Labor markets
The number of unemployed people as a percentage of the civilian labor force.
People are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks, and are currently available for work. Persons who are not working and are waiting to be recalled to a job from which they have been temporarily laid off are also counted as unemployed.
The civilian labor force includes people who are currently working and people who are unemployed according to the above definition.
For more information about how the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures unemployment (and labor underutilization more broadly), see “How the Government Measures Unemployment” and “Measures of Labor Underutilization from the Current Population Survey.”
The number of people in the civilian labor force, as a percentage of the total population age 16 and over.
The labor force includes two main groups of people: those who are currently employed, and those who are not currently employed but have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks and are currently available for work. People who are not working and are waiting to be recalled to a job from which they have been temporarily laid off are also counted as part of the labor force.
The number of people age 16 and over who are employed, as a percentage of the total population age 16 and over.
Unlike the Official Unemployment Rate, this measure includes in its denominator people who have stopped looking for work.
The number of people unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percentage of the civilian labor force.
The overall trend (population “All”) is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Historical data for the “A” tables of the Employment Situation News Release. Breakdowns by gender, race, age, and educational attainment are produced by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, using microdata from the monthly Current Population Survey.
The labor force includes two main groups of people: those who are currently employed, and those who are not currently employed but have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks and are currently available for work. People who are not working and are waiting to be recalled to a job from which they have been temporarily laid off are also counted as part of the labor force.
For more information about how the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures unemployment (and labor underutilization more broadly), see “How the Government Measures Unemployment” and “Measures of Labor Underutilization from the Current Population Survey.”
The number of job losers, and persons who completed temporary jobs, who are looking for work, as a percentage of the civilian labor force.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Historical data for the “A” tables of the Employment Situation News Release. Breakdowns by gender, race, age, and educational attainment are produced by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, using microdata from the monthly Current Population Survey.
Job losers are people who became unemployed because they lost their jobs (rather than those who recently entered the job market or those who quit jobs to look for work).
The labor force includes two main groups of people: those who are currently employed, and those who are not currently employed but have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks and are currently available for work. People who are not working and are waiting to be recalled to a job from which they have been temporarily laid off are also counted as part of the labor force.
For more information about how the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures unemployment (and labor underutilization more broadly), see “How the Government Measures Unemployment” and “Measures of Labor Underutilization from the Current Population Survey.”
The number of people who worked 1 to 34 hours during the previous week and give an economic reason for working part-time, as a percentage of the civilian labor force.
Percentages are calculated by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Historical data for the “A” tables of the Employment Situation News Release. Breakdowns by gender, race, age, and educational attainment are produced by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, using microdata from the monthly Current Population Survey.
Examples of economic reasons for working part-time include slack work or unfavorable business conditions, inability to find full-time work, and seasonal declines in demand.
The labor force includes two main groups of people: those who are currently employed, and those who are not currently employed but have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks and are currently available for work. People who are not working and are waiting to be recalled to a job from which they have been temporarily laid off are also counted as part of the labor force.
For more information about how the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures unemployment (and labor underutilization more broadly), see “How the Government Measures Unemployment” and “Measures of Labor Underutilization from the Current Population Survey.”
The total number of unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force (including discouraged workers), plus the total number of people employed part-time for economic reasons, as a percentage of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Historical data for the “A” tables of the Employment Situation News Release. Breakdowns by gender, race, age, and educational attainment are produced by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, using microdata from the monthly Current Population Survey.
People are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks, and are currently available for work. Persons who are not working and are waiting to be recalled to a job from which they have been temporarily laid off are also counted as unemployed.
People are classified as marginally attached to the labor force if they are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the past 12 months. Discouraged workers are a subset of marginally attached workers. People are classified as discouraged workers if they are not currently employed and are not looking for work, but give a job-market related reason for not currently looking for work (for example, they believe there are no jobs available to them in their line or work, or they have previously been unable to find work).
People working part-time for economic reasons are those who worked 1 to 34 hours during the survey’s reference week, and gave an economic reason for working part-time, such as slack work or unfavorable business conditions, inability to find full-time work, or seasonal declines in demand.
The labor force includes two main groups of people: those who are currently employed, and those who are not currently employed but have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks and are currently available for work. People who are not working and are waiting to be recalled to a job from which they have been temporarily laid off are also counted as part of the labor force.
For more information about how the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures unemployment (and labor underutilization more broadly), see “How the Government Measures Unemployment” and “Measures of Labor Underutilization from the Current Population Survey.”
Percent change from the previous year in the number of people employed.
The Current Employment Statistics survey is a monthly survey of the payroll records of business establishments and government agencies. Because it collects data from establishments in the nonfarm sector, it excludes self-employment and all employment in the farm sector. Industries are classified according to the 2012 North American Industry Classification System.
The average monthly number of non-farm job openings reported by employers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the total number of non-farm job openings each month using the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which is a monthly survey of U.S. business establishments. The number of job openings is reported for the last business day of the month. Annual averages are calculated by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality.
Total number of unemployed people divided by the total number of non-farm job openings.
Ratios are calculated by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality (CPI), using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of unemployed people is from the Current Population Survey, and the number of nonfarm job openings is from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
People are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks, and are currently available for work. Persons who are not working and are waiting to be recalled to a job from which they have been temporarily laid off are also counted as unemployed.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the total number of non-farm job openings each month using the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which is a monthly survey of U.S. business establishments. The number of job openings is reported for the last business day of the month. Annual averages are calculated by CPI.
Total business output per labor hour, converted to an index equal to 100 in 2009.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Major Sector Productivity program.
“Business output” is the total amount of goods and services produced by the business sector. Business output makes up about 75 percent of Gross Domestic Product. The latter also includes government output, nonprofit and private-household outputs, and the rental value of owner-occupied real estate.
The 10th percentile of hourly wages, in constant dollars. If all workers were put in order from highest to lowest hourly wage, the 10th percentile would be the value that divides the bottom 10 percent of workers from the top 90 percent.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
The 20th percentile of hourly wages, in constant dollars. If all workers were put in order from highest to lowest hourly wage, the 20th percentile would be the value that divides the bottom 20 percent of workers from the top 80 percent.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
The 30th percentile of hourly wages, in constant dollars. If all workers were put in order from highest to lowest hourly wage, the 30th percentile would be the value that divides the bottom 30 percent of workers from the top 70 percent.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
The 40th percentile of hourly wages, in constant dollars. If all workers were put in order from highest to lowest hourly wage, the 40th percentile would be the value that divides the bottom 40 percent of workers from the top 60 percent.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
Median hourly wage for all workers in constant dollars. If all workers were put in order from highest to lowest hourly wage, the median would be the value that divides the bottom 50 percent of workers from the top 50 percent.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
The 60th percentile of hourly wages, in constant dollars. If all workers were put in order from highest to lowest hourly wage, the 60th percentile would be the value that divides the bottom 60 percent of workers from the top 40 percent.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
The 70th percentile of hourly wages, in constant dollars. If all workers were put in order from highest to lowest hourly wage, the 70th percentile would be the value that divides the bottom 70 percent of workers from the top 30 percent.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
The 80th percentile of hourly wages, in constant dollars. If all workers were put in order from highest to lowest hourly wage, the 80th percentile would be the value that divides the bottom 80 percent of workers from the top 20 percent.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
The 90th percentile of hourly wages, in constant dollars. If all workers were put in order from highest to lowest hourly wage, the 90th percentile would be the value that divides the bottom 90 percent of workers from the top 10 percent.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
The 95th percentile of hourly wages, in constant dollars. If all workers were put in order from highest to lowest hourly wage, the 95th percentile would be the value that divides the bottom 95 percent of workers from the top 5 percent.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
The 50th percentile of hourly wages for all workers, divided by the 10th percentile.
EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
The 90th percentile of hourly wages for all workers, divided by the 50th percentile.
EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
The 90th percentile of hourly wages for all workers, divided by the 10th percentile.
EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
The 95th percentile of hourly wages for all workers, divided by the 90th percentile.
EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
The 95th percentile of hourly wages for all workers, divided by the 50th percentile.
EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Ratio of annual CEO compensation at the top 350 U.S. firms ranked by sales to annual compensation of the workers in the key industries of the firms.
Mishel, Lawrence and Alyssa Davis. 2014. “CEO Pay Continues to Rise as Typical Workers are Paid Less.” Economic Policy Institute.
The data presented are averages of firm-specific ratios of CEO compensation to worker compensation. CEO compensation is drawn from the ExecuComp database from Compustat, and it includes salary, bonus, restricted stock grants, options exercised, and long-term incentive payouts. It isn't possible to measure actual worker compensation for particular firms, so the denominator of the firm-specific ratios is the average annual compensation for production and nonsupervisory workers in the key industry of each firm, calculated using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The 2012 and 2013 samples exclude Facebook because the compensation of its CEO is such an outlier that including it dramatically alters the results (the company was not public prior to 2012). Results excluding and including Facebook are reported in Mishel and Davis (2014).
Full methodological details are described in "Methodology for Measuring CEO Compensation and the Ratio of CEO-to-Worker Compensation."
Median annual earnings of full-time, year-round workers age 25 and over in constant dollars.
U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables for People. The Census Bureau’s estimates are based on data from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
Before 2009, if the median income was larger than $100,000, the Census Bureau reported it as $100,000; starting in 2009, if the median income was larger than $250,000 the Census Bureau reported it as $250,000 (see footnote 36 here). These values have been replaced by missing values in the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality database.
Earnings are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
Ratio of the average wage of college graduates to the average wage of otherwise equivalent high school graduates.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wage differentials are estimated with controls for years of work experience, region, marital status, and race/ethnicity.
Ratio of the average wage of high school graduates who did not attend college to the average wage of otherwise equivalent high school drop-outs.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Wage differentials are estimated with controls for years of work experience, region, marital status, and race/ethnicity.
Median wages of workers in their first seven years in the labor force, in constant dollars.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Entry-level wages for high school graduates are the wages earned by workers ages 19 to 25 with a high school degree but no college education. Entry-level wages for college graduates are the wages earned by workers ages 23 to 29 with a bachelor’s degree.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
Percent of workers in their first seven years in the labor force who are included in an employer-provided health plan where the employer pays at least some of premium.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Workers are classified as “entry-level” if they have a high school degree (but no college) and are 19 to 25 year old, or if they have a bachelor’s degree and are 23 to 29 years old.
Only private wage-and-salary earners who worked at least 20 hours per week, 26 weeks per year are included.
Percent of workers in their first seven years in the labor force who are included in an employer-provided pension plan where the employer contributes to the pension plan.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Workers are classified as “entry-level” if they have a high school degree (but no college) and are 19 to 25 year old, or if they have a bachelor’s degree and are 23 to 29 years old.
Only private wage-and-salary earners who worked at least 20 hours per week, 26 weeks per year are included.
Value of the federal minimum wage in constant dollars.
Wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (CPI-U-RS).
Federal minimum wage divided by the average hourly earnings of private production and nonsupervisory workers.
To construct its estimates, EPI uses average hourly earnings data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics.
Percent of workers earning hourly wages lower than what a full-time, year-round worker would need to keep a family of four out of poverty.
Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America. EPI’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.
Poverty level wages are determined using the official poverty threshold for a family of four with two children.
In 2002, there were substantial changes in the racial categories used by the Census Bureau. Time series by race that include data from both racial classifications should be interpreted with care. More details on the changes in racial categories.