[Economic Indicators May, 2002]
[Page Number 11]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 
EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, AND WAGES

STATUS OF THE LABOR FORCE

In May, employment rose by 441,000, and unemployment fell by 243,000.
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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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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 \3\...................................................     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
1997 \4\...................................................     203,133     136,297   129,558       3,399      126,159       3,879     6,739    2,062     66,837         67.1        63.8    4.9
1998 \4\...................................................     205,220     137,673   131,463       3,378      128,085       3,501     6,210    1,637     67,547         67.1        64.1    4.5
1999 \4\...................................................     207,753     139,368   133,488       3,281      130,207       3,189     5,880    1,480     68,385         67.1        64.3    4.2
2000 \4\...................................................     209,699     140,863   135,208       3,305      131,903       3,045     5,655    1,309     68,836         67.2        64.5    4.0
2001.......................................................     211,864     141,815   135,073       3,144      131,929       3,529     6,742    1,746     70,050         66.9        63.8    4.8
 
2001:May ..................................................     211,525     141,445   135,235       3,193      132,042       3,231     6,210    1,503     70,080         66.9        63.9    4.4
      June ................................................     211,725     141,468   135,003       3,044      131,959       3,556     6,465    1,571     70,257         66.8        63.8    4.6
      July ................................................     211,921     141,651   135,106       3,055      132,051       3,425     6,545    1,630     70,270         66.8        63.8    4.6
      Aug .................................................     212,135     141,380   134,408       3,126      131,282       3,246     6,972    1,798     70,755         66.6        63.4    4.9
      Sept ................................................     212,357     142,068   135,004       3,181      131,823       4,015     7,064    1,907     70,289         66.9        63.6    5.0
      Oct .................................................     212,581     142,280   134,615       3,203      131,412       4,222     7,665    2,042     70,301         66.9        63.3    5.4
      Nov .................................................     212,767     142,279   134,253       3,154      131,099       4,017     8,026    2,317     70,488         66.9        63.1    5.6
      Dec..................................................     212,927     142,314   134,055       3,246      130,809       4,119     8,259    2,410     70,613         66.8        63.0    5.8
 
2002:Jan...................................................     213,089     141,390   133,468       3,273      130,195       3,781     7,922    2,546     71,699         66.4        62.6    5.6
      Feb..................................................     213,206     142,211   134,319       3,246      131,073       3,998     7,891    2,561     70,995         66.7        63.0    5.5
      Mar..................................................     213,334     142,005   133,894       3,126      130,768       3,848     8,111    2,688     71,329         66.6        62.8    5.7
      Apr..................................................     213,492     142,570   133,976       3,154      130,823       4,009     8,594    2,854     70,922         66.8        62.8    6.0
      May..................................................     213,658     142,769   134,417       3,097      131,320       3,818     8,351    2,952     70,889         66.8        62.9    5.8
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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\ Data beginning January 1994 
are not directly comparable with 
data for earlier periods because of 
a major redesign of the household 
survey questionnaire.
    \4\ Not strictly comparable with 
earlier data.

    Note.--See Employment and 
Earnings for details on breaks in 
series.

    Source: Department of Labor, 
Bureau of Labor Statistics.