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



 
EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, AND WAGES

STATUS OF THE LABOR FORCE

In October, employment fell by 271,000, and unemployment rose by 
117,000.
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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: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
      June.................................................     213,842     142,476   134,053       3,110      130,942       3,758     8,424    3,103     71,366         66.6        62.7    5.9
      July.................................................     214,023     142,390   134,045       3,282      130,763       3,949     8,345    2,883     71,633         66.5        62.6    5.9
      Aug..................................................     214,225     142,616   134,474       3,188      131,286       4,060     8,142    2,783     71,609         66.6        62.8    5.7
      Sept.................................................     214,429     143,277   135,185       3,298      131,887       4,068     8,092    2,900     71,152         66.8        63.0    5.6
      Oct..................................................     214,643     143,123   134,914       3,525      131,389       4,148     8,209    2,980     71,519         66.7        62.9    5.7
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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.