civilian noninstitutional population consists of persons 16 years of age and older residing in the 50 States and the District of Columbia who are
not inmates of institutions (for example, penal and mental facilities and homes for the aged) and who are not on active duty in the Armed Forces. California
is the most populous State, with about 27.7 million persons in this category in 2007; Wyoming is the least populous State, with just over 400,000 persons.
Employment consists of all persons who, during the reference week (the calendar week including the twelfth day of the month), (a) did any work at all (at
least 1 hour) as paid employees, worked in their own business or profession or on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise
operated by a member of the family, or (b) were not working but had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent because of vacation, illness,
bad weather, childcare problems, maternity or paternity leave, labor-management dispute, job training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they
were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs. Employment in 2007 ranged from 17.2 million in California down to 279,000 in Wyoming.
Unemployment consists of all persons who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made
specific efforts to find employment some time during the 4-week period ending with the reference week. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from
which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed. Again, the extremes in 2007 were represented by California
(979,000) and Wyoming (9,000).
The civilian labor force consists of all persons classified as employed or unemployed as described above. California (18.2 million) and Wyoming (288,000)
had the largest and smallest labor force levels, respectively, in 2007.
The labor force participation rate represents the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population that is in the labor force. This measure of labor
force activity grew from about 60 percent nationally in 1970 to about 67 percent in 2000, with much of the increase resulting from increased participation by
women. In 2007, the participation rates ranged across states from 73.5 percent in North Dakota to 55.9 percent in West Virginia.
The employment-population ratio represents the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population that is employed. Some analysts prefer this measure
over the unemployment rate as a measure of economic activity and the economy’s performance. North Dakota and West Virginia also had the extreme employment-population
ratios in 2007, 71.2 and 53.4 percent, respectively.
The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed as a percent of the civilian labor force. Unemployment rates move inversely with the business cycle, sometimes
with a lag. In 2007, unemployment rates ranged from a low of 2.6 percent in Hawaii to a high of 7.2 percent in Michigan.
Back to Top
