For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, December 18, 2012 USDL-12-2459
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Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
WORK EXPERIENCE OF THE POPULATION -- 2011
A total of 153.5 million persons worked at some point during 2011, 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
2011 was 63.3 percent, down from 63.7 percent in 2010. The number of persons
who experienced some unemployment during 2011 was 23.7 million, down by 1.5
million from 2010.
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 2011 data:
--The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round in 2011 was
65.8 percent, up from 64.7 percent in 2010. (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--was
14.9 percent in 2011, down from 15.9 percent in 2010. (See table 3.)
--The number of individuals who looked for a job but did not work at all
during 2011 declined by 348,000 over the year to 6.2 million. (See
table 3.)
Persons with Employment
Overall, 63.3 percent of the population worked in 2011. The proportion of
men who worked during the year was 68.8 percent, down from 69.3 percent in
2010. The proportion of women who worked at some point during 2011 was 58.1
percent, little changed from the prior year. (See table 1.)
The proportion of whites (64.1 percent) who worked at some time during 2011
declined from 2010, while the share of blacks (58.2 percent), Asians (62.8
percent), and Hispanics (63.4 percent) showed little or no change. (See
table 2.)
Of those employed at some time during 2011, 78.6 percent usually worked full
time, up from 78.2 percent a year earlier. The proportion of employed men
working full time rose, while the proportion of women changed little. Men
continued to be more likely than women to work full time during the year,
84.8 versus 71.7 percent.
Of the total who worked during 2011, 77.0 percent were employed year round
(working 50 to 52 weeks, either full or part time), an increase from 75.9
percent in 2010. The share of men employed year round rose by 1.7 percentage
points to 78.4 percent in 2011, while the percentage of women working year
round was little changed at 75.5 percent. (See table 1.)
Persons with Unemployment
About 159.7 million persons worked or looked for work at some time in 2011.
Of those, 23.7 million experienced some unemployment during the year, 1.5
million fewer than in 2010.
At 14.9 percent in 2011, 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) was 1.0 percentage point lower than in 2010. The rate for 2009
(16.4 percent) was the highest since 1985. The work-experience unemployment
rate for men has also fallen since a recent peak in 2009, but the rate for
women was about unchanged. Men continued to have higher work-experience
unemployment rates in 2011 than women, 15.8 versus 13.8 percent. (See
table 3.)
The work-experience unemployment rates for whites (13.7 percent) and Hispanics
(18.3 percent) declined from 2010 to 2011, while the rates for blacks (22.2
percent) and Asians (12.2 percent) were little changed. Among whites, blacks,
and Hispanics, the rates for men were higher than the rates for women. Among
Asians, the rates for men and women were little different from each other.
(See table 4.)
Among those who experienced unemployment in 2011, the median number of weeks
spent looking for work was 19.8, about unchanged from 2009 and 2010. The number
of persons who looked for a job but did not work at all in 2011 declined by
348,000 over the year to 6.2 million. Of the 17.5 million individuals who worked
during 2011 and also experienced unemployment, 1 in 5 had two or more spells of
joblessness, about the same as in the prior 2 years. (See table 3.)
