An official website of the United States government
There were 7 major work stoppages in 2017 involving 1,000 or more workers and lasting at least one shift. This is the second-lowest number of major work stoppages in a year since the series began in 1947. The lowest annual total was 5 in 2009, and the highest was 470 in 1952.
Year | Number of work stoppages beginning in year |
Number of workers involved | Number of days idle |
---|---|---|---|
1947 |
270 | 1,629,000 | 25,720,000 |
1948 |
245 | 1,435,000 | 26,127,000 |
1949 |
262 | 2,537,000 | 43,420,000 |
1950 |
424 | 1,698,000 | 30,390,000 |
1951 |
415 | 1,462,000 | 15,070,000 |
1952 |
470 | 2,746,000 | 48,820,000 |
1953 |
437 | 1,623,000 | 18,130,000 |
1954 |
265 | 1,075,000 | 16,630,000 |
1955 |
363 | 2,055,000 | 21,180,000 |
1956 |
287 | 1,370,000 | 26,840,000 |
1957 |
279 | 887,000 | 10,340,000 |
1958 |
332 | 1,587,000 | 17,900,000 |
1959 |
245 | 1,381,000 | 60,850,000 |
1960 |
222 | 896,000 | 13,260,000 |
1961 |
195 | 1,031,000 | 10,140,000 |
1962 |
211 | 793,000 | 11,760,000 |
1963 |
181 | 512,000 | 10,020,000 |
1964 |
246 | 1,183,000 | 16,220,000 |
1965 |
268 | 999,000 | 15,140,000 |
1966 |
321 | 1,300,000 | 16,000,000 |
1967 |
381 | 2,192,000 | 31,320,000 |
1968 |
392 | 1,855,000 | 35,367,000 |
1969 |
412 | 1,576,000 | 29,397,000 |
1970 |
381 | 2,468,000 | 52,761,000 |
1971 |
298 | 2,516,000 | 35,538,000 |
1972 |
250 | 975,000 | 16,764,000 |
1973 |
317 | 1,400,000 | 16,260,000 |
1974 |
424 | 1,796,000 | 31,809,000 |
1975 |
235 | 965,000 | 17,563,000 |
1976 |
231 | 1,519,000 | 23,962,000 |
1977 |
298 | 1,212,000 | 21,258,000 |
1978 |
219 | 1,006,000 | 23,774,000 |
1979 |
235 | 1,021,000 | 20,409,000 |
1980 |
187 | 795,000 | 20,844,000 |
1981 |
145 | 729,000 | 16,908,000 |
1982 |
96 | 656,000 | 9,061,000 |
1983 |
81 | 909,000 | 17,461,000 |
1984 |
62 | 376,000 | 8,499,000 |
1985 |
54 | 324,000 | 7,079,000 |
1986 |
69 | 533,000 | 11,861,000 |
1987 |
46 | 174,000 | 4,481,000 |
1988 |
40 | 118,000 | 4,381,000 |
1989 |
51 | 452,000 | 16,996,000 |
1990 |
44 | 185,000 | 5,926,000 |
1991 |
40 | 392,000 | 4,584,000 |
1992 |
35 | 364,000 | 3,989,000 |
1993 |
35 | 182,000 | 3,981,000 |
1994 |
45 | 322,000 | 5,021,000 |
1995 |
31 | 192,000 | 5,771,000 |
1996 |
37 | 273,000 | 4,889,000 |
1997 |
29 | 339,000 | 4,497,000 |
1998 |
34 | 387,000 | 5,116,000 |
1999 |
17 | 73,000 | 1,996,000 |
2000 |
39 | 394,000 | 20,419,000 |
2001 |
29 | 99,000 | 1,151,000 |
2002 |
19 | 46,000 | 660,000 |
2003 |
14 | 129,000 | 4,091,000 |
2004 |
17 | 171,000 | 3,344,000 |
2005 |
22 | 100,000 | 1,736,000 |
2006 |
20 | 70,000 | 2,688,000 |
2007 |
21 | 189,000 | 1,265,000 |
2008 |
15 | 72,000 | 1,954,000 |
2009 |
5 | 13,000 | 124,000 |
2010 |
11 | 45,000 | 302,000 |
2011 |
19 | 113,000 | 1,020,000 |
2012 |
19 | 148,000 | 1,131,000 |
2013 |
15 | 55,000 | 290,000 |
2014 |
11 | 34,000 | 200,000 |
2015 |
12 | 47,000 | 740,000 |
2016 |
15 | 99,000 | 1,543,000 |
2017 |
7 | 25,000 | 440,000 |
Major work stoppages beginning in 2017 kept 25,000 workers from their jobs, the second-lowest number of workers idled since 1947. The lowest number of workers idled was 13,000 in 2009, and the highest was 2.7 million in 1952.
The number of days workers were idle in 2017 because of major work stoppages was 440,000. That was the fifth-lowest total since 1947. The highest was 60.9 million days idle in 1959. We calculate days idle by multiplying the number of workers involved in the strike or lockout by the number of days workers are off the job, based on a 5-day workweek and excluding federal holidays.
In 2017, the information industry had 15,000 workers idled by major work stoppages. That was more than half of all workers idled. Public administration had 5,000 workers idled by major work stoppages in 2017.
These data are from the Work Stoppages program. To learn more, see “Major Work Stoppages in 2017” (HTML) (PDF). Major work stoppages include worker-initiated strikes and employer-initiated lockouts that involve 1,000 or more workers and last at least one shift.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 7 major work stoppages in 2017, second lowest since 1947 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/7-major-work-stoppages-in-2017-second-lowest-since-1947.htm (visited October 31, 2024).