2010 work experience

A total of 152.3 million persons worked at some point during 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday (Dec. 8).

The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over who worked at some time during 2010 was 63.7%, down from 64.9% in 2009.

The number of persons who experienced some unemployment during 2010 decreased by 894,000 to 25.2 million.

The info for the work experience report was collected in the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The ASEC collects information on employment and unemployment experienced during the prior calendar year.

Following are other highlights of the report.
• The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round in 2010 was 64.7%, up from 64% in 2009.

• The "work-experience unemployment rate" — defined as the number of persons unemployed at some time during the year as a proportion of the number of persons who worked or looked for work during the year — was 15.9% in 2010, down from 16.4% in 2009.

• The number of individuals who looked for a job but did not work at all during 2010 rose by 715,000 over the year to 6.6 million.

• The percent of men who worked during 2010 was 69.3%, down from 70.6% in 2009. The proportion of women who worked at some point during 2010 was 58.5%, down from 59.6% in the prior year.

• The proportions of whites (64.7%) and Hispanics (63.5%) who worked at some time during the year declined from 2009 to 2010, while the share of blacks (58.2%) and Asians (64.1%) were about unchanged.

• Of those employed at some time during 2010, 78.2% usually worked full time, little changed from 78.3% in 2009. Men were more likely to work full time during the year (84.3% than were women (71.5%).

• Of the total who worked during 2010, 75.9% were employed year round (working 50 to 52 weeks, either full or part time), compared with 75.3% in 2009. The percentage of men employed year round rose by 1.1 percentage points to 76.7% in 2010, and the percentage of women working year round was nearly unchanged at 75%.