For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Friday, December 14, 2018                      USDL-18-1942

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 -- 2017


A total of 165.2 million persons worked at some point during 2017, the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics reported today. The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional
population age 16 and over who worked at some time during 2017 was 64.2 percent,
little changed from 2016. The number of persons who experienced some unemployment
during 2017 declined by 1.1 million to 14.5 million.

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 2017 data:

   --The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round in 2017 was 69.5
     percent, up 0.7 percentage point from the prior year. (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--declined by 0.8
     percentage point to 8.6 percent in 2017. (See table 3.)

   --About 2.4 million individuals looked for a job but did not work at all in 2017,
     down slightly from 2.6 million in 2016. (See table 3.)

Persons with Employment

Overall, 64.2 percent of the population worked in 2017, little different from 64.3
percent in 2016. The proportions of men and women who worked at some time during
2017 were 70.1 percent and 58.8 percent, respectively. These proportions showed 
little change from the prior year. (See table 1.)

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, the proportions of Whites (64.6 percent),
Blacks (61.9 percent), Asians (64.4 percent), and Hispanics (66.1 percent) who worked
at some time during 2017 showed little or no change from 2016. (See table 2.)

Among those with work experience in 2017, 80.4 percent usually worked full time, up
0.6 percentage point from a year earlier. The proportion of men who usually worked
full time increased 0.8 percentage point over the year to 86.6 percent in 2017. The
share of women who usually worked full time was little changed at 73.5 percent. Among
those who worked at some point in 2017, Asians (84.0 percent) were more likely to
work full time than Whites (80.0 percent), Blacks (81.8 percent), and Hispanics
(81.1 percent). (See tables 1 and 2.)

Of the total who worked during 2017, 80.1 percent were employed year round (working
50 to 52 weeks, either full or part time), up from 79.4 percent in 2016. The share
of women working year round increased by 1.2 percentage points to 78.0 percent in
2017, while the percentage of men working year round was little changed at 82.0
percent. (See table 1.)

Persons with Unemployment

Overall, 167.5 million persons worked or looked for work at some time in 2017, up by
1.3 million from the prior year. Of those, 14.5 million experienced some unemployment
during 2017, down by 1.1 million from 2016. (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) continued to decline.
In 2017, the work-experience unemployment rate declined 0.8 percentage point to 8.6
percent. Since reaching a recent peak of 16.4 percent in 2009, the rate has declined
by 7.8 percentage points. (See table 3.)

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, the work-experience unemployment rates for
Whites (8.0 percent) and Hispanics (9.9 percent) declined from 2016 to 2017, while
the rates for Blacks (12.3 percent) and Asians (7.0 percent) were little changed.
(See table 4.)

In 2017, men continued to have a higher work-experience unemployment rate than women,
9.0 percent compared with 8.3 percent. Among Whites, the rate for men was higher than the
rate for women, while among Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics, the rates for men and
women were little different from each other. (See tables 3 and 4.)

Among those who experienced unemployment in 2017, the median number of weeks spent
looking for work was 13.4. The number of persons who looked for a job but did not
work at all in 2017 edged down by 208,000 over the year to 2.4 million. Of the
12.1 million individuals who both worked and experienced unemployment in 2017, 20.2
percent had two or more spells of unemployment, down 1.9 percentage points from the
share in 2016. (See table 3.)

Technical Note

   The data presented in this release were collected in the Annual Social and
Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a
monthly sample survey of about 60,000 eligible households, conducted by the U.S.
Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Data from the CPS
are used to obtain the monthly estimates of the nation's employment and unemployment
levels. The ASEC, conducted in the months of February through April, includes
questions about work activity during the prior calendar year. For instance, data
collected in 2018 refer to the 2017 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 was about
twice the number unemployed in an average month during the year.


                                      Employed     Unemployed
  2017 estimates (in thousands)
   Annual average of
    monthly estimates                  153,337        6,982
   Annual supplement data              165,163       14,461


   In addition, estimates from the 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 the supplement contains
fewer questions for categorizing respondents. In regard to unemployment in particular,
the 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 supplement data, whereas, for a specific monthly reference
week, each person is only counted in one category and employment activity takes
precedence over job search activity.

   The data presented in this release are not strictly comparable with data for
earlier years due to the introduction of updated population controls used in
the CPS. The population controls are updated each year in January to reflect the
latest information about population change. Additional information is available at
www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.

Reliability of the estimates

   Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error.
When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that
the sample estimates may differ from the true population values they represent. The 
component of this difference that occurs because samples differ by chance is known as
sampling error, and its variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate.
There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a
sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the true population value
because of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level
of confidence.

   The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for
many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to
obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of
respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or
processing of the data.

   A full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and information on esti-
mating standard errors is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.

Concepts and definitions

   The principle concepts and definitions used in connection with the data in this
release are described briefly below.

   Persons who worked. In the 2018 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 2017?" or "Did you do any temporary, part-time, or seasonal work even
for a few days during 2017?"

   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
2017, did you spend any time trying to find a job or on layoff?"

   Work-experience unemployment rate. The number of persons unemployed at some point
during the year as a proportion of the number of persons who worked or looked for work
during the year.

   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.

Other information

   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals
upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.