October 24, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Over half of workers used a computer in 2001

In September 2001, 72.3 million persons used a computer at work. These workers accounted for 53.5 percent of total employment.

[Chart data—TXT]

About 2 of every 5 employed persons connected to the Internet or used e-mail on the job. (These two tasks will be collectively referred to as "Internet use.")

Women were more likely to use a computer at work than men (59.9 percent and 47.9 percent, respectively). The proportion of women who used the Internet (41.2 percent) also was higher than for men (36.0 percent).

The higher rate of on-the-job computer use among women is largely due to their concentration in occupations in which computer use is most common. For example, nearly three-fifths of women hold managerial, professional, or administrative support jobs; the computer-use rate in these three occupations combined was very high—78.4 percent.

In contrast, about two-fifths of men are employed in precision production, craft, and repair; operator, fabricator, and laborer; and farming occupations. The combined computer-use rate in these three occupations was 23.8 percent, about 30 percentage points lower than that for all workers.

This information is from a supplement to the Current Population Survey. Find more information in "Computer and Internet Use at Work in 2001" news release USDL 02-601.