Work Experience Summary

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.)