (18.0 percent) and Hispanics (16.6 percent) than for whites (10.8 percent). Whites also had the shortest duration of unemployment as well as the smallest proportion of workers with multiple spells of unemployment during the year. (See table 4.) Explanatory Note Data collection The data presented in this release were collected in March supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey of about 50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census 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. Each March, additional questions are asked about work activity during the prior calendar year. For instance, data collected in March 1997 refer to the 1996 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 during 1996 was about 2-1/3 times the number unemployed in an average month during the year. Employed Unemployed 1996 estimates (in thousands) Annual average of monthly estimates 126,708 7,236 March supplement data 141,379 16,786 In addition, estimates from the March 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 are asked in the supplement by which to categorize respondents. In particular, the March 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 data, whereas for a specific reference week, each person is only counted in one category and employment activity takes precedence over job search activity. Data comparability In January 1994, a major redesign of the CPS was introduced, incorporating a completely revised basic questionnaire and an automated data collection process. In addition, 1990 census-based population controls, adjusted for the estimated undercount were incorporated into the estimation process. (New population controls are introduced after each decennial census.) Questions used in the March supplement were not changed as part of the redesign. As a result, only the change in collection technology and the introduction of the 1990 population controls would affect comparisons of 1996 work experience data with that collected prior to 1994. The impact of the change in collection technology is difficult to gauge, but at this point is believed to be negligible; the change in population controls does affect the estimated levels, but has little impact on percentages. Work experience data for 1996, collected in March 1997, are not strictly comparable with those for 1995 because of minor adjustments made to the population controls in January 1997. The effect of this adjustment on work experience estimates is unknown. However, the effect of the change on the monthly CPS estimates was to increase January 1997 employment levels by about 300,000 relative to December 1996 levels. The effect on monthly unemployment estimates was negligible. Concepts and definitions Persons who worked. In the March 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 1996?" or "Did you do any temporary, part-time, or seasonal work even for a few days during 1996?" 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 1996, 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. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-606-STAT; TDD phone: 202-606- 5897; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-326-2577. Table 1. Work experience of the population during the year by sex and extent of employment, 1995-96 Total Men Women Extent of employment 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996 Numbers (in thousands) Civilian noninstitutional population............................ 199,925 202,515 95,867 97,388 104,058 105,127 Total who worked or looked for work........................... 141,659 143,708 74,982 76,035 66,677 67,673 Percent of the population................................... 70.9 71.0 78.2 78.1 64.1 64.4 Total who worked during the year(1)........................... 138,971 141,379 73,667 75,009 65,304 66,371 Percent of the population................................... 69.5 69.8 76.8 77.0 62.8 63.1 Full time(2)................................................ 109,329 111,512 63,446 64,625 45,882 46,887 50 to 52 weeks............................................ 87,446 89,491 51,976 53,101 35,471 36,390 48 to 49 weeks............................................ 2,363 2,381 1,349 1,387 1,014 994 40 to 47 weeks............................................ 5,522 5,798 2,877 3,041 2,645 2,756 27 to 39 weeks............................................ 5,081 4,804 2,744 2,449 2,336 2,355 14 to 26 weeks............................................ 5,041 5,091 2,576 2,641 2,465 2,451 1 to 13 weeks............................................. 3,876 3,946 1,925 2,005 1,951 1,941 Part time(3)................................................ 29,643 29,868 10,221 10,384 19,422 19,484 50 to 52 weeks............................................ 12,711 13,379 4,023 4,318 8,688 9,061 48 to 49 weeks............................................ 888 851 276 232 611 619 40 to 47 weeks............................................ 2,787 2,774 870 899 1,917 1,876 27 to 39 weeks............................................ 3,155 3,017 1,109 1,004 2,045 2,012 14 to 26 weeks............................................ 4,742 4,680 1,789 1,861 2,953 2,819 1 to 13 weeks............................................. 5,360 5,167 2,153 2,071 3,207 3,097 Percent distribution Total who worked during the year(1)............................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Full time(2).................................................. 78.7 78.9 86.1 86.2 70.3 70.6 50 to 52 weeks.............................................. 62.9 63.3 70.6 70.8 54.3 54.8 48 to 49 weeks.............................................. 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.6 1.5 40 to 47 weeks.............................................. 4.0 4.1 3.9 4.1 4.1 4.2 27 to 39 weeks.............................................. 3.7 3.4 3.7 3.3 3.6 3.5 14 to 26 weeks.............................................. 3.6 3.6 3.5 3.5 3.8 3.7 1 to 13 weeks............................................... 2.8 2.8 2.6 2.7 3.0 2.9 Part time(3).................................................. 21.3 21.1 13.9 13.8 29.7 29.4 50 to 52 weeks.............................................. 9.1 9.5 5.5 5.8 13.3 13.7 48 to 49 weeks.............................................. .6 .6 .4 .3 .9 .9 40 to 47 weeks.............................................. 2.0 2.0 1.2 1.2 2.9 2.8 27 to 39 weeks.............................................. 2.3 2.1 1.5 1.3 3.1 3.0 14 to 26 weeks.............................................. 3.4 3.3 2.4 2.5 4.5 4.2 1 to 13 weeks............................................... 3.9 3.7 2.9 2.8 4.9 4.7 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 1996, which were collected in the March 1997 supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), are not strictly comparable with data for 1995 and earlier years because of the introduction in January 1997 of revised population controls used in the survey. For additional information, see "Revisions in the Current Population Survey Effective January 1997" in the February 1997 issue of Employment and Earnings. Table 2. Work experience of the population during the year by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, 1995-96 (Numbers in thousands) Total Men Women Extent of employment, race, and Hispanc origin 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996 WHITE Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 167,865 169,555 81,253 82,324 86,612 87,230 Total who worked or looked for work......................... 119,833 121,113 64,289 65,152 55,545 55,962 Percent of the population................................. 71.4 71.4 79.1 79.1 64.1 64.2 Total who worked during the year(1)......................... 118,107 119,579 63,478 64,484 54,630 55,094 Percent of the population................................. 70.4 70.5 78.1 78.3 63.1 63.2 Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Full time(2).............................................. 78.2 78.3 86.2 86.3 68.9 69.0 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 62.8 63.3 71.0 71.5 53.3 53.7 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 9.3 9.1 9.4 9.1 9.1 9.2 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 6.1 5.9 5.8 5.7 6.5 6.2 Part time(3).............................................. 21.8 21.7 13.8 13.7 31.1 31.0 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 9.5 9.8 5.5 5.8 14.1 14.6 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 5.1 4.9 3.1 2.9 7.4 7.3 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 7.2 6.9 5.1 5.0 9.7 9.1 BLACK Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 23,482 23,893 10,515 10,709 12,967 13,184 Total who worked or looked for work......................... 15,855 16,140 7,567 7,484 8,288 8,656 Percent of the population................................. 67.5 67.6 72.0 69.9 63.9 65.7 Total who worked during the year(1)......................... 15,059 15,485 7,153 7,206 7,905 8,279 Percent of the population................................. 64.1 64.8 68.0 67.3 61.0 62.8 Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Full time(2).............................................. 81.8 82.3 85.3 85.1 78.6 79.8 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 63.4 63.2 66.3 65.3 60.7 61.3 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 10.1 9.8 10.3 10.4 9.9 9.2 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 8.3 9.3 8.7 9.3 8.0 9.3 Part time(3).............................................. 18.2 17.7 14.7 14.9 21.4 20.2 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 7.1 7.0 5.1 5.5 8.9 8.3 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 3.6 3.1 2.7 2.2 4.4 3.9 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 7.5 7.6 6.8 7.2 8.1 8.0 HISPANIC ORIGIN Civilian noninstitutional population.......................... 19,028 20,114 9,518 10,257 9,510 9,857 Total who worked or looked for work......................... 13,081 13,973 7,640 8,256 5,442 5,717 Percent of the population................................. 68.7 69.5 80.3 80.5 57.2 58.0 Total who worked during the year(1)......................... 12,627 13,600 7,422 8,084 5,205 5,516 Percent of the population................................. 66.4 67.6 78.0 78.8 54.7 56.0 Percent who worked during the year(1)....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Full time(2).............................................. 81.2 81.4 87.0 87.0 73.0 73.2 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 60.9 62.1 66.2 67.9 53.2 53.5 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 10.7 10.7 11.7 11.2 9.3 10.0 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 9.6 8.7 9.0 7.9 10.5 9.8 Part time(3).............................................. 18.8 18.6 13.0 13.0 27.0 26.8 50 to 52 weeks.......................................... 8.1 8.5 5.2 5.7 12.4 12.5 27 to 49 weeks.......................................... 3.3 3.5 2.3 2.5 4.6 5.1 1 to 26 weeks........................................... 7.4 6.6 5.5 4.7 10.0 9.2 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: Detail for the above race and Hispanic origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Data refer to persons 16 years and over. Also, see Note, table 1. Table 3. Extent of unemployment during the year by sex, 1995-96 Total Men Women Extent of employment 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996 Numbers (in thousands) Total who worked or looked for work............................. 141,659 143,708 74,982 76,035 66,677 67,673 Percent with unemployment..................................... 12.8 11.7 13.3 12.0 12.1 11.3 Total with unemployment....................................... 18,063 16,786 9,992 9,153 8,070 7,632 Did not work but looked for work............................ 2,688 2,329 1,315 1,026 1,373 1,303 1 to 14 weeks............................................. 1,223 1,137 482 434 740 704 15 weeks or more.......................................... 1,465 1,191 833 592 633 599 Worked during the year...................................... 15,374 14,457 8,677 8,128 6,697 6,330 Year-round workers(1) with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment... 715 589 462 395 253 194 Part-year workers(2) with unemployment.................... 14,660 13,868 8,215 7,732 6,444 6,135 1 to 4 weeks............................................ 2,812 2,547 1,398 1,269 1,413 1,279 5 to 10 weeks........................................... 2,723 2,671 1,432 1,478 1,291 1,192 11 to 14 weeks.......................................... 2,146 2,020 1,253 1,258 893 762 15 to 26 weeks.......................................... 4,013 3,662 2,439 2,076 1,574 1,586 27 weeks or more........................................ 2,965 2,968 1,693 1,651 1,272 1,317 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers.................... 13.7 13.8 14.3 13.9 12.8 13.6 With 2 spells or more of unemployment........................... 4,468 4,237 2,793 2,555 1,675 1,682 2 spells...................................................... 1,963 1,982 1,110 1,109 853 872 3 spells or more.............................................. 2,505 2,255 1,683 1,445 822 810 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................................................. 45.5 48.8 36.7 42.3 53.9 54.0 15 weeks or more.............................................. 54.5 51.2 63.3 57.7 46.1 46.0 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....... 4.6 4.1 5.3 4.9 3.8 3.1 Part-year workers(2) with unemployment........................ 95.4 95.9 94.7 95.1 96.2 96.9 1 to 4 weeks................................................ 18.3 17.6 16.1 15.6 21.1 20.2 5 to 10 weeks............................................... 17.7 18.5 16.5 18.2 19.3 18.8 11 to 14 weeks.............................................. 14.0 14.0 14.4 15.5 13.3 12.0 15 to 26 weeks.............................................. 26.1 25.3 28.1 25.5 23.5 25.1 27 weeks or more............................................ 19.3 20.5 19.5 20.3 19.0 20.8 With 2 spells or more of unemployment......................... 29.1 29.3 32.2 31.4 25.0 26.6 2 spells.................................................... 12.8 13.7 12.8 13.7 12.7 13.8 3 spells or more............................................ 16.3 15.6 19.4 17.8 12.3 12.8 1 Worked 50 or 51 weeks. 2 Worked less than 50 weeks. NOTE: Data refer to persons 16 years and over. Also, see Note, table 1. Table 4. Extent of unemployment during the year by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, 1995-96 (Numbers in thousands) Total Men Women Extent of employment, race, and Hispanc origin 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996 WHITE Total who worked or looked for work........................... 119,833 121,113 64,289 65,152 55,545 55,962 Percent with unemployment................................... 11.9 10.8 12.4 11.2 11.3 10.3 Total with unemployment..................................... 14,206 13,084 7,950 7,308 6,256 5,776 Did not work but looked for work.......................... 1,726 1,534 811 667 915 867 Worked during the year.................................... 12,480 11,550 7,139 6,641 5,341 4,909 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............ 13.2 13.1 13.9 13.3 12.1 12.8 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. 4.8 4.4 5.5 5.3 3.9 3.3 Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 95.2 95.6 94.5 94.7 96.1 96.7 1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 18.8 18.1 16.6 16.2 21.8 20.6 5 to 14 weeks......................................... 32.6 34.7 31.7 35.6 33.7 33.4 15 weeks or more...................................... 43.8 42.8 46.2 42.9 40.6 42.7 With 2 spells or more of unemployment................... 28.8 29.2 31.6 31.5 25.0 26.0 BLACK Total who worked or looked for work........................... 15,855 16,140 7,567 7,484 8,288 8,656 Percent with unemployment................................... 19.0 18.0 20.9 18.4 17.3 17.7 Total with unemployment..................................... 3,013 2,910 1,580 1,381 1,433 1,530 Did not work but looked for work.......................... 797 655 414 278 383 377 Worked during the year.................................... 2,217 2,255 1,167 1,102 1,050 1,152 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............ 16.5 20.6 17.2 20.2 15.9 21.0 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. 4.0 2.6 4.8 3.3 3.1 2.0 Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 96.0 97.4 95.2 96.7 96.9 98.0 1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 15.1 14.5 12.4 12.7 18.1 16.3 5 to 14 weeks......................................... 27.5 21.4 28.1 23.0 26.9 19.9 15 weeks or more...................................... 53.4 61.4 54.8 61.0 51.9 61.9 With 2 spells or more of unemployment................... 31.1 30.4 34.9 31.5 26.8 29.3 HISPANIC ORIGIN Total who worked or looked for work........................... 13,081 13,973 7,640 8,256 5,442 5,717 Percent with unemployment................................... 17.9 16.6 18.6 17.0 16.8 16.1 Total with unemployment..................................... 2,335 2,322 1,419 1,403 916 919 Did not work but looked for work.......................... 454 373 218 172 236 201 Worked during the year.................................... 1,881 1,949 1,202 1,231 679 718 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers............ 17.4 16.4 17.2 15.3 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. 4.1 3.6 4.6 4.2 3.4 2.5 Part-year workers(3) with unemployment.................. 95.9 96.4 95.4 95.8 96.6 97.5 1 to 4 weeks.......................................... 13.2 15.3 12.6 14.3 14.2 17.1 5 to 14 weeks......................................... 27.4 28.1 27.6 30.9 27.0 23.3 15 weeks or more...................................... 55.3 53.0 55.2 50.6 55.4 57.1 With 2 spells or more of unemployment................... 31.5 30.5 33.4 32.3 28.1 27.4 1 Time worked includes paid vacation and sick leave. 2 Worked 50 or 51 weeks. 3 Worked less than 50 weeks. NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Data refer to persons 16 years and over. Also, see Note, table 1.