Highlights from the 2008 data include:
- The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over who worked at some time during 2008 was 67.0 percent, down from 67.7 percent in 2007.
- The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round in 2008 was 65.6 percent, down from 68.4 percent in the prior year.
- 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 13.2 percent in 2008, up from 9.5 percent in 2007.
- About 3.2 million individuals looked for a job but did not work at all in 2008, up from 2.1 million in 2007.
Persons with Employment
The percent of men who worked during 2008 was 73.1 percent, down from 74.1 percent in 2007. The proportion of women who worked at some point during 2008 was 61.3 percent, little changed from 2007.
The proportions of whites (67.7 percent), blacks (62.5 percent), and Asians (67.4 percent) who worked at some time during the year fell in 2008. The proportion of Hispanics who worked at some point during 2008 was 67.7 percent, little different from 2007.
Among those with work experience during 2008, 76.1 percent were employed year round (working 50 to 52 weeks, either full or part time), down from 78.2 percent in 2007. The percentage of women working year round fell by 1.4 percentage points to 74.3 percent in 2008, and the percentage of men employed year round fell by 2.8 percentage points to 77.7 percent.
Of those employed at some time during 2008, 79.5 percent usually worked full time, down from 80.9 percent in 2007. Men were more likely to work full time during the year (86.0 percent) than were women (72.2 percent). The proportions of employed men and women working full time each declined by 1.4 percentage points.
Persons with Unemployment
About 160.7 million persons worked or looked for work at some time in 2008. Of those, 21.2 million experienced some unemployment during the year, up from 15.1 million in 2007. Men accounted for the majority of the over-the-year increase in unemployment.
At 13.2 percent in 2008, the "work-experience unemployment rate" (those looking for work during the year as a percent of those who worked or looked for work during the year) was 3.7 percentage points higher than in 2007. The 2008 rate was the highest since 1994. The rates for whites (12.6 percent), blacks (17.7 percent), Hispanics (17.5 percent), and Asians (10.0 percent) rose in 2008.
Overall, men continued to have higher "work-experience unemployment rates" in 2008 than did women, 14.5 versus 11.7 percent, respectively. Among whites, the rate for men (13.9 percent) was higher than that for women (11.1 percent). This also was the case among blacks (20.5 and 15.3 percent, respectively) and Hispanics (18.7 and 15.8 percent, respectively.) The rates for Asian men (9.5 percent) and Asian women (10.5 percent) were little different.
Among those who experienced unemployment in 2008, the median number of weeks spent looking for work was 15.2, up from 13.8 in 2007. The number of individuals who looked for a job but did not work at all increased by 1.1 million to about 3.2 million individuals in 2008. Of the 18.0 million persons who worked during 2008 and also experienced unemployment, 22.1 percent had 2 or more spells of joblessness, down from 23.8 percent in 2007.
