[Economic Indicators December, 1997]
[Page Number 11]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 
EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, AND WAGES

STATUS OF THE LABOR FORCE

In November, employment rose by 671,000 and unemployment fell by 
218,000.
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                                    [Thousands of persons 16 years of age and over, except as noted; monthly data seasonally adjusted except as noted by NSA]                                   
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                                                                                                   Civilian employment                 Unemployment                         Percent \2\         
                                                                                    ------------------------------------------------------------------            ------------------------------
                                                               Civilian                                          Nonagricultural                                                                
                                                             noninstitu-   Civilian                          -----------------------             15      Not in                   Employ-  Unem-
                           Period                               tional      labor                                        Part time             weeks      labor     Labor force    ment/   ploy-
                                                              population    force      Total    Agricultural                for       Total     and       force    participation    pop-    ment
                                                                 NSA                                            Total     economic              over                    rate      ulation   rate
                                                                                                                        reasons \1\                                                ratio        
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1987.......................................................     182,753     119,865    112,440       3,208     109,232       5,122     7,425    1,983     62,888         65.6        61.5    6.2
1988.......................................................     184,613     121,669    114,968       3,169     111,800       4,965     6,701    1,610     62,944         65.9        62.3    5.5
1989.......................................................     186,393     123,869    117,342       3,199     114,142       4,657     6,528    1,375     62,523         66.5        63.0    5.3
1990 \3\...................................................     189,164     125,840    118,793       3,223     115,570       4,950     7,047    1,525     63,324         66.5        62.8    5.6
1991.......................................................     190,925     126,346    117,718       3,269     114,449       5,874     8,628    2,357     64,578         66.2        61.7    6.8
1992.......................................................     192,805     128,105    118,492       3,247     115,245       6,240     9,613    3,408     64,700         66.4        61.5    7.5
1993.......................................................     194,838     129,200    120,259       3,115     117,144       6,230     8,940    3,094     65,638         66.3        61.7    6.9
1994 \4\...................................................     196,814     131,056    123,060       3,409     119,651       4,414     7,996    2,860     65,758         66.6        62.5    6.1
1995.......................................................     198,584     132,304    124,900       3,440     121,460       4,279     7,404    2,363     66,280         66.6        62.9    5.6
1996.......................................................     200,591     133,943    126,708       3,443     123,264       4,123     7,236    2,316     66,647         66.8        63.2    5.4
                                                                                                                                                                                                
1996:Nov...................................................     201,463     134,831    127,644       3,354     124,290       3,815     7,187    2,184     66,632         66.9        63.4    5.3
      Dec..................................................     201,636     135,022    127,855       3,426     124,429       4,162     7,167    2,179     66,614         67.0        63.4    5.3
                                                                                                                                                                                                
1997:Jan \3\...............................................     202,285     135,848    128,580       3,468     125,112       4,163     7,268    2,155     66,437         67.2        63.6    5.4
      Feb..................................................     202,388     135,634    128,430       3,292     125,138       4,098     7,205    2,163     66,754         67.0        63.5    5.3
      Mar..................................................     202,513     136,319    129,175       3,386     125,789       3,937     7,144    2,064     66,194         67.3        63.8    5.2
      Apr..................................................     202,674     136,098    129,384       3,497     125,887       4,235     6,714    2,092     66,577         67.2        63.8    4.9
      May..................................................     202,832     136,173    129,639       3,430     126,209       3,806     6,534    2,071     66,659         67.1        63.9    4.8
      June.................................................     203,000     136,200    129,364       3,391     125,973       3,782     6,836    2,063     66,800         67.1        63.7    5.0
      July.................................................     203,166     136,290    129,708       3,482     126,226       3,872     6,583    2,157     66,876         67.1        63.8    4.8
      Aug..................................................     203,364     136,480    129,804       3,383     126,421       3,854     6,677    2,012     66,884         67.1        63.8    4.9
      Sept.................................................     203,570     136,467    129,715       3,450     126,265       3,728     6,752    2,127     67,102         67.0        63.7    4.9
      Oct..................................................     203,767     136,361    129,894       3,303     126,591       3,726     6,467    1,983     67,407         66.9        63.7    4.7
      Nov..................................................     203,941     136,814    130,565       3,381     127,184       3,678     6,249    1,840     67,127         67.1        64.0    4.6
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    \1\ Persons at work. Economic 
reasons include slack work, material 
shortages, inability to find 
fulltime work, etc.
    \2\ Civilian labor force (or 
employment) as percent of civilian 
noninstitutional population; and 
unemployment as percent of civilian 
labor force.
    \3\ Not strictly comparable with 
earlier data.
    \4\ Data beginning January 1994 
are not directly comparable with 
data for earlier periods because of 
a major redesign of the household 
survey questionnaire.

    Note.--Data beginning January 
1997 reflect revised population 
controls. See Employment and 
Earnings, February 1997, for 
details.
    Source: Department of Labor, 
Bureau of Labor Statistics.