March 27, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

More counters compared to population: Census 2000

As the size of the population has increased, it has taken more employees to conduct the census.

[Chart data—TXT]

Not only are more employees necessary to conduct the census now, but the ratio of census workers to the population has risen. For the 1960 census, the ratio was one census worker for every one thousand people in the U.S. For Census 2000, the U.S. Bureau of the Census expects that about three Census workers will be required for every thousand.

The Census Bureau expects that more than half-a-million census takers and support personnel will be needed this time to account for the anticipated 118 million household units in the U.S. and to count a population expected to total 275 million people. Significant hiring for Census 2000 will take place this month as preparations are made to conduct major field operations.

To find out more about Census workers, see "Counting the counters: effects of Census 2000 on employment," by Laura A. Kelter, Monthly Labor Review, February 2000.