Displacement rates among blue-collar and white-collar workers

Although blue-collar workers were still more likely than their white-collar counterparts to lose their jobs in the late 1990s, the gap in displacement rates between the two groups has narrowed considerably since the early 1980s.

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In 1981-82, the displacement rate for blue-collar workers was 7.3 percent, compared with 2.6 percent for white-collar workers. In 1997-98, the displacement rates were 3.1 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

These data are from a supplement to the Current Population Survey. Displaced workers are those with 3 or more years of tenure in a job lost due to plant closings, the abolition of positions or shifts, or insufficient work available at the employer’s business. Find out more information on displacement in "Worker displacement in a strong labor market" by Ryan T. Helwig, Monthly Labor Review, June 2001.