1

Technical information: (202) 691-6378

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

Media contact: 691-5902

USDL 07-0199

For release: 10:00 A.M. EST

Friday, February 9, 2007

WORK EXPERIENCE OF THE POPULATION IN 2005

A total of 154.3 million persons worked at some point during 2005, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the

U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round

was 67.5 percent, a higher proportion than in 2004 (66.8 percent). The number of persons who experienced some unemployment in 2005 was 14.5 million, down from 15.1 million a year earlier. (See tables 1

and 3.)

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 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 2005 data include:

The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 years old and over that worked

at some time during the year was 67.7 percent in 2005, essentially unchanged from 2004.

The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round in 2005 (67.5 percent) was up from

2004 (66.8 percent).

The “work-experience unemployment rate”—defined as the number unemployed at some time

during the year as a proportion of the number who worked or looked for work during the year—

decreased to 9.3 percent in 2005 from 9.7 percent in 2004.

Persons with Employment

In 2005, the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years old and over that worked at

some point during the year was 67.7 percent, essentially unchanged from 2004. The proportion of men who

worked at some time during the year edged up to 74.4 percent in 2005; among women the proportion was

about unchanged at 61.4 percent. (See table 1.)

The proportions of whites (68.3 percent), blacks (63.7 percent), Asians (67.4 percent), and Hispanics

(68.0 percent) that worked some time during the year were essentially unchanged in 2005. (See table 2.)

Among those with work experience during 2005, 77.4 percent were employed year round (either full or

part time), up by 0.4 percentage point from 2004. Continuing a long-term growth trend, full-year

employment among women edged up to 74.0 percent in 2005. The percentage of men employed year round

also was up over the year, increasing to 80.5 percent from 80.0 percent in 2004. (See table 1.)

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2

About 4 out of 5 of those who were employed at some time during 2005 usually worked full time, about

the same ratio as in 2004. Among both men and women, the proportion who worked full time was little

changed in 2005 (87.0 and 72.7 percent, respectively). (See table 1.)

Persons with Unemployment

Overall, 14.5 million persons experienced some unemployment in 2005, down from 15.1 million in 2004.

Declines in unemployment among women accounted for more than 70 percent of the over-the-year change.

(See table 3.)

At 9.3 percent in 2005, the “work-experience unemployment rate” was down 0.4 percentage point from

2004. The rate is low by historical standards, but is above the series low of 8.6 percent reached in 2000.

The rate for blacks in 2005, 14.8 percent, was higher than the rates for Hispanics or Latinos (10.0 percent),

whites (8.5 percent), and Asians (7.2 percent). (See tables 3 and 4.)

In 2005, among whites, the “work-experience unemployment rate” for men (8.9 percent) was higher than

that for women (7.9 percent). This was also true for black men and women (16.3 and 13.6 percent, respectively). In contrast, among Asians, the rate for women (7.7 percent) was higher than that of men (6.7 percent). The “work- experience unemployment rates” for Hispanic men and women (10.2 and 9.6 percent,

respectively) were little different. (See table 4.)

In 2005, among those who experienced unemployment, the median number of weeks spent looking for

work was 14.6, down slightly from 14.9 in 2004. About 2.4 million individuals had looked for a job but

did not work at all in 2005, about the same as in 2004. Of the 12.1 million persons who worked during the

year and also experienced unemployment, 25.5 percent had two or more spells of joblessness, compared to

23.1 percent in 2004.
Technical Note

The data presented in this release were collected in the

Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current

Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly sample survey

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

Statistics. Data from the CPS are used to obtain the monthly

estimates of the nation’s employment and unemployment

levels. The supplement, conducted in the months of February

through April, includes questions about work activity during

the prior calendar year. For instance, data collected in 2006 refer

to the 2005 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 during 2005 was about twice the number

unemployed in an average month during the year.

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 fewer questions by

which to categorize respondents are asked in the supplement.

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 data, whereas, for a specific reference week, each

person is only counted in one category and employment activity

takes precedence over job search activity.

Work experience data for 2005, which were collected in the

2006 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the CPS,

are not strictly comparable with data for 2004 and earlier

years because of the introduction in January 2006 of

revised population controls used in the CPS. The effect of the

revised population controls on the work experience estimates

is unknown. However, the effect of the new controls on

the monthly CPS estimates was to decrease the December 2005

employment level by 123,000 and the unemployment level 

by 8,000. For additional information, see “Adjustments 

to Household Survey Population Estimates in January 2006” in 

the February 2006 issue of Employment and Earnings, available on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps06adj.pdf.

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.

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 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.

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.

For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS

and information on estimating standard errors, see the

“Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error” section of

Employment and Earnings.

Concepts and definitions

Persons who worked. In the 2006 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

2005?” or “Did you do any temporary, part-time, or seasonal

work even for a few days during 2005?”

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 2005, did you spend

any time trying to find a job or on layoff?”

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. Part-year

employment refers to workers who worked fewer than 50 weeks.

 Employed Unemployed

2005 estimates (in thousands)

 Annual average of

 monthly estimates

 Annual supplement data

141,730 7,591

154,322 14,531
Table 1. Work experience of the population during the year by sex and extent of employment, 2004-05

Extent of employment

Total Men Women

2004 2005 2004 2005 2004 2005

Numbers (in thousands)

Civilian noninstitutional population ....................................................................... 225,236 227,975 108,702 110,161 116,534 117,814

Total who worked or looked for work ................................................................ 154,796 156,744 81,759 83,230 73,037 73,514

Percent of the population .............................................................................. 68.7 68.8 75.2 75.6 62.7 62.4

Total who worked during the year 1 .................................................................. 152,253 154,322 80,547 82,013 71,706 72,309

Percent of the population .............................................................................. 67.6 67.7 74.1 74.4 61.5 61.4

Full time 2 ..................................................................................................... 121,730 123,911 70,101 71,361 51,628 52,550

50 to 52 weeks ......................................................................................... 101,768 104,147 59,436 60,851 42,332 43,297

48 to 49 weeks ......................................................................................... 2,063 1,980 1,277 1,121 785 859

40 to 47 weeks ......................................................................................... 5,345 5,224 2,806 2,835 2,539 2,389

27 to 39 weeks ......................................................................................... 4,444 4,587 2,332 2,323 2,112 2,264

14 to 26 weeks ......................................................................................... 4,921 4,799 2,533 2,610 2,388 2,189

1 to 13 weeks ........................................................................................... 3,189 3,172 1,716 1,621 1,472 1,552

Part time 3 ..................................................................................................... 30,523 30,411 10,445 10,653 20,078 19,758

50 to 52 weeks ......................................................................................... 15,502 15,361 4,969 5,141 10,533 10,221

48 to 49 weeks ......................................................................................... 768 814 223 254 544 560

40 to 47 weeks ......................................................................................... 2,564 2,537 754 845 1,810 1,692

27 to 39 weeks ......................................................................................... 2,724 2,799 1,008 968 1,716 1,832

14 to 26 weeks ......................................................................................... 4,258 4,321 1,565 1,637 2,693 2,684

1 to 13 weeks ........................................................................................... 4,707 4,578 1,926 1,808 2,781 2,770

Percent distribution

Total who worked during the year 1 ...................................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time 2 ......................................................................................................... 80.0 80.3 87.0 87.0 72.0 72.7

50 to 52 weeks ............................................................................................. 66.8 67.5 73.8 74.2 59.0 59.9

48 to 49 weeks ............................................................................................. 1.4 1.3 1.6 1.4 1.1 1.2

40 to 47 weeks ............................................................................................. 3.5 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.3

27 to 39 weeks ............................................................................................. 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.8 2.9 3.1

14 to 26 weeks ............................................................................................. 3.2 3.1 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.0

1 to 13 weeks ............................................................................................... 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.1 2.1

Part time 3 ......................................................................................................... 20.0 19.7 13.0 13.0 28.0 27.3

50 to 52 weeks ............................................................................................. 10.2 10.0 6.2 6.3 14.7 14.1

48 to 49 weeks ............................................................................................. 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.8 0.8

40 to 47 weeks ............................................................................................. 1.7 1.6 0.9 1.0 2.5 2.3

27 to 39 weeks ............................................................................................. 1.8 1.8 1.3 1.2 2.4 2.5

14 to 26 weeks ............................................................................................. 2.8 2.8 1.9 2.0 3.8 3.7

1 to 13 weeks ............................................................................................... 3.1 3.0 2.4 2.2 3.9 3.8

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. Data for 2005, which

were collected in the 2006 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the

Current Population Survey, are not strictly comparable with data for 2004

and earlier years because of the introduction in January 2006 of revised

population controls used in the survey. For additional information, see the

technical note and "Revisions to the Current Population Survey Effective in

January 2006" in the February 2006 issue of Employment and Earnings, 

available on the Internet at http: //www.bls.gov/cps/rvcps06.pdf. 
Table 2. Work experience of the population during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2004-05

(Numbers in thousands)

Extent of employment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total Men Women

2004 2005 2004 2005 2004 2005

WHITE 

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................................................... 183,768 185,628 89,602 90,642 94,166 94,986

Total who worked or looked for work ............................................................ 127,054 128,319 68,235 69,410 58,818 58,909

Percent of the population .......................................................................... 69.1 69.1 76.2 76.6 62.5 62.0

Total who worked during the year 1 .............................................................. 125,405 126,744 67,452 68,595 57,953 58,149

Percent of the population .......................................................................... 68.2 68.3 75.3 75.7 61.5 61.2

Percent who worked during the year 1 ......................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time 2 ................................................................................................. 79.4 79.9 87.0 87.2 70.5 71.3

50 to 52 weeks ..................................................................................... 66.4 67.4 73.9 74.7 57.8 58.7

27 to 49 weeks ..................................................................................... 7.8 7.6 8.1 7.6 7.6 7.7

1 to 26 weeks ....................................................................................... 5.1 4.9 5.1 4.9 5.1 4.9

Part time 3 ................................................................................................. 20.6 20.1 13.0 12.8 29.5 28.7

50 to 52 weeks ..................................................................................... 10.5 10.3 6.2 6.2 15.6 15.1

27 to 49 weeks ..................................................................................... 4.1 4.1 2.5 2.5 6.0 6.0

1 to 26 weeks ....................................................................................... 6.0 5.7 4.3 4.1 7.9 7.6

BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN 

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................................................... 26,377 26,866 11,812 12,059 14,565 14,807

Total who worked or looked for work ............................................................ 17,426 17,764 8,017 8,133 9,408 9,631

Percent of the population .......................................................................... 66.1 66.1 67.9 67.4 64.6 65.0

Total who worked during the year 1 .............................................................. 16,724 17,103 7,672 7,830 9,053 9,273

Percent of the population .......................................................................... 63.4 63.7 64.9 64.9 62.2 62.6

Percent who worked during the year 1 ......................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time 2 ................................................................................................. 83.6 82.6 87.6 85.8 80.3 79.9

50 to 52 weeks ..................................................................................... 68.8 68.1 72.8 70.3 65.5 66.1

27 to 49 weeks ..................................................................................... 7.7 7.8 7.9 8.1 7.5 7.6

1 to 26 weeks ....................................................................................... 7.1 6.7 7.0 7.3 7.2 6.1

Part time 3 ................................................................................................. 16.4 17.4 12.4 14.2 19.7 20.1

50 to 52 weeks ..................................................................................... 7.9 8.0 5.9 6.6 9.5 9.2

27 to 49 weeks ..................................................................................... 2.9 3.3 2.3 2.8 3.4 3.7

1 to 26 weeks ....................................................................................... 5.6 6.1 4.1 4.8 6.9 7.3

ASIAN 

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................................................... 9,680 10,003 4,596 4,742 5,083 5,261

Total who worked or looked for work ............................................................ 6,516 6,850 3,494 3,642 3,022 3,207

Percent of the population .......................................................................... 67.3 68.5 76.0 76.8 59.4 61.0

Total who worked during the year 1 .............................................................. 6,417 6,738 3,451 3,582 2,966 3,156

Percent of the population .......................................................................... 66.3 67.4 75.1 75.5 58.3 60.0

Percent who worked during the year 1 ......................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time 2 ................................................................................................. 82.9 83.1 88.2 88.3 76.7 77.2

50 to 52 weeks ..................................................................................... 72.1 71.4 78.4 77.2 64.9 64.8

27 to 49 weeks ..................................................................................... 6.0 7.0 5.3 7.2 6.9 6.8

1 to 26 weeks ....................................................................................... 4.7 4.7 4.5 3.9 4.9 5.6

Part time 3 ................................................................................................. 17.1 16.9 11.8 11.7 23.3 22.8

50 to 52 weeks ..................................................................................... 9.6 8.8 6.7 5.8 13.0 12.1

27 to 49 weeks ..................................................................................... 3.2 3.2 1.6 1.4 5.0 5.3

1 to 26 weeks ....................................................................................... 4.4 4.9 3.5 4.5 5.3 5.4

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 2. Work experience of the population during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2004-05 —

Continued

(Numbers in thousands)

Extent of employment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total Men Women

2004 2005 2004 2005 2004 2005

HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY

Civilian noninstitutional population ................................................................... 28,814 29,793 14,791 15,309 14,023 14,484

Total who worked or looked for work ............................................................ 19,912 20,605 11,818 12,296 8,093 8,309

Percent of the population .......................................................................... 69.1 69.2 79.9 80.3 57.7 57.4

Total who worked during the year 1 .............................................................. 19,579 20,262 11,668 12,121 7,911 8,141

Percent of the population .......................................................................... 67.9 68.0 78.9 79.2 56.4 56.2

Percent who worked during the year 1 ......................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Full time 2 ................................................................................................. 84.4 85.0 90.8 90.9 74.9 76.3

50 to 52 weeks ..................................................................................... 69.3 70.5 75.7 76.6 59.8 61.4

27 to 49 weeks ..................................................................................... 9.0 8.6 9.9 8.8 7.7 8.2

1 to 26 weeks ....................................................................................... 6.1 6.0 5.2 5.4 7.4 6.7

Part time 3 ................................................................................................. 15.6 15.0 9.2 9.1 25.1 23.7

50 to 52 weeks ..................................................................................... 8.1 8.0 4.5 4.8 13.5 12.7

27 to 49 weeks ..................................................................................... 2.9 2.5 1.6 1.4 4.7 4.1

1 to 26 weeks ....................................................................................... 4.6 4.5 3.0 2.9 6.9 6.9

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: 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. In addition, persons whose ethnicity is

identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are

classified by ethnicity as well as by race. Data refer to persons 16 years

and over. Also, see Note, table 1.
Table 3. Extent of unemployment during the year by sex, 2004-05

Extent of unemployment

Total Men Women

2004 2005 2004 2005 2004 2005

Numbers (in thousands)

Total who worked or looked for work .................................................................... 154,796 156,744 81,759 83,230 73,037 73,514

Percent with unemployment ............................................................................. 9.7 9.3 10.1 9.7 9.3 8.8

Total with unemployment .................................................................................. 15,077 14,531 8,249 8,090 6,828 6,441

Did not work but looked for work .................................................................. 2,543 2,422 1,213 1,216 1,331 1,206

1 to 14 weeks ........................................................................................... 977 1,016 393 436 584 580

15 weeks or more ..................................................................................... 1,567 1,406 819 780 747 626

Worked during the year ................................................................................ 12,533 12,108 7,037 6,873 5,497 5,235

Year-round workers 1 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment ...................... 463 429 286 293 176 136

Part-year workers 2 with unemployment ................................................... 12,071 11,680 6,750 6,580 5,320 5,100

1 to 4 weeks ......................................................................................... 1,986 1,939 1,027 1,051 958 888

5 to 10 weeks ....................................................................................... 2,106 2,158 1,172 1,197 934 961

11 to 14 weeks ..................................................................................... 1,775 1,690 1,021 1,017 754 673

15 to 26 weeks ..................................................................................... 3,451 3,347 2,063 1,921 1,388 1,426

27 weeks or more ................................................................................. 2,752 2,545 1,467 1,394 1,285 1,151

 Median weeks of unemployment for all workers ....................................... 14.9 14.6 15.1 14.5 14.6 14.8

 With 2 spells or more of unemployment ................................................... 2,899 3,092 1,825 1,972 1,074 1,120

 2 spells ................................................................................................. 1,346 1,475 806 938 540 537

 3 spells or more .................................................................................... 1,553 1,618 1,019 1,035 533 583

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 ................................................................................................... 38.4 41.9 32.4 35.9 43.9 48.1

15 weeks or more ............................................................................................. 61.6 58.1 67.6 64.1 56.1 51.9

Worked during the year ........................................................................................ 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Year-round workers 1 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment .............................. 3.7 3.5 4.1 4.3 3.2 2.6

Part-year workers 2 with unemployment ........................................................... 96.3 96.5 95.9 95.7 96.8 97.4

1 to 4 weeks ................................................................................................. 15.8 16.0 14.6 15.3 17.4 17.0

5 to 10 weeks ............................................................................................... 16.8 17.8 16.7 17.4 17.0 18.4

11 to 14 weeks ............................................................................................. 14.2 14.0 14.5 14.8 13.7 12.9

15 to 26 weeks ............................................................................................. 27.5 27.6 29.3 28.0 25.3 27.2

27 weeks or more ......................................................................................... 22.0 21.0 20.9 20.3 23.4 22.0

 With 2 spells or more of unemployment ............................................... 23.1 25.5 25.9 28.7 19.5 21.4

 2 spells ............................................................................................. 10.7 12.2 11.5 13.6 9.8 10.3

 3 spells or more ................................................................................ 12.4 13.4 14.5 15.1 9.7 11.1

1 Worked 50 or 51 weeks. 2 Worked less than 50 weeks.

 NOTE: Data refer to persons 16 years and over. Also, see Note, table 1.
Table 4. Extent of unemployment during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2004-05

(Numbers in thousands)

Extent of unemployment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total Men Women

2004 2005 2004 2005 2004 2005

WHITE 

Total who worked or looked for work ................................................................ 127,054 128,319 68,235 69,410 58,818 58,909

Percent with unemployment ......................................................................... 9.0 8.5 9.5 8.9 8.5 7.9

Total with unemployment .............................................................................. 11,483 10,856 6,504 6,181 4,979 4,675

Did not work but looked for work .............................................................. 1,649 1,575 784 816 865 759

Worked during the year ............................................................................ 9,835 9,281 5,720 5,365 4,114 3,916

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers ................................... 14.2 14.0 14.7 14.2 13.5 13.8

Percent who worked during the year 1 ..................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Year-round workers 2 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment .................. 4.0 4.0 4.3 4.7 3.7 3.0

Part-year workers 3 with unemployment ............................................... 96.0 96.0 95.7 95.3 96.3 97.0

1 to 4 weeks ..................................................................................... 17.0 17.1 15.2 15.8 19.6 18.7

5 to 14 weeks ................................................................................... 31.7 32.3 31.6 32.5 31.9 32.1

15 weeks or more ............................................................................. 47.2 46.6 48.9 46.9 44.8 46.1

 With 2 spells or more of unemployment ....................................... 23.0 25.7 25.6 29.1 19.3 21.1

BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN 

Total who worked or looked for work ................................................................ 17,426 17,764 8,017 8,133 9,408 9,631

Percent with unemployment ......................................................................... 14.4 14.8 14.7 16.3 14.2 13.6

Total with unemployment .............................................................................. 2,510 2,628 1,175 1,322 1,335 1,306

Did not work but looked for work .............................................................. 701 662 346 303 355 358

Worked during the year ............................................................................ 1,809 1,967 830 1,019 979 948

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers ................................... 19.7 18.6 18.5 17.1 20.6 20.1

Percent who worked during the year 1 ..................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Year-round workers 2 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment .................. 1.8 2.3 2.0 3.2 1.7 1.2

Part-year workers 3 with unemployment ............................................... 98.2 97.7 98.0 96.8 98.3 98.8

1 to 4 weeks ..................................................................................... 10.2 10.2 11.2 11.3 9.4 9.0

5 to 14 weeks ................................................................................... 27.1 30.0 29.5 31.1 25.0 28.7

15 weeks or more ............................................................................. 60.9 57.5 57.4 54.3 63.9 61.0

 With 2 spells or more of unemployment ....................................... 23.9 24.0 28.8 26.0 19.8 21.8

ASIAN 

Total who worked or looked for work ................................................................ 6,516 6,850 3,494 3,642 3,022 3,207

Percent with unemployment ......................................................................... 8.0 7.2 7.5 6.7 8.6 7.7

Total with unemployment .............................................................................. 522 491 262 246 260 246

Did not work but looked for work .............................................................. 99 111 43 60 56 51

Worked during the year ............................................................................ 423 380 218 186 205 194

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers ................................... 15.2 15.8 17.1 15.0 13.7 16.4

Percent who worked during the year 1 ..................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Year-round workers 2 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment .................. 3.7 1.0 4.3 3.0 1.9

Part-year workers 3 with unemployment ............................................... 96.3 99.0 95.7 100.0 97.0 98.1

1 to 4 weeks ..................................................................................... 12.2 20.6 9.0 22.0 15.7 19.3

5 to 14 weeks ................................................................................... 33.8 26.8 32.2 28.1 35.5 25.6

15 weeks or more ............................................................................. 50.3 51.6 54.6 50.0 45.8 53.2

 With 2 spells or more of unemployment ....................................... 22.7 18.5 23.1 18.7 22.2 18.4

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 4. Extent of unemployment during the year by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2004-05 — Continued

(Numbers in thousands)

Extent of unemployment, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Total Men Women

2004 2005 2004 2005 2004 2005

HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY

Total who worked or looked for work ................................................................ 19,912 20,605 11,818 12,296 8,093 8,309

Percent with unemployment ......................................................................... 10.9 10.0 11.0 10.2 10.8 9.6

Total with unemployment .............................................................................. 2,168 2,056 1,296 1,256 872 799

Did not work but looked for work .............................................................. 333 343 150 175 182 168

Worked during the year ............................................................................ 1,836 1,712 1,146 1,081 690 631

Median weeks of unemployment for all workers ................................... 16.0 14.8 15.7 14.6 16.5 15.2

Percent who worked during the year 1 ..................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Year-round workers 2 with 1 or 2 weeks of unemployment .................. 3.9 3.5 4.8 4.2 2.3 2.2

Part-year workers 3 with unemployment ............................................... 96.1 96.5 95.2 95.8 97.7 97.8

1 to 4 weeks ..................................................................................... 13.8 15.9 13.5 14.1 14.2 18.8

5 to 14 weeks ................................................................................... 30.0 31.5 29.8 33.2 30.4 28.6

15 weeks or more ............................................................................. 52.3 49.2 52.0 48.5 53.0 50.4

 With 2 spells or more of unemployment ....................................... 23.8 30.2 27.4 34.6 17.8 22.5

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. In addition, persons whose ethnicity is

identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are

classified by ethnicity as well as by race. Data refer to persons 16 years

and over. Also, see Note, table 1.