Technical information: USDL 97-74
Household data: (202) 606-6378
Transmission of material in this
release is embargoed until
Establishment data: 606-6555 8:30 A.M. (EST),
Media contact: 606-5902 Friday, March 7, 1997.
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: FEBRUARY 1997
Nonfarm payroll employment rose, and the unemployment rate was about
unchanged at 5.3 percent in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of payroll jobs
increased by 339,000 over the month; construction employment rose sharply,
and there were gains throughout the service-producing sector. Average
hourly earnings rose by 3 cents in February, and the average workweek
rebounded from a weather-related drop in January.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
The number of unemployed persons, 7.2 million, and the unemployment
rate, 5.3 percent, were essentially unchanged in February, after seasonal
adjustment. Jobless rates for the major demographic groups--adult men (4.4
percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (17.5 percent), whites (4.5
percent), blacks (11.3 percent), and Hispanics (8.1 percent)--showed little
movement over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Total employment was about unchanged in February, at 128.4 million
(seasonally adjusted), following a substantial increase in January. The
proportion of the population that was employed (the employment-population
ratio) was 63.5 percent.
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons decreased
by 165,000 in February to 4.3 million. This series has shown little
definitive movement over the past year. (See table A-3.)
About 7.9 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one
job in February. These multiple jobholders accounted for 6.2 percent of
all employed persons, about the same proportion as a year earlier. (See
table A-9.)
Both the civilian labor force, 135.6 million (seasonally adjusted), and
the labor force participation rate, 67.0 percent, were essentially
unchanged in February. Over the past year, the labor force has increased
by 2.2 million (after adjusting for the change in population controls
introduced in January), and the participation rate has risen by 0.4
percentage point.
- 2 -
Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
___________________________________________________________________________
| Quarterly | Monthly data |
| averages | |
|_________________|__________________________|Jan.-
Category | 1996 | 1996 | 19971/ |Feb.
|_________________|________|_________________|change
| III | IV | Dec. | Jan. | Feb. |
______________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
HOUSEHOLD DATA | Labor force status
|____________________________________________________
Civilian labor force..| 134,118| 134,830| 135,022| 135,848| 135,634| -214
Employment..........| 127,042| 127,705| 127,855| 128,580| 128,430| -150
Unemployment........| 7,076| 7,124| 7,167| 7,268| 7,205| -63
Not in labor force....| 66,732| 66,627| 66,614| 66,437| 66,754| 317
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Unemployment rates
|____________________________________________________
All workers...........| 5.3| 5.3| 5.3| 5.4| 5.3| -0.1
Adult men...........| 4.5| 4.4| 4.4| 4.6| 4.4| -.2
Adult women.........| 4.7| 4.8| 4.9| 4.6| 4.7| .1
Teenagers...........| 16.6| 16.6| 16.5| 17.0| 17.5| .5
White...............| 4.6| 4.6| 4.6| 4.6| 4.5| -.1
Black...............| 10.5| 10.6| 10.5| 10.8| 11.3| .5
Hispanic origin.....| 8.7| 8.0| 7.7| 8.3| 8.1| -.2
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
ESTABLISHMENT DATA | Employment
|____________________________________________________
Nonfarm employment....| 119,958| 120,509| 120,723|p120,970|p121,309| p339
Goods-producing 2/..| 24,273| 24,320| 24,356| p24,389| p24,498| p109
Construction......| 5,438| 5,492| 5,520| p5,535| p5,644| p109
Manufacturing.....| 18,266| 18,262| 18,270| p18,286| p18,284| p-2
Service-producing 2/| 95,685| 96,189| 96,367| p96,581| p96,811| p230
Retail trade......| 21,682| 21,864| 21,931| p21,929| p21,978| p49
Services..........| 34,529| 34,785| 34,865| p35,001| p35,081| p80
Government........| 19,536| 19,510| 19,524| p19,550| p19,596| p46
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Hours of work 3/
|____________________________________________________
Total private.........| 34.4| 34.6| 34.8| p34.2| p35.0| p0.8
Manufacturing.......| 41.7| 41.8| 42.0| p41.7| p41.9| p.2
Overtime..........| 4.5| 4.5| 4.6| p4.6| p4.7| p.1
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Earnings 3/
|____________________________________________________
Avg. hourly earnings, | | | | | |
total private.......| $11.86| $11.98| $12.04| p$12.06| p$12.09| p$0.03
Avg. weekly earnings, | | | | | |
total private.......| 408.50| 414.00| 418.99| p412.45| p423.15| p10.70
______________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
1/ Beginning in January 1997, household data reflect revised
population controls used in the survey.
2/ Includes other industries, not shown separately.
3/ Data relate to private production or nonsupervisory workers.
p=preliminary.
- 3 -
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
About 1.5 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally
attached to the labor force in February--that is, they wanted and were
available for work and had looked for jobs sometime in the prior 12 months.
The number of discouraged workers--a subset of the marginally attached who
were not currently looking for jobs specifically because they believed no
jobs were available for them or there were none for which they would
qualify--was 364,000 in February. Both measures were lower than they were
a year earlier. (See table A-9.)
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 339,000 in February to 121.3
million, after seasonal adjustment. Construction employment rose markedly,
and there were widespread gains in most other major industry divisions.
Manufacturing employment was little changed. (See table B-1.)
Construction employment increased by 109,000 in February. Job growth in
construction has been strong since the end of 1995. In February,
employment was buoyed by favorable weather conditions, following severe
weather in January. The largest February gains were in outside activities,
such as heavy construction, masonry, concrete, and roofing.
Employment in the services industry rose by 80,000 in February,
following a much larger increase (136,000) in January. Employment in help
supply services declined by 47,000 in February, partially offsetting a
large increase in January. Both months’ estimates were strongly influenced
by the effects of the 1996 blizzards, which lowered seasonal expectations
for January and raised them for February. Job gains continued in computer
services and in engineering and management services. In personal services,
which includes tax return preparation, employment rose sharply for the
second month in a row.
Transportation and public utilities added 21,000 jobs, reflecting
strength in the trucking, air travel, transportation services, and
communications industries. Wholesale trade also added 21,000 jobs, with
most of the gain in the distribution of durable goods. Employment in
finance (especially security brokerages, mortgage brokerages, and holding
companies) and real estate continued to grow.
Employment in retail trade rose by 49,000 in February, led by a large
seasonally adjusted increase in department stores. Before seasonal
adjustment, department store employment levels typically decline in both
January and February, as fewer workers are needed after the holidays. This
year, however, more layoffs occurred in January, resulting in a smaller-
than-usual decline in February. After seasonal adjustment, therefore,
employment in department stores increased by 57,000. Food stores and auto
dealers gained jobs in February. Employment was unchanged in building
materials and garden supply stores and declined slightly in furniture
stores; both of these industries experienced strong job growth in 1996.
Government employment advanced by 46,000. All of the growth was in
education at the state and local levels. In January and February combined,
state and local education added 66,000 jobs. Excluding education, state
and local government payrolls were unchanged in February, and federal
employment continued its downtrend.
- 4 -
Manufacturing employment was unchanged in February, following 4 months
of gains that totaled 45,000. Aircraft and parts added jobs for the eighth
month in a row. There was a decline of 6,000 jobs in autos, reversing a
similar increase in January. Employment in the apparel industry continued
its long-term slide, losing 5,000 jobs in February.
Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls rose by 0.8 hour in February to 35.0 hours, seasonally
adjusted, more than reversing a weather-related 0.6 hour decline in
January. The manufacturing workweek rose by 0.2 hour to 41.9 hours, and
factory overtime edged up by 0.1 hour to 4.7 hours. (See table B-2.)
The index of aggregate weekly hours of private production or
nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls rose by 2.7 percent, seasonally
adjusted, to 140.8 (1982=100) in February, as both hours and employment
increased. The manufacturing index increased by 0.7 percent to 106.8.
(See table B-5.)
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers
on nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents in February to $12.09, seasonally
adjusted. Reflecting the jump in the workweek, average weekly earnings
advanced by 2.6 percent to $423.15. Over the past year, average hourly
earnings rose by 3.8 percent and average weekly earnings increased by 5.3
percent. (See table B-3.)
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| March 1996 national benchmarks |
| |
| In accordance with standard practice, BLS will release nonfarm |
|payroll employment benchmark revisions with the release of May data |
|on June 6, 1997. The March 1996 benchmark level has been finalized |
|and will result in an upward revision of 57,000 (less than 0.05 |
|percent) to total nonfarm employment for the March 1996 reference month. |
|Further information is available through the Internet by |
|accessing: http://stats.bls.gov/ceshome.htm or by calling (202) 606-6555.|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________________________________
The Employment Situation for March 1997 is scheduled to be released on
Friday, April 4, at 8:30 A.M. (EST).
- 5 -
Explanatory Note
This news release presents statistics from two major surveys, the Current
Population Survey (household survey) and the Current Employment Statistics
survey (establishment survey). The household survey provides the
information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment that appears
in the A tables, marked HOUSEHOLD DATA. It is a sample survey of about
50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS).
The establishment survey provides the information on the employment,
hours, and earnings of workers on nonfarm payrolls that appears in the B
tables, marked ESTABLISHMENT DATA. This information is collected from
payroll records by BLS in cooperation with State agencies. In June 1996,
the sample included about 390,000 establishments employing over 47 million
people.
For both surveys, the data for a given month relate to a particular week
or pay period. In the household survey, the reference week is generally
the calendar week that contains the 12th day of the month. In the
establishment survey, the reference period is the pay period including the
12th, which may or may not correspond directly to the calendar week.
Coverage, definitions, and differences between surveys
Household survey. The sample is selected to reflect the entire
civilian noninstitutional population. Based on responses to a series of
questions on work and job search activities, each person 16 years and over
in a sample household is classified as employed, unemployed, or not in the
labor force.
People are classified as employed if they did any work at all as paid
employees during the reference week; worked in their own business,
profession, or on their own farm; or worked without pay at least 15 hours
in a family business or farm. People are also counted as employed if they
were temporarily absent from their jobs because of illness, bad weather,
vacation, labor-management disputes, or personal reasons.
People are classified as unemployed if they meet all of the following
criteria: They had no employment during the reference week; they were
available for work at that time; and they made specific efforts to find
employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with the reference
week. Persons laid off from a job and expecting recall need not be
looking for work to be counted as unemployed. The unemployment data
derived from the household survey in no way depend upon the eligibility for
or receipt of unemployment insurance benefits.
The civilian labor force is the sum of employed and unemployed
persons. Those not classified as employed or unemployed are not in the
labor force. The unemployment rate is the number unemployed as a percent
of the labor force. The labor force participation rate is the labor force
as a percent of the population, and the employment-population ratio is the
employed as a percent of the population.
Establishment survey. The sample establishments are drawn from private
nonfarm businesses such as factories, offices, and stores, as well as
Federal, State, and local government entities. Employees on nonfarm
payrolls are those who received pay for any part of the reference pay
period, including persons on paid leave. Persons are counted in each job
they hold. Hours and earnings data are for private businesses and relate
only to production workers in the goods-producing sector and nonsupervisory
workers in the service-producing sector.
- 6 -
Differences in employment estimates. The numerous conceptual and
methodological differences between the household and establishment surveys
result in important distinctions in the employment estimates derived from
the surveys. Among these are:
--The household survey includes agricultural workers, the self-employed,
unpaid family workers, and private household workers among the employed.
These groups are excluded from the establishment survey.
--The household survey includes people on unpaid leave among the
employed. The establishment survey does not.
--The household survey is limited to workers 16 years of age and older.
The establishment survey is not limited by age.
--The household survey has no duplication of individuals, because
individuals are counted only once, even if they hold more than one job. In
the establishment survey, employees working at more than one job and thus
appearing on more than one payroll would be counted separately for each
appearance.
Other differences between the two surveys are described in "Comparing
Employment Estimates from Household and Payroll Surveys," which may be
obtained from BLS upon request.
Seasonal adjustment
Over the course of a year, the size of the nation's labor force and the
levels of employment and unemployment undergo sharp fluctuations due to
such seasonal events as changes in weather, reduced or expanded production,
harvests, major holidays, and the opening and closing of schools. The
effect of such seasonal variation can be very large; seasonal
fluctuations may account for as much as 95 percent of the month-to-month
changes in unemployment.
Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each
year, their influence on statistical trends can be eliminated by adjusting
the statistics from month to month. These adjustments make nonseasonal
developments, such as declines in economic activity or increases in the
participation of women in the labor force, easier to spot. For example,
the large number of youth entering the labor force each June is likely to
obscure any other changes that have taken place relative to May, making it
difficult to determine if the level of economic activity has risen or
declined. However, because the effect of students finishing school in
previous years is known, the statistics for the current year can be
adjusted to allow for a comparable change. Insofar as the seasonal
adjustment is made correctly, the adjusted figure provides a more useful
tool with which to analyze changes in economic activity.
In both the household and establishment surveys, most seasonally adjusted
series are independently adjusted. However, the adjusted series for many
major estimates, such as total payroll employment, employment in most major
industry divisions, total employment, and unemployment are computed by
aggregating independently adjusted component series. For example, total
unemployment is derived by summing the adjusted series for four major age-
sex components; this differs from the unemployment estimate that would be
obtained by directly adjusting the total or by combining the duration,
reasons, or more detailed age categories.
The numerical factors used to make the seasonal adjustments are
recalculated twice a year. For the household survey, the factors are
calculated for the January-June period and again for the July-December
- 7 -
period. For the establishment survey, updated factors for seasonal
adjustment are calculated for the May-October period and introduced along
with new benchmarks, and again for the November-April period. In both
surveys, revisions to historical data are made once a year.
Reliability of the estimates
Statistics based on the household and establishment surveys 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 exact
difference, or sampling error, varies depending on the particular sample
selected, and this 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.
For example, the confidence interval for the monthly change in total
employment from the household survey is on the order of plus or minus
376,000. Suppose the estimate of total employment increases by 100,000
from one month to the next. The 90-percent confidence interval on the
monthly change would range from -276,000 to 476,000 (100,000 +/- 376,000).
These figures do not mean that the sample results are off by these
magnitudes, but rather that there is about a 90-percent chance that the
"true" over-the-month change lies within this interval. Since this range
includes values of less than zero, we could not say with confidence that
employment had, in fact, increased. If, however, the reported employment
rise was half a million, then all of the values within the 90-percent
confidence interval would be greater than zero. In this case, it is likely
(at least a 90-percent chance) that an employment rise had, in fact,
occurred. The 90-percent confidence interval for the monthly change in
unemployment is +/- 258,000, and for the monthly change in the unemployment
rate it is +/- .21 percentage point.
In general, estimates involving many individuals or establishments have
lower standard errors (relative to the size of the estimate) than estimates
which are based on a small number of observations. The precision of
estimates is also improved when the data are cumulated over time such as
for quarterly and annual averages. The seasonal adjustment process can
also improve the stability of the monthly estimates.
The household and establishment surveys are also affected by nonsampling
error. Nonsampling errors 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 on a timely basis, mistakes
made by respondents, and errors made in the collection or processing of the
data.
For example, in the establishment survey, estimates for the most recent 2
months are based on substantially incomplete returns; for this reason,
these estimates are labeled preliminary in the tables. It is only after
two successive revisions to a monthly estimate, when nearly all sample
reports have been received, that the estimate is considered final.
Another major source of nonsampling error in the establishment survey is
the inability to capture, on a timely basis, employment generated by new
firms. To correct for this systematic underestimation of employment growth
(and other sources of error), a process known as bias adjustment is
included in the survey's estimating procedures, whereby a specified number
of jobs is added to the monthly sample-based change. The size of the
- 8 -
monthly bias adjustment is based largely on past relationships between the
sample-based estimates of employment and the total counts of employment
described below.
The sample-based estimates from the establishment survey are adjusted
once a year (on a lagged basis) to universe counts of payroll employment
obtained from administrative records of the unemployment insurance program.
The difference between the March sample-based employment estimates and the
March universe counts is known as a benchmark revision, and serves as a
rough proxy for total survey error. The new benchmarks also incorporate
changes in the classification of industries. Over the past decade, the
benchmark revision for total nonfarm employment has averaged 0.2 percent,
ranging from zero to 0.6 percent.
Additional statistics and other information
More comprehensive statistics are contained in Employment and Earnings,
published each month by BLS. It is available for $13.00 per issue or
$35.00 per year from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
20402. All orders must be prepaid by sending a check or money order
payable to the Superintendent of Documents, or by charging to Mastercard or
Visa.
Employment and Earnings also provides measures of sampling error for the
household survey data published in this release. For unemployment and
other labor force categories, these measures appear in tables 1-B through 1-
H of its "Explanatory Notes." Measures of the reliability of the data
drawn from the establishment survey and the actual amounts of revision due
to benchmark adjustments are provided in tables 2-B through 2-G of that
publication.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-606-STAT; TDD phone: 202-606-
5897; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-326-2577.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age
(Numbers in thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted(1)
Employment status, sex, and age
Feb. Jan. Feb. Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1997 1997 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997 1997
TOTAL
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 199,772 202,285 202,388 199,772 201,273 201,463 201,636 202,285 202,388
Civilian labor force.......................... 131,995 134,317 134,535 133,070 134,636 134,831 135,022 135,848 135,634
Participation rate...................... 66.1 66.4 66.5 66.6 66.9 66.9 67.0 67.2 67.0
Employed.................................... 124,137 126,384 126,887 125,706 127,617 127,644 127,855 128,580 128,430
Employment-population ratio............. 62.1 62.5 62.7 62.9 63.4 63.4 63.4 63.6 63.5
Agriculture............................... 3,102 3,036 2,933 3,499 3,450 3,354 3,426 3,468 3,292
Nonagricultural industries................ 121,035 123,348 123,954 122,207 124,167 124,290 124,429 125,112 125,138
Unemployed.................................. 7,858 7,933 7,647 7,364 7,019 7,187 7,167 7,268 7,205
Unemployment rate....................... 6.0 5.9 5.7 5.5 5.2 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.3
Not in labor force............................ 67,777 67,968 67,854 66,702 66,637 66,632 66,614 66,437 66,754
Men, 16 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 95,786 97,264 97,320 95,786 96,556 96,654 96,742 97,264 97,320
Civilian labor force.......................... 71,011 72,117 72,214 71,744 72,363 72,362 72,414 73,106 72,987
Participation rate...................... 74.1 74.1 74.2 74.9 74.9 74.9 74.9 75.2 75.0
Employed.................................... 66,481 67,640 67,981 67,742 68,647 68,589 68,707 69,164 69,232
Employment-population ratio............. 69.4 69.5 69.9 70.7 71.1 71.0 71.0 71.1 71.1
Unemployed.................................. 4,529 4,477 4,233 4,002 3,716 3,773 3,707 3,942 3,755
Unemployment rate....................... 6.4 6.2 5.9 5.6 5.1 5.2 5.1 5.4 5.1
Men, 20 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 88,296 89,446 89,556 88,296 88,840 88,971 89,040 89,446 89,556
Civilian labor force.......................... 67,355 68,429 68,447 67,688 68,273 68,391 68,369 68,998 68,827
Participation rate...................... 76.3 76.5 76.4 76.7 76.8 76.9 76.8 77.1 76.9
Employed.................................... 63,521 64,693 64,923 64,416 65,299 65,349 65,367 65,813 65,818
Employment-population ratio............. 71.9 72.3 72.5 73.0 73.5 73.4 73.4 73.6 73.5
Agriculture............................... 2,160 2,132 2,080 2,371 2,400 2,355 2,356 2,364 2,276
Nonagricultural industries................ 61,361 62,561 62,843 62,045 62,899 62,994 63,011 63,449 63,542
Unemployed.................................. 3,834 3,736 3,523 3,272 2,974 3,042 3,002 3,185 3,009
Unemployment rate....................... 5.7 5.5 5.1 4.8 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.6 4.4
Women, 16 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 103,986 105,022 105,068 103,986 104,717 104,809 104,894 105,022 105,068
Civilian labor force.......................... 60,985 62,200 62,321 61,326 62,273 62,469 62,608 62,742 62,647
Participation rate...................... 58.6 59.2 59.3 59.0 59.5 59.6 59.7 59.7 59.6
Employed.................................... 57,656 58,744 58,906 57,964 58,970 59,055 59,148 59,416 59,197
Employment-population ratio............. 55.4 55.9 56.1 55.7 56.3 56.3 56.4 56.6 56.3
Unemployed.................................. 3,329 3,457 3,415 3,362 3,303 3,414 3,460 3,327 3,450
Unemployment rate....................... 5.5 5.6 5.5 5.5 5.3 5.5 5.5 5.3 5.5
Women, 20 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 96,757 97,520 97,571 96,757 97,290 97,366 97,457 97,520 97,571
Civilian labor force.......................... 57,579 58,637 58,720 57,618 58,432 58,574 58,728 58,894 58,743
Participation rate...................... 59.5 60.1 60.2 59.5 60.1 60.2 60.3 60.4 60.2
Employed.................................... 54,805 55,739 55,931 54,845 55,681 55,753 55,871 56,165 55,954
Employment-population ratio............. 56.6 57.2 57.3 56.7 57.2 57.3 57.3 57.6 57.3
Agriculture............................... 759 703 697 845 800 786 772 797 775
Nonagricultural industries................ 54,046 55,036 55,234 54,000 54,881 54,967 55,099 55,369 55,179
Unemployed.................................. 2,774 2,898 2,788 2,773 2,751 2,821 2,857 2,729 2,788
Unemployment rate....................... 4.8 4.9 4.7 4.8 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.6 4.7
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian noninstitutional population........... 14,719 15,318 15,261 14,719 15,143 15,126 15,139 15,318 15,261
Civilian labor force.......................... 7,061 7,251 7,368 7,764 7,931 7,866 7,925 7,956 8,065
Participation rate...................... 48.0 47.3 48.3 52.7 52.4 52.0 52.3 51.9 52.8
Employed.................................... 5,811 5,952 6,032 6,445 6,637 6,542 6,617 6,601 6,657
Employment-population ratio............. 39.5 38.9 39.5 43.8 43.8 43.3 43.7 43.1 43.6
Agriculture............................... 183 202 156 283 250 213 298 307 240
Nonagricultural industries................ 5,627 5,750 5,877 6,162 6,387 6,329 6,319 6,294 6,417
Unemployed.................................. 1,250 1,299 1,336 1,319 1,294 1,324 1,308 1,354 1,408
Unemployment rate....................... 17.7 17.9 18.1 17.0 16.3 16.8 16.5 17.0 17.5
1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted
and seasonally adjusted columns.
NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, age, and Hispanic origin
(Numbers in thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted(1)
Employment status, race, sex, age, and
Hispanic origin
Feb. Jan. Feb. Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1997 1997 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997 1997
WHITE
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 167,757 169,436 169,492 167,757 168,788 168,924 169,044 169,436 169,492
Civilian labor force.......................... 111,876 113,338 113,484 112,651 113,625 113,816 113,991 114,377 114,333
Participation rate........................ 66.7 66.9 67.0 67.2 67.3 67.4 67.4 67.5 67.5
Employed.................................... 105,887 107,425 107,863 107,192 108,527 108,570 108,734 109,151 109,197
Employment-population ratio............... 63.1 63.4 63.6 63.9 64.3 64.3 64.3 64.4 64.4
Unemployed.................................. 5,989 5,913 5,621 5,459 5,098 5,246 5,257 5,226 5,136
Unemployment rate......................... 5.4 5.2 5.0 4.8 4.5 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.5
Men, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force.......................... 57,855 58,691 58,622 58,141 58,539 58,549 58,623 59,042 58,968
Participation rate........................ 76.9 77.2 77.1 77.3 77.4 77.3 77.4 77.7 77.5
Employed.................................... 54,908 55,803 55,899 55,681 56,294 56,276 56,356 56,653 56,692
Employment-population ratio............... 73.0 73.4 73.5 74.0 74.4 74.3 74.4 74.5 74.5
Unemployed.................................. 2,947 2,888 2,723 2,460 2,245 2,273 2,267 2,388 2,275
Unemployment rate......................... 5.1 4.9 4.6 4.2 3.8 3.9 3.9 4.0 3.9
Women, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force.......................... 47,922 48,473 48,603 47,927 48,380 48,558 48,686 48,631 48,619
Participation rate........................ 59.3 59.6 59.8 59.3 59.6 59.8 59.9 59.8 59.8
Employed.................................... 45,846 46,423 46,700 45,885 46,439 46,530 46,614 46,750 46,747
Employment-population ratio............... 56.7 57.1 57.4 56.7 57.2 57.3 57.3 57.5 57.5
Unemployed.................................. 2,076 2,050 1,902 2,042 1,941 2,028 2,072 1,881 1,872
Unemployment rate......................... 4.3 4.2 3.9 4.3 4.0 4.2 4.3 3.9 3.9
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian labor force.......................... 6,098 6,174 6,259 6,583 6,706 6,709 6,682 6,704 6,746
Participation rate........................ 52.3 50.9 51.6 56.5 56.1 56.0 55.6 55.3 55.6
Employed.................................... 5,133 5,198 5,264 5,626 5,794 5,764 5,764 5,747 5,758
Employment-population ratio............... 44.0 42.9 43.4 48.3 48.5 48.1 48.0 47.4 47.5
Unemployed.................................. 965 976 995 957 912 945 918 957 988
Unemployment rate......................... 15.8 15.8 15.9 14.5 13.6 14.1 13.7 14.3 14.6
Men..................................... 17.2 17.3 16.3 15.4 15.4 15.5 14.8 14.9 14.6
Women................................... 14.3 14.3 15.5 13.6 11.6 12.6 12.6 13.6 14.7
BLACK
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 23,455 23,847 23,872 23,455 23,728 23,762 23,794 23,847 23,872
Civilian labor force.......................... 14,632 15,141 15,170 14,862 15,276 15,290 15,306 15,372 15,408
Participation rate........................ 62.4 63.5 63.5 63.4 64.4 64.3 64.3 64.5 64.5
Employed.................................... 13,116 13,474 13,465 13,326 13,647 13,673 13,693 13,709 13,672
Employment-population ratio............... 55.9 56.5 56.4 56.8 57.5 57.5 57.5 57.5 57.3
Unemployed.................................. 1,516 1,667 1,705 1,536 1,629 1,617 1,613 1,663 1,736
Unemployment rate......................... 10.4 11.0 11.2 10.3 10.7 10.6 10.5 10.8 11.3
Men, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force.......................... 6,713 6,749 6,733 6,743 6,838 6,899 6,833 6,829 6,765
Participation rate........................ 71.7 71.0 70.7 72.0 72.4 72.7 72.0 71.8 71.0
Employed.................................... 5,992 6,061 6,079 6,076 6,199 6,264 6,235 6,198 6,159
Employment-population ratio............... 64.0 63.7 63.8 64.9 65.6 66.0 65.7 65.2 64.7
Unemployed.................................. 721 687 654 667 639 635 598 632 605
Unemployment rate......................... 10.7 10.2 9.7 9.9 9.3 9.2 8.8 9.2 9.0
Women, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force.......................... 7,181 7,560 7,564 7,249 7,487 7,499 7,544 7,574 7,636
Participation rate........................ 61.0 63.3 63.3 61.6 63.0 63.0 63.3 63.4 63.9
Employed.................................... 6,616 6,852 6,803 6,666 6,822 6,833 6,851 6,880 6,851
Employment-population ratio............... 56.2 57.4 56.9 56.6 57.4 57.4 57.5 57.6 57.3
Unemployed.................................. 565 708 761 583 665 666 693 694 785
Unemployment rate......................... 7.9 9.4 10.1 8.0 8.9 8.9 9.2 9.2 10.3
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian labor force.......................... 738 833 872 870 951 892 929 969 1,007
Participation rate........................ 31.9 34.8 36.4 37.6 39.6 37.5 38.9 40.4 42.0
Employed.................................... 507 560 583 584 626 576 607 631 662
Employment-population ratio............... 21.9 23.4 24.3 25.3 26.1 24.2 25.4 26.3 27.6
Unemployed.................................. 230 272 290 286 325 316 322 337 346
Unemployment rate......................... 31.2 32.7 33.2 32.9 34.2 35.4 34.7 34.8 34.3
Men..................................... 31.0 43.2 37.4 32.5 36.5 41.2 38.6 42.7 37.4
Women................................... 31.4 24.0 29.5 33.3 31.9 30.0 31.2 27.5 31.3
HISPANIC ORIGIN
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 18,977 20,013 20,067 18,977 19,398 19,454 19,505 20,013 20,067
Civilian labor force.......................... 12,503 13,600 13,529 12,589 12,989 13,182 13,150 13,795 13,640
Participation rate........................ 65.9 68.0 67.4 66.3 67.0 67.8 67.4 68.9 68.0
Employed.................................... 11,203 12,349 12,337 11,388 11,928 12,094 12,141 12,653 12,538
Employment-population ratio............... 59.0 61.7 61.5 60.0 61.5 62.2 62.2 63.2 62.5
Unemployed.................................. 1,299 1,251 1,192 1,201 1,061 1,088 1,009 1,142 1,102
Unemployment rate......................... 10.4 9.2 8.8 9.5 8.2 8.3 7.7 8.3 8.1
1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted
and seasonally adjusted columns.
NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races"
group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Beginning in January
1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-3. Selected employment indicators
(In thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted
Category
Feb. Jan. Feb. Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1997 1997 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997 1997
CHARACTERISTIC
Total employed, 16 years and over............... 124,137 126,384 126,887 125,706 127,617 127,644 127,855 128,580 128,430
Married men, spouse present................... 41,958 42,308 42,173 42,297 42,617 42,631 42,607 42,909 42,513
Married women, spouse present................. 32,197 32,531 32,611 32,153 32,537 32,509 32,631 32,826 32,578
Women who maintain families................... 7,310 7,433 7,571 7,299 7,392 7,444 7,500 7,501 7,556
OCCUPATION
Managerial and professional specialty......... 35,957 37,357 37,591 35,887 36,917 37,177 37,234 37,478 37,525
Technical, sales, and administrative support.. 37,141 37,744 37,845 37,328 37,951 37,821 37,902 38,163 38,073
Service occupations........................... 16,744 16,793 17,067 16,843 17,295 17,408 17,271 17,171 17,170
Precision production, craft, and repair....... 13,331 13,610 13,702 13,777 13,587 13,508 13,574 13,902 14,140
Operators, fabricators, and laborers.......... 17,763 17,854 17,752 18,161 18,235 18,259 18,310 18,317 18,144
Farming, forestry, and fishing................ 3,201 3,027 2,930 3,709 3,565 3,445 3,496 3,528 3,388
CLASS OF WORKER
Agriculture:
Wage and salary workers..................... 1,655 1,648 1,664 1,933 1,813 1,829 1,878 1,988 1,932
Self-employed workers....................... 1,418 1,335 1,257 1,529 1,560 1,464 1,475 1,448 1,353
Unpaid family workers....................... 30 54 12 37 71 68 66 62 15
Nonagricultural industries:
Wage and salary workers..................... 112,062 113,981 114,790 113,188 115,018 115,133 115,212 115,560 115,987
Government................................ 18,369 18,311 18,289 18,233 18,132 18,270 18,266 18,385 18,144
Private industries........................ 93,693 95,670 96,501 94,955 96,886 96,863 96,946 97,176 97,843
Private households...................... 874 941 863 894 992 956 934 1,002 882
Other industries........................ 92,819 94,729 95,638 94,061 95,894 95,907 96,012 96,174 96,962
Self-employed workers....................... 8,863 9,219 9,033 8,948 8,967 9,023 9,109 9,445 9,124
Unpaid family workers....................... 110 148 132 114 137 140 149 162 136
PERSONS AT WORK PART TIME
All industries:
Part time for economic reasons.............. 4,597 4,541 4,419 4,429 4,286 3,983 4,338 4,426 4,262
Slack work or business conditions......... 2,766 2,735 2,616 2,509 2,258 2,107 2,353 2,423 2,378
Could only find part-time work............ 1,542 1,474 1,485 1,608 1,683 1,559 1,653 1,552 1,550
Part time for noneconomic reasons........... 18,386 18,450 18,865 17,621 17,754 17,957 17,868 18,340 18,070
Nonagricultural industries:
Part time for economic reasons.............. 4,351 4,338 4,209 4,224 4,118 3,815 4,162 4,163 4,098
Slack work or business conditions......... 2,595 2,603 2,491 2,362 2,147 2,001 2,214 2,310 2,277
Could only find part-time work............ 1,530 1,447 1,465 1,588 1,647 1,543 1,622 1,512 1,523
Part time for noneconomic reasons........... 17,846 17,879 18,342 17,002 17,123 17,313 17,237 17,737 17,452
NOTE: Persons at work excludes employed persons who were absent from their jobs during the entire reference week for
reasons such as vacation, illness, or industrial dispute. Part time for noneconomic reasons excludes persons who usually
work full time but worked only 1 to 34 hours during the reference week for reasons such as holidays, illness, and bad
weather. Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-4. Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally adjusted
Number of
unemployed persons Unemployment rates(1)
(in thousands)
Category
Feb. Jan. Feb. Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1997 1997 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997 1997
CHARACTERISTIC
Total, 16 years and over....................... 7,364 7,268 7,205 5.5 5.2 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.3
Men, 20 years and over....................... 3,272 3,185 3,009 4.8 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.6 4.4
Women, 20 years and over..................... 2,773 2,729 2,788 4.8 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.6 4.7
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years................... 1,319 1,354 1,408 17.0 16.3 16.8 16.5 17.0 17.5
Married men, spouse present.................. 1,338 1,242 1,238 3.1 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.8 2.8
Married women, spouse present................ 1,254 1,114 1,145 3.8 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.3 3.4
Women who maintain families.................. 598 753 748 7.6 8.5 8.8 8.4 9.1 9.0
Full-time workers............................ 5,875 5,809 5,706 5.4 5.1 5.3 5.2 5.2 5.1
Part-time workers............................ 1,488 1,426 1,497 6.0 5.6 5.6 5.8 5.7 6.0
OCCUPATION(2)
Managerial and professional specialty........ 854 814 817 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.1 2.1
Technical, sales, and administrative support. 1,749 1,771 1,724 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.6 4.4 4.3
Precision production, craft, and repair...... 846 782 701 5.8 5.5 5.7 5.4 5.3 4.7
Operators, fabricators, and laborers......... 1,618 1,568 1,609 8.2 7.7 7.7 7.6 7.9 8.1
Farming, forestry, and fishing............... 308 286 273 7.7 7.0 7.7 7.7 7.5 7.5
INDUSTRY
Nonagricultural private wage and salary
workers...................................... 5,666 5,558 5,517 5.6 5.3 5.5 5.4 5.4 5.3
Goods-producing industries................. 1,760 1,708 1,627 6.2 5.8 6.1 5.9 6.0 5.6
Mining................................... 38 33 26 6.3 5.8 4.9 7.6 6.0 4.2
Construction............................. 720 705 645 10.8 9.6 10.3 9.4 10.1 9.0
Manufacturing............................ 1,002 971 956 4.8 4.7 4.7 4.8 4.6 4.5
Durable goods.......................... 609 569 508 4.9 4.4 4.5 4.7 4.4 4.0
Nondurable goods....................... 393 401 448 4.6 5.1 5.1 5.0 4.8 5.3
Service-producing industries............... 3,906 3,850 3,890 5.4 5.1 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2
Transportation and public utilities...... 283 288 310 4.0 4.4 3.5 4.0 4.1 4.3
Wholesale and retail trade............... 1,659 1,657 1,702 6.4 6.2 6.3 6.2 6.4 6.5
Finance, insurance, and real estate...... 171 267 222 2.3 2.9 2.9 3.1 3.5 3.0
Services................................. 1,793 1,639 1,656 5.6 5.0 5.3 5.2 4.9 5.0
Government workers........................... 551 550 544 2.9 2.9 2.8 3.0 2.9 2.9
Agricultural wage and salary workers......... 228 186 186 10.6 10.0 10.9 10.3 8.6 8.8
1 Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force.
2 Seasonally adjusted unemployment data for service occupations are not available because the seasonal component, which
is small relative to the trend-cycle and irregular components, cannot be separated with sufficient precision.
NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-5. Duration of unemployment
(Numbers in thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted
Duration
Feb. Jan. Feb. Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1997 1997 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997 1997
NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED
Less than 5 weeks.............................. 2,578 3,352 2,440 2,736 2,556 2,819 2,671 2,801 2,591
5 to 14 weeks.................................. 2,796 2,329 2,902 2,291 2,265 2,252 2,357 2,223 2,382
15 weeks and over.............................. 2,485 2,252 2,305 2,322 2,294 2,184 2,179 2,155 2,163
15 to 26 weeks.............................. 1,237 1,029 1,153 1,097 1,062 1,018 976 943 1,025
27 weeks and over........................... 1,247 1,223 1,153 1,225 1,232 1,166 1,203 1,212 1,138
Average (mean) duration, in weeks.............. 16.3 15.3 15.7 16.6 16.7 16.0 15.8 16.0 16.0
Median duration, in weeks...................... 8.3 7.4 8.6 8.1 8.3 7.7 7.8 7.7 8.4
PERCENT DISTRIBUTION
Total unemployed............................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Less than 5 weeks............................ 32.8 42.3 31.9 37.2 35.9 38.9 37.1 39.0 36.3
5 to 14 weeks................................ 35.6 29.4 37.9 31.2 31.8 31.0 32.7 31.0 33.4
15 weeks and over............................ 31.6 28.4 30.1 31.6 32.2 30.1 30.2 30.0 30.3
15 to 26 weeks............................. 15.7 13.0 15.1 14.9 14.9 14.0 13.5 13.1 14.4
27 weeks and over.......................... 15.9 15.4 15.1 16.7 17.3 16.1 16.7 16.9 15.9
NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-6. Reason for unemployment
(Numbers in thousands)
Not seasonally Seasonally adjusted
adjusted
Reason
Feb. Jan. Feb. Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1997 1997 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997 1997
NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED
Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs..... 4,099 4,027 3,659 3,543 3,171 3,261 3,221 3,245 3,163
On temporary layoff................................... 1,458 1,502 1,327 1,041 957 994 987 953 944
Not on temporary layoff............................... 2,641 2,526 2,332 2,502 2,214 2,267 2,234 2,293 2,218
Permanent job losers................................ 1,883 1,666 1,608 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
Persons who completed temporary jobs................ 758 860 724 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
Job leavers............................................. 776 858 813 749 797 825 845 890 787
Reentrants.............................................. 2,465 2,525 2,608 2,499 2,489 2,523 2,556 2,505 2,648
New entrants............................................ 519 523 567 603 577 586 626 600 647
PERCENT DISTRIBUTION
Total unemployed........................................
Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs.... 52.2 50.8 47.8 47.9 45.1 45.3 44.4 44.8 43.7
On temporary layoff.................................. 18.6 18.9 17.4 14.1 13.6 13.8 13.6 13.2 13.0
Not on temporary layoff.............................. 33.6 31.8 30.5 33.8 31.5 31.5 30.8 31.7 30.6
Job leavers............................................ 9.9 10.8 10.6 10.1 11.3 11.5 11.7 12.3 10.9
Reentrants............................................. 31.4 31.8 34.1 33.8 35.4 35.1 35.3 34.6 36.6
New entrants........................................... 6.6 6.6 7.4 8.2 8.2 8.1 8.6 8.3 8.9
UNEMPLOYED AS A PERCENT OF THE
CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE
Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs.... 3.1 3.0 2.7 2.7 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.3
Job leavers............................................ .6 .6 .6 .6 .6 .6 .6 .7 .6
Reentrants............................................. 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.8 2.0
New entrants........................................... .4 .4 .4 .5 .4 .4 .5 .4 .5
1 Not available.
NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-7. Range of alternative measures of labor underutilization
(Percent)
Not seasonally Seasonally adjusted
adjusted
Measure
Feb. Jan. Feb. Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1997 1997 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997 1997
U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer,
as a percent of the civilian labor force....................... 1.9 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6
U-2 Job losers and persons who completed
temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian
labor force.................................................... 3.1 3.0 2.7 2.7 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.3
U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the
civilian labor force (official unemployment rate).............. 6.0 5.9 5.7 5.5 5.2 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.3
U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged
workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force
plus discouraged workers....................................... 6.3 6.2 5.9 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
U-5 Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other
marginally attached workers, as a percent of the civilian
labor force plus all marginally attached workers............... 7.2 7.0 6.8 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
U-6 Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus
total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of
the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.. 10.7 10.4 10.0 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
1 Not available.
NOTE: This range of alternative measures of labor underutilization replaces the U1-U7 range published in table A-7
of this release prior to 1994. Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking
for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past.
Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not currently
looking for a job. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time
work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule. For further information, see "BLS introduces new range of
alternative unemployment measures," in the October 1995 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. Beginning in January 1997,
data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-8. Unemployed persons by sex and age, seasonally adjusted
Number of
unemployed persons Unemployment rates(1)
(in thousands)
Age and sex
Feb. Jan. Feb. Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1997 1997 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997 1997
Total, 16 years and over.......................... 7,364 7,268 7,205 5.5 5.2 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.3
16 to 24 years.................................. 2,612 2,625 2,583 12.3 11.7 11.9 11.9 12.2 12.0
16 to 19 years................................ 1,319 1,354 1,408 17.0 16.3 16.8 16.5 17.0 17.5
16 to 17 years.............................. 640 567 655 19.9 18.0 17.0 19.3 17.7 19.7
18 to 19 years.............................. 643 787 712 14.3 15.3 17.0 14.7 16.6 15.2
20 to 24 years................................ 1,293 1,270 1,175 9.6 8.9 9.0 9.1 9.4 8.7
25 years and over............................... 4,767 4,590 4,638 4.3 4.0 4.1 4.1 4.0 4.1
25 to 54 years................................ 4,191 4,137 4,142 4.4 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2
55 years and over............................. 568 501 485 3.6 3.2 3.1 3.3 3.1 3.0
Men, 16 years and over.......................... 4,002 3,942 3,755 5.6 5.1 5.2 5.1 5.4 5.1
16 to 24 years................................ 1,464 1,468 1,361 13.1 12.3 12.5 12.3 12.9 12.0
16 to 19 years.............................. 730 757 746 18.0 18.1 18.4 17.4 18.4 17.9
16 to 17 years............................ 360 336 338 21.6 19.6 18.9 20.6 20.4 19.6
18 to 19 years............................ 335 418 369 14.3 17.1 19.0 15.4 17.1 15.4
20 to 24 years.............................. 734 711 615 10.3 8.9 9.2 9.3 9.8 8.6
25 years and over............................. 2,561 2,441 2,419 4.2 3.8 3.9 3.8 4.0 3.9
25 to 54 years.............................. 2,254 2,174 2,117 4.4 4.0 4.0 3.9 4.1 4.0
55 years and over........................... 305 293 299 3.5 3.0 3.1 3.4 3.2 3.3
Women, 16 years and over........................ 3,362 3,327 3,450 5.5 5.3 5.5 5.5 5.3 5.5
16 to 24 years................................ 1,148 1,157 1,222 11.5 11.0 11.3 11.4 11.4 11.9
16 to 19 years.............................. 589 598 662 15.9 14.4 15.2 15.5 15.5 16.9
16 to 17 years............................ 280 231 317 18.0 16.2 15.1 18.1 14.9 19.7
18 to 19 years............................ 308 369 343 14.4 13.4 15.0 14.0 16.2 15.0
20 to 24 years.............................. 559 559 560 8.9 8.9 8.9 8.9 8.9 8.8
25 years and over............................. 2,206 2,148 2,219 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.5 4.1 4.2
25 to 54 years.............................. 1,937 1,963 2,025 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.7 4.3 4.5
55 years and over........................... 263 208 186 3.7 3.4 3.0 3.3 2.9 2.6
1 Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force.
NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-9. Persons not in the labor force and multiple jobholders by sex, not seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
Total Men Women
Category
Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb.
1996 1997 1996 1997 1996 1997
NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE
Total not in the labor force.................................... 67,777 67,854 24,775 25,107 43,002 42,747
Persons who currently want a job.............................. 5,836 5,267 2,284 2,237 3,551 3,030
Searched for work and available to work now(1)............. 1,838 1,546 826 746 1,012 800
Reason not currently looking:
Discouragement over job prospects(2).................. 455 364 253 235 202 129
Reasons other than discouragement(3)............... 1,383 1,182 573 511 811 671
MULTIPLE JOBHOLDERS
Total multiple jobholders(4).................................... 7,861 7,869 4,150 4,092 3,711 3,777
Percent of total employed................................... 6.3 6.2 6.2 6.0 6.4 6.4
Primary job full time, secondary job part time.............. 4,415 4,392 2,612 2,577 1,803 1,815
Primary and secondary jobs both part time................... 1,730 1,722 522 497 1,207 1,225
Primary and secondary jobs both full time................... 226 218 160 146 67 72
Hours vary on primary or secondary job...................... 1,456 1,507 831 852 625 655
1 Data refer to persons who have searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available to take a job during
the reference week.
2 Includes thinks no work available, could not find work, lacks schooling or training, employer thinks too young or
old, and other types of discrimination.
3 Includes those who did not actively look for work in the prior 4 weeks for such reasons as child-care and
transportation problems, as well as a small number for which reason for nonparticipation was not determined.
4 Includes persons who work part time on their primary job and full time on their secondary job(s), not shown
separately.
NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry
(In thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted
Industry
Feb. Dec. Jan. Feb. Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1996 1997p 1997p 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997p 1997p
Total......................... 117,147 121,517 118,933 119,733 118,579 120,311 120,492 120,723 120,970 121,309
Total private.................... 97,472 101,630 99,455 99,860 99,214 100,803 100,995 101,199 101,420 101,713
Goods-producing......................... 23,607 24,280 23,767 23,813 24,254 24,284 24,319 24,356 24,389 24,498
Mining................................ 559 565 556 555 573 566 566 566 568 570
Metal mining........................ 50.0 51.6 51.4 51.5 51 52 52 52 52 53
Coal mining......................... 101.5 96.8 96.5 95.5 102 98 97 97 97 96
Oil and gas extraction.............. 307.6 310.7 307.7 306.4 313 308 308 308 309 311
Nonmetallic minerals, except fuels.. 99.6 106.1 100.1 101.3 107 108 109 109 110 110
Construction.......................... 4,823 5,424 5,065 5,091 5,349 5,464 5,491 5,520 5,535 5,644
General building contractors........ 1,137.3 1,245.1 1,191.1 1,184.6 1,218 1,233 1,241 1,250 1,259 1,269
Heavy construction, except building. 633.5 720.4 636.3 655.6 764 765 764 766 766 790
Special trade contractors........... 3,052.3 3,458.3 3,237.9 3,251.1 3,367 3,466 3,486 3,504 3,510 3,585
Manufacturing......................... 18,225 18,291 18,146 18,167 18,332 18,254 18,262 18,270 18,286 18,284
Production workers................ 12,585 12,634 12,512 12,533 12,671 12,606 12,613 12,616 12,625 12,632
Durable goods........................ 10,622 10,736 10,665 10,684 10,659 10,684 10,694 10,710 10,730 10,735
Production workers................ 7,272 7,357 7,300 7,320 7,298 7,318 7,327 7,333 7,350 7,360
Lumber and wood products............ 742.3 769.9 758.0 757.7 756 769 771 771 771 772
Furniture and fixtures.............. 501.4 505.4 502.5 503.1 502 499 501 503 503 504
Stone, clay, and glass products..... 516.1 533.2 517.2 518.8 536 538 537 539 538 540
Primary metal industries............ 708.4 705.1 703.6 703.8 708 702 703 702 704 704
Blast furnaces and basic steel
products....................... 239.0 234.8 234.3 233.6 240 234 234 233 235 234
Fabricated metal products........... 1,440.5 1,467.6 1,457.7 1,460.2 1,443 1,459 1,461 1,462 1,463 1,464
Industrial machinery and equipment.. 2,085.7 2,094.8 2,097.9 2,104.1 2,083 2,088 2,087 2,092 2,101 2,103
Computer and office equipment..... 355.6 361.6 363.1 360.4 357 360 360 361 363 362
Electronic and other electrical
equipment........................ 1,651.2 1,651.6 1,642.6 1,643.0 1,652 1,648 1,647 1,645 1,643 1,645
Electronic components and
accessories.................... 613.8 612.5 611.4 613.9 614 611 611 611 612 614
Transportation equipment............ 1,760.8 1,788.9 1,775.3 1,780.8 1,759 1,764 1,772 1,776 1,787 1,784
Motor vehicles and equipment...... 958.5 962.7 949.1 951.5 957 950 952 953 959 953
Aircraft and parts................ 446.1 473.6 476.3 479.8 446 463 468 472 476 481
Instruments and related products.... 830.4 833.5 829.1 829.2 831 833 830 834 831 830
Miscellaneous manufacturing......... 385.3 385.8 381.2 383.4 389 384 385 386 389 389
Nondurable goods..................... 7,603 7,555 7,481 7,483 7,673 7,570 7,568 7,560 7,556 7,549
Production workers................ 5,313 5,277 5,212 5,213 5,373 5,288 5,286 5,283 5,275 5,272
Food and kindred products........... 1,627.4 1,635.2 1,614.6 1,614.0 1,675 1,641 1,647 1,649 1,659 1,656
Tobacco products.................... 42.4 43.7 42.8 41.2 41 41 42 41 40 40
Textile mill products............... 641.2 627.9 624.4 624.2 644 633 628 628 629 626
Apparel and other textile products.. 867.6 820.7 802.0 802.8 873 834 829 824 813 808
Paper and allied products........... 678.3 675.1 670.7 669.1 682 674 675 674 673 673
Printing and publishing............. 1,528.3 1,534.3 1,521.8 1,522.3 1,531 1,528 1,525 1,523 1,524 1,525
Chemicals and allied products....... 1,021.8 1,014.5 1,011.1 1,012.9 1,025 1,017 1,017 1,016 1,016 1,016
Petroleum and coal products......... 136.2 135.2 132.5 132.8 140 138 139 138 136 137
Rubber and misc. plastics products.. 961.2 974.3 967.7 972.3 963 971 974 973 972 975
Leather and leather products........ 98.2 94.1 93.3 91.7 99 93 92 94 94 93
Service-producing....................... 93,540 97,237 95,166 95,920 94,325 96,027 96,173 96,367 96,581 96,811
Transportation and public utilities... 6,200 6,402 6,306 6,325 6,270 6,338 6,350 6,340 6,374 6,395
Transportation...................... 3,938 4,118 4,030 4,049 3,994 4,059 4,062 4,057 4,087 4,106
Railroad transportation........... 230.7 228.0 224.6 224.6 234 231 229 229 229 228
Local and interurban passenger
transit........................ 451.1 478.7 475.0 478.1 439 458 460 462 466 466
Trucking and warehousing.......... 1,825.5 1,901.4 1,824.4 1,830.5 1,879 1,877 1,870 1,852 1,873 1,883
Water transportation.............. 163.5 168.8 167.9 168.0 171 172 172 172 176 175
Transportation by air............. 824.0 878.6 876.3 879.7 827 859 868 878 878 884
Pipelines, except natural gas..... 14.0 13.7 13.7 13.7 14 14 14 14 14 14
Transportation services........... 429.2 449.0 448.1 454.2 430 448 449 450 451 456
Communications and public utilities. 2,262 2,284 2,276 2,276 2,276 2,279 2,288 2,283 2,287 2,289
Communications.................... 1,364.4 1,399.8 1,396.9 1,400.7 1,371 1,393 1,401 1,397 1,404 1,408
Electric, gas, and sanitary
services....................... 897.5 883.9 879.0 875.1 905 886 887 886 883 881
Wholesale trade....................... 6,470 6,659 6,609 6,625 6,529 6,643 6,651 6,655 6,662 6,683
Durable goods....................... 3,804 3,894 3,879 3,890 3,826 3,885 3,890 3,894 3,897 3,913
Nondurable goods.................... 2,666 2,765 2,730 2,735 2,703 2,758 2,761 2,761 2,765 2,770
Retail trade.......................... 20,822 22,537 21,525 21,439 21,340 21,803 21,857 21,931 21,929 21,978
Building materials and garden
supplies......................... 832.9 936.7 891.0 889.6 880 936 942 948 941 941
General merchandise stores.......... 2,577.5 3,072.7 2,762.7 2,698.5 2,674 2,765 2,770 2,781 2,735 2,789
Department stores................. 2,269.9 2,701.9 2,440.0 2,390.6 2,354 2,442 2,444 2,454 2,418 2,475
Food stores......................... 3,362.3 3,523.3 3,452.4 3,442.5 3,401 3,454 3,462 3,461 3,474 3,482
Automotive dealers and service
stations......................... 2,203.8 2,300.9 2,287.3 2,293.1 2,234 2,303 2,309 2,313 2,316 2,323
New and used car dealers.......... 1,009.2 1,040.8 1,040.5 1,044.9 1,015 1,041 1,042 1,044 1,047 1,050
Apparel and accessory stores........ 1,067.3 1,201.8 1,107.7 1,067.5 1,099 1,108 1,106 1,102 1,108 1,100
Furniture and home furnishings
stores........................... 944.1 1,057.4 1,022.1 1,006.0 949 998 1,005 1,016 1,016 1,011
Eating and drinking places.......... 7,194.2 7,504.0 7,236.9 7,295.6 7,440 7,517 7,527 7,558 7,578 7,568
Miscellaneous retail establishments. 2,639.5 2,940.4 2,765.2 2,746.2 2,663 2,722 2,736 2,752 2,761 2,764
Finance, insurance, and real estate... 6,863 7,033 7,013 7,024 6,919 7,026 7,038 7,052 7,065 7,078
Finance............................. 3,278 3,369 3,372 3,381 3,288 3,355 3,361 3,369 3,381 3,389
Depository institutions........... 2,015.7 2,035.3 2,035.0 2,029.9 2,023 2,035 2,035 2,035 2,036 2,037
Commercial banks................ 1,460.3 1,481.2 1,482.0 1,478.2 1,467 1,478 1,479 1,480 1,485 1,484
Savings institutions............ 266.2 256.3 255.2 253.3 266 260 258 257 256 255
Nondepository institutions........ 495.8 533.7 535.1 538.2 496 526 530 533 536 536
Mortgage bankers and brokers.... 222.9 241.0 242.4 244.1 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
Security and commodity brokers.... 528.7 554.6 556.6 561.5 531 549 552 555 560 564
Holding and other investment
offices........................ 237.8 245.2 245.4 251.4 238 245 244 246 249 252
Insurance........................... 2,250 2,262 2,259 2,258 2,255 2,263 2,264 2,265 2,261 2,262
Insurance carriers................ 1,544.1 1,548.3 1,546.5 1,543.4 1,547 1,551 1,550 1,551 1,549 1,547
Insurance agents, brokers, and
service........................ 705.7 714.0 712.1 714.2 708 712 714 714 712 715
Real estate......................... 1,335 1,402 1,382 1,385 1,376 1,408 1,413 1,418 1,423 1,427
Services2............................. 33,510 34,719 34,235 34,634 33,902 34,709 34,780 34,865 35,001 35,081
Agricultural services............... 507.5 574.0 531.1 533.1 602 621 628 623 635 638
Hotels and other lodging places..... 1,570.6 1,627.8 1,598.9 1,620.9 1,657 1,690 1,692 1,700 1,710 1,712
Personal services................... 1,246.2 1,167.7 1,241.0 1,273.2 1,174 1,184 1,185 1,183 1,195 1,204
Business services................... 6,875.1 7,385.8 7,197.8 7,222.7 7,026 7,292 7,285 7,326 7,391 7,406
Services to buildings............. 887.7 881.7 864.9 871.0 899 894 885 885 875 882
Personnel supply services......... 2,437.0 2,746.9 2,584.0 2,573.0 2,552 2,697 2,672 2,690 2,766 2,729
Help supply services............ 2,147.9 2,428.4 2,282.5 2,258.8 2,254 2,391 2,362 2,379 2,451 2,404
Computer and data processing
services....................... 1,148.8 1,265.1 1,275.9 1,288.8 1,148 1,239 1,251 1,262 1,275 1,288
Auto repair, services, and parking.. 1,052.4 1,122.9 1,117.2 1,133.6 1,059 1,117 1,121 1,128 1,131 1,142
Miscellaneous repair services....... 354.6 368.4 363.0 363.0 359 366 370 370 368 368
Motion pictures..................... 512.3 534.0 520.4 520.8 515 536 530 532 524 524
Amusement and recreation services... 1,326.3 1,393.5 1,344.4 1,390.0 1,505 1,534 1,545 1,559 1,570 1,566
Health services..................... 9,440.6 9,693.0 9,677.6 9,695.8 9,463 9,642 9,666 9,679 9,708 9,722
Offices and clinics of medical
doctors........................ 1,639.1 1,702.8 1,702.6 1,710.8 1,644 1,689 1,694 1,697 1,712 1,718
Nursing and personal care
facilities..................... 1,716.8 1,763.1 1,756.8 1,757.9 1,722 1,754 1,757 1,760 1,762 1,765
Hospitals......................... 3,827.8 3,879.6 3,874.8 3,882.3 3,833 3,869 3,875 3,880 3,880 3,887
Home health care services......... 647.9 666.7 663.2 661.7 653 663 668 665 667 665
Legal services...................... 921.8 940.9 939.6 944.0 927 937 941 943 943 947
Educational services................ 2,101.8 2,130.4 1,971.5 2,136.2 1,985 2,015 2,025 2,021 2,007 2,018
Social services..................... 2,372.1 2,425.2 2,410.9 2,431.2 2,372 2,416 2,420 2,416 2,424 2,431
Child day care services........... 578.2 589.0 585.5 592.7 568 580 579 575 580 581
Residential care.................. 651.2 675.5 673.4 677.0 654 673 675 676 677 680
Museums and botanical and zoological
gardens........................... 75.5 84.1 78.9 78.9 83 85 86 87 86 87
Membership organizations............ 2,115.2 2,141.4 2,115.9 2,128.6 2,137 2,151 2,152 2,153 2,152 2,151
Engineering and management services. 2,847.0 2,936.5 2,933.8 2,968.5 2,847 2,930 2,941 2,952 2,963 2,971
Engineering and architectural
services....................... 812.7 855.9 852.6 854.2 827 854 859 859 862 867
Management and public relations... 874.5 937.9 929.9 943.2 881 922 935 942 943 950
Services, nec....................... 44.0 46.2 46.2 46.5 (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Government............................ 19,675 19,887 19,478 19,873 19,365 19,508 19,497 19,524 19,550 19,596
Federal............................. 2,768 2,757 2,705 2,710 2,780 2,731 2,733 2,729 2,726 2,723
Federal, except Postal Service.... 1,916.1 1,854.5 1,838.9 1,848.1 1,926 1,878 1,873 1,870 1,861 1,859
State............................... 4,740 4,726 4,584 4,760 4,636 4,640 4,640 4,642 4,640 4,659
Education......................... 2,066.5 2,073.9 1,927.7 2,097.8 1,945 1,960 1,960 1,963 1,960 1,979
Other State government............ 2,673.4 2,652.2 2,656.4 2,662.4 2,691 2,680 2,680 2,679 2,680 2,680
Local............................... 12,167 12,404 12,189 12,403 11,949 12,137 12,124 12,153 12,184 12,214
Education......................... 6,993.7 7,143.9 6,961.3 7,159.7 6,659 6,794 6,798 6,801 6,824 6,851
Other local government............ 5,173.3 5,260.0 5,227.2 5,243.1 5,290 5,343 5,326 5,352 5,360 5,363
1 This series is not suitable for seasonal adjustment because it has very little seasonal and irregular movement.
Thus, the not seasonally adjusted series can be used for analysis of cyclical and long-term trends.
2 Includes other industries, not shown separately.
3 This series is not published seasonally adjusted because the seasonal component, which is small relative to the
trend-cycle and irregular components, cannot be separated with sufficient precision.
p = preliminary.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-2. Average weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted
Industry
Feb. Dec. Jan. Feb. Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1996 1997p 1997p 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997p 1997p
Total private.................... 34.1 34.9 33.9 34.5 34.5 34.3 34.6 34.8 34.2 35.0
Goods-producing......................... 40.7 41.8 40.4 40.7 41.1 41.0 41.1 41.3 40.8 41.3
Mining................................ 45.1 46.0 44.2 45.8 45.3 45.4 44.8 45.7 44.3 46.4
Construction.......................... 38.1 38.5 36.3 37.5 39.7 38.8 38.9 38.8 37.8 39.1
Manufacturing......................... 41.3 42.8 41.5 41.5 41.4 41.7 41.7 42.0 41.7 41.9
Overtime hours.................... 4.2 5.1 4.5 4.4 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.6 4.7
Durable goods........................ 42.1 43.6 42.2 42.4 42.2 42.4 42.4 42.7 42.4 42.7
Overtime hours.................... 4.5 5.5 4.8 4.8 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.9 5.0 5.0
Lumber and wood products............ 39.8 41.2 39.5 40.2 40.6 40.9 41.0 41.0 40.3 40.8
Furniture and fixtures.............. 38.5 41.5 39.4 39.0 39.1 39.5 39.8 40.2 39.8 39.9
Stone, clay, and glass products..... 42.4 43.1 40.9 42.0 43.5 43.3 43.2 43.4 42.3 43.5
Primary metal industries............ 44.1 45.3 44.5 44.6 44.1 44.4 44.1 44.6 44.4 44.7
Blast furnaces and basic steel
products....................... 44.6 45.1 44.7 44.5 44.9 44.6 44.7 44.6 44.8 44.6
Fabricated metal products........... 42.0 43.6 42.1 42.2 42.0 42.4 42.3 42.5 42.1 42.5
Industrial machinery and equipment.. 43.3 44.4 43.3 43.5 43.0 42.9 43.0 43.2 43.1 43.5
Electronic and other electrical
equipment........................ 41.5 42.9 41.1 41.3 41.6 41.5 41.4 41.8 41.0 41.7
Transportation equipment............ 43.3 45.5 44.7 44.3 43.1 43.9 44.1 44.5 45.1 44.4
Motor vehicles and equipment...... 44.1 46.5 45.6 45.2 43.7 44.7 44.6 45.1 46.0 45.3
Instruments and related products.... 41.8 43.1 41.6 42.0 41.8 41.7 41.8 42.1 41.5 42.3
Miscellaneous manufacturing......... 39.3 41.1 39.7 40.2 39.5 39.8 40.0 40.6 40.1 40.8
Nondurable goods..................... 40.1 41.6 40.5 40.4 40.5 40.6 40.7 41.0 40.7 40.8
Overtime hours.................... 3.8 4.5 4.0 3.9 4.0 4.1 4.1 4.3 4.2 4.2
Food and kindred products........... 40.4 42.0 40.8 40.9 41.2 41.1 41.2 41.4 41.1 41.5
Tobacco products.................... 38.8 41.9 38.9 38.9 39.8 39.9 40.6 41.6 39.1 41.1
Textile mill products............... 40.1 41.9 40.9 40.2 40.5 40.9 41.3 41.6 41.1 40.5
Apparel and other textile products.. 36.8 37.9 36.9 36.8 36.8 37.4 37.4 37.4 37.1 37.1
Paper and allied products........... 42.8 44.6 43.7 43.1 43.1 43.4 43.6 43.8 43.6 43.5
Printing and publishing............. 37.9 39.0 37.8 38.1 38.2 38.2 38.2 38.4 38.2 38.5
Chemicals and allied products....... 43.1 44.4 43.4 43.4 43.2 43.2 43.3 43.6 43.4 43.6
Petroleum and coal products......... 42.8 43.9 45.0 41.4 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Rubber and misc. plastics products.. 41.3 42.6 41.4 41.4 41.3 41.5 41.2 41.8 41.2 41.5
Leather and leather products........ 37.1 39.2 37.6 38.0 37.6 38.4 39.0 38.8 37.9 39.0
Service-producing....................... 32.4 33.1 32.2 32.9 32.7 32.6 32.8 33.0 32.4 33.3
Transportation and public utilities... 39.4 40.0 39.0 39.8 39.8 39.6 39.9 40.0 39.3 40.1
Wholesale trade....................... 38.0 38.7 37.9 38.5 38.3 38.1 38.3 38.6 38.1 38.8
Retail trade.......................... 28.2 29.3 28.0 28.8 28.8 28.7 29.0 28.9 28.7 29.5
Finance, insurance, and real estate... 35.7 36.7 35.7 36.6 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Services.............................. 32.2 32.7 32.0 32.7 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
1 Data relate to production workers in mining and manufacturing; construction workers in construction; and
nonsupervisory workers in transportation and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real
estate; and services. These groups account for approximately four-fifths of the total employees on private nonfarm
payrolls.
2 These series are not published seasonally adjusted because the seasonal component, which is small relative to the
trend-cycle and irregular components, cannot be separated with sufficient precision.
p = preliminary.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-3. Average hourly and weekly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by
industry
Average hourly earnings Average weekly earnings
Industry
Feb. Dec. Jan. Feb. Feb. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1996 1997p 1997p 1996 1996 1997p 1997p
Total private.................... $11.69 $12.06 $12.11 $12.13 $398.63 $420.89 $410.53 $418.49
Seasonally adjusted............. 11.65 12.04 12.06 12.09 401.93 418.99 412.45 423.15
Goods-producing......................... 13.18 13.72 13.68 13.66 536.43 573.50 552.67 555.96
Mining................................ 15.62 15.94 16.12 15.98 704.46 733.24 712.50 731.88
Construction.......................... 15.14 15.63 15.71 15.63 576.83 601.76 570.27 586.13
Manufacturing......................... 12.57 13.07 13.04 13.02 519.14 559.40 541.16 540.33
Durable goods........................ 13.13 13.64 13.61 13.59 552.77 594.70 574.34 576.22
Lumber and wood products............ 10.23 10.61 10.57 10.59 407.15 437.13 417.52 425.72
Furniture and fixtures.............. 9.95 10.42 10.39 10.34 383.08 432.43 409.37 403.26
Stone, clay, and glass products..... 12.56 12.93 13.00 13.06 532.54 557.28 531.70 548.52
Primary metal industries............ 14.71 15.16 15.13 15.08 648.71 686.75 673.29 672.57
Blast furnaces and basic steel
products....................... 17.50 17.97 17.75 17.78 780.50 810.45 793.43 791.21
Fabricated metal products........... 12.29 12.76 12.73 12.73 516.18 556.34 535.93 537.21
Industrial machinery and equipment.. 13.40 13.98 13.91 13.89 580.22 620.71 602.30 604.22
Electronic and other electrical
equipment........................ 11.87 12.53 12.48 12.44 492.61 537.54 512.93 513.77
Transportation equipment............ 16.99 17.61 17.47 17.44 735.67 801.26 780.91 772.59
Motor vehicles and equipment...... 17.54 18.20 18.06 18.00 773.51 846.30 823.54 813.60
Instruments and related products.... 12.94 13.39 13.38 13.37 540.89 577.11 556.61 561.54
Miscellaneous manufacturing......... 10.26 10.60 10.60 10.60 403.22 435.66 420.82 426.12
Nondurable goods..................... 11.80 12.24 12.21 12.20 473.18 509.18 494.51 492.88
Food and kindred products........... 11.05 11.47 11.41 11.33 446.42 481.74 465.53 463.40
Tobacco products.................... 18.32 18.94 18.89 19.10 710.82 793.59 734.82 742.99
Textile mill products............... 9.54 9.91 9.93 9.89 382.55 415.23 406.14 397.58
Apparel and other textile products.. 7.81 8.14 8.09 8.16 287.41 308.51 298.52 300.29
Paper and allied products........... 14.43 14.95 14.87 14.84 617.60 666.77 649.82 639.60
Printing and publishing............. 12.48 12.90 12.87 12.89 472.99 503.10 486.49 491.11
Chemicals and allied products....... 15.98 16.48 16.41 16.50 688.74 731.71 712.19 716.10
Petroleum and coal products......... 19.53 20.25 20.03 20.04 835.88 888.98 901.35 829.66
Rubber and misc. plastics products.. 11.14 11.50 11.49 11.45 460.08 489.90 475.69 474.03
Leather and leather products........ 8.42 8.83 8.84 8.87 312.38 346.14 332.38 337.06
Service-producing....................... 11.20 11.51 11.61 11.64 362.88 380.98 373.84 382.96
Transportation and public utilities... $14.45 $14.66 $14.79 $14.67 $569.33 $586.40 $576.81 $583.87
Wholesale trade....................... 12.66 13.17 13.15 13.24 481.08 509.68 498.39 509.74
Retail trade.......................... 7.87 8.15 8.23 8.23 221.93 238.80 230.44 237.02
Finance, insurance, and real estate... 12.71 13.03 13.01 13.18 453.75 478.20 464.46 482.39
Services.............................. 11.72 12.17 12.19 12.23 377.38 397.96 390.08 399.92
1 See footnote 1, table B-2.
p = preliminary.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-4. Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm
payrolls by industry, seasonally adjusted
Percent
Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. change
Industry 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997p 1997p from:
Jan. 1997-
Feb. 1997
Total private:
Current dollars.............. $11.65 $11.90 $11.99 $12.04 $12.06 $12.09 0.2
Constant (1982) dollars2..... 7.41 7.41 7.45 7.46 7.46 N.A. (3)
Goods-producing............... 13.26 13.57 13.62 13.69 13.73 13.75 .1
Mining...................... 15.49 15.65 15.76 15.90 15.97 15.88 -.6
Construction................ 15.23 15.55 15.55 15.66 15.73 15.74 .1
Manufacturing............... 12.56 12.88 12.94 12.99 13.03 13.02 -.1
Excluding overtime4....... 11.93 12.21 12.27 12.30 12.34 12.32 -.2
Service-producing............. 11.11 11.35 11.45 11.50 11.50 11.54 .3
Transportation and public
utilities................ 14.43 14.50 14.59 14.61 14.79 14.63 -1.1
Wholesale trade............. 12.63 12.91 13.05 13.16 13.08 13.21 1.0
Retail trade................ 7.85 8.09 8.13 8.16 8.18 8.20 .2
Finance, insurance, and real
estate................... 12.60 12.86 13.02 13.01 12.96 13.10 1.1
Services.................... 11.62 11.90 12.02 12.07 12.05 12.13 .7
1 See footnote 1, table B-2.
2 The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) is used to
deflate this series.
3 Change was .0 percent from December 1996 to January 1997, the latest month available.
4 Derived by assuming that overtime hours are paid at the rate of time and one-half.
N.A. = not available.
p = preliminary.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-5. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by
industry
(1982=100)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted
Industry
Feb. Dec. Jan. Feb. Feb. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
1996 1996 1997p 1997p 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997p 1997p
Total private.................... 131.3 140.5 133.1 136.2 135.5 137.1 138.2 139.3 137.1 140.8
Goods-producing......................... 105.6 112.5 105.6 106.8 110.8 110.5 110.9 111.6 110.4 112.6
Mining................................ 52.9 55.5 52.4 54.2 54.9 54.7 53.9 55.1 54.0 56.8
Construction.......................... 126.3 146.7 126.6 131.5 150.5 149.0 150.5 151.3 147.9 156.8
Manufacturing......................... 104.7 109.0 104.7 105.0 105.9 105.9 106.1 106.8 106.1 106.8
Durable goods........................ 106.7 112.0 107.6 108.2 107.4 108.2 108.4 109.3 108.8 109.7
Lumber and wood products............ 127.8 138.2 130.1 132.0 133.1 137.1 137.9 137.7 135.3 137.2
Furniture and fixtures.............. 120.1 130.5 123.4 122.2 121.7 122.6 123.9 125.4 124.5 125.4
Stone, clay, and glass products..... 102.2 108.3 98.8 102.0 109.7 109.9 109.2 110.2 107.1 110.7
Primary metal industries............ 92.1 94.6 92.7 92.9 91.9 92.4 91.6 92.6 92.2 93.0
Blast furnaces and basic steel
products....................... 73.2 73.2 72.2 71.7 73.8 72.5 72.6 72.1 72.8 72.5
Fabricated metal products........... 112.6 119.6 114.6 115.1 112.9 115.5 115.4 115.9 115.0 116.3
Industrial machinery and equipment.. 104.5 107.3 104.8 105.9 103.2 102.8 103.2 104.0 104.4 105.6
Electronic and other electrical
equipment........................ 108.8 111.1 105.9 106.6 108.7 107.4 107.2 107.9 105.6 107.8
Transportation equipment............ 119.2 127.8 124.2 123.5 118.6 121.4 122.7 123.9 126.3 123.8
Motor vehicles and equipment...... 161.7 170.7 164.7 163.9 159.9 161.8 161.7 163.9 167.8 164.0
Instruments and related products.... 73.7 76.1 73.2 73.9 73.6 73.6 73.6 74.2 73.1 74.5
Miscellaneous manufacturing......... 100.6 105.0 100.3 102.5 102.2 101.1 102.0 103.9 103.8 105.6
Nondurable goods..................... 101.9 104.8 100.9 100.6 103.9 102.7 102.8 103.4 102.5 102.7
Food and kindred products........... 108.7 114.5 109.5 109.5 114.8 112.4 113.2 114.2 114.0 114.7
Tobacco products.................... 63.0 71.8 65.2 62.6 63.1 63.2 66.4 65.9 60.0 65.1
Textile mill products............... 90.5 92.8 90.1 88.6 91.7 91.3 91.3 92.1 91.0 89.5
Apparel and other textile products.. 77.0 74.7 71.2 71.1 77.5 74.8 74.3 73.9 72.5 72.2
Paper and allied products........... 107.2 111.7 108.8 107.4 108.6 108.8 109.3 109.8 109.0 109.2
Printing and publishing............. 122.4 126.3 120.6 121.4 123.4 122.8 122.8 123.2 122.2 122.9
Chemicals and allied products....... 100.9 101.4 98.9 98.9 101.3 99.2 99.4 99.8 99.1 99.8
Petroleum and coal products......... 70.4 73.0 72.9 67.9 73.6 73.4 74.8 75.5 76.3 71.2
Rubber and misc. plastics products.. 139.2 145.8 140.6 141.2 139.6 141.5 140.9 142.6 140.3 142.1
Leather and leather products........ 43.5 44.1 41.4 41.0 44.5 42.5 42.5 43.5 41.9 42.5
Service-producing....................... 142.8 153.0 145.4 149.4 146.6 149.0 150.5 151.7 149.0 153.4
Transportation and public utilities... 125.5 132.0 126.7 129.5 128.4 129.2 130.4 130.6 129.1 132.0
Wholesale trade....................... 121.7 127.5 123.7 126.1 124.0 125.4 126.3 127.2 125.7 128.4
Retail trade.......................... 126.9 143.5 130.2 133.1 133.1 135.5 137.1 137.1 136.0 140.2
Finance, insurance, and real estate... 123.2 129.8 125.8 129.4 124.4 125.0 127.6 130.6 125.6 130.6
Services.............................. 171.2 179.9 173.7 179.6 174.5 178.2 179.4 181.5 177.6 182.9
1 See footnote 1, table B-2.
p = preliminary.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-6. Diffusion indexes of employment change, seasonally adjusted
(Percent)
Time span Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Private nonfarm payrolls, 356 industries1
Over 1-month span:
1993.............. 60.0 60.8 51.3 58.6 61.7 55.2 57.7 57.0 61.8 59.7 61.8 59.6
1994.............. 58.8 62.1 66.0 64.2 60.3 63.5 61.5 62.1 60.8 61.5 63.1 63.9
1995.............. 63.2 59.3 54.9 54.6 51.4 55.1 54.1 57.4 51.8 54.8 56.3 59.4
1996.............. 52.4 63.2 60.0 52.4 62.2 57.4 55.8 57.3 52.7 63.1 57.2 59.0
1997.............. p58.8 p55.9
Over 3-month span:
1993.............. 63.8 61.2 61.1 59.8 63.1 62.9 59.7 63.1 64.5 67.1 64.6 63.5
1994.............. 67.1 69.5 70.4 68.7 66.4 66.0 68.5 69.5 65.3 65.6 68.0 67.8
1995.............. 66.6 63.2 56.9 53.4 54.2 52.9 56.6 53.8 54.2 54.6 58.3 57.0
1996.............. 60.7 61.8 61.2 60.0 61.0 63.6 60.3 56.7 60.8 60.0 64.6 p62.9
1997.............. p64.5
Over 6-month span:
1993.............. 63.3 65.2 63.8 64.2 62.4 65.9 65.7 63.9 66.3 67.3 70.6 69.5
1994.............. 70.8 71.6 69.0 69.8 69.5 69.5 69.2 69.0 69.2 68.5 69.1 66.6
1995.............. 66.3 60.8 58.7 54.4 53.5 54.1 53.1 56.3 55.9 54.1 56.2 61.8
1996.............. 60.3 62.9 63.8 63.8 62.6 59.0 65.2 62.6 61.8 p63.8 p64.6
1997..............
Over 12-month span:
1993.............. 64.9 63.9 64.0 65.4 67.0 67.6 67.6 67.0 70.2 69.5 69.2 70.1
1994.............. 70.2 71.6 71.8 71.8 72.1 71.8 71.5 72.1 70.1 69.4 65.7 65.0
1995.............. 62.6 60.8 60.1 61.2 58.1 57.7 54.5 58.7 58.6 57.3 59.4 59.8
1996.............. 61.0 61.7 61.5 61.1 62.8 64.3 p64.0 p64.0
1997..............
Manufacturing payrolls, 139 industries1
Over 1-month span:
1993.............. 52.5 56.5 50.7 45.7 54.0 45.7 49.3 49.3 59.4 53.2 53.6 55.0
1994.............. 56.5 60.1 59.7 58.6 53.2 57.9 57.6 53.6 55.8 54.7 57.2 59.4
1995.............. 56.8 55.0 46.0 45.3 39.2 40.3 45.0 45.0 42.4 45.3 46.4 47.5
1996.............. 42.1 48.2 48.2 39.6 53.2 49.6 43.9 50.0 44.6 54.3 48.2 52.9
1997.............. p53.2 p48.2
Over 3-month span:
1993.............. 60.8 58.3 53.2 47.8 48.9 54.0 50.4 58.3 57.6 59.7 54.7 57.6
1994.............. 63.7 64.4 66.2 60.8 56.1 56.8 60.8 58.6 54.0 56.1 60.1 60.8
1995.............. 60.4 51.8 43.5 34.9 33.1 32.0 33.1 35.6 38.8 39.6 40.6 38.8
1996.............. 38.8 39.9 37.8 43.2 45.3 47.5 45.7 40.6 50.7 47.1 51.8 p51.8
1997.............. p54.0
Over 6-month span:
1993.............. 56.5 59.0 56.8 55.4 50.7 57.9 59.4 56.5 57.6 58.6 64.4 60.8
1994.............. 62.2 64.4 60.4 61.5 59.0 56.8 56.5 57.2 60.1 55.8 59.7 55.8
1995.............. 55.4 45.0 38.5 33.5 27.7 28.8 28.8 30.6 33.5 33.1 34.2 38.8
1996.............. 32.0 37.4 37.1 38.1 42.4 37.8 48.6 43.5 45.0 p51.4 p47.8
1997..............
Over 12-month span:
1993.............. 56.8 57.9 55.8 58.6 57.2 57.6 58.6 59.0 61.2 59.7 60.1 57.6
1994.............. 57.9 58.6 60.8 60.8 60.8 63.3 59.4 60.1 57.2 55.8 49.6 47.5
1995.............. 42.1 40.3 39.9 40.6 34.5 31.7 25.9 28.8 28.1 24.1 27.0 29.1
1996.............. 33.1 33.1 33.8 35.6 37.1 41.0 p40.3 p40.6
1997..............
1 Based on seasonally adjusted data for 1-, 3-, and 6-month spans and unadjusted data for the 12-month span. Data are
centered within the span.
p = preliminary.
NOTE: Figures are the percent of industries with employment increasing plus one-half of the industries with
unchanged employment, where 50 percent indicates an equal balance between industries with increasing and decreasing
employment.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Contact: (cpsinfo@bls.gov) Division of Labor Force Statistics-BLS
Last revised: May 02, 1997
URL: http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/pub/empsit_0297.htm
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