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Work Stoppages
WSP WSP Program Links
Annual work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers, 1947 - Present
Year Number of work stoppages in the period Number of workers (in thousands) in the period (1) Days of idleness (2)
Beginning In effect Beginning In effect Number (in thousands) Percent of total working time (3)

1947

270 (4) 1,629.0 (4) 25,720.0 (4)

1948

245 (4) 1,435.0 (4) 26,127.0 0.22

1949

262 (4) 2,537.0 (4) 43,420.0 0.38

1950

424 (4) 1,698.0 (4) 30,390.0 0.26

1951

415 (4) 1,462.0 (4) 15,070.0 0.12

1952

470 (4) 2,746.0 (4) 48,820.0 0.38

1953

437 (4) 1,623.0 (4) 18,130.0 0.14

1954

265 (4) 1,075.0 (4) 16,630.0 0.13

1955

363 (4) 2,055.0 (4) 21,180.0 0.16

1956

287 (4) 1,370.0 (4) 26,840.0 0.20

1957

279 (4) 887.0 (4) 10,340.0 0.07

1958

332 (4) 1,587.0 (4) 17,900.0 0.13

1959

245 (4) 1,381.0 (4) 60,850.0 0.43

1960

222 (4) 896.0 (4) 13,260.0 0.09

1961

195 (4) 1,031.0 (4) 10,140.0 0.07

1962

211 (4) 793.0 (4) 11,760.0 0.08

1963

181 (4) 512.0 (4) 10,020.0 0.07

1964

246 (4) 1,183.0 (4) 16,220.0 0.11

1965

268 (4) 999.0 (4) 15,140.0 0.10

1966

321 (4) 1,300.0 (4) 16,000.0 0.10

1967

381 (4) 2,192.0 (4) 31,320.0 0.18

1968

392 (4) 1,855.0 (4) 35,367.0 0.20

1969

412 (4) 1,576.0 (4) 29,397.0 0.16

1970

381 (4) 2,468.0 (4) 52,761.0 0.29

1971

298 (4) 2,516.0 (4) 35,538.0 0.19

1972

250 (4) 975.0 (4) 16,764.0 0.09

1973

317 (4) 1,400.0 (4) 16,260.0 0.08

1974

424 (4) 1,796.0 (4) 31,809.0 0.16

1975

235 (4) 965.0 (4) 17,563.0 0.09

1976

231 (4) 1,519.0 (4) 23,962.0 0.12

1977

298 (4) 1,212.0 (4) 21,258.0 0.10

1978

219 (4) 1,006.0 (4) 23,774.0 0.11

1979

235 (4) 1,021.0 (4) 20,409.0 0.09

1980

187 (4) 795.0 (4) 20,844.0 0.09

1981

145 151 728.9 746.5 16908.4 0.07

1982

96 98 655.8 661.1 9061.2 0.04

1983

81 83 909.4 945.8 17460.7 0.08

1984

62 68 376.0 390.9 8498.8 0.04

1985

54 61 323.9 335.2 7079.1 0.03

1986

69 72 533.1 537.5 11860.5 0.05

1987

46 51 174.4 214.7 4481.4 0.02

1988

40 43 118.3 121.9 4381.4 0.02

1989

51 52 452.1 454.1 16996.3 0.07

1990

44 50 184.9 200.3 5926.1 0.02

1991

40 45 392.0 412.1 4583.6 0.02

1992

35 41 363.8 383.4 3989.0 0.01

1993

35 36 181.9 183.5 3981.2 0.01

1994

45 45 322.2 322.2 5020.5 0.02

1995

31 34 191.5 206.7 5771.2 0.02

1996

37 38 272.7 275.2 4888.6 0.02

1997

29 34 338.6 350.6 4497.1 0.01

1998

34 34 386.8 386.8 5115.7 0.02

1999

17 21 72.6 80.4 1995.8 0.01

2000

39 40 393.7 396.7 20419.4 0.06

2001

29 30 99.1 101.8 1151.3 (5)

2002

19 20 45.9 46.9 659.6 (5)

2003

14 15 129.2 130.5 4091.2 0.01

2004

17 18 170.7 232.0 3344.1 0.01

2005

22 24 99.6 102.1 1736.1 0.01

2006

20 23 70.1 76.6 2687.5 0.01

2007

21 23 189.2 192.9 1264.8 (5)

2008

15 16 72.2 82.7 1954.1 0.01

2009

5 5 12.5 12.5 124.1 (5)

2010

11 11 44.5 44.5 302.3 (5)

2011

19 19 112.5 112.5 1020.2 (5)

2012

19 21 148.1 150.4 1130.8 (5)

2013

15 15 54.5 54.5 289.9 (5)

2014

11 11 34.3 34.3 200.2 (5)

2015

12 13 47.3 49.0 740.0 (5)

2016

15 16 99.4 101.6 1543.4 (5)

2017

7 7 25.3 25.3 439.8 (5)

2018

20 21 485.2 487.0 2815.4 0.01

2019

25 27 425.5 428.5 3244.3 0.01

2020

8 10 27.0 30.6 965.7 (5)

2021

16 17 80.7 82.5 1551.9 (5)

2022

23 26 120.6 126.5 2194.5 0.01

2023

33 35 458.9 461.7 16673.0 0.04

Footnotes:
(1) Number of workers involved includes only those workers who participated in work stoppages in the calendar year. Workers are counted more than once if they are involved in more than one stoppage during the reference period. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand. Starting 1981 the numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred.
(2) Days idle includes all stoppages in effect during the reference period. For work stoppages that are still ongoing at the end of the calendar year, only those days of idleness in the calendar year are counted.
(3) Percent of estimated working time is calculated using employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics program and the number of workdays in the month and number of days idle from the Work Stoppages program.
(4) Data not available.
(5) Less than .005.

Access the following tables containing data on work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers:

  • Detailed Monthly Listing, 2023 (XLSX)

Archive of historical files:

 

Last Modified Date: February 21, 2024