Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, D.C. 20212 

Technical information: 

 Household data: (202) 691-6378 USDL 09-0004 

 http://www.bls.gov/cps/ 

 Establishment data: (202) 691-6555 Transmission of material in this release 

 http://www.bls.gov/ces/ is embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EST), 

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Friday, January 9, 2009. 

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: DECEMBER 2008 

Nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply in December, and the unemployment rate rose from 

6.8 to 7.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment fell by 524,000 over the month and by 1.9 million over the last 4 months of 2008. In 

December, job losses were large and widespread across most major industry sectors. 

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

In December, the number of unemployed persons increased by 632,000 to 11.1 million and the unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of 

Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data

Seasonally adjusted household survey data have been revised using updated seasonal 

adjustment factors, a procedure done at the end of each calendar year. Seasonally adjusted 

estimates back to January 2004 were subject to revision. The unemployment rates for JanuaryNovember 2008 (as originally published and as revised) appear on page 5, along with 

additional information about the revisions. 

News United States 

Department 

of Labor 

Chart 1. Unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted,

January 2006 – December 2008

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

8.0

Percent Millions

Chart 2. Nonfarm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, 

January 2006 – December 2008

2006 2007 2008

128.0

130.0

132.0

134.0

136.0

138.0

140.0

2006 2007 2008
2

Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted

(Numbers in thousands)

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Civilian labor force ............................... 154,650 154,648 154,878 154,620 154,447 -173

Employment ..................................... 145,299 144,046 144,657 144,144 143,338 -806

Unemployment .................................. 9,350 10,602 10,221 10,476 11,108 632

Not in labor force .................................. 79,460 80,177 79,734 80,208 80,588 380

All workers ......................................... 6.0 6.9 6.6 6.8 7.2 0.4

Adult men ........................................ 5.8 6.8 6.4 6.7 7.2 .5

Adult women ..................................... 5.0 5.6 5.4 5.6 5.9 .3

Teenagers ........................................ 19.7 20.7 20.7 20.4 20.8 .4

White ............................................ 5.4 6.3 6.0 6.2 6.6 .4

Black or African American 

................... 10.7 11.5 11.3 11.3 11.9 .6

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ................. 7.8 8.9 8.8 8.6 9.2 .6

ESTABLISHMENT DATA 

Nonfarm employment ............................ 137,331 p 136,033 136,597 p 136,013 p 135,489 p -524

Goods-producing 1.............................. 21,351 p 20,844 21,049 p 20,867 p 20,616 p -251

Construction .................................... 7,141 p 6,929 7,019 p 6,934 p 6,833 p -101

Manufacturing ............................... 13,423 p 13,115 13,234 p 13,130 p 12,981 p -149

Service-providing 1 ............................. 115,980 p 115,189 115,548 p 115,146 p 114,873 p -273

 Retail trade 2 ................................. 15,259 p 15,043 15,132 p 15,032 p 14,966 p -67

Professional and business service ........... 17,849 p 17,574 17,708 p 17,563 p 17,450 p -113

Education and health services ............... 18,975 p 19,058 19,012 p 19,059 p 19,104 p 45

Leisure and hospitality ...................... 13,627 p 13,505 13,557 p 13,490 p 13,468 p -22

Government .................................... 22,504 p 22,510 22,510 p 22,507 p 22,514 p 7

Total private ....................................... 33.7 p 33.4 33.5 p 33.5 p 33.3 p -0.2

Manufacturing .................................. 40.8 p 40.2 40.4 p 40.3 p 39.9 p -.4

 Overtime ....................................... 3.7 p 3.3 3.5 p 3.3 p 3.0 p -.3

Total private ........................................ 106.6 p 104.5 105.3 p 104.7 p 103.5 p -1.2

Average hourly earnings, total private ......... $18.12 p $18.30 $18.23 p $18.31 p $18.36 p $0.05

Average weekly earnings, total private ....... 610.15 p 611.83 610.71 p 613.39 p 611.39 p -2.00

 NOTE: Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised. See note on page 5. 

III 2008 IV 2008 Oct. 2008 Nov. 2008 Dec. 2008

p = preliminary.

Nov.-Dec. 

change

Hours of work 3

1

 Includes other industries, not shown separately.

2

 Quarterly averages and the over-the-month change are calculated using unrounded data.

3

 Data relate to private production and nonsupervisory workers.

Category

Quarterly averages Monthly data

Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100) 3

Earnings 3

 Employment

Labor force status

Unemployment rates 
3

unemployed persons has grown by 3.6 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 2.3 percentage 

points. (See table A-1.) 

The unemployment rates for adult men (7.2 percent), adult women (5.9 percent), and whites (6.6 

percent) increased in December. The jobless rates for teenagers (20.8 percent), blacks (11.9 percent), 

and Hispanics (9.2 percent) were little changed over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 

5.1 percent in December, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.) 

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs rose 

by 315,000 to 6.5 million in December. Over the past 12 months, the size of this group has increased by 

2.7 million. (See table A-8.) The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or 

more) rose to 2.6 million in December and was up by 1.3 million in 2008. (See table A-9.) 

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force (154.4 million) and the labor force participation rate (65.7 percent) were 

little changed in December. The employment-population ratio fell by 0.4 percentage point to 61.0 

percent over the month and by 1.7 percentage points in 2008. (See table A-1.) 

In December, the number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons (sometimes 

referred to as involuntary part-time workers) continued to increase, reaching 8.0 million. The number of 

such workers rose by 3.4 million over the past 12 months. This category includes persons who would 

like to work full time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they 

were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-5.) 

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.9 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in 

December, 564,000 more than 12 months earlier. These individuals wanted and were available for work 

and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed 

because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally 

attached, there were 642,000 discouraged workers in December, up by 279,000 from a year earlier. 

Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work specifically because they believe no 

jobs are available for them. The other 1.3 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in 

December had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school 

attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.) 

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply (-524,000) in December. Over the past 4 

months, payroll employment has fallen by 1.9 million, or 1.4 percent. In December, large job losses 

continued in manufacturing, construction, and employment services, while health care continued to add 

jobs. (See table B-1.) 

Manufacturing employment fell by 149,000 in December, the largest over-the-month decline since 

August 2001. Factory job losses totaled 791,000 in 2008, with nearly half of the decrease occurring in 

the fourth quarter. In December, declines were widespread among the component industries. The 

largest job losses occurred in fabricated metal products (-28,000) and motor vehicles and parts 

(-21,000). 
4

Employment in construction continued to decline (-101,000) in December and has fallen by 899,000 

since peaking in September 2006. Over the month, job losses occurred throughout the industry. 

Within professional and business services, the temporary help industry lost 81,000 jobs in 

December, bringing job losses in 2008 to 490,000. In December, employment also fell in the 

management of companies and enterprises (-8,000) and in architectural and engineering services 

(-7,000). 

Employment in retail trade declined by 67,000 in December and by 522,000 for all of 2008. More 

than half of the losses in 2008 occurred in the last 4 months of the year. In December, employment 

decreased in automobile dealerships (-22,000), furniture and home furnishing stores (-8,000), and 

electronics and appliance stores (-5,000). Wholesale trade employment fell by 30,000 over the month 

and by 164,000 in 2008. 

Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, employment in transportation and warehousing declined 

by 24,000 in December, with losses in truck transportation (-16,000) and air transportation (-4,000). 

The information industry lost 20,000 jobs over the month. Food services employment continued to 

trend downward (-20,000) and has decreased by 104,000 since its recent peak in June 2008. 

Employment in financial activities edged down in December and fell by 148,000 in 2008. 

Health care employment continued to grow in December (32,000), with over-the-month job gains in 

ambulatory services (14,000) and hospitals (12,000). In 2008, health care added 372,000 jobs. 

The change in total nonfarm employment for October was revised from -320,000 to -423,000, and 

the change for November was revised from -533,000 to -584,000. Monthly revisions result from 

additional sample reports and the monthly recalculation of seasonal factors. 

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

In December, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm 

payrolls fell by 0.2 hour to 33.3 hours, seasonally adjusted—the lowest level on record for the series, 

which began in 1964. The manufacturing workweek, at 39.9 hours, declined by 0.4 hour over the 

month, and factory overtime, at 3.0 hours, declined by 0.3 hour. (See table B-2.) 

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm 

payrolls fell by 1.1 percent in December and 4.0 percent since peaking in December 2007. The manufacturing index declined by 2.4 percent over the month. (See table B-5.) 

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

In December, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private 

nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, seasonally adjusted. This followed gains of 8 cents in 
5

November and 6 cents in October. For all of 2008, average hourly earnings increased by 3.7 percent and 

average weekly earnings rose by 2.2 percent. (See table B-3.) 

______________________________ 

The Employment Situation for January 2009 is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 6, at 

8:30 A.M. (EST). 

Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data

At the end of each calendar year, BLS routinely updates the seasonal adjustment factors for the 

labor force series derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS), or household survey. As a result 

of this process, seasonally adjusted data for January 2004–November 2008 were subject to revision. 

Table B shows the unemployment rates for January to November 2008, as first published and as 

revised. The rates were unchanged in 5 of the 11 months and changed by one-tenth of a percentage 

point in the remaining 6 months. Revised seasonally adjusted data for other major labor force series 

beginning in December 2007 appear in table C. 

An article describing the seasonal adjustment methodology for the household survey data and 

revised data for January 2008–November 2008 is available at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsrs2009.pdf. 

Historical data for the household series contained in the A tables of this release can be accessed at 

http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsatabs.htm. Revised historical seasonally adjusted monthly and quarterly data 

for additional series are available on the Internet at ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/. 

Table B. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates and changes due to revision,

January–November 2008

2008

January ....................................... 4.9 4.9 0.0

February ..................................... 4.8 4.8 .0

March ......................................... 5.1 5.1 .0

April ........................................... 5.0 5.0 .0

May ............................................ 5.5 5.5 .0

June ............................................ 5.5 5.6 .1

July ............................................ 5.7 5.8 .1

August ........................................ 6.1 6.2 .1

September .................................. 6.1 6.2 .1

October ...................................... 6.5 6.6 .1

November .................................. 6.7 6.8 .1

Year and month As revised Change As first

published 
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table C. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age, seasonally adjusted

Employment status, sex, and age

2007 2008

Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

TOTAL

Civilian noninstitutional population1 ...................... 233,156 232,616 232,809 232,995 233,198 233,405 233,627 233,864 234,107 234,360 234,612 234,828 235,035

 Civilian labor force .............................................. 153,836 153,873 153,498 153,843 153,932 154,510 154,400 154,506 154,823 154,621 154,878 154,620 154,447

 Participation rate ........................................... 66.0 66.1 65.9 66.0 66.0 66.2 66.1 66.1 66.1 66.0 66.0 65.8 65.7

 Employed .......................................................... 146,294 146,317 146,075 146,023 146,257 145,974 145,738 145,596 145,273 145,029 144,657 144,144 143,338

 Employment-population ratio ........................ 62.7 62.9 62.7 62.7 62.7 62.5 62.4 62.3 62.1 61.9 61.7 61.4 61.0

 Unemployed ..................................................... 7,541 7,555 7,423 7,820 7,675 8,536 8,662 8,910 9,550 9,592 10,221 10,476 11,108

 Unemployment rate ...................................... 4.9 4.9 4.8 5.1 5.0 5.5 5.6 5.8 6.2 6.2 6.6 6.8 7.2

Men, 20 years and over

Civilian noninstitutional population1 ...................... 104,197 103,866 103,961 104,052 104,152 104,258 104,371 104,490 104,613 104,741 104,869 104,978 105,083

 Civilian labor force .............................................. 78,943 78,907 78,806 78,866 78,820 78,913 79,055 79,286 79,308 79,392 79,380 79,335 78,998

 Participation rate ........................................... 75.8 76.0 75.8 75.8 75.7 75.7 75.7 75.9 75.8 75.8 75.7 75.6 75.2

 Employed .......................................................... 75,496 75,474 75,395 75,216 75,147 74,992 74,949 74,973 74,737 74,503 74,292 74,045 73,285

 Employment-population ratio ........................ 72.5 72.7 72.5 72.3 72.2 71.9 71.8 71.8 71.4 71.1 70.8 70.5 69.7

 Unemployed ..................................................... 3,446 3,433 3,412 3,650 3,673 3,921 4,106 4,313 4,572 4,889 5,088 5,290 5,714

 Unemployment rate ...................................... 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.6 4.7 5.0 5.2 5.4 5.8 6.2 6.4 6.7 7.2

Women, 20 years and over

Civilian noninstitutional population1 ...................... 111,903 111,739 111,822 111,902 111,990 112,083 112,183 112,290 112,401 112,518 112,633 112,731 112,825

 Civilian labor force .............................................. 67,888 67,982 67,879 68,174 68,118 68,367 68,421 68,273 68,666 68,385 68,700 68,753 68,891

 Participation rate ........................................... 60.7 60.8 60.7 60.9 60.8 61.0 61.0 60.8 61.1 60.8 61.0 61.0 61.1

 Employed .......................................................... 64,976 65,101 64,993 65,079 65,196 65,114 65,169 65,103 65,003 65,008 64,975 64,902 64,860

 Employment-population ratio ........................ 58.1 58.3 58.1 58.2 58.2 58.1 58.1 58.0 57.8 57.8 57.7 57.6 57.5

 Unemployed ..................................................... 2,912 2,881 2,886 3,095 2,923 3,252 3,252 3,170 3,662 3,377 3,725 3,851 4,031

 Unemployment rate ...................................... 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.5 4.3 4.8 4.8 4.6 5.3 4.9 5.4 5.6 5.9

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years

Civilian noninstitutional population1 ...................... 17,056 17,012 17,027 17,041 17,056 17,064 17,073 17,084 17,092 17,101 17,110 17,118 17,126

 Civilian labor force .............................................. 7,005 6,984 6,813 6,803 6,993 7,231 6,924 6,947 6,849 6,844 6,799 6,531 6,557

 Participation rate ........................................... 41.1 41.1 40.0 39.9 41.0 42.4 40.6 40.7 40.1 40.0 39.7 38.2 38.3

 Employed .......................................................... 5,822 5,742 5,688 5,729 5,914 5,868 5,620 5,520 5,533 5,518 5,390 5,196 5,194

 Employment-population ratio ........................ 34.1 33.8 33.4 33.6 34.7 34.4 32.9 32.3 32.4 32.3 31.5 30.4 30.3

 Unemployed ..................................................... 1,183 1,241 1,125 1,075 1,079 1,363 1,304 1,427 1,316 1,326 1,408 1,335 1,363

 Unemployment rate ...................................... 16.9 17.8 16.5 15.8 15.4 18.9 18.8 20.5 19.2 19.4 20.7 20.4 20.8

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation.

 NOTE: Seasonally adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.

6
 7

Changes to Household Data Table A-13 

Effective with this release, the wording was changed in one of the categories in table 

A-13. "Searched for work and available to work now," was changed to "Marginally attached 

to the labor force." This is strictly a change in title, and not in definition; the data shown are 

not affected. This change is being made to correspond with the text in the release. 

 

Revisions in the Establishment Survey Data 

With the release of January 2009 data on February 6, 2009, the Current Employment 

Statistics survey will introduce revisions to the nonfarm payroll employment, hours, and 

earnings data to reflect the annual benchmark adjustments for March 2008 and updated 

seasonal adjustment factors. Not seasonally adjusted data beginning with April 2007 and 

seasonally adjusted data beginning with January 2004 are subject to revision. 

Planned Changes in the Household Survey 

Effective with the release of data for January 2009, revisions will be introduced into the 

population controls for the household survey. These changes reflect the routine annual updating of intercensal population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. 

In addition, the Current Population Survey (household data) will change its industry classification from the 2002 Census Industry Classification to an updated version derived from the 

2007 North American Industry Classification System. Several industry titles will be updated. 

In addition, the new classification reflects minor definitional changes within the information 

sector. Historical data will not be revised. 
 8

Frequently Asked Questions about Employment and Unemployment Estimates 

Why are there two monthly measures of employment? 

The household survey and establishment survey both produce sample-based estimates of employment and both have strengths and limitations. The establishment survey employment series has a 

smaller margin of error on the measurement of month-to-month change than the household survey 

because of its much larger sample size. An over-the-month employment change of 104,000 is statistically significant in the establishment survey, while the threshold for a statistically significant change in 

the household survey is about 400,000. However, the household survey has a more expansive scope 

than the establishment survey because it includes the self-employed, unpaid family workers, agricultural workers, and private household workers, who are excluded by the establishment survey. The 

household survey also provides estimates of employment for demographic groups. 

Are undocumented immigrants counted in the surveys? 

Neither the establishment nor household survey is designed to identify the legal status of workers. 

Thus, while it is likely that both surveys include at least some undocumented immigrants, it is not 

possible to determine how many are counted in either survey. The household survey does include 

questions about whether respondents were born outside the United States. Data from these questions 

show that foreign-born workers accounted for 15.7 percent of the labor force in 2007 and 47.7 percent 

of the net increase in the labor force from 2000 to 2007. 

Why does the establishment survey have revisions? 

The establishment survey revises published estimates to improve its data series by incorporating 

additional information that was not available at the time of the initial publication of the estimates. 

The establishment survey revises its initial monthly estimates twice, in the immediately succeeding 

2 months, to incorporate additional sample receipts from respondents in the survey and recalculated 

seasonal adjustment factors. For more information on the monthly revisions, please visit 

http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesrevinfo.htm. 

On an annual basis, the establishment survey incorporates a benchmark revision that re-anchors 

estimates to nearly complete employment counts available from unemployment insurance tax records. 

The benchmark helps to control for sampling and modeling errors in the estimates. For more information on the annual benchmark revision, please visit http://www.bls.gov/web/cesbmart.htm. 

Does the establishment survey sample include small firms? 

Yes; about 40 percent of the establishment survey sample is comprised of business establishments 

with fewer than 20 employees. The establishment survey sample is designed to maximize the reliability 

of the total nonfarm employment estimate; firms from all size classes and industries are appropriately 

sampled to achieve that goal. 

Does the establishment survey account for employment from new businesses? 

Yes; monthly establishment survey estimates include an adjustment to account for the net employment change generated by business births and deaths. The adjustment comes from an econometric 

model that forecasts the monthly net jobs impact of business births and deaths based on the actual past 
 9

values of the net impact that can be observed with a lag from the Quarterly Census of Employment and 

Wages. The establishment survey uses modeling rather than sampling for this purpose because the survey is not immediately able to bring new businesses into the sample. There is an unavoidable lag between the birth of a new firm and its appearance on the sampling frame and availability for selection. 

BLS adds new businesses to the survey twice a year. 

Is the count of unemployed persons limited to just those people receiving unemployment insurance 

benefits? 

No; the estimate of unemployment is based on a monthly sample survey of households. All persons 

who are without jobs and are actively seeking and available to work are included among the unemployed. 

(People on temporary layoff are included even if they do not actively seek work.) There is no requirement or question relating to unemployment insurance benefits in the monthly survey. 

Does the official unemployment rate exclude people who have stopped looking for work? 

Yes; however, there are separate estimates of persons outside the labor force who want a job, 

including those who have stopped looking because they believe no jobs are available (discouraged 

workers). In addition, alternative measures of labor underutilization (discouraged workers and other 

groups not officially counted as unemployed) are published each month in the Employment Situation 

news release. 
Technical 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 60,000 households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau 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. The sample includes about 160,000 businesses

and government agencies covering approximately 400,000 individual

worksites. The active sample includes about one-third of all nonfarm

payroll workers. The sample is drawn from a sampling frame of

unemployment insurance tax accounts.

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 employmentpopulation 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-providing sector.

Industries are classified on the basis of their principal activity in

accordance with the 2007 version of the North American Industry

Classification System.

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.

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 monthto-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.

Most seasonally adjusted series are independently adjusted in both

the household and establishment surveys. However, the ad-
justed series for many major estimates, such as total payroll employment, employment in most supersectors, 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 agesex 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.

For both the household and establishment surveys, a concurrent

seasonal adjustment methodology is used in which new seasonal

factors are calculated each month, using all relevant data, up to and

including the data for the current month. In the household survey, new

seasonal factors are used to adjust only the current month’s data. In

the establishment survey, however, new seasonal factors are used each

month to adjust the three most recent monthly estimates. 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 430,000. 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 -330,000 to 530,000

(100,000 +/- 430,000). 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. At an unemployment

rate of around 5.5 percent, the 90-percent confidence interval for the

monthly change in unemployment is about +/- 280,000, and for the

monthly change in the unemployment rate it is about +/- .19 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 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, an estimation procedure with two components

is used to account for business births. The first component uses business

deaths to impute employment for business births. This is incorporated

into the sample-based link relative estimate procedure by simply not

reflecting sample units going out of business, but imputing to them the

same trend as the other firms in the sample. The second component is

an ARIMA time series model designed to estimate the residual net birth/

death employment not accounted for by the imputation. The historical

time series used to create and test the ARIMA model was derived from

the unemployment insurance universe micro-level database, and reflects

the actual residual net of births and deaths over the past five years.

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 samplebased 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

less than 0.1 percent to 0.6 percent.

Other information

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; TDD

message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age

(Numbers in thousands)

Employment status, sex, and age

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted 1

Dec.

2007

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Aug.

2008

Sept.

2008

Oct.

2008

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

TOTAL

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................. 233,156 234,828 235,035 233,156 234,107 234,360 234,612 234,828 235,035

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 153,705 154,624 154,349 153,836 154,823 154,621 154,878 154,620 154,447

 Participation rate ..................................................... 65.9 65.8 65.7 66.0 66.1 66.0 66.0 65.8 65.7

 Employed .................................................................... 146,334 144,609 143,350 146,294 145,273 145,029 144,657 144,144 143,338

 Employment-population ratio .................................. 62.8 61.6 61.0 62.7 62.1 61.9 61.7 61.4 61.0

 Unemployed ............................................................... 7,371 10,015 10,999 7,541 9,550 9,592 10,221 10,476 11,108

 Unemployment rate ................................................ 4.8 6.5 7.1 4.9 6.2 6.2 6.6 6.8 7.2

 Not in labor force .......................................................... 79,451 80,204 80,686 79,320 79,284 79,739 79,734 80,208 80,588

 Persons who currently want a job ............................... 4,398 5,077 5,180 4,666 4,836 5,140 5,065 5,393 5,488

Men, 16 years and over

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................. 112,852 113,660 113,769 112,852 113,281 113,414 113,546 113,660 113,769

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 82,171 82,415 82,226 82,398 82,790 82,885 82,892 82,666 82,338

 Participation rate ..................................................... 72.8 72.5 72.3 73.0 73.1 73.1 73.0 72.7 72.4

 Employed .................................................................... 77,970 76,690 75,548 78,275 77,484 77,249 76,938 76,577 75,847

 Employment-population ratio .................................. 69.1 67.5 66.4 69.4 68.4 68.1 67.8 67.4 66.7

 Unemployed ............................................................... 4,201 5,725 6,678 4,123 5,306 5,636 5,954 6,089 6,491

 Unemployment rate ................................................ 5.1 6.9 8.1 5.0 6.4 6.8 7.2 7.4 7.9

 Not in labor force .......................................................... 30,680 31,245 31,543 30,453 30,491 30,529 30,654 30,994 31,431

Men, 20 years and over

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................. 104,197 104,978 105,083 104,197 104,613 104,741 104,869 104,978 105,083

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 78,893 79,243 79,071 78,943 79,308 79,392 79,380 79,335 78,998

 Participation rate ..................................................... 75.7 75.5 75.2 75.8 75.8 75.8 75.7 75.6 75.2

 Employed .................................................................... 75,296 74,283 73,088 75,496 74,737 74,503 74,292 74,045 73,285

 Employment-population ratio .................................. 72.3 70.8 69.6 72.5 71.4 71.1 70.8 70.5 69.7

 Unemployed ............................................................... 3,597 4,960 5,984 3,446 4,572 4,889 5,088 5,290 5,714

 Unemployment rate ................................................ 4.6 6.3 7.6 4.4 5.8 6.2 6.4 6.7 7.2

 Not in labor force .......................................................... 25,305 25,735 26,012 25,255 25,305 25,349 25,489 25,643 26,085

Women, 16 years and over

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................. 120,304 121,168 121,266 120,304 120,825 120,946 121,066 121,168 121,266

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 71,534 72,209 72,122 71,437 72,033 71,735 71,986 71,954 72,109

 Participation rate ..................................................... 59.5 59.6 59.5 59.4 59.6 59.3 59.5 59.4 59.5

 Employed .................................................................... 68,364 67,919 67,802 68,020 67,789 67,780 67,720 67,567 67,491

 Employment-population ratio .................................. 56.8 56.1 55.9 56.5 56.1 56.0 55.9 55.8 55.7

 Unemployed ............................................................... 3,170 4,290 4,320 3,418 4,244 3,956 4,267 4,387 4,618

 Unemployment rate ................................................ 4.4 5.9 6.0 4.8 5.9 5.5 5.9 6.1 6.4

 Not in labor force .......................................................... 48,771 48,959 49,143 48,867 48,792 49,210 49,080 49,214 49,157

Women, 20 years and over

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................. 111,903 112,731 112,825 111,903 112,401 112,518 112,633 112,731 112,825

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 68,116 69,108 69,042 67,888 68,666 68,385 68,700 68,753 68,891

 Participation rate ..................................................... 60.9 61.3 61.2 60.7 61.1 60.8 61.0 61.0 61.1

 Employed .................................................................... 65,359 65,317 65,204 64,976 65,003 65,008 64,975 64,902 64,860

 Employment-population ratio .................................. 58.4 57.9 57.8 58.1 57.8 57.8 57.7 57.6 57.5

 Unemployed ............................................................... 2,757 3,791 3,838 2,912 3,662 3,377 3,725 3,851 4,031

 Unemployment rate ................................................ 4.0 5.5 5.6 4.3 5.3 4.9 5.4 5.6 5.9

 Not in labor force .......................................................... 43,787 43,623 43,784 44,015 43,736 44,133 43,933 43,978 43,935

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................. 17,056 17,118 17,126 17,056 17,092 17,101 17,110 17,118 17,126

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 6,696 6,272 6,235 7,005 6,849 6,844 6,799 6,531 6,557

 Participation rate ..................................................... 39.3 36.6 36.4 41.1 40.1 40.0 39.7 38.2 38.3

 Employed .................................................................... 5,679 5,008 5,058 5,822 5,533 5,518 5,390 5,196 5,194

 Employment-population ratio .................................. 33.3 29.3 29.5 34.1 32.4 32.3 31.5 30.4 30.3

 Unemployed ............................................................... 1,017 1,264 1,177 1,183 1,316 1,326 1,408 1,335 1,363

 Unemployment rate ................................................ 15.2 20.2 18.9 16.9 19.2 19.4 20.7 20.4 20.8

 Not in labor force .......................................................... 10,359 10,846 10,891 10,051 10,243 10,257 10,311 10,587 10,568

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns.

NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised to reflect

updated seasonal adjustment factors.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age

(Numbers in thousands)

Employment status, race, sex, and age

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted 1

Dec.

2007

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Aug.

2008

Sept.

2008

Oct.

2008

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

WHITE 

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................. 189,093 190,221 190,351 189,093 189,747 189,916 190,085 190,221 190,351

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 125,334 126,057 125,588 125,403 125,987 125,844 126,298 126,029 125,634

 Participation rate ....................................................... 66.3 66.3 66.0 66.3 66.4 66.3 66.4 66.3 66.0

 Employed .................................................................... 120,004 118,721 117,409 119,947 119,082 118,964 118,722 118,226 117,357

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 63.5 62.4 61.7 63.4 62.8 62.6 62.5 62.2 61.7

 Unemployed ............................................................... 5,331 7,336 8,179 5,456 6,904 6,880 7,577 7,803 8,277

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 4.3 5.8 6.5 4.4 5.5 5.5 6.0 6.2 6.6

 Not in labor force .......................................................... 63,759 64,165 64,763 63,690 63,761 64,072 63,787 64,193 64,718

Men, 20 years and over

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 65,462 65,681 65,424 65,471 65,680 65,718 65,792 65,762 65,331

 Participation rate ....................................................... 76.2 76.0 75.6 76.3 76.2 76.2 76.2 76.1 75.5

 Employed .................................................................... 62,789 61,995 60,965 62,929 62,336 62,125 61,972 61,761 61,101

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 73.1 71.7 70.5 73.3 72.3 72.0 71.8 71.5 70.7

 Unemployed ............................................................... 2,674 3,686 4,459 2,542 3,344 3,593 3,821 4,001 4,230

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 4.1 5.6 6.8 3.9 5.1 5.5 5.8 6.1 6.5

Women, 20 years and over

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 54,465 55,131 55,033 54,249 54,703 54,543 54,891 54,810 54,878

 Participation rate ....................................................... 60.4 60.8 60.6 60.2 60.5 60.2 60.6 60.4 60.5

 Employed .................................................................... 52,517 52,454 52,199 52,148 52,113 52,233 52,178 52,014 51,846

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 58.3 57.8 57.5 57.8 57.6 57.7 57.6 57.3 57.1

 Unemployed ............................................................... 1,948 2,677 2,833 2,101 2,590 2,310 2,714 2,796 3,031

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 3.6 4.9 5.1 3.9 4.7 4.2 4.9 5.1 5.5

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 5,406 5,245 5,131 5,683 5,604 5,583 5,615 5,457 5,425

 Participation rate ....................................................... 41.3 40.0 39.1 43.4 42.8 42.6 42.9 41.6 41.4

 Employed .................................................................... 4,698 4,272 4,245 4,870 4,634 4,605 4,572 4,451 4,409

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 35.9 32.6 32.4 37.2 35.4 35.2 34.9 34.0 33.6

 Unemployed ............................................................... 709 973 886 813 970 978 1,043 1,006 1,016

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 13.1 18.6 17.3 14.3 17.3 17.5 18.6 18.4 18.7

BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN 

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................. 27,704 28,021 28,059 27,704 27,896 27,939 27,982 28,021 28,059

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 17,498 17,683 17,720 17,574 17,949 17,733 17,768 17,708 17,796

 Participation rate ....................................................... 63.2 63.1 63.2 63.4 64.3 63.5 63.5 63.2 63.4

 Employed .................................................................... 15,999 15,705 15,649 16,013 16,026 15,709 15,762 15,703 15,674

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 57.7 56.0 55.8 57.8 57.4 56.2 56.3 56.0 55.9

 Unemployed ............................................................... 1,499 1,979 2,071 1,561 1,923 2,024 2,006 2,005 2,122

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 8.6 11.2 11.7 8.9 10.7 11.4 11.3 11.3 11.9

 Not in labor force .......................................................... 10,206 10,338 10,339 10,129 9,947 10,206 10,214 10,313 10,263

Men, 20 years and over

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 7,858 7,957 7,981 7,888 8,072 8,000 7,961 7,954 7,999

 Participation rate ....................................................... 70.4 70.6 70.7 70.7 72.0 71.2 70.7 70.5 70.8

 Employed .................................................................... 7,196 7,013 6,879 7,244 7,213 7,049 7,019 6,989 6,930

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 64.5 62.2 60.9 64.9 64.3 62.7 62.3 62.0 61.4

 Unemployed ............................................................... 662 944 1,102 644 859 952 942 965 1,069

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 8.4 11.9 13.8 8.2 10.6 11.9 11.8 12.1 13.4

Women, 20 years and over

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 8,814 9,069 9,031 8,830 9,036 8,931 9,016 9,069 9,060

 Participation rate ....................................................... 63.5 64.5 64.2 63.6 64.6 63.7 64.2 64.5 64.4

 Employed .................................................................... 8,212 8,234 8,264 8,203 8,218 8,097 8,213 8,249 8,256

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 59.1 58.6 58.7 59.1 58.7 57.8 58.5 58.7 58.7

 Unemployed ............................................................... 602 836 767 627 818 834 804 820 804

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 6.8 9.2 8.5 7.1 9.1 9.3 8.9 9.0 8.9

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 826 657 708 856 842 802 790 685 736

 Participation rate ....................................................... 31.0 24.4 26.3 32.2 31.4 29.9 29.4 25.5 27.4

 Employed .................................................................... 590 457 506 567 595 563 531 464 488

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 22.2 17.0 18.8 21.3 22.2 21.0 19.8 17.3 18.1

 Unemployed ............................................................... 235 199 202 289 247 239 260 221 248

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 28.5 30.4 28.5 33.8 29.3 29.8 32.9 32.2 33.7

See footnotes at end of table.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age — Continued

(Numbers in thousands)

Employment status, race, sex, and age

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted 1

Dec.

2007

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Aug.

2008

Sept.

2008

Oct.

2008

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

ASIAN 

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................. 10,801 10,811 10,873 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 7,225 7,134 7,223 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Participation rate ....................................................... 66.9 66.0 66.4 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Employed .................................................................... 6,958 6,791 6,857 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 64.4 62.8 63.1 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Unemployed ............................................................... 267 343 365 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 3.7 4.8 5.1 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Not in labor force .......................................................... 3,577 3,677 3,651 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore,

identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns. 2 Data not available.

NOTE: Estimates for the above race groups will not sum to totals shown in

table A-1 because data are not presented for all races. Updated population

controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. Seasonally

adjusted household data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal

adjustment factors.

Table A-3. Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age

(Numbers in thousands)

Employment status, sex, and age

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted 1

Dec.

2007

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Aug.

2008

Sept.

2008

Oct.

2008

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................. 31,903 32,558 32,649 31,903 32,273 32,369 32,465 32,558 32,649

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 21,924 22,137 22,221 21,861 22,201 22,259 22,187 22,074 22,134

 Participation rate ....................................................... 68.7 68.0 68.1 68.5 68.8 68.8 68.3 67.8 67.8

 Employed .................................................................... 20,534 20,263 20,129 20,504 20,404 20,506 20,232 20,168 20,096

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 64.4 62.2 61.7 64.3 63.2 63.4 62.3 61.9 61.6

 Unemployed ............................................................... 1,390 1,874 2,093 1,357 1,797 1,752 1,955 1,906 2,038

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 6.3 8.5 9.4 6.2 8.1 7.9 8.8 8.6 9.2

 Not in labor force .......................................................... 9,980 10,421 10,428 10,042 10,073 10,111 10,278 10,484 10,515

Men, 20 years and over

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 12,654 12,760 12,752 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Participation rate ....................................................... 85.0 84.1 83.8 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Employed .................................................................... 11,921 11,777 11,558 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 80.0 77.7 76.0 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Unemployed ............................................................... 733 983 1,194 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 5.8 7.7 9.4 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

Women, 20 years and over

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 8,206 8,362 8,430 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Participation rate ....................................................... 58.6 58.5 58.8 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Employed .................................................................... 7,707 7,745 7,765 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 55.0 54.2 54.2 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Unemployed ............................................................... 498 618 665 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 6.1 7.4 7.9 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years

 Civilian labor force ........................................................ 1,064 1,015 1,039 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Participation rate ....................................................... 35.5 32.8 33.5 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Employed .................................................................... 906 741 805 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Employment-population ratio .................................... 30.2 24.0 26.0 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Unemployed ............................................................... 158 274 234 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

 Unemployment rate .................................................. 14.9 27.0 22.6 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( )

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore,

identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns. 2 Data not available.

NOTE: Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of

any race. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of

January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised to reflect

updated seasonal adjustment factors.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-4. Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment

(Numbers in thousands)

Educational attainment

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

Dec.

2007

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Aug.

2008

Sept.

2008

Oct.

2008

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Less than a high school diploma

Civilian labor force .......................................................... 12,283 12,137 12,136 12,283 12,203 12,165 12,390 12,185 12,108

 Participation rate ......................................................... 46.4 47.0 46.5 46.4 47.5 47.0 48.3 47.2 46.4

 Employed ...................................................................... 11,280 10,865 10,719 11,356 11,014 10,977 11,106 10,899 10,793

 Employment-population ratio ...................................... 42.6 42.1 41.1 42.9 42.9 42.5 43.3 42.2 41.4

 Unemployed ................................................................. 1,003 1,272 1,417 927 1,189 1,187 1,284 1,286 1,315

 Unemployment rate .................................................... 8.2 10.5 11.7 7.5 9.7 9.8 10.4 10.6 10.9

High school graduates, no college 1

Civilian labor force .......................................................... 38,850 38,586 38,838 38,714 38,323 38,264 38,428 38,271 38,656

 Participation rate ......................................................... 62.9 62.8 62.7 62.7 62.8 62.4 62.6 62.3 62.5

 Employed ...................................................................... 37,036 36,009 35,815 36,928 36,084 35,851 35,939 35,643 35,683

 Employment-population ratio ...................................... 60.0 58.6 57.9 59.8 59.1 58.5 58.5 58.1 57.6

 Unemployed ................................................................. 1,814 2,577 3,023 1,786 2,239 2,413 2,489 2,628 2,972

 Unemployment rate .................................................... 4.7 6.7 7.8 4.6 5.8 6.3 6.5 6.9 7.7

Some college or associate degree

Civilian labor force .......................................................... 36,269 37,342 36,867 36,428 36,736 36,952 36,820 37,120 37,049

 Participation rate ......................................................... 72.0 72.1 71.7 72.3 71.6 71.8 71.5 71.6 72.0

 Employed ...................................................................... 34,932 35,380 34,819 35,071 34,913 35,053 34,867 35,077 34,969

 Employment-population ratio ...................................... 69.3 68.3 67.7 69.6 68.0 68.1 67.7 67.7 68.0

 Unemployed ................................................................. 1,337 1,961 2,048 1,356 1,823 1,898 1,954 2,043 2,080

 Unemployment rate .................................................... 3.7 5.3 5.6 3.7 5.0 5.1 5.3 5.5 5.6

Bachelor’s degree and higher 2

Civilian labor force .......................................................... 44,620 45,272 45,202 44,552 45,327 45,183 45,454 45,232 45,182

 Participation rate ......................................................... 78.2 77.8 77.9 78.1 77.4 77.6 77.7 77.7 77.9

 Employed ...................................................................... 43,725 43,900 43,619 43,606 44,082 44,011 44,044 43,794 43,517

 Employment-population ratio ...................................... 76.6 75.4 75.2 76.4 75.3 75.6 75.3 75.3 75.0

 Unemployed ................................................................. 895 1,372 1,583 946 1,244 1,172 1,410 1,438 1,665

 Unemployment rate .................................................... 2.0 3.0 3.5 2.1 2.7 2.6 3.1 3.2 3.7

1 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent. 2 Includes persons with bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral

degrees. 

NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release

of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised to

reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-5. Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status

(In thousands)

Category

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

Dec.

2007

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Aug.

2008

Sept.

2008

Oct.

2008

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

CLASS OF WORKER

Agriculture and related industries ................................... 2,078 2,141 2,068 2,211 2,138 2,199 2,177 2,206 2,191

 Wage and salary workers ............................................. 1,235 1,198 1,162 1,350 1,292 1,323 1,313 1,267 1,264

 Self-employed workers ................................................. 825 920 883 866 822 824 827 915 925

 Unpaid family workers .................................................. 17 23 23 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( )

Nonagricultural industries ............................................... 144,256 142,468 141,282 143,992 143,111 142,851 142,566 141,901 141,047

 Wage and salary workers ............................................. 135,125 133,697 132,518 134,659 133,727 133,582 133,694 132,983 132,082

 Government ................................................................ 20,836 21,613 21,415 20,807 21,257 21,183 21,539 21,431 21,395

 Private industries ........................................................ 114,289 112,084 111,103 113,846 112,489 112,407 112,170 111,542 110,684

 Private households ................................................... 803 836 782 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( )

 Other industries ........................................................ 113,486 111,247 110,321 113,005 111,721 111,591 111,279 110,677 109,863

 Self-employed workers ................................................. 9,049 8,706 8,701 9,291 9,313 9,178 8,852 8,816 8,940

 Unpaid family workers .................................................. 81 65 62 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( )

PERSONS AT WORK PART TIME 2

All industries:

Part time for economic reasons .................................. 4,750 7,135 8,250 4,638 5,879 6,292 6,848 7,323 8,038

 Slack work or business conditions ........................... 3,308 5,354 6,340 3,154 4,240 4,418 4,953 5,399 6,020

 Could only find part-time work ................................. 1,172 1,509 1,562 1,223 1,412 1,514 1,514 1,585 1,617

Part time for noneconomic reasons ............................ 20,361 19,892 19,719 19,536 19,690 19,275 19,083 18,886 18,922

Nonagricultural industries:

Part time for economic reasons .................................. 4,639 7,001 8,110 4,548 5,802 6,167 6,742 7,209 7,932

 Slack work or business conditions ........................... 3,250 5,251 6,250 3,101 4,171 4,279 4,889 5,304 5,938

 Could only find part-time work ................................. 1,153 1,497 1,553 1,206 1,385 1,541 1,499 1,579 1,619

Part time for noneconomic reasons ............................ 20,074 19,592 19,405 19,251 19,269 18,930 18,808 18,635 18,642

1 Data not available. 2 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.

NOTE: Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will not

necessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the

various series. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the 

release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised

to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-6. Selected employment indicators

(In thousands)

Characteristic

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

Dec.

2007

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Aug.

2008

Sept.

2008

Oct.

2008

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

AGE AND SEX

Total, 16 years and over ................................................. 146,334 144,609 143,350 146,294 145,273 145,029 144,657 144,144 143,338

 16 to 19 years ............................................................... 5,679 5,008 5,058 5,822 5,533 5,518 5,390 5,196 5,194

 16 to 17 years ............................................................. 2,132 1,771 1,743 2,171 1,984 2,023 1,933 1,791 1,779

 18 to 19 years ............................................................. 3,547 3,237 3,314 3,646 3,549 3,525 3,469 3,408 3,413

 20 years and over ......................................................... 140,655 139,601 138,292 140,473 139,740 139,511 139,267 138,948 138,144

 20 to 24 years ............................................................. 13,682 13,446 13,320 13,731 13,649 13,625 13,528 13,443 13,374

 25 years and over ....................................................... 126,973 126,155 124,972 126,737 126,140 125,950 125,833 125,422 124,748

 25 to 54 years ........................................................... 100,653 98,921 97,781 100,519 99,217 99,086 98,803 98,373 97,651

 25 to 34 years ......................................................... 31,672 31,298 30,885 31,652 31,425 31,352 31,122 31,070 30,864

 35 to 44 years ......................................................... 34,163 33,007 32,731 34,116 33,254 33,250 33,176 32,883 32,691

 45 to 54 years ......................................................... 34,818 34,616 34,165 34,751 34,538 34,485 34,505 34,420 34,097

 55 years and over ..................................................... 26,320 27,233 27,191 26,218 26,923 26,863 27,029 27,049 27,096

Men, 16 years and over .................................................. 77,970 76,690 75,548 78,275 77,484 77,249 76,938 76,577 75,847

 16 to 19 years ............................................................... 2,674 2,406 2,460 2,779 2,748 2,746 2,646 2,531 2,562

 16 to 17 years ............................................................. 932 769 797 989 939 958 895 800 847

 18 to 19 years ............................................................. 1,742 1,638 1,663 1,787 1,818 1,797 1,751 1,728 1,712

 20 years and over ......................................................... 75,296 74,283 73,088 75,496 74,737 74,503 74,292 74,045 73,285

 20 to 24 years ............................................................. 7,180 6,939 6,760 7,279 7,134 7,153 6,974 6,965 6,863

 25 years and over ....................................................... 68,116 67,344 66,328 68,258 67,653 67,365 67,372 67,039 66,456

 25 to 54 years ........................................................... 54,240 52,983 52,031 54,355 53,385 53,136 53,090 52,740 52,128

 25 to 34 years ......................................................... 17,430 17,076 16,784 17,442 17,195 17,112 17,064 16,979 16,789

 35 to 44 years ......................................................... 18,433 17,871 17,581 18,514 18,068 18,001 17,962 17,816 17,663

 45 to 54 years ......................................................... 18,377 18,036 17,666 18,399 18,121 18,023 18,065 17,944 17,676

 55 years and over ..................................................... 13,876 14,361 14,297 13,902 14,268 14,230 14,282 14,299 14,328

Women, 16 years and over ............................................ 68,364 67,919 67,802 68,020 67,789 67,780 67,720 67,567 67,491

 16 to 19 years ............................................................... 3,005 2,602 2,598 3,043 2,785 2,772 2,744 2,665 2,632

 16 to 17 years ............................................................. 1,200 1,002 946 1,182 1,045 1,065 1,038 990 932

 18 to 19 years ............................................................. 1,805 1,600 1,651 1,860 1,731 1,728 1,718 1,680 1,701

 20 years and over ......................................................... 65,359 65,317 65,204 64,976 65,003 65,008 64,975 64,902 64,860

 20 to 24 years ............................................................. 6,502 6,507 6,560 6,452 6,514 6,472 6,553 6,478 6,510

 25 years and over ....................................................... 58,857 58,810 58,644 58,480 58,487 58,585 58,460 58,383 58,292

 25 to 54 years ........................................................... 46,413 45,938 45,750 46,164 45,832 45,951 45,713 45,634 45,523

 25 to 34 years ......................................................... 14,242 14,223 14,101 14,210 14,230 14,240 14,058 14,091 14,075

 35 to 44 years ......................................................... 15,729 15,135 15,150 15,601 15,186 15,249 15,215 15,067 15,027

 45 to 54 years ......................................................... 16,441 16,580 16,499 16,353 16,417 16,462 16,440 16,476 16,421

 55 years and over ..................................................... 12,444 12,872 12,894 12,316 12,655 12,634 12,747 12,750 12,769

MARITAL STATUS

Married men, spouse present ......................................... 46,281 45,781 45,215 46,233 45,804 45,887 45,787 45,610 45,182

Married women, spouse present .................................... 35,898 35,937 35,835 35,662 35,994 35,864 35,590 35,649 35,632

Women who maintain families ........................................ 9,049 9,314 8,987 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( )

FULL- OR PART-TIME STATUS

Full-time workers 2 ......................................................... 121,042 118,432 116,422 121,501 119,643 119,661 119,304 118,413 116,865

Part-time workers 3 ......................................................... 25,291 26,176 26,927 24,701 25,649 25,411 25,452 25,577 26,250

MULTIPLE JOBHOLDERS

Total multiple jobholders ................................................. 7,577 7,539 7,432 7,479 8,013 7,612 7,551 7,410 7,352

 Percent of total employed ........................................... 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.1 5.5 5.2 5.2 5.1 5.1

1 Data not available. 2 Employed full-time workers are persons who usually work 35 hours or more

per week. 3 Employed part-time workers are persons who usually work less than 35

hours per week.

NOTE: Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will not

necessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the

various series. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the 

release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised

to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-7. Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally adjusted

Characteristic

Number of

unemployed persons

(in thousands)

Unemployment rates 1

Dec.

2007

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Aug.

2008

Sept.

2008

Oct.

2008

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

AGE AND SEX

Total, 16 years and over ................................................. 7,541 10,476 11,108 4.9 6.2 6.2 6.6 6.8 7.2

 16 to 19 years ............................................................... 1,183 1,335 1,363 16.9 19.2 19.4 20.7 20.4 20.8

 16 to 17 years ............................................................. 535 567 564 19.8 22.2 21.7 23.1 24.1 24.1

 18 to 19 years ............................................................. 654 765 806 15.2 17.4 17.8 18.4 18.3 19.1

 20 years and over ......................................................... 6,358 9,141 9,745 4.3 5.6 5.6 6.0 6.2 6.6

 20 to 24 years ............................................................. 1,391 1,684 1,843 9.2 10.7 10.8 10.6 11.1 12.1

 25 years and over ....................................................... 4,981 7,421 7,903 3.8 5.0 5.0 5.3 5.6 6.0

 25 to 54 years ........................................................... 4,159 6,074 6,526 4.0 5.2 5.3 5.5 5.8 6.3

 25 to 34 years ......................................................... 1,601 2,341 2,490 4.8 6.3 6.2 6.7 7.0 7.5

 35 to 44 years ......................................................... 1,314 1,874 2,041 3.7 5.0 5.2 5.4 5.4 5.9

 45 to 54 years ......................................................... 1,245 1,859 1,995 3.5 4.4 4.5 4.6 5.1 5.5

 55 years and over ..................................................... 843 1,350 1,409 3.1 4.1 4.2 4.6 4.8 4.9

Men, 16 years and over .................................................. 4,123 6,089 6,491 5.0 6.4 6.8 7.2 7.4 7.9

 16 to 19 years ............................................................... 677 799 777 19.6 21.1 21.4 24.7 24.0 23.3

 16 to 17 years ............................................................. 282 324 313 22.2 24.5 23.2 27.3 28.8 27.0

 18 to 19 years ............................................................. 398 466 468 18.2 19.0 20.4 21.7 21.2 21.5

 20 years and over ......................................................... 3,446 5,290 5,714 4.4 5.8 6.2 6.4 6.7 7.2

 20 to 24 years ............................................................. 780 1,027 1,137 9.7 11.7 11.9 12.9 12.9 14.2

 25 years and over ....................................................... 2,659 4,218 4,545 3.7 5.1 5.5 5.6 5.9 6.4

 25 to 54 years ........................................................... 2,212 3,448 3,770 3.9 5.3 5.8 5.8 6.1 6.7

 25 to 34 years ......................................................... 902 1,373 1,510 4.9 6.5 6.9 7.1 7.5 8.3

 35 to 44 years ......................................................... 682 1,008 1,117 3.6 5.0 5.6 5.6 5.4 5.9

 45 to 54 years ......................................................... 627 1,068 1,144 3.3 4.5 5.0 4.8 5.6 6.1

 55 years and over ..................................................... 447 770 775 3.1 4.3 4.5 4.7 5.1 5.1

Women, 16 years and over ............................................ 3,418 4,387 4,618 4.8 5.9 5.5 5.9 6.1 6.4

 16 to 19 years ............................................................... 506 536 587 14.3 17.3 17.3 16.5 16.7 18.2

 16 to 17 years ............................................................. 253 243 251 17.6 20.1 20.3 19.2 19.7 21.2

 18 to 19 years ............................................................. 256 299 339 12.1 15.6 14.9 14.7 15.1 16.6

 20 years and over ......................................................... 2,912 3,851 4,031 4.3 5.3 4.9 5.4 5.6 5.9

 20 to 24 years ............................................................. 611 657 707 8.6 9.5 9.4 8.1 9.2 9.8

 25 years and over ....................................................... 2,322 3,202 3,358 3.8 4.9 4.4 5.1 5.2 5.4

 25 to 54 years ........................................................... 1,947 2,625 2,756 4.0 5.1 4.6 5.2 5.4 5.7

 25 to 34 years ......................................................... 698 968 981 4.7 6.0 5.3 6.3 6.4 6.5

 35 to 44 years ......................................................... 631 866 924 3.9 5.0 4.8 5.2 5.4 5.8

 45 to 54 years ......................................................... 617 791 852 3.6 4.3 3.8 4.4 4.6 4.9

 55 years and over 2 .................................................. 366 577 583 2.9 4.5 3.9 4.3 4.3 4.3

MARITAL STATUS

Married men, spouse present ......................................... 1,255 2,003 2,077 2.6 3.7 3.9 4.1 4.2 4.4

Married women, spouse present .................................... 1,105 1,590 1,672 3.0 3.7 3.5 4.2 4.3 4.5

Women who maintain families 2 ..................................... 669 953 948 6.9 9.6 8.2 8.8 9.3 9.5

FULL- OR PART-TIME STATUS

Full-time workers 3 ......................................................... 6,147 8,940 9,537 4.8 6.3 6.3 6.8 7.0 7.5

Part-time workers 4 ......................................................... 1,429 1,566 1,632 5.5 5.7 5.9 5.7 5.8 5.9

1 Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force. 2 Not seasonally adjusted. 3 Full-time workers are unemployed persons who have expressed a desire to

work full time (35 hours or more per week) or are on layoff from full-time jobs. 4 Part-time workers are unemployed persons who have expressed a desire to

work part time (less than 35 hours per week) or are on layoff from part-time jobs.

NOTE: Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will not 

necessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the 

various series. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the

release of January data. Data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal

adjustment factors.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-8. Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment

(Numbers in thousands)

Reason

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

Dec.

2007

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Aug.

2008

Sept.

2008

Oct.

2008

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED

Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs 4,013 5,746 6,878 3,785 4,994 5,348 5,811 6,156 6,471

On temporary layoff .................................................... 1,061 1,166 1,675 966 1,279 1,396 1,367 1,413 1,524

Not on temporary layoff .............................................. 2,952 4,580 5,203 2,820 3,715 3,952 4,443 4,744 4,946

Permanent job losers .............................................. 2,066 3,520 4,034 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( )

Persons who completed temporary jobs ................ 887 1,060 1,169 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 ( )

Job leavers ..................................................................... 724 916 928 787 999 982 946 940 1,007

Reentrants ...................................................................... 2,078 2,659 2,523 2,302 2,678 2,587 2,650 2,655 2,777

New entrants .................................................................. 556 694 670 693 829 822 825 760 829

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION

Total unemployed ........................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Job losers and persons who completed temporary

jobs ............................................................................. 54.4 57.4 62.5 50.0 52.6 54.9 56.8 58.6 58.4

On temporary layoff .................................................. 14.4 11.6 15.2 12.8 13.5 14.3 13.4 13.4 13.8

Not on temporary layoff ............................................ 40.1 45.7 47.3 37.3 39.1 40.6 43.4 45.1 44.6

Job leavers ................................................................... 9.8 9.1 8.4 10.4 10.5 10.1 9.2 8.9 9.1

Reentrants .................................................................... 28.2 26.6 22.9 30.4 28.2 26.6 25.9 25.3 25.1

New entrants ................................................................ 7.5 6.9 6.1 9.2 8.7 8.4 8.1 7.2 7.5

UNEMPLOYED AS A PERCENT OF THE

 CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE

Job losers and persons who completed temporary

jobs ............................................................................. 2.6 3.7 4.5 2.5 3.2 3.5 3.8 4.0 4.2

Job leavers ................................................................... .5 .6 .6 .5 .6 .6 .6 .6 .7

Reentrants .................................................................... 1.4 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.8

New entrants ................................................................ .4 .4 .4 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5

1 Data not available.

NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised to reflect

updated seasonal adjustment factors.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-9. Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment

(Numbers in thousands)

Duration

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

Dec.

2007

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Aug.

2008

Sept.

2008

Oct.

2008

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED

Less than 5 weeks .............................................................................. 2,666 3,079 3,227 2,718 3,242 2,864 3,108 3,255 3,267

5 to 14 weeks ..................................................................................... 2,302 3,130 3,390 2,314 2,874 3,083 3,055 3,141 3,398

15 weeks and over ............................................................................. 2,403 3,806 4,381 2,484 3,447 3,662 4,109 3,964 4,517

 15 to 26 weeks ................................................................................ 1,128 1,614 1,869 1,169 1,568 1,621 1,834 1,757 1,927

 27 weeks and over .......................................................................... 1,275 2,192 2,512 1,315 1,878 2,041 2,275 2,207 2,591

Average (mean) duration, in weeks .................................................... 16.4 19.2 19.5 16.5 17.6 18.7 19.8 18.9 19.7

Median duration, in weeks .................................................................. 8.3 9.9 10.5 8.4 9.3 10.3 10.6 10.0 10.6

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 ............................................................................ 36.2 30.7 29.3 36.2 33.9 29.8 30.3 31.4 29.2

 5 to 14 weeks ................................................................................... 31.2 31.3 30.8 30.8 30.1 32.1 29.7 30.3 30.4

 15 weeks and over ........................................................................... 32.6 38.0 39.8 33.1 36.0 38.1 40.0 38.3 40.4

 15 to 26 weeks ............................................................................... 15.3 16.1 17.0 15.6 16.4 16.9 17.9 17.0 17.2

 27 weeks and over ......................................................................... 17.3 21.9 22.8 17.5 19.6 21.2 22.1 21.3 23.2

NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal

adjustment factors.

Table A-10. Employed and unemployed persons by occupation, not seasonally adjusted

(Numbers in thousands)

Occupation

Employed Unemployed Unemployment

rates

Dec.

2007

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Dec.

2008

 Total, 16 years and over 1 ....................................................... 146,334 143,350 7,371 10,999 4.8 7.1

Management, professional, and related occupations ............. 52,324 52,548 1,041 1,802 2.0 3.3

 Management, business, and financial operations

occupations .................................................................................... 21,699 21,928 461 888 2.1 3.9

 Professional and related occupations ...................................... 30,625 30,619 580 915 1.9 2.9

Service occupations ....................................................................... 23,551 24,371 1,571 2,057 6.3 7.8

Sales and office occupations ....................................................... 36,467 34,987 1,717 2,448 4.5 6.5

 Sales and related occupations .................................................. 16,654 16,354 903 1,233 5.1 7.0

 Office and administrative support occupations ...................... 19,812 18,633 814 1,215 3.9 6.1

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance

occupations .................................................................................... 15,459 14,202 1,286 2,063 7.7 12.7

 Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations ............................. 931 901 101 201 9.8 18.3

 Construction and extraction occupations ................................ 9,302 8,025 990 1,522 9.6 15.9

 Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations ................ 5,226 5,276 195 339 3.6 6.0

Production, transportation, and material moving

occupations .................................................................................... 18,533 17,242 1,174 1,928 6.0 10.1

 Production occupations .............................................................. 9,458 8,421 600 992 6.0 10.5

 Transportation and material moving occupations ................. 9,075 8,821 575 936 6.0 9.6

1 Persons with no previous work experience and persons whose last job was in the Armed Forces are included in the unemployed total.

NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-11. Unemployed persons by industry and class of worker, not seasonally adjusted

Industry and class of worker

Number of

unemployed

persons

(in thousands)

Unemployment

rates

Dec.

2007

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Dec.

2008

 Total, 16 years and over 1 .................................................... 7,371 10,999 4.8 7.1

Nonagricultural private wage and salary workers .................... 5,943 9,030 4.9 7.5

 Mining ............................................................................................. 24 46 3.4 5.2

 Construction .................................................................................. 968 1,438 9.4 15.3

 Manufacturing ............................................................................... 772 1,315 4.6 8.3

 Durable goods ............................................................................ 459 839 4.3 8.0

 Nondurable goods ..................................................................... 313 477 5.1 8.8

 Wholesale and retail trade ......................................................... 1,009 1,535 4.8 7.2

 Transportation and utilities ......................................................... 210 421 3.4 6.7

 Information ..................................................................................... 125 219 3.7 6.9

 Financial activities ........................................................................ 315 540 3.2 5.6

 Professional and business services ......................................... 803 1,147 5.7 8.1

 Education and health services .................................................. 521 791 2.6 3.8

 Leisure and hospitality ................................................................ 961 1,210 7.9 9.5

 Other services ............................................................................... 235 367 3.9 6.1

Agriculture and related private wage and salary workers ...... 96 229 7.5 17.0

Government workers ..................................................................... 451 511 2.1 2.3

Self employed and unpaid family workers ................................. 326 559 3.2 5.5

1 Persons with no previous work experience are included in the unemployed total.

NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

Table A-12. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

(Percent)

Measure

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

Dec.

2007

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Aug.

2008

Sept.

2008

Oct.

2008

Nov.

2008

Dec.

2008

U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the

civilian labor force ..................................................................... 1.6 2.5 2.8 1.6 2.2 2.4 2.7 2.6 2.9

U-2 Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a

percent of the civilian labor force .............................................. 2.6 3.7 4.5 2.5 3.2 3.5 3.8 4.0 4.2

U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force

(official unemployment rate) ................................................. 4.8 6.5 7.1 4.9 6.2 6.2 6.6 6.8 7.2

U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the

civilian labor force plus discouraged workers ........................... 5.0 6.8 7.5 5.1 6.4 6.5 6.9 7.1 7.6

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 ................................ 5.6 7.6 8.3 5.7 7.2 7.2 7.6 7.9 8.3

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 8.7 12.2 13.5 8.7 10.9 11.2 12.0 12.6 13.5

NOTE: 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

looking currently 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 more information, see "BLS introduces new range of

alternative unemployment measures," in the October 1995 issue of the Monthly

Labor Review. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the 

release of January data. Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised

to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table A-13. Persons not in the labor force and multiple jobholders by sex, not seasonally adjusted

(Numbers in thousands)

Category

Total Men Women

Dec.

2007

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Dec.

2008

NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE

Total not in the labor force .................................................................. 79,451 80,686 30,680 31,543 48,771 49,143

 Persons who currently want a job ...................................................... 4,398 5,180 2,039 2,432 2,359 2,748

Marginally attached to the labor force 1 ........................................ 1,344 1,908 755 1,000 589 908

Reason not currently looking:

Discouragement over job prospects 2 .................................. 363 642 238 367 125 276

Reasons other than discouragement 3 ................................. 981 1,266 516 634 464 632

MULTIPLE JOBHOLDERS

Total multiple jobholders 4 .................................................................. 7,577 7,432 3,734 3,743 3,843 3,689

 Percent of total employed ............................................................... 5.2 5.2 4.8 5.0 5.6 5.4

 Primary job full time, secondary job part time ................................. 4,067 4,176 2,239 2,288 1,828 1,888

 Primary and secondary jobs both part time .................................... 1,868 1,774 565 638 1,303 1,136

 Primary and secondary jobs both full time ...................................... 252 218 166 143 86 75

 Hours vary on primary or secondary job ......................................... 1,344 1,215 746 653 598 562

1 Data refer to persons who have searched for work sometime 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 school or family responsibilities, ill health, 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: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of

January data.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail

(In thousands)

Industry

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

 Dec. 

2007

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2007

 Aug. 

2008

 Sept. 

2008

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

Change

from:

Nov. 2008-

Dec. 2008p

Total nonfarm ............................. 138,934 137,715 137,073 136,119 138,078 137,423 137,020 136,597 136,013 135,489 -524

Total private ........................................ 116,232 114,843 114,081 113,247 115,745 114,909 114,525 114,087 113,506 112,975 -531

Goods-producing ............................................ 21,875 21,363 21,024 20,485 21,976 21,367 21,250 21,049 20,867 20,616 -251

Natural resources and mining .................................. 735 806 807 799 739 788 795 796 803 802 -1

Logging ........................................................... 61.2 61.9 61.4 58.8 60.6 58.1 58.9 59.1 59.7 58.1 -1.6

Mining .................................................................... 674.0 743.6 746.0 739.8 677.9 729.6 736.2 737.3 743.0 744.2 1.2

Oil and gas extraction ........................................ 152.6 166.3 167.2 168.5 153.1 164.1 165.8 166.2 167.4 168.8 1.4

Mining, except oil and gas1................................. 221.4 240.3 237.2 230.3 225.2 233.8 234.1 234.5 235.3 234.7 -.6

Coal mining ...................................................... 78.5 85.7 86.6 86.7 78.3 83.5 84.4 85.2 86.1 86.3 .2

Support activities for mining .............................. 300.0 337.0 341.6 341.0 299.6 331.7 336.3 336.6 340.3 340.7 .4

Construction ............................................................. 7,353 7,266 7,049 6,706 7,465 7,153 7,098 7,019 6,934 6,833 -101

Construction of buildings ................................... 1,691.9 1,617.5 1,573.7 1,516.9 1,702.4 1,612.8 1,592.1 1,573.9 1,554.6 1,528.6 -26.0

Residential building ......................................... 899.5 833.5 813.2 778.0 902.0 831.9 823.3 809.7 800.8 781.6 -19.2

Nonresidential building .................................... 792.4 784.0 760.5 738.9 800.4 780.9 768.8 764.2 753.8 747.0 -6.8

Heavy and civil engineering construction ........ 960.6 996.1 954.3 872.3 993.8 952.8 943.6 932.6 920.1 907.5 -12.6

Specialty trade contractors ............................... 4,700.4 4,652.4 4,520.9 4,316.5 4,768.4 4,587.8 4,562.5 4,512.6 4,458.9 4,397.0 -61.9

Residential specialty trade contractors ........... 2,163.0 2,079.3 2,006.2 1,911.9 2,201.1 2,055.6 2,046.5 2,020.1 1,989.3 1,954.9 -34.4

Nonresidential specialty trade contractors ..... 2,537.4 2,573.1 2,514.7 2,404.6 2,567.3 2,532.2 2,516.0 2,492.5 2,469.6 2,442.1 -27.5

Manufacturing ........................................................... 13,787 13,291 13,168 12,980 13,772 13,426 13,357 13,234 13,130 12,981 -149

Production workers ....................................... 9,952 9,504 9,387 9,214 9,933 9,636 9,572 9,451 9,355 9,221 -134

Durable goods ....................................................... 8,755 8,359 8,283 8,152 8,739 8,482 8,433 8,336 8,259 8,145 -114

Production workers ....................................... 6,240 5,855 5,783 5,662 6,220 5,980 5,930 5,834 5,765 5,659 -106

Wood products ................................................... 505.3 457.9 443.5 428.6 507.2 467.6 462.2 453.5 443.2 431.4 -11.8

Nonmetallic mineral products ............................ 490.9 477.4 465.7 445.6 496.4 475.8 471.0 468.6 459.4 451.5 -7.9

Primary metals .................................................... 451.8 441.0 434.6 427.0 452.2 443.0 442.7 440.6 434.4 427.7 -6.7

Fabricated metal products ................................. 1,565.6 1,515.2 1,495.3 1,463.0 1,562.7 1,534.3 1,524.2 1,507.6 1,488.9 1,460.6 -28.3

Machinery ........................................................... 1,191.2 1,182.0 1,171.0 1,163.7 1,191.0 1,193.0 1,187.2 1,182.8 1,171.4 1,164.5 -6.9

1 Computer and electronic products .................... 1,260.3 1,238.3 1,232.4 1,225.1 1,257.6 1,247.4 1,245.5 1,239.3 1,231.3 1,223.1 -8.2

Computer and peripheral equipment ............. 186.0 184.8 184.2 183.8 185.4 185.4 185.3 185.0 184.0 183.3 -.7

Communications equipment ........................... 129.7 132.1 129.3 127.9 129.0 131.2 131.7 131.3 129.0 127.3 -1.7

Semiconductors and electronic components . 435.1 417.9 416.3 411.5 434.9 423.4 422.1 419.1 415.9 411.2 -4.7

Electronic instruments ..................................... 444.2 441.7 441.2 440.9 443.7 444.7 444.5 442.6 441.5 440.8 -.7

Electrical equipment and appliances ................ 424.3 416.7 411.9 406.6 423.8 419.4 416.8 415.8 411.2 406.5 -4.7

1 Transportation equipment .................................. 1,698.0 1,526.3 1,539.6 1,520.6 1,684.7 1,584.0 1,572.2 1,529.3 1,534.8 1,510.5 -24.3

Motor vehicles and parts2................................. 974.1 834.2 825.7 808.7 962.6 866.2 850.1 838.3 822.5 801.1 -21.4

Furniture and related products .......................... 524.1 471.5 461.6 451.8 523.8 487.4 482.4 470.9 461.9 452.6 -9.3

Miscellaneous manufacturing ............................ 643.5 632.5 627.0 619.6 639.9 630.1 628.9 627.9 622.1 617.0 -5.1

Nondurable goods ................................................. 5,032 4,932 4,885 4,828 5,033 4,944 4,924 4,898 4,871 4,836 -35

Production workers ....................................... 3,712 3,649 3,604 3,552 3,713 3,656 3,642 3,617 3,590 3,562 -28

Food manufacturing ........................................... 1,488.8 1,500.1 1,494.1 1,473.9 1,486.3 1,474.0 1,476.7 1,477.7 1,481.0 1,472.7 -8.3

Beverages and tobacco products ...................... 189.2 193.3 189.4 186.8 192.0 191.3 191.3 189.1 189.9 190.0 .1

Textile mills ......................................................... 162.4 147.5 141.6 138.0 163.0 150.6 148.3 146.5 141.7 138.8 -2.9

Textile product mills ........................................... 155.8 147.3 145.5 143.1 155.7 147.9 147.9 146.7 145.2 143.5 -1.7

Apparel ................................................................ 203.6 190.0 188.2 184.1 204.8 196.1 193.1 189.5 188.1 185.3 -2.8

Leather and allied products ............................... 33.9 34.6 34.4 34.0 33.7 35.1 35.0 34.4 34.1 34.0 -.1

Paper and paper products ................................. 460.2 447.5 444.0 442.1 460.3 453.4 449.8 447.5 444.7 442.7 -2.0

Printing and related support activities ............... 622.8 590.8 586.2 577.6 619.5 599.2 595.2 588.9 582.5 576.1 -6.4

Petroleum and coal products ............................. 109.2 115.2 114.4 111.4 111.7 114.1 114.2 114.0 114.6 114.3 -.3

Chemicals ........................................................... 862.7 849.8 847.9 846.5 862.0 855.4 852.5 851.6 849.8 847.0 -2.8

Plastics and rubber products ............................. 743.3 715.7 699.5 690.1 744.2 726.4 720.0 711.7 699.4 692.0 -7.4

See footnotes at the end of table.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail Continued

(In thousands)

Industry

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

 Dec. 

2007

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2007

 Aug. 

2008

 Sept. 

2008

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

Change

from:

Nov. 2008-

Dec. 2008p

Service-providing .............................................. 117,059 116,352 116,049 115,634 116,102 116,056 115,770 115,548 115,146 114,873 -273

Private service-providing ............................... 94,357 93,480 93,057 92,762 93,769 93,542 93,275 93,038 92,639 92,359 -280

Trade, transportation, and utilities ........................... 27,328 26,229 26,360 26,435 26,658 26,346 26,225 26,118 25,954 25,833 -121

Wholesale trade .................................................... 6,085.1 5,987.4 5,950.7 5,917.7 6,072.9 6,007.1 5,999.5 5,972.2 5,939.4 5,909.4 -30.0

Durable goods .................................................... 3,150.6 3,064.1 3,038.1 3,019.5 3,145.0 3,084.9 3,080.1 3,058.9 3,036.4 3,015.4 -21.0

Nondurable goods .............................................. 2,094.3 2,076.6 2,068.3 2,054.6 2,089.3 2,075.2 2,070.0 2,066.6 2,058.9 2,052.4 -6.5

Electronic markets and agents and brokers ..... 840.2 846.7 844.3 843.6 838.6 847.0 849.4 846.7 844.1 841.6 -2.5

Retail trade ............................................................ 16,085.9 15,179.2 15,387.6 15,506.9 15,487.8 15,274.7 15,199.1 15,132.1 15,032.1 14,965.5 -66.6

Motor vehicle and parts dealers1........................ 1,898.9 1,823.3 1,774.7 1,739.5 1,909.3 1,853.2 1,837.4 1,809.8 1,779.7 1,754.7 -25.0

Automobile dealers ......................................... 1,240.8 1,162.0 1,126.0 1,100.2 1,244.6 1,189.6 1,177.1 1,152.9 1,127.1 1,105.6 -21.5

Furniture and home furnishings stores ............. 612.0 560.7 560.5 560.9 584.5 566.4 561.7 555.5 545.6 537.6 -8.0

Electronics and appliance stores ....................... 564.8 532.1 541.5 538.8 540.4 535.3 530.3 527.3 522.9 517.5 -5.4

Building material and garden supply stores ...... 1,237.3 1,228.1 1,206.6 1,190.0 1,271.6 1,237.0 1,235.9 1,233.8 1,225.6 1,221.0 -4.6

Food and beverage stores ................................. 2,907.7 2,860.4 2,885.0 2,880.2 2,871.9 2,871.5 2,863.2 2,864.6 2,856.7 2,848.4 -8.3

Health and personal care stores ....................... 1,016.2 981.7 987.9 999.3 999.9 985.1 984.4 983.0 978.0 982.3 4.3

Gasoline stations ................................................ 848.1 834.3 832.1 830.5 850.5 839.8 834.2 834.7 834.1 832.8 -1.3

Clothing and clothing accessories stores ......... 1,674.4 1,484.2 1,536.2 1,595.4 1,508.6 1,495.8 1,482.9 1,478.2 1,457.2 1,453.2 -4.0

Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music

stores ................................................................ 721.4 656.6 667.8 681.0 661.6 659.5 650.1 648.1 635.5 629.2 -6.3

1 General merchandise stores ............................. 3,223.4 2,910.4 3,068.8 3,159.5 2,976.7 2,941.1 2,929.8 2,911.7 2,919.1 2,922.1 3.0

Department stores .......................................... 1,756.0 1,481.5 1,591.0 1,648.8 1,568.4 1,507.0 1,494.2 1,477.6 1,475.0 1,472.6 -2.4

Miscellaneous store retailers ............................. 895.7 865.2 862.7 861.9 866.3 856.4 855.5 854.5 846.5 835.7 -10.8

Nonstore retailers ............................................... 486.0 442.2 463.8 469.9 446.5 433.6 433.7 430.9 431.2 431.0 -.2

Transportation and warehousing .......................... 4,600.9 4,499.4 4,457.8 4,445.7 4,539.9 4,505.1 4,465.9 4,450.2 4,417.7 4,393.8 -23.9

Air transportation ................................................ 500.8 483.2 482.2 477.8 502.1 490.9 487.4 484.3 483.0 479.2 -3.8

Rail transportation .............................................. 232.4 232.2 232.2 232.2 232.5 230.6 229.2 231.3 232.0 232.0 .0

Water transportation ........................................... 63.4 60.9 58.5 57.0 64.4 60.7 60.3 59.7 58.9 57.9 -1.0

Truck transportation ........................................... 1,424.6 1,399.1 1,374.7 1,349.8 1,423.1 1,400.1 1,387.3 1,379.0 1,366.4 1,350.8 -15.6

Transit and ground passenger transportation ... 427.9 421.7 420.5 417.1 411.8 416.5 408.2 406.6 405.2 402.8 -2.4

Pipeline transportation ....................................... 40.9 43.3 44.1 44.2 40.8 43.0 43.7 43.8 44.1 44.2 .1

Scenic and sightseeing transportation .............. 27.0 31.4 26.0 24.6 31.3 30.9 29.5 30.2 29.2 28.7 -.5

Support activities for transportation ................... 589.2 591.0 578.2 575.6 587.1 590.8 587.2 585.8 577.6 574.9 -2.7

Couriers and messengers .................................. 625.1 576.4 579.1 610.6 588.1 585.8 580.2 578.6 572.6 575.8 3.2

Warehousing and storage .................................. 669.6 660.2 662.3 656.8 658.7 655.8 652.9 650.9 648.7 647.5 -1.2

Utilities ................................................................... 556.3 562.7 564.1 564.4 557.1 559.2 560.8 563.2 564.5 564.4 -.1

Information ................................................................ 3,032 2,960 2,955 2,942 3,018 2,984 2,978 2,972 2,953 2,933 -20

Publishing industries, except Internet ............... 893.8 864.4 858.3 852.7 889.7 870.4 867.0 863.7 855.3 849.9 -5.4

Motion picture and sound recording industries . 381.7 374.0 376.3 374.1 376.3 379.4 379.4 383.1 378.2 371.1 -7.1

Broadcasting, except Internet ............................ 324.3 318.3 318.6 314.7 321.9 318.4 317.7 317.9 317.3 313.4 -3.9

Telecommunications .......................................... 1,029.6 1,004.4 1,003.6 1,002.0 1,026.8 1,016.0 1,014.4 1,008.0 1,003.7 1,000.2 -3.5

Data processing, hosting and related services . 273.7 266.4 265.6 267.1 273.5 268.0 267.4 267.3 266.0 266.5 .5

Other information services ................................. 128.8 132.8 132.5 131.7 129.3 131.7 131.7 132.3 132.5 132.1 -.4

Financial activities .................................................... 8,249 8,140 8,096 8,090 8,252 8,196 8,173 8,146 8,118 8,104 -14

Finance and insurance .......................................... 6,113.4 6,036.1 6,015.5 6,009.8 6,111.2 6,075.1 6,062.2 6,044.9 6,024.7 6,015.1 -9.6

Monetary authorities - central bank ................... 20.6 20.1 20.5 20.2 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.4 20.6 20.4 -.2

1 Credit intermediation and related activities ....... 2,827.8 2,764.0 2,746.0 2,746.4 2,829.2 2,784.7 2,785.3 2,770.7 2,755.2 2,751.0 -4.2

1 Depository credit intermediation ..................... 1,824.7 1,804.3 1,796.2 1,797.8 1,824.6 1,813.2 1,808.9 1,805.2 1,800.9 1,799.6 -1.3

Commercial banking .................................... 1,345.2 1,332.9 1,327.8 1,328.3 1,345.9 1,339.4 1,337.2 1,334.3 1,331.5 1,330.2 -1.3

Securities, commodity contracts, investments .. 855.7 847.0 844.3 842.6 856.7 860.9 851.5 847.5 845.7 845.9 .2

Insurance carriers and related activities ........... 2,320.9 2,316.4 2,316.4 2,311.7 2,316.8 2,320.3 2,316.2 2,317.5 2,314.7 2,309.5 -5.2

Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles ........ 88.4 88.6 88.3 88.9 87.8 88.4 88.3 88.8 88.5 88.3 -.2

Real estate and rental and leasing ....................... 2,135.6 2,103.6 2,080.3 2,080.0 2,140.6 2,121.3 2,110.7 2,100.6 2,093.0 2,088.7 -4.3

Real estate .......................................................... 1,476.3 1,457.2 1,446.3 1,450.7 1,476.4 1,465.6 1,457.9 1,454.9 1,452.6 1,451.6 -1.0

Rental and leasing services ............................... 628.5 614.8 602.4 596.9 633.6 623.8 620.6 613.8 608.5 604.8 -3.7

Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets ......... 30.8 31.6 31.6 32.4 30.6 31.9 32.2 31.9 31.9 32.3 .4

See footnotes at the end of table.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail Continued

(In thousands)

Industry

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

 Dec. 

2007

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2007

 Aug. 

2008

 Sept. 

2008

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

Change

from:

Nov. 2008-

Dec. 2008p

Professional and business services ........................ 18,163 17,929 17,664 17,438 18,131 17,854 17,789 17,708 17,563 17,450 -113

1 Professional and technical services ..................... 7,845.9 7,841.1 7,828.6 7,847.8 7,820.5 7,859.5 7,860.8 7,864.4 7,845.9 7,827.8 -18.1

Legal services .................................................. 1,176.0 1,167.8 1,165.6 1,169.0 1,173.9 1,166.6 1,166.2 1,166.9 1,165.8 1,167.1 1.3

Accounting and bookkeeping services ........... 1,003.3 906.1 915.4 974.1 993.3 977.7 975.3 971.3 968.3 964.9 -3.4

Architectural and engineering services .......... 1,456.1 1,465.0 1,453.1 1,435.1 1,460.4 1,464.2 1,457.0 1,454.1 1,447.3 1,440.6 -6.7

Computer systems design and related

services .......................................................... 1,397.4 1,436.9 1,439.3 1,434.8 1,391.4 1,424.5 1,427.4 1,430.4 1,431.4 1,428.5 -2.9

Management and technical consulting

services .......................................................... 1,004.3 1,036.4 1,039.0 1,035.4 994.3 1,019.8 1,029.6 1,028.9 1,027.8 1,026.0 -1.8

Management of companies and enterprises ....... 1,860.8 1,822.8 1,808.8 1,800.6 1,847.8 1,832.1 1,823.7 1,818.3 1,805.6 1,797.2 -8.4

Administrative and waste services ....................... 8,456.3 8,264.6 8,026.6 7,789.4 8,462.8 8,162.7 8,104.6 8,025.3 7,911.4 7,824.6 -86.8

1 Administrative and support services ................. 8,094.1 7,891.6 7,657.2 7,425.3 8,099.3 7,793.5 7,735.8 7,654.8 7,542.3 7,459.0 -83.3

1 Employment services ...................................... 3,634.1 3,334.4 3,177.2 3,031.1 3,566.9 3,285.8 3,236.2 3,168.2 3,068.1 2,987.5 -80.6

Temporary help services ............................. 2,640.3 2,387.4 2,254.4 2,114.1 2,578.5 2,353.5 2,308.6 2,255.1 2,169.4 2,088.5 -80.9

Business support services .............................. 817.7 793.0 797.4 797.9 803.7 785.6 787.7 786.8 788.9 783.6 -5.3

Services to buildings and dwellings ............... 1,788.9 1,897.8 1,842.0 1,757.2 1,872.0 1,861.8 1,855.9 1,849.1 1,839.9 1,842.3 2.4

Waste management and remediation services 362.2 373.0 369.4 364.1 363.5 369.2 368.8 370.5 369.1 365.6 -3.5

Education and health services ................................ 18,741 19,207 19,281 19,265 18,568 18,997 18,993 19,012 19,059 19,104 45

Educational services ............................................. 3,124.9 3,236.2 3,262.0 3,209.3 2,984.5 3,126.6 3,082.3 3,066.9 3,074.1 3,081.1 7.0

Health care and social assistance ........................15,616.5 15,971.2 16,018.8 16,055.3 15,583.2 15,870.8 15,910.5 15,945.4 15,985.2 16,022.7 37.5

3 Health care ......................................................... 13,133.9 13,438.0 13,470.7 13,503.7 13,109.6 13,363.4 13,388.0 13,417.1 13,449.6 13,481.2 31.6

1 Ambulatory health care services .................... 5,583.3 5,748.4 5,761.3 5,775.6 5,566.0 5,703.8 5,721.1 5,732.4 5,746.9 5,761.1 14.2

Offices of physicians .................................... 2,246.2 2,302.6 2,309.6 2,319.0 2,235.6 2,282.7 2,289.7 2,295.2 2,301.5 2,307.1 5.6

Outpatient care centers ................................ 513.9 521.6 524.2 522.0 513.0 522.2 519.9 521.5 522.8 521.7 -1.1

Home health care services .......................... 933.2 975.6 980.5 983.8 930.9 963.4 967.0 972.0 977.7 982.7 5.0

Hospitals .......................................................... 4,574.5 4,694.5 4,702.6 4,713.6 4,572.4 4,669.1 4,677.0 4,689.7 4,699.4 4,711.3 11.9

1 Nursing and residential care facilities ............ 2,976.1 2,995.1 3,006.8 3,014.5 2,971.2 2,990.5 2,989.9 2,995.0 3,003.3 3,008.8 5.5

Nursing care facilities ................................... 1,611.3 1,607.1 1,610.4 1,614.9 1,608.2 1,607.4 1,603.5 1,606.1 1,607.9 1,611.1 3.2

1 Social assistance ................................................ 2,482.6 2,533.2 2,548.1 2,551.6 2,473.6 2,507.4 2,522.5 2,528.3 2,535.6 2,541.5 5.9

Child day care services ................................... 867.7 871.2 875.3 873.6 857.1 850.5 861.5 860.1 862.1 862.6 .5

Leisure and hospitality ............................................. 13,358 13,490 13,213 13,151 13,635 13,639 13,587 13,557 13,490 13,468 -22

Arts, entertainment, and recreation ...................... 1,860.7 1,946.8 1,834.4 1,827.1 2,010.3 2,004.0 1,988.7 1,993.3 1,982.0 1,979.1 -2.9

Performing arts and spectator sports ................ 416.7 425.8 410.7 404.7 429.9 432.9 427.6 429.3 422.4 420.5 -1.9

Museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks ...... 125.3 130.0 125.2 122.2 131.5 131.7 130.3 129.5 129.5 129.3 -.2

Amusements, gambling, and recreation ........... 1,318.7 1,391.0 1,298.5 1,300.2 1,448.9 1,439.4 1,430.8 1,434.5 1,430.1 1,429.3 -.8

Accommodation and food services ...................... 11,496.9 11,543.6 11,378.8 11,324.2 11,624.7 11,634.6 11,598.3 11,564.1 11,507.9 11,488.7 -19.2

Accommodation .................................................. 1,803.0 1,800.8 1,706.7 1,707.1 1,858.1 1,824.9 1,810.6 1,802.9 1,767.7 1,768.9 1.2

Food services and drinking places .................... 9,693.9 9,742.8 9,672.1 9,617.1 9,766.6 9,809.7 9,787.7 9,761.2 9,740.2 9,719.8 -20.4

Other services .......................................................... 5,486 5,525 5,488 5,441 5,507 5,526 5,530 5,525 5,502 5,467 -35

Repair and maintenance .................................... 1,246.5 1,228.8 1,208.6 1,196.1 1,255.5 1,233.9 1,232.7 1,228.0 1,217.1 1,208.1 -9.0

Personal and laundry services .......................... 1,304.3 1,315.2 1,304.6 1,306.4 1,306.9 1,318.5 1,319.4 1,315.1 1,310.4 1,310.7 .3

Membership associations and organizations .... 2,935.2 2,981.2 2,974.9 2,938.1 2,944.4 2,973.6 2,977.5 2,982.2 2,974.8 2,947.7 -27.1

Government .............................................................. 22,702 22,872 22,992 22,872 22,333 22,514 22,495 22,510 22,507 22,514 7

Federal ................................................................... 2,740 2,767 2,758 2,763 2,735 2,748 2,750 2,758 2,757 2,755 -2

Federal, except U.S. Postal Service ................. 1,960.8 2,043.8 2,045.7 2,047.5 1,972.3 2,025.2 2,033.6 2,045.3 2,052.7 2,056.7 4.0

U.S. Postal Service ............................................ 779.1 723.3 712.1 715.7 763.1 722.4 716.8 712.8 704.3 698.4 -5.9

State government .................................................. 5,250 5,350 5,379 5,323 5,153 5,210 5,206 5,208 5,215 5,221 6

State government education .............................. 2,447.5 2,535.6 2,564.1 2,509.4 2,332.5 2,378.8 2,378.8 2,378.4 2,384.9 2,389.4 4.5

State government, excluding education ............ 2,802.6 2,814.6 2,815.1 2,813.8 2,820.9 2,831.2 2,826.7 2,829.2 2,829.9 2,831.6 1.7

Local government .................................................. 14,712 14,755 14,855 14,786 14,445 14,556 14,539 14,544 14,535 14,538 3

Local government education ............................. 8,360.4 8,302.2 8,393.8 8,371.7 8,016.5 8,058.6 8,043.7 8,052.6 8,044.1 8,041.9 -2.2

Local government, excluding education ........... 6,351.9 6,453.2 6,461.3 6,414.3 6,428.2 6,497.4 6,495.1 6,491.8 6,490.7 6,496.3 5.6

1

Includes other industries, not shown separately.

2 Includes motor vehicles, motor vehicle bodies and trailers, and motor

vehicle parts.

3 Includes ambulatory health care services, hospitals, and nursing

and residential care facilities.

p = preliminary.

NOTE: Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for

the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry, replacing

NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm for more

details.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-2. Average weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers1on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and

selected industry detail

Industry

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

 Dec. 

2007

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2007

 Aug. 

2008

 Sept. 

2008

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

Change

from:

Nov. 2008-

Dec. 2008p

Total private ....................................... 34.1 33.6 33.7 33.3 33.8 33.7 33.6 33.5 33.5 33.3 -0.2

Goods-producing .......................................... 40.7 40.2 39.8 39.5 40.5 40.3 39.9 39.8 39.6 39.3 -.3

Natural resources and mining .............................. 45.8 45.2 44.9 44.0 45.8 45.3 44.5 44.6 44.5 44.0 -.5

Construction ............................................................ 38.6 38.8 37.8 37.3 39.0 38.7 38.4 38.1 37.8 37.8 .0

Manufacturing ......................................................... 41.6 40.7 40.5 40.3 41.1 40.9 40.5 40.4 40.3 39.9 -.4

Overtime hours ............................................ 4.3 3.6 3.4 3.2 4.0 3.7 3.5 3.5 3.3 3.0 -.3

Durable goods ..................................................... 41.8 40.8 40.6 40.5 41.3 41.2 40.7 40.6 40.4 40.0 -.4

Overtime hours ............................................ 4.4 3.5 3.2 3.1 4.0 3.7 3.5 3.4 3.1 2.9 -.2

Wood products .................................................. 39.4 38.2 38.3 37.5 39.2 38.9 38.4 38.1 38.0 37.4 -.6

Nonmetallic mineral products ......................... 41.1 42.5 41.4 41.0 41.5 42.3 42.0 41.9 41.5 41.6 .1

Primary metals .................................................. 42.8 41.6 40.8 40.2 42.2 42.7 42.1 41.4 40.6 39.9 -.7

Fabricated metal products .............................. 42.1 41.1 40.8 40.4 41.6 41.3 41.0 40.7 40.5 40.0 -.5

Machinery .......................................................... 43.5 42.1 41.8 41.5 42.9 42.7 42.2 41.9 41.5 41.0 -.5

Computer and electronic products ................ 41.4 40.9 41.5 41.3 40.5 41.0 40.9 40.8 41.1 40.5 -.6

Electrical equipment and appliances ............ 42.7 40.8 40.8 41.0 41.6 41.0 41.0 40.5 40.3 40.0 -.3

Transportation equipment ............................... 42.9 41.6 40.9 41.5 42.1 41.8 40.8 41.3 40.9 40.8 -.1

Motor vehicles and parts 2.............................. 42.3 40.7 40.0 40.5 41.6 40.4 40.9 40.6 40.2 39.9 -.3

Furniture and related products ....................... 39.9 37.3 37.2 37.8 39.1 38.1 37.5 37.4 37.3 37.2 -.1

Miscellaneous manufacturing ......................... 39.3 38.7 38.8 39.1 38.8 39.5 38.8 38.8 38.8 38.8 .0

Nondurable goods ............................................... 41.3 40.4 40.5 40.1 40.8 40.4 40.2 40.2 40.1 39.7 -.4

Overtime hours ............................................ 4.2 3.8 3.7 3.3 4.0 3.7 3.6 3.6 3.5 3.2 -.3

Food manufacturing ......................................... 41.0 40.8 40.9 40.0 40.4 40.5 40.4 40.4 40.3 39.5 -.8

Beverages and tobacco products .................. 40.3 37.6 38.4 37.3 40.8 38.2 38.2 38.0 38.1 37.6 -.5

Textile mills ........................................................ 41.1 38.3 38.3 37.5 40.2 39.5 39.0 38.2 37.9 36.8 -1.1

Textile product mills ......................................... 40.7 37.7 37.9 37.7 39.9 38.8 38.2 37.9 37.8 37.2 -.6

Apparel ............................................................... 37.5 36.2 37.1 37.2 37.5 36.4 36.0 36.2 36.8 37.0 .2

Leather and allied products ............................ 40.0 36.9 36.0 37.2 39.1 37.6 37.5 37.0 36.2 36.5 .3

Paper and paper products .............................. 44.6 42.5 42.0 41.9 44.0 43.0 42.4 42.2 41.7 41.3 -.4

Printing and related support activities ........... 39.3 38.9 38.8 38.8 38.8 38.3 38.3 38.5 38.4 38.3 -.1

Petroleum and coal products .......................... 43.1 46.1 45.2 44.5 44.0 45.5 45.3 45.3 44.6 45.2 .6

Chemicals .......................................................... 41.8 41.4 41.6 41.5 41.5 41.5 41.3 41.5 41.3 41.2 -.1

Plastics and rubber products .......................... 42.0 40.7 40.7 40.7 41.4 41.0 40.8 40.6 40.5 40.2 -.3

Private service-providing ............................. 32.7 32.2 32.5 32.1 32.4 32.4 32.3 32.3 32.3 32.2 -.1

Trade, transportation, and utilities ....................... 33.7 33.0 33.0 33.0 33.3 33.2 33.2 33.1 33.0 32.9 -.1

Wholesale trade ................................................... 38.8 38.2 38.5 37.9 38.3 38.3 38.1 38.2 38.1 38.0 -.1

Retail trade ........................................................... 30.5 29.8 29.7 29.9 30.1 30.0 30.1 29.9 29.8 29.7 -.1

Transportation and warehousing ...................... 37.6 36.2 36.3 36.5 36.8 36.4 36.3 36.3 36.0 36.3 .3

Utilities ................................................................... 42.7 42.6 42.9 42.7 42.8 42.2 42.6 42.5 42.5 42.8 .3

Information ............................................................... 36.7 36.9 37.4 36.8 36.3 36.8 36.9 36.9 37.0 37.0 .0

Financial activities .................................................. 36.4 35.7 36.6 35.7 35.8 36.1 36.0 35.9 36.0 35.9 -.1

Professional and business services .................... 35.2 35.0 35.3 34.6 34.8 34.9 34.8 34.9 35.0 34.7 -.3

Education and health services ............................. 32.8 32.4 32.7 32.3 32.6 32.6 32.5 32.5 32.5 32.4 -.1

Leisure and hospitality ........................................... 25.3 25.0 25.0 24.6 25.3 25.2 25.2 25.1 25.1 25.0 -.1

Other services ......................................................... 31.0 30.7 30.9 30.5 30.8 30.9 30.8 30.7 30.7 30.6 -.1

1 Data relate to production workers in natural resources and mining

and manufacturing, construction workers in construction, and nonsupervisory

workers in the service-providing industries. These groups account

for approximately four-fifths of the total employment on private

nonfarm payrolls.

2

Includes motor vehicles, motor vehicle bodies and trailers, and motor

vehicle parts.

p = preliminary.

NOTE: Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for

the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry, replacing

NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm for more

details.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-3. Average hourly and weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers1on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and 

selected industry detail

Industry

Average hourly earnings Average weekly earnings

 Dec. 

2007

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2007

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

Total private ....................................... $17.75 $18.23 $18.38 $18.37 $605.28 $612.53 $619.41 $611.72

Seasonally adjusted ..................... 17.70 18.23 18.31 18.36 598.26 610.71 613.39 611.39

Goods-producing .......................................... 18.96 19.59 19.64 19.69 771.67 787.52 781.67 777.76

Natural resources and mining .............................. 21.68 22.96 23.08 22.99 992.94 1,037.79 1,036.29 1,011.56

Construction ............................................................ 21.38 22.27 22.32 22.48 825.27 864.08 843.70 838.50

Manufacturing ......................................................... 17.51 17.84 17.94 18.03 728.42 726.09 726.57 726.61

Durable goods ..................................................... 18.46 18.78 18.90 19.01 771.63 766.22 767.34 769.91

Wood products .................................................. 13.88 14.41 14.45 14.58 546.87 550.46 553.44 546.75

Nonmetallic mineral products ......................... 16.94 16.93 16.74 16.58 696.23 719.53 693.04 679.78

Primary metals .................................................. 19.73 20.00 20.05 20.08 844.44 832.00 818.04 807.22

Fabricated metal products .............................. 16.82 17.18 17.22 17.38 708.12 706.10 702.58 702.15

Machinery .......................................................... 17.95 18.09 18.21 18.29 780.83 761.59 761.18 759.04

Computer and electronic products ................ 20.33 21.46 21.54 21.58 841.66 877.71 893.91 891.25

Electrical equipment and appliances ............ 15.73 15.85 15.83 15.98 671.67 646.68 645.86 655.18

Transportation equipment ............................... 23.46 24.01 24.26 24.37 1,006.43 998.82 992.23 1,011.36

Furniture and related products ....................... 14.50 14.55 14.58 14.63 578.55 542.72 542.38 553.01

Miscellaneous manufacturing ......................... 15.00 15.33 15.44 15.56 589.50 593.27 599.07 608.40

Nondurable goods ............................................... 15.90 16.31 16.39 16.44 656.67 658.92 663.80 659.24

Food manufacturing ......................................... 13.70 14.09 14.21 14.26 561.70 574.87 581.19 570.40

Beverages and tobacco products .................. 19.69 19.24 19.72 19.67 793.51 723.42 757.25 733.69

Textile mills ........................................................ 13.13 13.72 13.88 13.89 539.64 525.48 531.60 520.88

Textile product mills ......................................... 11.75 11.62 11.63 11.83 478.23 438.07 440.78 445.99

Apparel ............................................................... 11.28 11.38 11.42 11.38 423.00 411.96 423.68 423.34

Leather and allied products ............................ 12.12 13.14 13.26 13.30 484.80 484.87 477.36 494.76

Paper and paper products .............................. 18.71 19.06 18.94 19.13 834.47 810.05 795.48 801.55

Printing and related support activities ........... 16.65 17.00 17.01 17.17 654.35 661.30 659.99 666.20

Petroleum and coal products .......................... 25.52 28.86 28.53 28.13 1,099.91 1,330.45 1,289.56 1,251.79

Chemicals .......................................................... 19.57 19.71 20.02 19.86 818.03 815.99 832.83 824.19

Plastics and rubber products .......................... 15.65 16.01 16.03 16.10 657.30 651.61 652.42 655.27

Private service-providing ............................. 17.45 17.89 18.07 18.06 570.62 576.06 587.28 579.73

Trade, transportation, and utilities ....................... 15.89 16.26 16.30 16.17 535.49 536.58 537.90 533.61

Wholesale trade ................................................... 20.10 20.21 20.40 20.27 779.88 772.02 785.40 768.23

Retail trade ........................................................... 12.64 12.91 12.92 12.83 385.52 384.72 383.72 383.62

Transportation and warehousing ...................... 18.04 18.53 18.56 18.55 678.30 670.79 673.73 677.08

Utilities ................................................................... 28.61 29.00 29.15 29.23 1,221.65 1,235.40 1,250.54 1,248.12

Information ............................................................... 24.34 25.01 25.14 24.96 893.28 922.87 940.24 918.53

Financial activities .................................................. 19.97 20.42 20.54 20.51 726.91 728.99 751.76 732.21

Professional and business services .................... 20.67 21.39 22.00 22.09 727.58 748.65 776.60 764.31

Education and health services ............................. 18.51 18.92 18.96 19.08 607.13 613.01 619.99 616.28

Leisure and hospitality ........................................... 10.77 10.92 10.93 11.04 272.48 273.00 273.25 271.58

Other services ......................................................... 15.75 15.91 15.97 16.02 488.25 488.44 493.47 488.61

1 See footnote 1, table B-2.

p = preliminary.

NOTE: Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for

the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry, replacing

NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm for more

details.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-4. Average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector 

and selected industry detail, seasonally adjusted

Industry

Total Private:

 Dec. 

2007

 Aug. 

2008

 Sept. 

2008

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

Percent

change from:

Nov. 2008-

Dec. 2008 p

Current dollars ................................................ $17.70 $18.14 $18.17 $18.23 $18.31 $18.36 0.3

Constant (1982) dollars 2................................. 8.27 8.17 8.19 8.32 8.54 N.A.

Goods-producing .......................................................... 18.90 19.41 19.47 19.52 19.60 19.63 .2

Natural resources and mining .............................................. 21.54 23.02 23.17 23.06 23.05 22.85 -.9

Construction ............................................................................ 21.30 22.01 22.09 22.15 22.27 22.37 .4

Manufacturing ......................................................................... 17.41 17.76 17.79 17.86 17.94 17.92 -.1

.....................................................

4 Excluding overtime 16.60 16.99 17.05 17.12 17.23 17.27 .2

Durable goods ..................................................................... 18.33 18.70 18.72 18.80 18.89 18.88 -.1

Nondurable goods ............................................................... 15.86 16.18 16.27 16.34 16.39 16.39 .0

Private service-providing ............................................. 17.39 17.82 17.85 17.92 18.00 18.06 .3

Trade, transportation, and utilities ....................................... 16.00 16.26 16.23 16.27 16.31 16.33 .1

Wholesale trade ................................................................... 19.93 20.29 20.23 20.23 20.25 20.22 -.1

Retail trade ........................................................................... 12.81 12.93 12.93 12.92 12.98 13.00 .2

Transportation and warehousing ...................................... 18.07 18.47 18.45 18.55 18.56 18.59 .2

Utilities ................................................................................... 28.52 28.88 28.84 28.92 29.00 29.12 .4

Information ............................................................................... 24.18 24.91 24.86 24.95 25.06 25.00 -.2

Financial activities .................................................................. 19.91 20.38 20.42 20.44 20.42 20.55 .6

Professional and business services .................................... 20.46 21.30 21.40 21.56 21.83 22.03 .9

Education and health services ............................................. 18.48 18.85 18.91 18.95 18.99 19.04 .3

Leisure and hospitality ........................................................... 10.65 10.89 10.89 10.91 10.90 10.92 .2

Other services ......................................................................... 15.71 15.92 15.93 15.95 15.97 16.00 .2

3( )

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 2.6 percent from Oct. 2008 to Nov. 2008, 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.

NOTE: Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for

the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry, replacing

NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm for more

details.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-5. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers1on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and

selected industry detail

(2002=100)

Industry

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

 Dec. 

2007

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2007

 Aug. 

2008

 Sept. 

2008

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

Percent

change from:

Nov. 2008-

Dec. 2008p

Total private ....................................... 109.2 106.4 106.0 103.8 107.8 106.8 106.1 105.3 104.7 103.5 -1.1

Goods-producing .......................................... 100.6 96.6 93.8 90.0 100.6 96.9 95.3 93.9 92.4 90.3 -2.3

Natural resources and mining .............................. 135.1 145.8 144.6 139.4 135.6 143.0 141.9 141.5 142.1 139.8 -1.6

Construction ............................................................ 109.4 109.2 102.8 95.3 112.7 106.8 104.9 102.8 100.5 98.9 -1.6

Manufacturing ......................................................... 95.0 88.8 87.3 85.2 93.7 90.5 89.0 87.6 86.5 84.4 -2.4

Durable goods ..................................................... 98.0 89.7 88.2 86.1 96.5 92.6 90.7 89.0 87.5 85.0 -2.9

Wood products .................................................. 86.9 76.2 73.9 69.7 86.9 79.4 77.4 75.2 73.4 70.1 -4.5

Nonmetallic mineral products ......................... 92.4 95.4 89.8 84.6 94.4 94.3 92.4 92.0 89.2 87.6 -1.8

Primary metals .................................................. 90.9 85.8 82.4 78.9 89.6 88.7 87.2 85.2 81.9 78.4 -4.3

Fabricated metal products .............................. 106.3 99.4 97.1 94.0 104.8 101.6 100.0 97.9 95.9 92.8 -3.2

Machinery .......................................................... 106.7 100.7 98.1 96.7 105.0 103.7 101.4 100.1 97.4 95.6 -1.8

Computer and electronic products ................ 104.3 99.5 100.1 98.2 101.7 101.3 100.2 99.1 98.8 96.0 -2.8

Electrical equipment and appliances ............ 92.0 87.3 86.2 85.1 89.2 88.0 87.5 86.3 84.8 83.0 -2.1

Transportation equipment ............................... 98.0 81.3 81.4 80.9 95.2 86.4 83.5 81.1 81.0 78.9 -2.6

Motor vehicles and parts 2.............................. 84.1 66.5 64.9 63.7 81.6 69.2 68.8 66.8 64.8 62.0 -4.3

Furniture and related products ....................... 86.2 71.6 69.0 68.4 84.2 75.5 73.9 71.6 69.6 67.8 -2.6

Miscellaneous manufacturing ......................... 92.7 89.1 88.1 87.8 91.0 90.9 89.0 88.7 87.4 86.9 -.6

Nondurable goods ............................................... 90.3 86.9 86.0 83.9 89.3 87.0 86.3 85.7 84.8 83.3 -1.8

Food manufacturing ......................................... 102.7 103.0 102.7 98.9 101.0 100.2 100.2 100.2 99.9 97.5 -2.4

Beverages and tobacco products .................. 89.1 89.8 89.9 86.3 92.3 87.6 87.8 87.6 88.9 88.7 -.2

Textile mills ........................................................ 54.8 46.1 43.7 41.6 53.8 48.9 47.3 45.5 43.4 41.2 -5.1

Textile product mills ......................................... 77.7 69.1 67.7 65.8 76.4 70.9 70.2 69.0 67.6 65.5 -3.1

Apparel ............................................................... 59.7 54.2 54.9 53.7 60.3 56.3 54.7 54.0 54.3 53.9 -.7

Leather and allied products ............................ 74.0 71.5 68.5 69.8 71.5 74.3 73.4 70.9 68.4 68.5 .1

Paper and paper products .............................. 89.0 83.5 81.9 81.4 87.9 85.3 83.7 83.1 81.6 80.4 -1.5

Printing and related support activities ........... 92.4 86.6 85.8 84.2 90.6 86.6 86.3 85.3 84.2 82.8 -1.7

Petroleum and coal products .......................... 90.3 103.2 99.0 92.6 95.1 102.4 102.0 99.8 97.9 97.9 .0

Chemicals .......................................................... 96.2 94.3 94.3 93.7 95.6 95.5 94.6 95.0 94.3 93.3 -1.1

Plastics and rubber products .......................... 91.2 84.6 82.5 81.2 90.1 87.1 85.7 84.0 82.2 80.6 -1.9

Private service-providing ............................. 111.4 108.9 109.3 107.6 109.7 109.6 108.9 108.6 108.1 107.4 -.6

Trade, transportation, and utilities ....................... 109.4 102.5 103.1 103.5 105.1 103.6 103.1 102.3 101.2 100.4 -.8

Wholesale trade ................................................... 112.8 109.3 109.4 107.0 111.1 110.0 109.1 108.9 108.0 107.1 -.8

Retail trade ........................................................... 107.2 98.3 99.6 101.2 101.4 99.7 99.5 98.3 97.1 96.4 -.7

Transportation and warehousing ...................... 113.6 107.4 106.4 106.7 109.5 107.7 106.7 106.3 104.3 104.6 .3

Utilities ................................................................... 97.1 99.1 99.8 99.2 97.5 97.4 98.8 98.9 98.9 99.8 .9

Information ............................................................... 101.3 99.8 101.1 99.4 99.7 100.2 100.3 100.4 100.0 99.5 -.5

Financial activities .................................................. 110.0 107.5 109.5 106.6 108.2 109.2 108.6 108.1 108.0 107.4 -.6

Professional and business services .................... 118.1 115.9 114.8 110.8 116.7 115.0 114.2 113.9 113.0 111.2 -1.6

Education and health services ............................. 115.8 117.5 119.0 117.5 114.1 116.9 116.6 116.7 116.9 116.9 .0

Leisure and hospitality ........................................... 109.2 109.3 106.9 104.7 111.6 111.4 111.0 110.3 109.8 109.1 -.6

Other services ......................................................... 99.3 99.5 99.4 97.1 99.2 100.0 99.8 99.5 99.0 98.1 -.9

1 See footnote 1, table B-2.

2

Includes motor vehicles, motor vehicle bodies and trailers, and

motor vehicle parts.

p = preliminary.

NOTE: The indexes of aggregate weekly hours are calculated by

dividing the current months estimates of aggregate hours by

the corresponding 2002 annual average levels. Aggregate hours

estimates are the product of estimates of average weekly hours

and production and nonsupervisory worker employment.

Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis

for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry,

replacing NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm

for more details.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-6. Indexes of aggregate weekly payrolls of production and nonsupervisory workers1on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and

selected industry detail

(2002=100)

Industry

Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

 Dec. 

2007

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2007

 Aug. 

2008

 Sept. 

2008

 Oct. 

2008

 Nov. 

2008p

 Dec. 

2008p

Percent

change from:

Nov. 2008-

Dec. 2008p

Total private ....................................... 129.6 129.6 130.1 127.5 127.5 129.4 128.8 128.3 128.1 127.0 -0.9

Goods-producing .......................................... 116.8 115.9 112.8 108.6 116.5 115.2 113.6 112.2 110.9 108.6 -2.1

Natural resources and mining .............................. 170.3 194.7 194.1 186.3 169.8 191.4 191.2 189.8 190.5 185.8 -2.5

Construction ............................................................ 126.3 131.3 123.9 115.7 129.6 126.9 125.1 123.0 120.9 119.4 -1.2

Manufacturing ......................................................... 108.8 103.6 102.4 100.5 106.7 105.1 103.5 102.4 101.5 99.0 -2.5

Durable goods ..................................................... 112.9 105.2 104.1 102.2 110.4 108.1 106.0 104.4 103.2 100.2 -2.9

Nondurable goods ............................................... 101.5 100.1 99.6 97.5 100.0 99.5 99.2 98.9 98.2 96.5 -1.7

Private service-providing ............................. 133.3 133.5 135.5 133.3 130.8 133.9 133.3 133.5 133.4 133.0 -.3

Trade, transportation, and utilities ....................... 124.0 118.9 119.9 119.4 119.9 120.2 119.4 118.7 117.7 117.0 -.6

Wholesale trade ................................................... 133.6 130.1 131.5 127.8 130.4 131.5 130.0 129.8 128.8 127.6 -.9

Retail trade ........................................................... 116.2 108.8 110.3 111.2 111.3 110.5 110.3 108.8 108.1 107.4 -.6

Transportation and warehousing ...................... 130.0 126.3 125.3 125.6 125.5 126.2 124.9 125.0 122.9 123.4 .4

Utilities ................................................................... 115.9 119.9 121.4 121.1 116.1 117.5 119.0 119.4 119.7 121.3 1.3

Information ............................................................... 122.1 123.6 125.9 122.9 119.4 123.6 123.5 124.0 124.0 123.2 -.6

Financial activities .................................................. 135.8 135.7 139.1 135.2 133.2 137.6 137.1 136.6 136.4 136.4 .0

Professional and business services .................... 145.3 147.5 150.3 145.7 142.1 145.7 145.5 146.1 146.8 145.7 -.7

Education and health services ............................. 141.0 146.1 148.3 147.4 138.6 144.9 144.9 145.3 146.0 146.3 .2

Leisure and hospitality ........................................... 133.6 135.6 132.7 131.3 135.0 137.8 137.3 136.6 135.9 135.3 -.4

Other services ......................................................... 114.0 115.3 115.6 113.4 113.6 116.0 115.8 115.6 115.2 114.4 -.7

1 See footnote 1, table B-2.

p = preliminary.

NOTE: The indexes of aggregate weekly payrolls are calculated

by dividing the current months estimates of aggregate payrolls

by the corresponding 2002 annual average levels. Aggregate

payroll estimates are the product of estimates of average hourly

earnings, average weekly hours, and production and nonsupervisory

worker employment.

Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis

for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry,

replacing NAICS 2002. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm

for more details.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-7. Diffusion indexes of employment change

(Percent)

Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Private nonfarm payrolls, 274 industries

Manufacturing payrolls, 84 industries

1

1

Over 1-month span:

Over 3-month span:

Over 6-month span:

Over 12-month span:

Over 1-month span:

Over 3-month span:

Over 6-month span:

Over 12-month span:

Time span

2004 ......................................................... 50.5 50.5 64.1 62.6 61.7 58.9 56.0 50.0 56.9 56.9 51.3 51.8

2005 ......................................................... 52.2 60.6 54.2 58.2 55.8 58.2 58.0 61.3 54.7 53.6 62.4 54.7

2006 ......................................................... 65.1 60.9 64.4 59.3 53.3 52.7 60.4 58.9 53.5 55.8 57.1 56.0

2007 ......................................................... 51.6 51.8 52.7 51.1 56.6 50.4 52.2 51.6 56.4 54.6 48.2 48.5

2008 ......................................................... 45.4 41.4 47.4 45.6 46.4 42.3 38.3 46.2 35.9 34.1 p 27.2 p 25.4

2004 ......................................................... 54.4 52.9 57.3 63.5 68.8 66.6 61.3 56.4 57.7 59.5 61.9 54.6

2005 ......................................................... 52.2 55.5 57.5 60.8 58.9 61.9 60.4 63.9 61.1 54.4 54.9 61.3

2006 ......................................................... 67.2 66.2 66.6 65.5 60.6 58.2 56.0 58.9 55.7 56.4 57.1 58.4

2007 ......................................................... 58.4 54.7 55.3 54.7 56.2 53.3 53.1 54.7 58.4 56.8 54.7 52.4

2008 ......................................................... 46.7 42.7 42.3 44.0 43.1 44.0 36.3 37.4 34.1 33.0 p 28.3 p 24.1

2004 ......................................................... 50.0 51.6 55.3 60.9 63.7 65.1 65.1 63.9 60.4 61.7 58.2 56.0

2005 ......................................................... 54.6 57.3 56.8 57.5 57.5 58.2 64.4 62.8 62.0 59.3 61.5 62.0

2006 ......................................................... 63.1 64.4 67.2 67.0 64.4 66.4 61.5 61.7 60.4 59.7 60.8 56.0

2007 ......................................................... 59.1 56.4 57.5 56.8 58.8 58.2 56.2 58.0 58.2 57.1 54.6 53.8

2008 ......................................................... 51.5 49.8 44.7 46.5 43.6 39.1 37.6 39.1 33.6 31.6 p 28.3 p 26.8

2004 ......................................................... 40.5 42.3 45.1 48.9 51.3 58.2 57.5 55.7 57.3 58.8 60.6 60.8

2005 ......................................................... 60.6 60.8 59.7 58.9 58.0 60.0 60.9 63.3 60.4 58.9 59.5 61.7

2006 ......................................................... 67.2 65.1 65.5 62.6 64.8 66.4 64.4 64.4 66.2 65.1 64.4 65.5

2007 ......................................................... 62.6 59.1 60.4 58.9 59.5 58.4 57.5 58.8 61.7 60.4 59.9 57.7

2008 ......................................................... 53.8 54.6 52.6 50.4 49.3 45.8 44.7 42.5 41.4 38.0 p 31.8 p 30.5

2004 ......................................................... 43.5 47.6 47.0 63.7 50.6 51.2 58.3 42.9 42.9 48.2 42.3 39.9

2005 ......................................................... 36.3 48.8 42.9 44.6 42.3 35.1 38.1 47.0 45.8 46.4 47.0 47.0

2006 ......................................................... 57.7 45.8 54.8 48.8 38.1 53.0 50.6 44.0 36.3 40.5 38.1 39.3

2007 ......................................................... 47.6 35.7 30.4 29.8 37.5 39.3 41.7 33.3 40.5 45.2 44.6 36.3

2008 ......................................................... 40.5 28.6 38.1 35.1 44.6 30.4 26.8 37.5 25.0 18.5 p 18.5 p 11.3

2004 ......................................................... 41.1 40.5 43.5 56.5 58.9 61.3 57.7 47.0 46.4 41.7 44.6 38.7

2005 ......................................................... 38.1 39.3 42.3 44.6 36.3 37.5 33.3 39.9 45.8 41.7 38.7 49.4

2006 ......................................................... 54.8 52.4 47.6 48.8 44.6 50.6 42.9 47.6 36.3 37.5 32.1 34.5

2007 ......................................................... 33.9 28.6 32.1 27.4 29.8 32.7 31.0 34.5 32.1 39.3 44.0 41.7

2008 ......................................................... 35.7 27.4 26.8 29.2 29.8 35.7 24.4 22.6 21.4 22.6 p 18.5 p 14.3

2004 ......................................................... 29.2 31.5 32.7 44.6 49.4 54.8 59.5 56.0 51.2 51.8 44.0 38.7

2005 ......................................................... 33.9 38.1 35.1 36.9 32.1 32.1 41.7 35.7 36.3 36.9 37.5 42.3

2006 ......................................................... 42.9 45.2 50.6 47.6 48.2 47.6 46.4 48.8 43.5 41.7 38.7 29.8

2007 ......................................................... 34.5 27.4 23.8 27.4 31.5 34.5 33.3 31.0 29.2 35.1 34.5 32.7

2008 ......................................................... 34.5 33.9 32.1 28.0 26.8 20.8 19.6 24.4 17.3 17.9 p 15.5 p 15.5

2004 ......................................................... 13.1 14.3 13.1 20.2 23.2 35.7 36.9 38.1 36.9 44.0 44.6 44.6

2005 ......................................................... 44.6 43.5 41.7 40.5 36.3 35.1 32.1 33.9 32.7 33.3 33.3 38.1

2006 ......................................................... 44.6 40.5 40.5 39.3 39.3 44.6 41.7 42.3 46.4 48.2 45.2 44.0

2007 ......................................................... 39.3 36.3 36.9 28.6 29.8 26.2 26.8 29.2 30.4 29.8 33.3 33.9

2008 ......................................................... 29.8 29.8 29.8 24.4 27.4 24.4 23.8 21.4 22.6 20.2 p 17.9 p 17.9

1 Based on seasonally adjusted data for 1-, 3-, and 6-month spans and

unadjusted data for the 12-month 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.

Data reflect the conversion to the 2007 version of the North American

Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for the assignment

and tabulation of economic data by industry, replacing NAICS 2002.

See http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics07.htm for more details.