For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, December 5, 2017 USDL-17-1614 

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 — 2016

A total of 163.6 million persons worked at some point during 2016, 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 2016 was 64.3 percent, little changed from 2015. The number of persons who 

experienced some unemployment during 2016 declined by 1.4 million to 15.6 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 2016 data: 

• The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round in 2016 was 68.8 percent, up 0.8 

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 9.4 percent in 2016. (See table 3.) 

• About 2.6 million individuals looked for a job but did not work at all in 2016, down from 3.2 

million in 2015. (See table 3.) 

Persons with Employment

Overall, 64.3 percent of the population worked in 2016, little different from 64.2 percent in 2015. The 

proportions of men and women who worked at some time during 2016 were 70.0 percent and 59.0 

percent, respectively. These proportions showed little or no change from the prior year. (See table 1.)

The proportion of Blacks (61.9 percent) who worked at some time during 2016 increased by 1.3 

percentage points from 2015, while the shares of Whites (64.6 percent), Asians (64.8 percent), and 

Hispanics (66.1 percent) showed little change. (See table 2.)

Among those with work experience in 2016, 79.8 percent usually worked full time, little changed from a 

year earlier. In 2016, men (85.8 percent) continued to be more likely than women (73.1 percent) to work 
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full time during the year. These proportions were little changed from the prior year. Among those who 

worked at some point in 2016, Asians (83.0 percent) were more likely to work full time than Whites 

(79.6 percent), Blacks (80.7 percent), and Hispanics (81.0 percent). (See tables 1 and 2.) 

Of the total who worked during 2016, 79.4 percent were employed year round (working 50 to 52 weeks, 

either full or part time), up from 78.6 percent in 2015. In 2016, the percentages of both men (81.8 

percent) and women (76.8 percent) working year round increased from a year earlier. (See table 1.)

Persons with Unemployment

Overall, 166.2 million persons worked or looked for work at some time in 2016, up by 726,000 from the 

prior year. Of those, 15.6 million experienced some unemployment during 2016, down by 1.4 million 

from 2015. (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. At 9.4 percent in 2016, the workexperience unemployment rate was 0.8 percentage point lower than in 2015. The work-experience 

unemployment rates for Whites (8.8 percent), Blacks (13.1 percent), and Hispanics (11.1 percent) 

declined from 2015 to 2016, while the rate for Asians (7.3 percent) was unchanged. (See tables 3 and 4.) 

In 2016, men continued to have a slightly higher work-experience unemployment rate than women, 9.5 

percent versus 9.2 percent. Among Blacks, the rate for men was higher than the rate for women, while 

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

other. 

Among those who experienced unemployment in 2016, the median number of weeks spent looking for 

work was 14.5. The number of persons who looked for a job but did not work at all in 2016 declined by 

584,000 over the year to 2.6 million. Of the 13.0 million individuals who both worked and experienced 

unemployment in 2016, 22.1 percent had two or more spells of unemployment, little different than the 

share in 2015. (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 2017 refer to the 2016 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

2016 estimates (in thousands)

Annual average of

monthly estimates 151,436 7,751

Annual supplement data 163,638 15,570

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 2017 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 2016?" or "Did you do any temporary, part-time,

or seasonal work even for a few days during 2016?"

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 2016, 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, 2015-16

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of Employment

Total

2015 2016

Men

2015 2016

Women

2015 2016

NUMBER OF EMPLOYED

Civilian noninstitutional population 252,766 254,413 122,110 122,944 130,656 131,469

Total who worked or looked for work 165,495 166,221 87,149 87,368 78,347 78,853

Percent of the population 65.5 65.3 71.4 71.1 60.0 60.0

Total who worked during the year1 162,329 163,638 85,518 86,063 76,811 77,574

Percent of the population 64.2 64.3 70.0 70.0 58.8 59.0

Full time2 129,254 130,560 73,181 73,881 56,074 56,679

50 to 52 weeks 110,308 112,554 63,173 64,299 47,135 48,255

48 to 49 weeks 2,200 1,948 1,374 1,157 826 791

40 to 47 weeks 5,509 5,057 2,648 2,501 2,860 2,556

27 to 39 weeks 3,861 3,821 1,992 2,049 1,869 1,772

14 to 26 weeks 4,468 4,248 2,482 2,293 1,985 1,955

1 to 13 weeks 2,909 2,932 1,510 1,582 1,399 1,350

Part time3 33,075 33,078 12,338 12,182 20,737 20,896

50 to 52 weeks 17,280 17,438 6,028 6,120 11,252 11,318

48 to 49 weeks 882 893 298 298 584 595

40 to 47 weeks 2,809 2,779 1,059 931 1,750 1,848

27 to 39 weeks 2,775 2,938 1,054 1,110 1,720 1,828

14 to 26 weeks 4,567 4,507 1,773 1,772 2,794 2,735

1 to 13 weeks 4,762 4,523 2,126 1,952 2,637 2,570

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION

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

Full time2 79.6 79.8 85.6 85.8 73.0 73.1

50 to 52 weeks 68.0 68.8 73.9 74.7 61.4 62.2

48 to 49 weeks 1.4 1.2 1.6 1.3 1.1 1.0

40 to 47 weeks 3.4 3.1 3.1 2.9 3.7 3.3

27 to 39 weeks 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.3

14 to 26 weeks 2.8 2.6 2.9 2.7 2.6 2.5

1 to 13 weeks 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.7

Part time3 20.4 20.2 14.4 14.2 27.0 26.9

50 to 52 weeks 10.6 10.7 7.0 7.1 14.6 14.6

48 to 49 weeks 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.8 0.8

40 to 47 weeks 1.7 1.7 1.2 1.1 2.3 2.4

27 to 39 weeks 1.7 1.8 1.2 1.3 2.2 2.4

14 to 26 weeks 2.8 2.8 2.1 2.1 3.6 3.5

1 to 13 weeks 2.9 2.8 2.5 2.3 3.4 3.3

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: 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, 2015-16

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of employment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total

2015 2016

Men

2015 2016

Women

2015 2016

WHITE

Civilian noninstitutional population 197,883 198,597 96,722 97,043 101,161 101,554

Total who worked or looked for work 130,378 130,021 69,916 69,608 60,462 60,413

Percent of the population 65.9 65.5 72.3 71.7 59.8 59.5

Total who worked during the year1 128,343 128,370 68,847 68,796 59,496 59,574

Percent of the population 64.9 64.6 71.2 70.9 58.8 58.7

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

Full time2 79.5 79.6 85.9 86.1 72.0 72.0

50 to 52 weeks 67.8 68.7 74.2 75.1 60.4 61.2

27 to 49 weeks 7.2 6.7 7.1 6.7 7.3 6.8

1 to 26 weeks 4.4 4.1 4.5 4.2 4.3 4.0

Part time3 20.5 20.4 14.1 13.9 28.0 28.0

50 to 52 weeks 10.8 10.9 6.8 7.0 15.4 15.3

27 to 49 weeks 4.1 4.2 2.8 2.8 5.5 5.9

1 to 26 weeks 5.7 5.4 4.4 4.1 7.1 6.8

BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN

Civilian noninstitutional population 31,750 32,126 14,455 14,652 17,295 17,475

Total who worked or looked for work 20,034 20,534 9,397 9,573 10,636 10,962

Percent of the population 63.1 63.9 65.0 65.3 61.5 62.7

Total who worked during the year1 19,229 19,897 8,972 9,255 10,258 10,643

Percent of the population 60.6 61.9 62.1 63.2 59.3 60.9

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

Full time2 79.6 80.7 82.5 84.4 77.0 77.6

50 to 52 weeks 67.5 68.9 70.3 71.7 65.1 66.5

27 to 49 weeks 6.9 6.2 6.7 6.4 7.0 6.0

1 to 26 weeks 5.2 5.6 5.5 6.2 4.9 5.1

Part time3 20.4 19.3 17.5 15.6 23.0 22.4

50 to 52 weeks 10.2 9.9 8.6 7.8 11.5 11.8

27 to 49 weeks 3.8 3.3 3.1 2.7 4.3 3.8

1 to 26 weeks 6.5 6.0 5.7 5.0 7.2 6.8

ASIAN

Civilian noninstitutional population 14,840 15,399 6,961 7,253 7,879 8,146

Total who worked or looked for work 9,658 10,135 5,100 5,343 4,558 4,792

Percent of the population 65.1 65.8 73.3 73.7 57.9 58.8

Total who worked during the year1 9,495 9,982 5,035 5,263 4,460 4,719

Percent of the population 64.0 64.8 72.3 72.6 56.6 57.9

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

Full time2 83.2 83.0 88.4 88.4 77.3 77.0

50 to 52 weeks 73.4 73.6 79.6 79.5 66.4 67.1

27 to 49 weeks 5.5 5.3 4.8 5.1 6.4 5.4

1 to 26 weeks 4.2 4.1 4.0 3.8 4.5 4.4

Part time3 16.8 17.0 11.6 11.6 22.7 23.0

50 to 52 weeks 9.7 9.3 6.5 6.1 13.2 12.9

27 to 49 weeks 2.9 3.1 1.8 1.9 4.1 4.4

1 to 26 weeks 4.3 4.6 3.3 3.6 5.5 5.7

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 2. Work experience of the population during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2015-16

—Continued

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of employment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total

2015 2016

Men

2015 2016

Women

2015 2016

HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY

Civilian noninstitutional population 40,382 41,081 20,112 20,435 20,270 20,645

Total who worked or looked for work 26,976 27,623 15,255 15,472 11,721 12,151

Percent of the population 66.8 67.2 75.8 75.7 57.8 58.9

Total who worked during the year1 26,459 27,145 15,011 15,236 11,448 11,909

Percent of the population 65.5 66.1 74.6 74.6 56.5 57.7

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

Full time2 80.5 81.0 87.0 87.5 72.0 72.6

50 to 52 weeks 67.5 69.1 73.7 75.4 59.4 61.0

27 to 49 weeks 8.1 7.2 8.7 7.9 7.4 6.3

1 to 26 weeks 4.9 4.7 4.6 4.2 5.2 5.3

Part time3 19.5 19.0 13.0 12.5 28.0 27.4

50 to 52 weeks 10.8 10.4 6.6 6.8 16.4 15.2

27 to 49 weeks 3.3 3.4 2.4 2.1 4.6 5.1

1 to 26 weeks 5.3 5.2 4.0 3.7 7.1 7.1

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, 2015-16

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of unemployment

Total

2015 2016

Men

2015 2016

Women

2015 2016

NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED

Total who worked or looked for work 165,495 166,221 87,149 87,368 78,347 78,853

Percent with unemployment 10.2 9.4 10.4 9.5 10.0 9.2

Total with unemployment 16,925 15,570 9,063 8,300 7,862 7,270

Did not work but looked for work 3,167 2,583 1,630 1,304 1,536 1,278

1 to 14 weeks 1,112 961 487 450 625 511

15 weeks or more 2,054 1,622 1,143 855 911 767

Worked during the year 13,759 12,987 7,433 6,995 6,326 5,992

Year-round workers1 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment 392 480 245 280 147 199

Part-year workers2 with unemployment 13,366 12,507 7,188 6,715 6,179 5,792

1 to 4 weeks 2,618 2,553 1,367 1,259 1,251 1,294

5 to 10 weeks 2,102 2,083 1,159 1,073 943 1,010

11 to 14 weeks 1,916 1,559 993 844 923 715

15 to 26 weeks 3,572 3,286 2,000 1,892 1,571 1,394

27 weeks or more 3,159 3,027 1,668 1,647 1,491 1,380

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers 14.7 14.5 14.8 15.3 14.6 13.8

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 2,971 2,871 1,762 1,634 1,209 1,237

2 spells 1,376 1,441 767 787 609 655

3 spells or more 1,595 1,430 995 847 600 583

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 35.1 37.2 29.9 34.5 40.7 40.0

15 weeks or more 64.9 62.8 70.1 65.5 59.3 60.0

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 2.9 3.7 3.3 4.0 2.3 3.3

Part-year workers2 with unemployment 97.1 96.3 96.7 96.0 97.7 96.7

1 to 4 weeks 19.0 19.7 18.4 18.0 19.8 21.6

5 to 10 weeks 15.3 16.0 15.6 15.3 14.9 16.9

11 to 14 weeks 13.9 12.0 13.4 12.1 14.6 11.9

15 to 26 weeks 26.0 25.3 26.9 27.0 24.8 23.3

27 weeks or more 23.0 23.3 22.4 23.5 23.6 23.0

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 21.6 22.1 23.7 23.4 19.1 20.7

2 spells 10.0 11.1 10.3 11.2 9.6 10.9

3 spells or more 11.6 11.0 13.4 12.1 9.5 9.7

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, 2015-16

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of unemployment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total

2015 2016

Men

2015 2016

Women

2015 2016

WHITE

Total who worked or looked for work 130,378 130,021 69,916 69,608 60,462 60,413

Percent with unemployment 9.5 8.8 9.7 8.8 9.3 8.7

Total with unemployment 12,409 11,379 6,764 6,148 5,645 5,231

Did not work but looked for work 2,035 1,651 1,069 811 966 839

Worked during the year 10,374 9,729 5,694 5,337 4,680 4,392

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers 14.1 13.9 14.3 14.6 13.9 13.1

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 3.0 3.8 3.6 4.2 2.4 3.2

Part-year workers3 with unemployment 97.0 96.2 96.4 95.8 97.6 96.8

1 to 4 weeks 19.9 20.7 18.8 18.7 21.2 23.0

5 to 14 weeks 30.2 28.9 30.1 28.4 30.4 29.6

15 weeks or more 46.8 46.7 47.5 48.7 46.0 44.2

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 21.4 22.5 23.2 23.2 19.1 21.5

BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN

Total who worked or looked for work 20,034 20,534 9,397 9,573 10,636 10,962

Percent with unemployment 15.0 13.1 16.2 14.2 13.8 12.2

Total with unemployment 2,995 2,694 1,523 1,360 1,473 1,334

Did not work but looked for work 804 637 426 318 379 319

Worked during the year 2,191 2,057 1,097 1,041 1,094 1,015

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers 19.5 19.0 20.3 20.2 18.9 17.6

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 2.2 3.7 2.6 3.0 1.8 4.5

Part-year workers3 with unemployment 97.8 96.3 97.4 97.0 98.2 95.5

1 to 4 weeks 14.8 13.8 16.2 13.1 13.4 14.6

5 to 14 weeks 24.8 24.9 22.4 23.5 27.2 26.2

15 weeks or more 58.2 57.6 58.8 60.4 57.6 54.7

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 22.0 22.5 25.0 27.4 19.1 17.5

ASIAN

Total who worked or looked for work 9,658 10,135 5,100 5,343 4,558 4,792

Percent with unemployment 7.3 7.3 6.5 6.9 8.3 7.7

Total with unemployment 709 741 330 371 379 370

Did not work but looked for work 163 153 65 79 99 73

Worked during the year 545 588 265 292 280 296

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers 14.6 14.1 14.1 13.5 15.1 14.9

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 2.6 3.2 2.2 3.0 2.9 3.3

Part-year workers3 with unemployment 97.4 96.8 97.8 97.0 97.1 96.7

1 to 4 weeks 21.5 22.4 21.5 22.8 21.4 21.9

5 to 14 weeks 27.2 27.3 28.9 29.6 25.5 25.1

15 weeks or more 48.8 47.1 47.4 44.6 50.2 49.7

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 18.3 15.0 19.5 14.9 17.2 15.1

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 4. Extent of unemployment during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2015-16 — Continued

[Numbers in thousands]

Extent of unemployment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total

2015 2016

Men

2015 2016

Women

2015 2016

HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY

Total who worked or looked for work 26,976 27,623 15,255 15,472 11,721 12,151

Percent with unemployment 12.1 11.1 11.8 11.1 12.4 11.0

Total with unemployment 3,257 3,057 1,799 1,724 1,458 1,334

Did not work but looked for work 517 478 244 236 273 243

Worked during the year 2,740 2,579 1,555 1,488 1,185 1,091

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers 16.0 14.8 15.6 14.6 16.7 15.0

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 2.7 3.6 3.3 4.5 2.0 2.3

Part-year workers3 with unemployment 97.3 96.4 96.7 95.5 98.0 97.7

1 to 4 weeks 18.0 21.3 16.8 20.2 19.6 22.9

5 to 14 weeks 26.9 25.8 28.4 26.5 24.8 24.8

15 weeks or more 52.4 49.4 51.4 48.8 53.6 50.0

With 2 spells or more of unemployment 23.8 22.1 26.5 23.7 20.3 19.9

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.