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Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of households conducted by the Bureau of Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It provides a comprehensive body of data on the labor forceemploymentunemployment, persons not in the labor forcehours of workearnings, and other demographic and labor force characteristics.

Notices

Charts

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Latest Numbers

RSS
Seasonally Adjusted

Unemployment Rate: 3.9% in Feb 2024 Historical Data

Change in Unemployment Level: +334,000 in Feb 2024 Historical Data

Change in Employment Level: -184,000 in Feb 2024 Historical Data

Change in Civilian Labor Force Level: +150,000 in Feb 2024 Historical Data

Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate: 62.5% in Feb 2024 Historical Data

Employment-Population Ratio: 60.1% in Feb 2024 Historical Data

Annual Averages

Unemployment Rate: 3.6% for 2023 Historical Data

Unemployment Level: 6,080,000 for 2023 Historical Data

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News Releases

Payroll employment rises by 275,000 in February; unemployment rate increases to 3.9%

03/08/2024

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 275,000 in February, and the unemployment rate increased to 3.9 percent. Job gains occurred in health care, in government, in food services and drinking places, in social assistance, and in transportation and warehousing.
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Union membership rate at 10.0% in 2023, little changed from 2022

01/23/2024

In 2023, the union membership rate was 10.0 percent, little changed from 10.1 percent in 2022. The number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions, at 14.4 million, also showed little movement over the year.
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Next Release

The Employment Situation for March 2024 is scheduled to be released on April 5, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

Publications

The Economics Daily

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Women’s earnings were 83.6 percent of men’s in 2023

Equal Pay Day, which symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year, is on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median weekly earnings of $1,005 in 2023. That was 83.6 percent of the $1,202 median for men who were full-time wage and salary workers. Women had lower median weekly earnings than men in most of the occupations for which we have earnings data for both women and men. read more »

BLS Reports

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Highlights of women's earnings in 2022

In 2022, women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings that were 83 percent of those of male full-time wage and salary workers. In 1979, the first year for which comparable earnings data are available, women’s earnings were 62 percent of men’s earnings. read more »

Monthly Labor Review

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A profile of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S. labor force

An examination of the labor force characteristics of American Indians and Alaska Natives during the 2019–21 period using data from the Current Population Survey. read more »

Spotlight on Statistics

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For-Profit, Nonprofit, and Government Sector Jobs in 2022

This Spotlight compares the labor force characteristics and experiences of workers in the for-profit, nonprofit, government, and self-employed sectors. In 2022, 69.6 percent of the employed worked in for-profit businesses, 6.5 percent worked in nonprofit organizations, 13.4 percent worked for the government, and 10.4 were self-employed. Have you wondered about how much people who work for nonprofits earn, or which groups of people are most likely to work for themselves? read more »

Beyond the Numbers

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Resilience through two recessions: veterans in the labor market since 2003

The labor force participation rate and the unemployment rate for veterans are important to guiding policy decisions that help veterans transition to civilian life and improve veterans’ employment outcomes. Recently, the BLS produced seasonally adjusted data for veterans and nonveterans retroactively back to 2003. Using this data, this article analyzes the impact of recessions and the pandemic on these labor market measures for veterans and nonveterans. read more »