February 14, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Absence rates and industry, 2005

In 2005, workers in the education and health services sector had the highest absence rate in the private sector, 4.0 percent.

Absences from work of employed full-time wage and salary workers, selected industries, 2005
[Chart data—TXT]

Within the education and health services sector, the absence rate for the health care and social assistance industry was 4.2 percent.

The manufacturing and transportation and utilities sectors both had absence rates of 3.1 percent. Wholesale and retail trade and information both had absence rates of 3.0 percent. All other industry sectors in private industry had absence rates lower than 3.0 percent.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. More information on absence rates in 2005 can be found in Table 47 (PDF) of the January 2006 Employment and Earnings.  The absence rate is the ratio of workers with absences to total full-time wage and salary employment. Absences are instances when persons who usually work 35 or more hours a week worked less than 35 hours during the reference week for one of the following reasons: Own illness, injury, or medical problems; child-care problems; other family or personal obligations; civic or military duty; and maternity or paternity leave.

 

Related TED article: 

Happy 10th Birthday, TED!

The very first issue of The Editor's Desk (TED) was posted on September 28, 1998. TED was the first online-only publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For 10 years, BLS has been committed to posting a new TED article each business day, for a total of over 2,400 articles so far.

Find out more about the story of TED