December, 2001, Vol. 124, No. 12
Labor month in review
The December Review
Full-time, full-year work
Highest, lowest paying jobs
Post-September 11 layoffs
Retail trade is the second largest in employment of the nine major industry divisions in the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. Over the last 5 years of the 1990s, productivity in retailing grew at almost twice the rate it had during the first half of the decade. Mark Sieling, Brian Friedman, and Mark Dumas attribute much of the acceleration to improved technologies, fierce intra-industry competition, and a degree of restructuring among the types of establishments that make up the industry.
One critical technological factor they identify is the increasing use of sophisticated point of sales (POS) systems. These systems link cash registers, barcode scanners, and credit card processors to manage leaner inventories, more quickly adjust pricing, and develop highly focused marketing campaigns. Two critical structural trends were toward consolidation into larger chains that invest more in such technologies and toward discount or mass merchandising stores which employ fewer workers for a given volume of sales.
The venerable Standard Industrial Classification system itself is being overtaken by structural changes of a different sort. James A. Walker and John B. Murphy discuss the implementation of the new, more modern and consistent North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). A preview of the new system as it applies to employment and wage data is provided by David R. H. Hiles. "In 2002," reports Hiles, "BLS will release ratio tables depicting the relationship between NAICS and SIC series." These tables will facilitate converting existing SIC-based data to NAICS.
The new Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) will provide both a new set of business cycle indicators梩he vacancy rate and data on hires, quits, and layoffs梐nd a valuable tool for distinguishing the amount of unemployment produced by the cycle from that due to structural changes. Kelly A. Clark and Rosemary Hyson provide details both about the new survey itself and about using its findings for economic research.
Richard Johnson points out that the concept of "average age of retirement" may not be a tool that can be used in isolation to understand issues such as Social Security funding or economy-wide productive capacity. While Murray Gendell抯 articles on measuring average retirement age in earlier issues of the Review do not claim that it is the only variable to be studied, Johnson抯 comments specify other important indicators to consider, such as the total labor force participation rate.
Long-time readers may note that Johnson抯 report appears under the department header "Commentary," a department that has not appeared previously in the Review. The Commentary feature is designed to accommodate remarks that discuss earlier articles and are longer and more substantive than the Communications we have from time to time published. Contributions to either department are welcomed enthusiastically.
A total of 148.6 million persons worked at some point during 2000, of which 67.0 percent were employed year round and full time. This percentage was up from the 65.9 percent figure recorded in 1999 and was the highest since the series began in 1950.
The share of men working full time and year round rose from 73.4 percent in 1999 to 74.4 percent in 2000. The percentage of women working full time and year round increased even more, from 57.6 percent to 58.9 percent. Year-round workers are employed for 50 to 52 weeks a year and full-time workers usually work 35 or more hours a week. Learn more in "Work Experience of the Population in 2000," news release USDL 01�1.
In 2000, the highest-paying major groups of occupations were the legal occupations group and the management occupations group. Wage and salary workers in legal occupations had a mean hourly wage of $33.14, while those in management occupations had an average wage of $32.78. The next highest paid groups were computer and mathematical ($27.91), architecture and engineering ($25.99), and business and financial operations ($23.30).
The occupational group with the lowest mean wage was the food preparation and serving related occupations at $7.72. Fully three-quarters of workers in these jobs earn less than $8.50 per hour from their employers. The next lowest paying occupations were farming, fishing, and forestry occupations, building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations, and personal care and service occupations. Mean hourly wages for these occupational groups were $9.07, $9.41, and $9.86, respectively. Find out more in news release USDL 01�5, "Occupational Employment and Wages, 2000."
In the third quarter of 2001, there were 1,689 mass layoff actions by employers that resulted in the separation of 349,866 workers from their jobs for more than 30 days. Both the total number of layoff events and the number of separations were sharply higher than July-September 2000. These totals include 143 events involving 55,000 workers were identified by employers as directly or indirectly attributed to the terrorist attacks of September 11. "Extended mass layoffs" last more than 30 days and involve 50 or more individuals from a single establishment filing initial claims for unemployment insurance during a consecutive 5-week period. Additional information is available in "Extended Mass Layoffs in the Third Quarter of 2001," news release USDL 01�5.
Communications regarding the Monthly Labor Review may be sent to the Editor-in-Chief at 2 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Room 2850, Washington, DC, 20212, or faxed to (202) 691–7890.
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