For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, December 3, 2019 USDL-19-2103 

Technical information: (202) 691-6378 • cpsinfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cps

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov 

WORK EXPERIENCE OF THE POPULATION — 2018

A total of 166.4 million persons worked at some point during 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor 

Statistics reported today. The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and 

over who worked at some time during 2018 was 64.4 percent, little changed from 2017. The 

number of persons who experienced some unemployment during 2018 declined by 1.3 million to 

13.2 million. 

These data are based on information collected in the Annual Social and Economic Supplement 

(ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey conducted by the 

U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The ASEC collects information on 

employment and unemployment experienced during the prior calendar year. Additional 

information about the CPS and the ASEC, including concepts and definitions, is provided in the 

Technical Note.

Highlights from the 2018 data: 

• The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round in 2018 was 70.4 percent, 

up 0.9 percentage point from the prior year. (See table 1.) 

• The "work-experience unemployment rate"—defined as the number of persons 

unemployed at some time during the year as a proportion of the number of persons who 

worked or looked for work during the year—declined by 0.8 percentage point to 7.8 

percent in 2018. This is the lowest rate in this series, which began in 1958. (See table 3.)

• About 2.2 million individuals looked for a job but did not work at all in 2018, compared 

with 2.4 million in 2017. (See table 3.) 

Persons with Employment

Overall, 64.4 percent of the population worked in 2018, little changed from 64.2 percent in 2017. 

The proportion of men who worked at some time during 2018 was 69.7 percent, little changed 

from 2017. The proportion of women, however, increased by 0.6 percentage point to 59.4 

percent in 2018. (See table 1.) 
-2- 

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, the proportions of Whites (64.7 percent), Blacks 

(62.4 percent), Asians (64.5 percent), and Hispanics (66.6 percent) who worked at some time 

during 2018 showed little change from 2017. (See table 2.) 

Among those with work experience in 2018, 80.8 percent usually worked full time, up 0.4 

percentage point from a year earlier. The proportion of women who usually worked full time 

increased 0.9 percentage point over the year to 74.4 percent in 2018. The share of men who 

usually worked full time was little changed at 86.7 percent. Among those who worked at some 

point in 2018, Asians (84.7 percent) were more likely to work full time, followed by Blacks 

(82.4 percent), and Hispanics (81.2 percent), and Whites (80.4 percent). (See tables 1 and 2.) 

Of the total who worked during 2018, 80.8 percent were employed year round (working 50 to 52 

weeks, either full or part time), up from 80.1 percent in 2017. The share of men working year 

round increased by 1.1 percentage points to 83.1 percent in 2018, while the percentage of women 

working year round was little changed at 78.3 percent. (See table 1.) 

Persons with Unemployment

Overall, 168.6 million persons worked or looked for work at some time in 2018, up by 1.1 

million from the prior year. Of those, 13.2 million experienced some unemployment during 

2018, down by 1.3 million from 2017. (See table 3.) 

The work-experience unemployment rate (those looking for work during the year as a percent of 

those who worked or looked for work during the year) continued to decline. In 2018, the workexperience unemployment rate fell by 0.8 percentage point to 7.8 percent—this is the lowest rate 

in the history of the series, which began in 1958. (See table 3.) 

In 2018, men continued to have a higher work-experience unemployment rate than women, at 

8.2 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively. The rates for both men and women declined from the 

prior year. (See table 3.) 

In 2018, the work-experience unemployment rates for Whites (7.3 percent) and Blacks (10.6 

percent) declined, while the rates for Hispanics (9.7 percent) and Asians (5.8 percent) were little 

changed. Among Whites, the rate for men was higher than the rate for women, while among 

Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics, the rates for men and women were little different from each 

other. (See table 4.) 

Among those who experienced unemployment in 2018, the median number of weeks spent 

looking for work was 13.9 weeks. The number of persons who looked for a job but did not work 

at all in 2018 was little changed at 2.2 million. Of the 11.0 million individuals who both worked 

and experienced unemployment in 2018, 21.7 percent had two or more spells of unemployment, 

up 1.5 percentage points from 2017. (See table 3.) 
Technical Note

The data presented in this release were collected in the 

Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the 

Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly 

sample survey of about 60,000 eligible households, conducted 

by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor 

Statistics (BLS). Data from the CPS are used to obtain the 

monthly estimates of the nation's employment and 

unemployment levels. The ASEC, conducted in the months of 

February through April, includes questions about work 

activity during the prior calendar year. For instance, data 

collected in 2019 refer to the 2018 calendar year. Because the 

reference period is a full year, the number of persons with 

some employment or unemployment greatly exceeds the 

average levels for any given month, which are based on a 1-

week reference period, and the corresponding annual average 

of the monthly estimates. As shown below, for example, the 

number experiencing any unemployment was about twice the 

number unemployed in an average month during the year.

Employed Unemployed

2018 estimates (in thousands)

Annual average of

monthly estimates 155,761 6,314

Annual supplement data 166,402 13,171 

In addition, estimates from the supplement differ from

those obtained in the basic CPS because the questions used to

classify workers as either employed or unemployed are

different. More important, perhaps, is that the supplement 

contains fewer questions for categorizing respondents. In 

regard to unemployment in particular, the supplement has no 

questions on the type of job search activity or on the

respondent's availability to work. Also, individuals can be

counted as both employed and unemployed in the work

experience supplement data, whereas, for a specific monthly 

reference week, each person is only counted in one category 

and employment activity takes precedence over job search 

activity.

The data presented in this release are not strictly comparable with data for earlier years due to the introduction of

updated population controls used in the CPS. The population 

controls are updated each year in January to reflect the latest 

information about population change. Additional information 

is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.

Reliability of the estimates

Statistics based on the CPS 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 component of this difference that occurs 

because samples differ by chance is known as sampling error, 

and its 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. 

The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. 

Nonsampling error 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, and errors made in the collection or processing of 

the data.

A full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS

and information on estimating standard errors is available at

www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.

Concepts and definitions

The principle concepts and definitions used in 

connection with the data in this release are described briefly 

below. 

Persons who worked. In the 2019 supplement, persons

are considered to have worked if they responded "yes" to

either the question "Did you work at a job or business at any

time during 2018?" or "Did you do any temporary, part-time,

or seasonal work even for a few days during 2018?"

Unemployed persons. Persons who worked during the

year but not in every week are counted as unemployed if they

also reported looking for work or being on layoff from a job

during the year. Those who reported no work activity during

the year are considered unemployed if they responded "yes"

to the question "Even though you did not work in 2018, did

you spend any time trying to find a job or on layoff?"

Work-experience unemployment rate. The number of 

persons unemployed at some time during the year as a 

proportion of the number of persons who worked or looked for 

work during the year.

Labor force participants. Persons who either worked or

were unemployed during the year.

Usual full- and part-time employment. These data refer

to the number of hours a worker typically works during most

weeks of the year. Workers are classified as full time if they

usually worked 35 hours or more in a week; part-time

employment refers to workers whose typical workweek was

between 1 and 34 hours.

Year-round and part-year employment. Workers are

classified as year round if they worked 50 to 52 weeks. Partyear employment refers to workers who worked fewer than 50 

weeks.

Other information

Information in this release will be made available to

sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone:

(202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.
Table 1. Work experience of the population during the year by sex and extent of employment, 2017-2018

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of Employment

Total

2017 2018

Men

2017 2018

Women

2017 2018

NUMBER OF EMPLOYED

Civilian noninstitutional population 257,097 258,527 124,331 125,027 132,766 133,500

Total who worked or looked for work 167,538 168,617 88,360 88,364 79,177 80,253

Percent of the population 65.2 65.2 71.1 70.7 59.6 60.1

Total who worked during the year1 165,163 166,402 87,147 87,163 78,016 79,239

Percent of the population 64.2 64.4 70.1 69.7 58.8 59.4

Full time2 132,784 134,458 75,471 75,541 57,312 58,917

50 to 52 weeks 114,845 117,172 65,625 66,451 49,221 50,721

48 to 49 weeks 2,180 1,876 1,231 1,058 949 818

40 to 47 weeks 4,899 5,166 2,581 2,618 2,318 2,548

27 to 39 weeks 3,946 3,689 2,227 1,939 1,718 1,750

14 to 26 weeks 4,127 3,994 2,220 2,096 1,907 1,898

1 to 13 weeks 2,787 2,561 1,587 1,379 1,200 1,181

Part time3 32,379 31,944 11,675 11,622 20,703 20,323

50 to 52 weeks 17,457 17,363 5,841 6,000 11,616 11,364

48 to 49 weeks 806 831 304 302 502 529

40 to 47 weeks 2,871 2,834 977 970 1,894 1,864

27 to 39 weeks 2,560 2,709 890 997 1,670 1,711

14 to 26 weeks 4,395 4,286 1,806 1,701 2,590 2,585

1 to 13 weeks 4,289 3,920 1,857 1,651 2,432 2,269

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION

Total who worked during the year1 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time2 80.4 80.8 86.6 86.7 73.5 74.4

50 to 52 weeks 69.5 70.4 75.3 76.2 63.1 64.0

48 to 49 weeks 1.3 1.1 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.0

40 to 47 weeks 3.0 3.1 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.2

27 to 39 weeks 2.4 2.2 2.6 2.2 2.2 2.2

14 to 26 weeks 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.4

1 to 13 weeks 1.7 1.5 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.5

Part time3 19.6 19.2 13.4 13.3 26.5 25.6

50 to 52 weeks 10.6 10.4 6.7 6.9 14.9 14.3

48 to 49 weeks 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.7

40 to 47 weeks 1.7 1.7 1.1 1.1 2.4 2.4

27 to 39 weeks 1.6 1.6 1.0 1.1 2.1 2.2

14 to 26 weeks 2.7 2.6 2.1 2.0 3.3 3.3

1 to 13 weeks 2.6 2.4 2.1 1.9 3.1 2.9

1 Time worked includes paid vacation and sick leave.

2 Usually worked 35 hours or more per week.

3 Usually worked 1 to 34 hours per week.

NOTE: Data refer to persons 16 years and over. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. 
Table 2. Work experience of the population during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2017-2018

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of employment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total

2017 2018

Men

2017 2018

Women

2017 2018

WHITE

Civilian noninstitutional population 200,003 200,567 97,879 98,110 102,123 102,457

Total who worked or looked for work 130,598 131,215 70,199 70,101 60,399 61,114

Percent of the population 65.3 65.4 71.7 71.5 59.1 59.6

Total who worked during the year1 129,141 129,712 69,456 69,271 59,685 60,442

Percent of the population 64.6 64.7 71.0 70.6 58.4 59.0

Percent who worked during the year1 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time2 80.0 80.4 86.7 86.8 72.2 73.1

50 to 52 weeks 69.4 70.1 75.6 76.6 62.2 62.8

27 to 49 weeks 6.6 6.4 6.9 6.4 6.3 6.5

1 to 26 weeks 4.0 3.8 4.2 3.9 3.8 3.8

Part time3 20.0 19.6 13.3 13.2 27.8 26.9

50 to 52 weeks 10.8 10.7 6.6 6.9 15.7 15.1

27 to 49 weeks 3.9 4.0 2.6 2.7 5.4 5.5

1 to 26 weeks 5.2 4.9 4.1 3.6 6.6 6.3

BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN

Civilian noninstitutional population 32,636 32,923 14,904 15,047 17,733 17,877

Total who worked or looked for work 20,877 21,013 9,775 9,723 11,102 11,290

Percent of the population 64.0 63.8 65.6 64.6 62.6 63.2

Total who worked during the year1 20,215 20,533 9,439 9,478 10,776 11,055

Percent of the population 61.9 62.4 63.3 63.0 60.8 61.8

Percent who worked during the year1 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time2 81.8 82.4 85.6 85.1 78.5 80.0

50 to 52 weeks 69.9 71.6 73.0 74.5 67.2 69.1

27 to 49 weeks 7.1 6.3 7.5 6.2 6.7 6.3

1 to 26 weeks 4.8 4.5 5.1 4.4 4.6 4.5

Part time3 18.2 17.6 14.4 14.9 21.5 20.0

50 to 52 weeks 9.5 9.2 7.3 7.2 11.5 10.8

27 to 49 weeks 3.3 3.2 2.3 2.4 4.2 3.9

1 to 26 weeks 5.4 5.2 4.8 5.2 5.9 5.2

ASIAN

Civilian noninstitutional population 15,938 16,260 7,509 7,685 8,429 8,575

Total who worked or looked for work 10,382 10,589 5,511 5,597 4,871 4,992

Percent of the population 65.1 65.1 73.4 72.8 57.8 58.2

Total who worked during the year1 10,259 10,486 5,454 5,541 4,805 4,945

Percent of the population 64.4 64.5 72.6 72.1 57.0 57.7

Percent who worked during the year1 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time2 84.0 84.7 89.8 89.9 77.4 78.8

50 to 52 weeks 73.6 75.6 79.6 80.7 66.8 69.9

27 to 49 weeks 6.3 5.8 6.1 6.0 6.5 5.5

1 to 26 weeks 4.1 3.3 4.1 3.2 4.2 3.4

Part time3 16.0 15.3 10.2 10.1 22.6 21.2

50 to 52 weeks 9.2 9.0 5.9 5.6 13.1 12.9

27 to 49 weeks 2.9 2.8 1.5 1.8 4.5 4.0

1 to 26 weeks 3.9 3.5 2.9 2.7 5.0 4.3

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 2. Work experience of the population during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2017-2018 --

Continued

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of employment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total

2017 2018

Men

2017 2018

Women

2017 2018

HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY

Civilian noninstitutional population 42,417 43,196 21,130 21,503 21,287 21,692

Total who worked or looked for work 28,480 29,240 16,040 16,341 12,440 12,899

Percent of the population 67.1 67.7 75.9 76.0 58.4 59.5

Total who worked during the year1 28,039 28,781 15,819 16,095 12,221 12,686

Percent of the population 66.1 66.6 74.9 74.8 57.4 58.5

Percent who worked during the year1 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time2 81.1 81.2 87.4 87.2 72.9 73.6

50 to 52 weeks 69.0 69.7 74.6 75.8 61.7 62.0

27 to 49 weeks 7.4 7.2 8.1 7.5 6.6 6.8

1 to 26 weeks 4.7 4.3 4.7 3.9 4.6 4.8

Part time3 18.9 18.8 12.6 12.8 27.1 26.4

50 to 52 weeks 10.7 10.8 7.0 7.4 15.6 15.0

27 to 49 weeks 3.2 3.5 2.0 2.2 4.8 5.1

1 to 26 weeks 5.0 4.5 3.6 3.1 6.7 6.3

1 Time worked includes paid vacation and sick leave.

2 Usually worked 35 hours or more per week.

3 Usually worked 1 to 34 hours per week.

NOTE: Estimates for the above race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals shown in table 1 because data are not

presented for all races. 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. 
Table 3. Extent of unemployment during the year by sex, 2017-2018

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of unemployment

Total

2017 2018

Men

2017 2018

Women

2017 2018

NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED

Total who worked or looked for work 167,538 168,617 88,360 88,364 79,177 80,253

Percent with unemployment 8.6 7.8 9.0 8.2 8.3 7.4

Total with unemployment 14,461 13,171 7,921 7,210 6,540 5,962

Did not work but looked for work 2,375 2,215 1,213 1,202 1,162 1,014

1 to 14 weeks 978 891 437 453 542 438

15 weeks or more 1,397 1,324 777 748 620 576

Worked during the year 12,086 10,956 6,708 6,008 5,379 4,948

Year-round workers1 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment 426 452 265 287 160 165

Part-year workers2 with unemployment 11,661 10,504 6,442 5,721 5,218 4,783

1 to 4 weeks 2,771 2,350 1,414 1,097 1,358 1,253

5 to 10 weeks 1,901 1,651 1,071 888 830 763

11 to 14 weeks 1,582 1,430 902 783 680 647

15 to 26 weeks 2,846 2,793 1,566 1,621 1,280 1,172

27 weeks or more 2,559 2,281 1,489 1,333 1,070 948

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers 13.4 13.9 13.7 14.7 13.0 12.8

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 2,438 2,381 1,482 1,419 956 961

2 spells 1,123 1,124 625 622 498 502

3 spells or more 1,315 1,256 857 797 458 459

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION

Did not work but looked for work 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

1 to 14 weeks 41.2 40.2 36.0 37.7 46.6 43.2

15 weeks or more 58.8 59.8 64.0 62.3 53.4 56.8

Worked during the year 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Year-round workers1 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment 3.5 4.1 4.0 4.8 3.0 3.3

Part-year workers2 with unemployment 96.5 95.9 96.0 95.2 97.0 96.7

1 to 4 weeks 22.9 21.4 21.1 18.3 25.2 25.3

5 to 10 weeks 15.7 15.1 16.0 14.8 15.4 15.4

11 to 14 weeks 13.1 13.0 13.5 13.0 12.6 13.1

15 to 26 weeks 23.5 25.5 23.4 27.0 23.8 23.7

27 weeks or more 21.2 20.8 22.2 22.2 19.9 19.2

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 20.2 21.7 22.1 23.6 17.8 19.4

2 spells 9.3 10.3 9.3 10.4 9.3 10.1

3 spells or more 10.9 11.5 12.8 13.3 8.5 9.3

1 Worked 50 or 51 weeks.

2 Worked less than 50 weeks.

NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. 
Table 4. Extent of unemployment during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2017-2018

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of unemployment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total

2017 2018

Men

2017 2018

Women

2017 2018

WHITE

Total who worked or looked for work 130,598 131,215 70,199 70,101 60,399 61,114

Percent with unemployment 8.0 7.3 8.5 7.6 7.5 7.0

Total with unemployment 10,469 9,590 5,952 5,332 4,517 4,258

Did not work but looked for work 1,457 1,503 743 830 714 672

Worked during the year 9,012 8,088 5,209 4,501 3,803 3,586

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers 12.6 13.3 13.0 13.8 11.9 12.5

Percent who worked during the year1 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Year-round workers2 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment 3.9 4.0 4.4 5.0 3.1 2.7

Part-year workers3 with unemployment 96.1 96.0 95.6 95.0 96.9 97.3

1 to 4 weeks 24.1 22.3 21.6 18.8 27.5 26.6

5 to 14 weeks 30.1 29.6 30.7 30.2 29.2 28.8

15 weeks or more 42.0 44.2 43.3 46.0 40.2 41.9

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 20.3 22.2 22.4 23.8 17.4 20.1

BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN

Total who worked or looked for work 20,877 21,013 9,775 9,723 11,102 11,290

Percent with unemployment 12.3 10.6 12.6 11.5 12.0 9.8

Total with unemployment 2,569 2,230 1,232 1,119 1,337 1,111

Did not work but looked for work 662 480 336 246 326 235

Worked during the year 1,907 1,749 896 873 1,012 876

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers 16.9 17.4 16.6 20.4 17.3 14.5

Percent who worked during the year1 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Year-round workers2 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment 2.5 4.7 2.8 4.3 2.2 5.1

Part-year workers3 with unemployment 97.5 95.3 97.2 95.7 97.8 94.9

1 to 4 weeks 15.9 16.9 16.6 13.3 15.4 20.4

5 to 14 weeks 27.1 22.8 26.4 19.3 27.8 26.3

15 weeks or more 54.4 55.6 54.2 63.1 54.6 48.2

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 20.1 20.2 19.1 23.2 21.0 17.3

ASIAN

Total who worked or looked for work 10,382 10,589 5,511 5,597 4,871 4,992

Percent with unemployment 7.0 5.8 6.5 6.4 7.5 5.0

Total with unemployment 725 610 359 359 366 251

Did not work but looked for work 123 103 57 56 66 47

Worked during the year 602 507 302 303 300 204

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers 13.9 13.9 13.8 14.1 14.0 13.6

Percent who worked during the year1 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Year-round workers2 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment 2.8 4.7 1.9 6.6 3.6 2.0

Part-year workers3 with unemployment 97.2 95.3 98.1 93.4 96.4 98.0

1 to 4 weeks 26.6 20.1 24.6 20.0 28.7 20.2

5 to 14 weeks 24.7 29.7 28.7 26.5 20.6 34.5

15 weeks or more 45.9 45.5 44.8 47.0 47.0 43.3

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 17.7 16.3 21.3 15.6 14.0 17.5

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 4. Extent of unemployment during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2017-2018 -- Continued

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of unemployment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total

2017 2018

Men

2017 2018

Women

2017 2018

HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY

Total who worked or looked for work 28,480 29,240 16,040 16,341 12,440 12,899

Percent with unemployment 9.9 9.7 10.1 9.5 9.6 9.8

Total with unemployment 2,813 2,827 1,616 1,559 1,196 1,269

Did not work but looked for work 441 459 222 246 219 213

Worked during the year 2,372 2,368 1,395 1,312 977 1,056

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers 13.3 14.7 13.7 13.9 12.7 16.2

Percent who worked during the year1 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Year-round workers2 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment 3.3 3.3 2.9 4.4 3.9 1.8

Part-year workers3 with unemployment 96.7 96.7 97.1 95.6 96.1 98.2

1 to 4 weeks 22.7 20.2 21.0 19.5 25.1 21.1

5 to 14 weeks 29.4 27.5 30.6 30.1 27.6 24.3

15 weeks or more 44.6 49.0 45.5 45.9 43.3 52.8

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 23.3 24.4 27.3 26.4 17.6 21.9

1 Time worked includes paid vacation and sick leave.

2 Worked 50 or 51 weeks.

3 Worked less than 50 weeks.

NOTE: Estimates for the above race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals shown in table 3 because data are not

presented for all races. 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.