Overview

The Current Population Survey, a monthly household survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, provides a comprehensive body of information on the employment and unemployment experience of the Nation's population, classified by age, sex, race, and a variety of other characteristics.

Frequently requested information

• Current unemployment rate (The Employment Situation News Release / Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation)
• Unemployment rate for previous years (TXT) (PDF )    (Recent months)
• Unemployment statistics for states and local areas     (Select states by map or list )
• How the Government Measures Unemployment
  
• Earnings of men and women by occupation (TXT) (PDF)
• Definitions of labor force concepts (PDF 102K)
  Explanatory notes sections from the publication Employment and Earnings (E&E)

Current news releases

• Employment Situation (HTML) (PDF)
• Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation (HTML) (PDF)
• Worker Displacement
• Union Members
• Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers
• Employment Situation of Veterans
• College Enrollment and Work Activity of High School Graduates
• Summer Youth Labor Force
• Employment and Earnings Characteristics of Families
• Work at Home
• Workers on Flexible and Shift Schedules
• Work Experience of the Population

Data available

• Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years and over by age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, family relationship, and Vietnam-era veteran status.
• Employed persons by occupation, industry, class of worker, hours of work, full- or part-time status, and reasons for working part time.
• Employed multiple jobholders by occupation, industry, numbers of jobs held, and full- or part-time status of multiple jobs.
• Unemployed persons by occupation, industry, class of worker of last job, duration of unemployment, reason for unemployment, and methods used to find employment.
• Discouraged workers and other persons not in the labor force.
• Special topics such as the labor force status of particular subgroups of the population (e g., women maintaining families, working women with children, displaced workers, and disabled veterans). Data are also available on work experience, occupational mobility, job tenure, educational attainment, and school enrollment of workers.
• Information on weekly and hourly earnings by detailed demographic group, occupation, education, union affiliation, and full- and part-time employment status.

Coverage

• Civilian noninstitutional population 16 years and older.

Source of data

• Current Population Survey, a sample of 60,000 households; data are collected by personal and telephone interviews. Basic labor force data are gathered monthly; data on special topics are gathered in periodic supplements.

Reference period

• Monthly, calendar week (Sunday through Saturday) which includes the 12th day of the month.

Forms of publication

• Monthly news release—The Employment Situation—about 3 weeks after reference period. Electronic access available.
• Monthly periodical—Employment and Earnings—5 weeks after reference period. Electronic access available.
• Quarterly news release—Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers.
• Analytical studies and research summaries published in Monthly Labor Review.
• BLS bulletins and reports.
• Annual news releases on topics of special interest.

Uses

• Economic indicators.
• Most comprehensive measure of national employment and unemployment.
• Primary source of data on employment status and characteristics of the labor force, emerging trends, and changes.
• Measure of potential labor supply.
• Determining factors affecting changes in labor force participation of different population groups.
• Evaluation of wage rates and earnings trends for specific demographic groups.

Other labor force topics and fact sheets:

• Earnings information from the Current Population Survey
• Earnings by Occupation 1983 - Present
• Median weekly earnings 1979 - Present Quarterly reports
• A Profile of the Working Poor, 2001 (PDF 327 KB, 20 printed pages)
• Worklife Estimates: Effects of Race and Education Bulletin 2254. (PDF 1.32MB, 37 printed pages)
• Issues in Labor Statistics
• Minimum wage workers

Methodology

• BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 1 on the Labor Force
• Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Labor Force Series (PDF 38KB), published annually, in the January issue of Employment and Earnings, including January-June seasonal factors for the 12 major components and describing methods and procedures.

Links to related information

• Nonfarm Payroll Statistics from the Current Employment Statistics (National) (monthly national data by detailed industry on employment, hours, and earnings of workers on the payrolls of nonfarm establishments.)
• Local area unemployment statistics (monthly and annual employment, unemployment, and labor force data for Census regions and divisions, States, counties, metropolitan areas, and many cities, by place of residence)
• Census Bureau's Household and Economic Statistics ( Income and Poverty Data )
• Census Bureau's Population Division
• Weekly unemployment insurance claims data (Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration)

 

Last Modified Date: July 27, 2004