U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Summary 98-12

December 1998

S

uburbanites are more likely to participate in the labor force than are

city dwellers, and their unemployment

rates are usually lower as well. These

labor-market outcomes for suburbanites

and city dwellers hold across the major

age, sex, race, and educational attainment groups. In addition, groups that

usually have poorer labor market outcomes are overrepresented in cities.

This summary compares labor force

participation and unemployment rates

for persons living in the 25 largest central cities with those of persons living

in the suburbs of those cities. The data

(1997 annual averages) were collected

through the Current Population Survey

(CPS), a nationwide monthly survey of

some 50,000 households. It should be

noted that the CPS is a survey of households, not employers. Thus, the classification of people as city dwellers or

suburbanites depends on where they

live, not where they work.

Participation and unemployment

Regardless of age, sex, race, or ethnicity,

people in central cities are less likely to

be in the labor force than are those living in the suburbs. The differences are

particularly striking among blacks.

About 60.2 percent of blacks living in

central cities were in the labor force in

1997, compared with 73.3 percent of

those living in the suburbs. (See table.)

Education strongly influences labormarket outcomes. For all groups, labor

force participation rates increased with

education, but the urban-suburban differences remained. As the tabulation

below shows, for example, 35.4 percent

of black high school dropouts, 16 years

of age and over, who lived in central

cities were in the labor force, but for

black college graduates living in cities

the participation rate was more than

twice as high, 82.2 percent. In contrast,

among blacks living in the suburbs, 43.1

percent of those who had not graduated

from high school were in the labor force,

compared with 87.1 percent of those

who were college graduates.

The unemployment rates for workers

living in central cities were higher

across the board than for members of

the same demographic groups living in

the suburbs. In both cities and suburbs,

persons with more education were less

likely to be unemployed, but, even

among college graduates, those in cenLabor-Market Outcomes for City Dwellers and Suburbanites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

White Black Hispanic origin 16 to 24 years Less than a high

school diploma

College

graduates

Central cities Suburbs

Participation rates for blacks

Central cities Suburbs

Less than a high school diploma 35.4 43.1

High school diploma, no college 65.7 73.9

Some college, no degree 71.0 81.3

College graduates 82.2 87.1

Percent of the population living in the 25 largest central

cities and their suburbs by selected characteristics, 1997

annual averages

Percent
tral cities had a higher unemployment rate (3.1 percent) than those

living in the suburbs (2.0 percent).

The high concentrations in cities of groups that usually have

poorer labor market outcomes than

Labor force participation and unemployment rates of persons living in the 25

largest cities and their suburbs, 1997 annual averages

 Age and sex

Total, 16 years and over ..................... 64.6 69.9 7.3 4.0

16 to 24 years .................................. 58.4 65.4 15.5 9.8

25 to 54 years .................................. 80.6 85.3 5.9 3.1

55 years and over ............................ 29.3 34.4 4.5 2.8

Men .................................................... 73.3 78.2 7.2 3.9

Women ............................................. 56.9 61.9 7.3 4.1

 Race and Hispanic origin

White ................................................. 66.2 69.8 5.5 3.7

Black ................................................. 60.2 73.3 12.5 7.6

Hispanic orgin ................................... 64.3 71.3 8.1 6.1

Educational attainment

Less than a high school diploma .... 44.0 47.3 14.7 9.8

High school graduates, no college .. 64.0 65.8 8.0 4.3

Some college, no degree ................. 74.6 74.9 5.8 3.6

College graduates ............................ 81.7 81.5 3.1 2.0

1 Percent of population that is in the labor force.

2 Percent of labor force that is unemployed.

3

Labor force participation rates1

Characteristic

Unemployment rates 2

Central cities Suburbs Central cities Suburbs

the overall population tends to exacerbate

the overall city-suburban differences. For

instance, in 1997, blacks and Hispanics represented 27.2 and 23.0 percent, respectively,

of the civilian noninstitutional population

age 16 and over in the central cities. In contrast, among the suburban population,

the figures were 7.6 and 11.3 percent,

respectively. (See chart.) In addition,

27.3 percent of the central city population did not have a high school diploma,

compared with 16.9 percent of the suburban population. There also were relatively few college graduates in the

cities.

For additional information on the

employment characteristics of persons

who lived in the 25 largest cities and

the surrounding suburbs in 1997 and a

technical description of the Current

Population Survey, contact Stella

Cromartie, Office of Employment and

Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of

Labor Statistics, Washington, DC

20212. Tel: (202)606-6378. E-mail:

Cromartie_S@bls.gov. Information in

this report is available to sensory

impaired individuals upon request.

Voice phone: (202) 606-7828; TDD

phone: (202) 606-5897; TDD message

referral phone: 1-800-326-2577. This

material is in the public domain and,

with appropriate credit, may be

reproduced without permission.

U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Washington, DC 20212

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 3 Data refer to persons 25 years and older.