bls_employnews_201303.pdf

Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-13-0581 8:30 a.m. (EDT) Friday, April 5, 2013 Technical information:

Household data: (202) 691-6378 [email protected] www.bls.gov/cps Establishment data: (202) 691-6555 [email protected] www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 [email protected]

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION MARCH 2013 Nonfarm payroll employment edged up in March (+88,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment grew in professional and business services and in health care but declined in retail trade.

Household Survey Data Both the number of unemployed persons, at 11.7 million, and the unemployment rate, at 7.6 percent, were little changed in March. (See table A-1.) Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (6.9 percent), adult women (7.0 percent), teenagers (24.2 percent), whites (6.7 percent), blacks (13.3 percent), and Hispanics (9.2 percent) showed little or no change in March. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.0 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.) In March, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 4.6 million. These individuals accounted for 39.6 percent of the unemployed. (See table A-12.)

-100-500

50100150200250300350400

Mar-11 Jun-11 Sep-11 Dec-11 Mar-12 Jun-12 Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13

Thousands

Chart 2. Nonfarm payroll employment over-the-month change, seasonally adjusted, March 2011 March 2013

Percent

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

Mar-11 Jun-11 Sep-11 Dec-11 Mar-12 Jun-12 Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13

Chart 1. Unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, March 2011 March 2013

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The civilian labor force declined by 496,000 over the month, and the labor force participation rate decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 63.3 percent. The employment-population ratio, at 58.5 percent, changed little. (See table A-1.) The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) fell by 350,000 over the month to 7.6 million. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.) In March, 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.) Among the marginally attached, there were 803,000 discouraged workers in March, little changed from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.5 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in March had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.) Establishment Survey Data Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up in March (+88,000). Over the prior 12 months, employment growth had averaged 169,000 per month. In March, employment increased in professional and business services and in health care, while retail trade employment declined. (See table B-1.) Professional and business services added 51,000 jobs in March. Over the past 12 months, employment in this industry has grown by 533,000. Within professional and business services, accounting and bookkeeping services added 11,000 jobs over the month, and employment continued to trend up in temporary help services and in several other component industries. Job growth in health care continued in March, with a gain of 23,000, similar to the prior 12-month average. Within health care, employment increased by 15,000 in ambulatory health care services, such as home health care, and by 8,000 in hospitals. Construction employment continued to trend up in March (+18,000). Job growth in this industry picked up this past fall; since September, the industry has added 169,000 jobs. In March, employment continued to expand among specialty trade contractors (+23,000). Employment in specialty trade contractors has increased by 128,000 since September, with the gain about equally split between the residential and nonresidential components. Within leisure and hospitality, employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend up in March (+13,000). Over the past year, the industry added 262,000 jobs. In March, retail trade employment declined by 24,000. The industry had added an average of 32,000 jobs per month over the prior 6 months. In March, job declines occurred in clothing and clothing accessories stores (-15,000), building material and garden supply stores (-10,000), and electronics and appliance stores (-6,000).

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Within government, U.S. Postal Service employment fell by 12,000 in March. Employment in other major industries, including mining, manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, state government, and local government, showed little change over the month. The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 34.6 hours. The manufacturing workweek decreased by 0.1 hour to 40.8 hours, and factory overtime rose by 0.1 hour to 3.4 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.8 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.) In March, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, at $23.82, changed little (+1 cent). Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 42 cents, or 1.8 percent. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, at $20.03, changed little (-1 cent) in March. (See tables B-3 and B-8.) The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised from +119,000 to +148,000, and the change for February was revised from +236,000 to +268,000. The Employment Situation for April is scheduled to be released on Friday, May 3, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

HOUSEHOLD DATASummary table A. Household data, seasonally adjusted[Numbers in thousands]

Category Mar.2012Jan.2013

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

Change from:Feb. 2013-Mar. 2013

Employment statusCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242,604 244,663 244,828 244,995 167

Civilian labor force.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154,707 155,654 155,524 155,028 -496Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.8 63.6 63.5 63.3 -0.2Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142,020 143,322 143,492 143,286 -206

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58.5 58.6 58.6 58.5 -0.1Unemployed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,686 12,332 12,032 11,742 -290

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 7.9 7.7 7.6 -0.1Not in labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87,898 89,008 89,304 89,967 663

Unemployment ratesTotal, 16 years and over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 7.9 7.7 7.6 -0.1

Adult men (20 years and over). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7 7.3 7.1 6.9 -0.2Adult women (20 years and over). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4 7.3 7.0 7.0 0.0Teenagers (16 to 19 years). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.0 23.4 25.1 24.2 -0.9White. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3 7.0 6.8 6.7 -0.1Black or African American.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.0 13.8 13.8 13.3 -0.5Asian (not seasonally adjusted). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 6.5 6.1 5.0 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.3 9.7 9.6 9.2 -0.4

Total, 25 years and over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8 6.5 6.3 6.2 -0.1Less than a high school diploma.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.6 12.0 11.2 11.1 -0.1High school graduates, no college. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.0 8.1 7.9 7.6 -0.3Some college or associate degree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5 7.0 6.7 6.4 -0.3Bachelors degree and higher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 3.7 3.8 3.8 0.0

Reason for unemploymentJob losers and persons who completed temporary jobs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,021 6,637 6,522 6,329 -193Job leavers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,111 981 956 986 30Reentrants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,264 3,515 3,340 3,176 -164New entrants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,421 1,287 1,279 1,316 37

Duration of unemploymentLess than 5 weeks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,596 2,766 2,667 2,464 -2035 to 14 weeks.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,784 3,028 2,782 2,838 5615 to 26 weeks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,877 1,858 1,695 1,737 4227 weeks and over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,302 4,708 4,797 4,611 -186

Employed persons at work part timePart time for economic reasons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,664 7,973 7,988 7,638 -350

Slack work or business conditions.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,060 5,126 5,136 4,906 -230Could only find part-time work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,360 2,630 2,578 2,576 -2

Part time for noneconomic reasons.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,530 18,464 18,908 18,745 -163

Persons not in the labor force (not seasonally adjusted)Marginally attached to the labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,352 2,443 2,588 2,326

Discouraged workers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865 804 885 803

- Over-the-month changes are not displayed for not seasonally adjusted data.NOTE: Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will notnecessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the various series. Updated population controls are introduced annually withthe release of January data.

ESTABLISHMENT DATASummary table B. Establishment data, seasonally adjusted

Category Mar.2012Jan.2013

Feb.2013p

Mar.2013p

EMPLOYMENT BY SELECTED INDUSTRY(Over-the-month change, in thousands)

Total nonfarm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 148 268 88Total private. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 164 254 95

Goods-producing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 41 73 16Mining and logging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 5 1Construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -4 24 49 18Manufacturing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 14 19 -3

Durable goods1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 5 9 4Motor vehicles and parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.7 1.7 1.3 0.8

Nondurable goods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 9 10 -7Private service-providing1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 123 181 79

Wholesale trade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 13.7 4.7 -1.0Retail trade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -5.6 22.4 14.6 -24.1Transportation and warehousing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 -22.2 -1.7 -2.8Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -2 4 19 5Financial activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 7 8 -2Professional and business services1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 46 80 51

Temporary help services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -7.1 11.6 23.4 20.3Education and health services1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 15 31 44

Health care and social assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.7 16.5 36.9 27.9Leisure and hospitality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 31 26 17Other services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6 -2 -9

Government. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -3 -16 14 -7WOMEN AND PRODUCTION AND NONSUPERVISORY EMPLOYEES

AS A PERCENT OF ALL EMPLOYEES2Total nonfarm women employees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.3 49.4 49.3 49.3

Total private women employees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47.8 47.9 47.8 47.8Total private production and nonsupervisory employees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82.6 82.6 82.6 82.6

HOURS AND EARNINGSALL EMPLOYEES

Total privateAverage weekly hours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34.5 34.4 34.5 34.6Average hourly earnings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 23.40 $ 23.78 $ 23.81 $ 23.82Average weekly earnings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $807.30 $818.03 $821.45 $824.17Index of aggregate weekly hours (2007=100)3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96.2 97.4 97.9 98.2

Over-the-month percent change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -0.1 -0.1 0.5 0.3Index of aggregate weekly payrolls (2007=100)4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107.4 110.4 111.1 111.6

Over-the-month percent change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2 0.0 0.6 0.5HOURS AND EARNINGS

PRODUCTION AND NONSUPERVISORY EMPLOYEESTotal private

Average weekly hours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33.7 33.6 33.8 33.8Average hourly earnings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 19.68 $ 19.98 $ 20.04 $ 20.03Average weekly earnings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $663.22 $671.33 $677.35 $677.01Index of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100)3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103.5 104.7 105.5 105.6

Over-the-month percent change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -0.1 -0.2 0.8 0.1Index of aggregate weekly payrolls (2002=100)4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136.0 139.7 141.2 141.3

Over-the-month percent change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1 0.1 1.1 0.1DIFFUSION INDEX(Over 1-month span)5

Total private (266 industries). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68.8 63.0 59.6 54.3Manufacturing (81 industries). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74.1 55.6 54.3 46.3

1 Includes other industries, not shown separately.2 Data relate to production employees in mining and logging and manufacturing, construction employees in construction, and nonsupervisory employees in the service-providing

industries.3 The indexes of aggregate weekly hours are calculated by dividing the current months estimates of aggregate hours by the corresponding annual average aggregate hours.4 The indexes of aggregate weekly payrolls are calculated by dividing the current months estimates of aggregate weekly payrolls by the corresponding annual average

aggregate weekly payrolls.5 Figures are the percent of industries with employment increasing plus one-half of the industries with unchanged employment, where 50 percent indicates an equal balance

between industries with increasing and decreasing employment.p Preliminary

Frequently Asked Questions about Employment and Unemployment Estimates 1. Why are there two monthly measures of employment?

The household survey and establishment survey both produce sample-based estimates of employment, and both have strengths and limitations. The establishment survey employment series has a smaller margin of error on the measurement of month-to-month change than the household survey because of its much larger sample size. An over-the-month employment change of about 100,000 is statistically significant in the establishment survey, while the threshold for a statistically significant change in the household survey is about 400,000. However, the household survey has a more expansive scope than the establishment survey because it includes self-employed workers whose businesses are unincorporated, unpaid family workers, agricultural workers, and private household workers, who are excluded by the establishment survey. The household survey also provides estimates of employment for demographic groups. For more information on the differences between the two surveys, please visit www.bls.gov/web/empsit/ces_cps_trends.pdf.

2. Are undocumented immigrants counted in the surveys?

It is likely that both surveys include at least some undocumented immigrants. However, neither the establishment nor the household survey is designed to identify the legal status of workers. Therefore, it is not possible to determine how many are counted in either survey. The establishment survey does not collect data on the legal status of workers. The household survey does include questions which identify the foreign and native born, but it does not include questions about the legal status of the foreign born. Data on the foreign and native born are published each month in table A-7 of The Employment Situation news release.

3. Why does the establishment survey have revisions?

The establishment survey revises published estimates to improve its data series by incorporating additional information that was not available at the time of the initial publication of the estimates. The establishment survey revises its initial monthly estimates twice, in the immediately succeeding 2 months, to incorporate additional sample receipts from respondents in the survey and recalculated seasonal adjustment factors. For more information on the monthly revisions, please visit www.bls.gov/ces/cesrevinfo.htm.

On an annual basis, the establishment survey incorporates a benchmark revision that re-anchors estimates to nearly complete employment counts available from unemployment insurance tax records. The benchmark helps to control for sampling and modeling errors in the estimates. For more information on the annual benchmark revision, please visit www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbmart.htm.

4. Does the establishment survey sample include small firms?

Yes; about 40 percent of the establishment survey sample is comprised of business establishments with fewer than 20 employees. The establishment survey sample is designed to maximize the reliability of the statewide total nonfarm employment estimate; firms from all states, size classes, and industries are appropriately sampled to achieve that goal.

5. Does the establishment survey account for employment from new businesses?

Yes; monthly establishment survey estimates include an adjustment to account for the net employment change generated by business births and deaths. The adjustment comes from an econometric model that forecasts the monthly net jobs impact of business births and deaths based on the actual past values of the net impact that can be observed with a lag from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. The establishment survey uses modeling rather than sampling for this purpose because the survey is not immediately able to bring new businesses into the sample. There is an unavoidable lag between the birth of a new firm and its appearance on the sampling frame and availability for selection. BLS adds new businesses to the survey twice a year.

6. Is the count of unemployed persons limited to just those people receiving unemployment

insurance benefits?

No; the estimate of unemployment is based on a monthly sample survey of households. All persons who are without jobs and are actively seeking and available to work are included among the unemployed. (People on temporary layoff are included even if they do not actively seek work.) There is no requirement or question relating to unemployment insurance benefits in the monthly survey.

7. Does the official unemployment rate exclude people who want a job but are not currently

looking for work?

Yes; however, there are separate estimates of persons outside the labor force who want a job, including those who are not currently looking because they believe no jobs are available (discouraged workers). In addition, alternative measures of labor underutilization (some of which include discouraged workers and other groups not officially counted as unemployed) are published each month in table A-15 of The Employment Situation news release. For more information about these alternative measures, please visit www.bls.gov/cps/lfcharacteristics.htm#altmeasures.

8. How can unusually severe weather affect employment and hours estimates?

In the establishment survey, the reference period is the pay period that includes the 12th of the month. Unusually severe weather is more likely to have an impact on average weekly hours than on employment. Average weekly hours are estimated for paid time during the pay period, including pay for holidays, sick leave, or other time off. The impact of severe weather on hours estimates typically, but not always, results in a reduction in average weekly hours. For example, some employees may be off work for part of the pay period and not receive pay for the time missed, while some workers, such as those dealing with cleanup or repair, may work extra hours. In order for severe weather conditions to reduce the estimate of payroll employment, employees have to be off work without pay for the entire pay period. Slightly more than 20 percent of all employees in the payroll survey sample have a weekly pay period. Employees who receive pay for any part of the pay period, even 1 hour, are counted in the payroll employment figures. It is not possible to quantify the effect of extreme weather on estimates of over-the-month change in employment.

In the household survey, the reference period is generally the calendar week that includes the 12th of the month. Persons who miss the entire week's work for weather-related events are counted as employed whether or not they are paid for the time off. The household survey collects data on the number of persons who had a job but were not at work due to bad weather. It also provides a measure of the number of persons who usually work full time but had reduced hours. Current and historical data are available on the household survey's most requested statistics page at http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?ln.

Technical Note

This news release presents statistics from two major surveys, the Current Population Survey (CPS; household survey) and the Current Employment Statistics survey (CES; establishment survey). The household survey provides information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment that appears in the "A" tables, marked HOUSEHOLD DATA. It is a sample survey of about 60,000 eligible households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The establishment survey provides information on employment, hours, and earnings of employees on nonfarm payrolls; the data appear in the "B" tables, marked ESTABLISHMENT DATA. BLS collects these data each month from the payroll records of a sample of nonagricultural business establishments. Each month the CES program surveys about 145,000 businesses and government agencies, representing approximately 557,000 individual worksites, in order to provide detailed industry data on employment, hours, and earnings of workers on nonfarm payrolls. The active sample includes approximately one-third of all nonfarm payroll employees.

For both surveys, the data for a given month relate to a particular week or pay period. In the household survey, the reference period is generally the calendar week that contains the 12th day of the month. In the establishment survey, the reference period is the pay period including the 12th, which may or may not correspond directly to the calendar week. Coverage, definitions, and differences between surveys

Household survey. The sample is selected to reflect the entire civilian noninstitutional population. Based on responses to a series of questions on work and job search activities, each person 16 years and over in a sample household is classified as employed, unemployed, or not in the labor force.

People are classified as employed if they did any work at all as paid employees during the reference week; worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm; or worked without pay at least 15 hours in a family business or farm. People are also counted as employed if they were temporarily absent from their jobs because of illness, bad weather, vacation, labor-management disputes, or personal reasons.

People are classified as unemployed if they meet all of the following criteria: they had no employment during the reference week; they were available for work at that time; and they made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with the reference week. Persons laid off from a job and expecting recall need not be looking for work to be counted as unemployed. The unemployment data derived from the household survey in no way depend upon the eligibility for or receipt of unemployment insurance benefits.

The civilian labor force is the sum of employed and unemployed persons. Those persons not classified as

employed or unemployed are not in the labor force. The unemployment rate is the number unemployed as a percent of the labor force. The labor force participation rate is the labor force as a percent of the population, and the employment-population ratio is the employed as a percent of the population. Additional information about the household survey can be found at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm.

Establishment survey. The sample establishments are drawn from private nonfarm businesses such as factories, offices, and stores, as well as from federal, state, and local government entities. Employees on nonfarm payrolls are those who received pay for any part of the reference pay period, including persons on paid leave. Persons are counted in each job they hold. Hours and earnings data are produced for the private sector for all employees and for production and nonsupervisory employees. Production and nonsupervisory employees are defined as production and related employees in manufacturing and mining and logging, construction workers in construction, and non-supervisory employees in private service-providing industries.

Industries are classified on the basis of an establishments principal activity in accordance with the 2012 version of the North American Industry Classification System. Additional information about the establishment survey can be found at www.bls.gov/ces/.

Differences in employment estimates. The numerous conceptual and methodological differences between the household and establishment surveys result in important distinctions in the employment estimates derived from the surveys. Among these are:

The household survey includes agricultural workers, self-employed workers whose businesses are unicorporated, unpaid family workers, and private household workers among the employed. These groups are excluded from the establishment survey.

The household survey includes people on unpaid

leave among the employed. The establishment survey does not.

The household survey is limited to workers 16 years of age and older. The establishment survey is not limited by age.

The household survey has no duplication of individuals, because individuals are counted only once, even if they hold more than one job. In the establishment survey, employees working at more than one job and thus appearing on more than one payroll are counted separately for each appearance.

Seasonal adjustment

Over the course of a year, the size of the nation's labor force and the levels of employment and unemployment undergo regularly occurring fluctuations. These events may result from seasonal changes in weather, major holidays, and the opening and closing of schools. The effect of such seasonal variation can be very large.

Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each year, their influence on the level of a series can be tempered by adjusting for regular seasonal variation. These adjustments make nonseasonal develop-ments, such as declines in employment or increases in the participation of women in the labor force, easier to spot. For example, in the household survey, the large number of youth entering the labor force each June is likely to obscure any other changes that have taken place relative to May, making it difficult to determine if the level of economic activity has risen or declined. Similarly, in the establishment survey, payroll employment in education declines by about 20 percent at the end of the spring term and later rises with the start of the fall term, obscuring the underlying employment trends in the industry. Because seasonal employment changes at the end and beginning of the school year can be estimated, the statistics can be adjusted to make underlying employment patterns more discernable. The seasonally adjusted figures provide a more useful tool with which to analyze changes in month-to-month economic activity.

Many seasonally adjusted series are independently adjusted in both the household and establishment surveys. However, the adjusted series for many major estimates, such as total payroll employment, employment in most major sectors, total employment, and unemployment are computed by aggregating independently adjusted com-ponent series. For example, total unemployment is derived by summing the adjusted series for four major age-sex components; this differs from the unemployment estimate that would be obtained by directly adjusting the total or by combining the duration, reasons, or more detailed age categories.

For both the household and establishment surveys, a concurrent seasonal adjustment methodology is used in which new seasonal factors are calculated each month using all relevant data, up to and including the data for the current month. In the household survey, new seasonal factors are used to adjust only the current month's data. In the establishment survey, however, new seasonal factors are used each month to adjust the three most recent monthly estimates. The prior 2 months are routinely revised to incorporate additional sample reports and recalculated seasonal adjustment factors. In both surveys, 5-year revisions to historical data are made once a year. Reliability of the estimates

Statistics based on the household and establishment surveys are subject to both sampling and nonsampling

error. When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the true population values they represent. The component of this difference that occurs because samples differ by chance is known as sampling error, and its variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the true population value because of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence.

For example, the confidence interval for the monthly change in total nonfarm employment from the establishment survey is on the order of plus or minus 90,000. Suppose the estimate of nonfarm employment increases by 50,000 from one month to the next. The 90-percent confidence interval on the monthly change would range from -60,000 to +140,000 (50,000 +/- 90,000). These figures do not mean that the sample results are off by these magnitudes, but rather that there is about a 90-percent chance that the true over-the-month change lies within this interval. Since this range includes values of less than zero, we could not say with confidence that nonfarm employment had, in fact, increased that month. If, however, the reported nonfarm employment rise was 250,000, then all of the values within the 90-percent confidence interval would be greater than zero. In this case, it is likely (at least a 90-percent chance) that nonfarm employment had, in fact, risen that month. At an unemployment rate of around 6.0 percent, the 90-percent confidence interval for the monthly change in unemployment as measured by the household survey is about +/- 300,000, and for the monthly change in the unemployment rate it is about +/- 0.2 percentage point.

In general, estimates involving many individuals or establishments have lower standard errors (relative to the size of the estimate) than estimates which are based on a small number of observations. The precision of estimates also is improved when the data are cumulated over time, such as for quarterly and annual averages.

The household and establishment surveys are also affected by nonsampling error, which can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information on a timely basis, mistakes made by respondents, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.

For example, in the establishment survey, estimates for the most recent 2 months are based on incomplete returns; for this reason, these estimates are labeled preliminary in the tables. It is only after two successive revisions to a monthly estimate, when nearly all sample reports have been received, that the estimate is considered final.

Another major source of nonsampling error in the establishment survey is the inability to capture, on a timely basis, employment generated by new firms. To correct for this systematic underestimation of employment growth, an estimation procedure with two components is used to

account for business births. The first component excludes employment losses from business deaths from sample-based estimation in order to offset the missing employment gains from business births. This is incorporated into the sample-based estimation procedure by simply not reflecting sample units going out of business, but imputing to them the same employment trend as the other firms in the sample. This procedure accounts for most of the net birth/death employment.

The second component is an ARIMA time series model designed to estimate the residual net birth/death employment not accounted for by the imputation. The historical time series used to create and test the ARIMA model was derived from the unemployment insurance universe micro-level database, and reflects the actual residual net of births and deaths over the past 5 years.

The sample-based estimates from the establishment

survey are adjusted once a year (on a lagged basis) to universe counts of payroll employment obtained from administrative records of the unemployment insurance program. The difference between the March sample-based employment estimates and the March universe counts is known as a benchmark revision, and serves as a rough proxy for total survey error. The new benchmarks also incorporate changes in the classification of industries. Over the past decade, absolute benchmark revisions for total nonfarm employment have averaged 0.3 percent, with a range from -0.7 to 0.6 percent. Other information

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

HOUSEHOLD DATATable A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age[Numbers in thousands]

Employment status, sex, and ageNot seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted1

Mar.2012

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Nov.2012

Dec.2012

Jan.2013

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

TOTALCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242,604 244,828 244,995 242,604 244,174 244,350 244,663 244,828 244,995

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154,316 154,727 154,512 154,707 155,319 155,511 155,654 155,524 155,028Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.6 63.2 63.1 63.8 63.6 63.6 63.6 63.5 63.3Employed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141,412 142,228 142,698 142,020 143,277 143,305 143,322 143,492 143,286

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58.3 58.1 58.2 58.5 58.7 58.6 58.6 58.6 58.5Unemployed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,904 12,500 11,815 12,686 12,042 12,206 12,332 12,032 11,742

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4 8.1 7.6 8.2 7.8 7.8 7.9 7.7 7.6Not in labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,288 90,100 90,483 87,898 88,855 88,839 89,008 89,304 89,967

Persons who currently want a job. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,041 6,842 6,399 6,315 6,827 6,750 6,631 6,821 6,722Men, 16 years and over

Civilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116,986 118,117 118,204 116,986 117,810 117,902 118,033 118,117 118,204Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,830 82,180 82,133 82,188 82,514 82,545 82,940 82,823 82,584

Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69.9 69.6 69.5 70.3 70.0 70.0 70.3 70.1 69.9Employed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,507 75,160 75,521 75,344 75,983 76,060 76,290 76,375 76,329



Men, 20 years and overCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108,289 109,541 109,635 108,289 109,206 109,308 109,448 109,541 109,635




Women, 16 years and overCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125,619 126,710 126,791 125,619 126,364 126,447 126,630 126,710 126,791




Women, 20 years and overCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117,260 118,433 118,520 117,260 118,079 118,170 118,348 118,433 118,520




Both sexes, 16 to 19 yearsCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,056 16,854 16,840 17,056 16,890 16,871 16,867 16,854 16,840




1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns.NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

HOUSEHOLD DATATable A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age[Numbers in thousands]

Employment status, race, sex, and ageNot seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted1

Mar.2012

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Nov.2012

Dec.2012

Jan.2013

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

WHITECivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192,788 193,859 193,946 192,788 193,748 193,849 193,776 193,859 193,946




Men, 20 years and overCivilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64,340 64,336 64,253 64,556 64,509 64,646 64,924 64,720 64,549



Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5 7.1 6.7 6.8 6.4 6.2 6.6 6.3 6.1Women, 20 years and over



Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 6.1 5.9 6.6 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.0 6.1Both sexes, 16 to 19 years


Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.9 26.4 26.4 28.7 29.5 29.1 29.8 29.1 28.3Unemployed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976 981 960 1,056 946 1,011 983 1,037 1,032

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.2 22.8 22.5 22.5 20.3 21.6 20.8 22.1 22.5

BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICANCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,792 30,223 30,255 29,792 30,061 30,093 30,190 30,223 30,255




Men, 20 years and overCivilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,262 8,386 8,447 8,278 8,225 8,298 8,382 8,437 8,447



Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.7 13.4 13.3 13.9 12.9 14.0 13.4 12.9 12.7Women, 20 years and over



Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1 12.1 11.1 12.1 11.5 12.2 12.3 12.5 12.2Both sexes, 16 to 19 years

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632 656 670 678 704 651 714 711 713Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.7 25.3 25.9 25.4 27.0 25.1 27.5 27.4 27.6Employed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392 373 463 405 427 387 444 404 472

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.7 14.4 17.9 15.2 16.4 14.9 17.1 15.6 18.2Unemployed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 284 207 272 277 264 270 307 241

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.9 43.2 30.9 40.2 39.3 40.5 37.8 43.1 33.8

ASIANCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,766 13,185 13,223

See footnotes at end of table.

HOUSEHOLD DATATable A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age Continued[Numbers in thousands]

Employment status, race, sex, and ageNot seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted1

Mar.2012

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Nov.2012

Dec.2012

Jan.2013

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,113 8,566 8,524 Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.6 65.0 64.5 Employed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,607 8,040 8,101

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59.6 61.0 61.3 Unemployed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506 526 423

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 6.1 5.0 Not in labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,652 4,619 4,699

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns.- Data not available.NOTE: Estimates for the above race groups will not sum to totals shown in table A-1 because data are not presented for all races. Updated population controls are introducedannually with the release of January data.

HOUSEHOLD DATATable A-3. Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age[Numbers in thousands]

Employment status, sex, and ageNot seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted1

Mar.2012

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Nov.2012

Dec.2012

Jan.2013

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITYCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,463 37,169 37,242 36,463 37,147 37,231 37,094 37,169 37,242

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,109 24,519 24,282 24,126 24,544 24,539 24,572 24,563 24,354Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66.1 66.0 65.2 66.2 66.1 65.9 66.2 66.1 65.4Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,510 21,999 21,986 21,639 22,109 22,195 22,199 22,215 22,122

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59.0 59.2 59.0 59.3 59.5 59.6 59.8 59.8 59.4Unemployed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,598 2,519 2,295 2,487 2,435 2,344 2,373 2,348 2,232

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.8 10.3 9.5 10.3 9.9 9.6 9.7 9.6 9.2Not in labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,354 12,650 12,960 12,337 12,602 12,692 12,522 12,606 12,888

Men, 20 years and overCivilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,246 13,534 13,518

Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.8 80.8 80.5 Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,952 12,304 12,407

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.9 73.4 73.9 Unemployed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,294 1,230 1,111

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8 9.1 8.2 Women, 20 years and over

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,813 9,975 9,805 Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59.8 59.5 58.3 Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,829 8,980 8,890

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53.8 53.5 52.9 Unemployed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984 995 915

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.0 10.0 9.3 Both sexes, 16 to 19 years

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,050 1,010 959 Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.8 27.7 26.3 Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730 716 690

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.0 19.6 18.9 Unemployed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 294 269

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.5 29.1 28.1

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns.- Data not available.NOTE: Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the releaseof January data.

HOUSEHOLD DATATable A-4. Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment[Numbers in thousands]

Educational attainmentNot seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

Mar.2012

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Nov.2012

Dec.2012

Jan.2013

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

Less than a high school diplomaCivilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,349 10,842 11,137 11,490 11,097 11,120 11,125 11,256 11,264

Participation rate.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.7 45.4 45.5 46.3 45.3 45.1 45.5 47.2 46.0Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,788 9,463 9,803 10,038 9,753 9,821 9,784 9,999 10,012

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.4 39.7 40.0 40.4 39.8 39.8 40.0 41.9 40.9Unemployed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,561 1,378 1,334 1,452 1,344 1,298 1,341 1,257 1,252

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.8 12.7 12.0 12.6 12.1 11.7 12.0 11.2 11.1High school graduates, no college1

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,614 36,212 36,090 36,570 36,652 36,663 36,557 36,143 36,121Participation rate.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59.2 58.3 58.5 59.1 59.4 59.1 58.7 58.1 58.6Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,402 33,026 33,088 33,645 33,677 33,713 33,585 33,289 33,359


Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.8 8.8 8.3 8.0 8.1 8.0 8.1 7.9 7.6Some college or associate degree



Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7 6.8 6.4 7.5 6.6 6.9 7.0 6.7 6.4Bachelors degree and higher2



Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 3.9 3.7 4.2 3.9 3.9 3.7 3.8 3.8

1 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.2 Includes persons with bachelors, masters, professional, and doctoral degrees.NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

HOUSEHOLD DATATable A-5. Employment status of the civilian population 18 years and over by veteran status, period of service,and sex, not seasonally adjusted[Numbers in thousands]

Employment status, veteran status, and period of serviceTotal Men Women

Mar.2012

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Mar.2013

VETERANS, 18 years and overCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,286 21,492 19,475 19,274 1,811 2,218

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,161 11,011 10,004 9,628 1,158 1,383Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52.4 51.2 51.4 50.0 63.9 62.4Employed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,328 10,228 9,256 8,956 1,072 1,272

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.5 47.6 47.5 46.5 59.2 57.4Unemployed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834 783 748 672 86 111

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5 7.1 7.5 7.0 7.4 8.0Not in labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,125 10,481 9,471 9,646 653 835

Gulf War-era II veteransCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,713 2,846 2,219 2,271 495 575

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,184 2,252 1,841 1,882 343 370Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.5 79.1 83.0 82.9 69.4 64.4Employed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,960 2,044 1,654 1,718 306 326


Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.3 9.2 10.2 8.7 10.8 11.8Not in labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530 594 378 389 152 205

Gulf War-era I veteransCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,020 3,347 2,550 2,684 471 663



Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 6.5 5.4 6.5 6.9 6.3Not in labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463 539 360 373 104 165

World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam-era veteransCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,974 9,936 9,649 9,560 325 376




Veterans of other service periodsCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,579 5,363 5,057 4,759 521 604




NONVETERANS, 18 years and overCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212,427 214,393 92,943 94,268 119,484 120,125

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141,430 141,710 70,984 71,679 70,446 70,030Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66.6 66.1 76.4 76.0 59.0 58.3Employed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129,852 131,172 64,661 65,992 65,190 65,180

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.1 61.2 69.6 70.0 54.6 54.3Unemployed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,578 10,538 6,322 5,687 5,256 4,850

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 7.4 8.9 7.9 7.5 6.9Not in labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,998 72,683 21,959 22,589 49,039 50,094

NOTE: Veterans served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces and were not on active duty at the time of the survey. Nonveterans never served on active duty in the U.S.Armed Forces. Veterans could have served anywhere in the world during these periods of service: Gulf War era II (September 2001-present), Gulf War era I (August 1990-August2001), Vietnam era (August 1964-April 1975), Korean War (July 1950-January 1955), World War II (December 1941-December 1946), and other service periods (all other timeperiods). Veterans who served in more than one wartime period are classified only in the most recent one. Veterans who served during one of the selected wartime periods andanother period are classified only in the wartime period. Beginning with data for January 2013, estimates for veterans incorporate population controls derived from the updatedDepartment of Veterans Affairs population model.

HOUSEHOLD DATATable A-6. Employment status of the civilian population by sex, age, and disability status, not seasonallyadjusted[Numbers in thousands]

Employment status, sex, and agePersons with a disability Persons with no disabilityMar.2012

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Mar.2013

TOTAL, 16 years and overCivilian noninstitutional population.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,158 28,936 214,446 216,059

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,671 5,979 148,645 148,533Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.1 20.7 69.3 68.7Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,810 5,203 136,603 137,495

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.1 18.0 63.7 63.6Unemployed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861 776 12,042 11,038

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2 13.0 8.1 7.4Not in labor force.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,487 22,957 65,801 67,526

Men, 16 to 64 yearsCivilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,513 2,677 74,997 74,948

Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33.8 34.9 82.1 81.9Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,073 2,290 68,374 69,024



Women, 16 to 64 yearsCivilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,281 2,289 66,850 66,534

Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.6 28.9 70.8 70.1Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,913 1,974 61,828 61,833



Both sexes, 65 years and overCivilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877 1,013 6,799 7,051

Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.9 7.6 23.8 23.8Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824 938 6,400 6,638

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 7.0 22.4 22.4Unemployed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 75 399 413


NOTE: A person with a disability has at least one of the following conditions: is deaf or has serious difficulty hearing; is blind or has serious difficulty seeingeven when wearing glasses; has serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition;has serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs; has difficulty dressing or bathing; or has difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctors office orshopping because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

HOUSEHOLD DATATable A-7. Employment status of the civilian population by nativity and sex, not seasonally adjusted[Numbers in thousands]

Employment status and nativityTotal Men Women

Mar.2012

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Mar.2013

Foreign born, 16 years and overCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,664 38,106 18,449 18,618 19,215 19,487

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,958 25,061 14,486 14,590 10,471 10,472Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66.3 65.8 78.5 78.4 54.5 53.7Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,785 23,197 13,248 13,581 9,537 9,616

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.5 60.9 71.8 72.9 49.6 49.3Unemployed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,173 1,865 1,239 1,008 934 856

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7 7.4 8.6 6.9 8.9 8.2Not in labor force.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,706 13,044 3,963 4,029 8,744 9,015

Native born, 16 years and overCivilian noninstitutional population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204,941 206,889 98,537 99,585 106,404 107,304

Civilian labor force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129,358 129,451 67,344 67,543 62,015 61,908Participation rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.1 62.6 68.3 67.8 58.3 57.7Employed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118,628 119,501 61,259 61,940 57,369 57,561

Employment-population ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57.9 57.8 62.2 62.2 53.9 53.6Unemployed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,731 9,950 6,084 5,603 4,646 4,347

Unemployment rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3 7.7 9.0 8.3 7.5 7.0Not in labor force.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,582 77,438 31,193 32,042 44,389 45,396

NOTE: The foreign born are those residing in the United States who were not U.S. citizens at birth. That is, they were born outside the United States orone of its outlying areas such as Puerto Rico or Guam, to parents neither of whom was a U.S. citizen. The native born are persons who were born in theUnited States or one of its outlying areas such as Puerto Rico or Guam or who were born abroad of at least one parent who was a U.S. citizen. Updatedpopulation controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

HOUSEHOLD DATATable A-8. Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status[In thousands]

CategoryNot seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

Mar.2012

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Nov.2012

Dec.2012

Jan.2013

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

CLASS OF WORKERAgriculture and related industries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,123 1,914 1,904 2,217 2,121 2,088 2,057 2,065 2,001

Wage and salary workers1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,296 1,132 1,162 1,396 1,320 1,295 1,245 1,258 1,250Self-employed workers, unincorporated. . . . . . . . . 799 754 700 808 776 747 775 792 710Unpaid family workers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 27 42

Nonagricultural industries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139,290 140,314 140,793 139,871 141,149 141,190 141,255 141,415 141,317Wage and salary workers1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130,778 131,742 132,417 131,221 132,038 132,113 132,445 132,694 132,761

Government. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,536 20,802 20,965 20,226 20,598 20,686 20,696 20,571 20,633Private industries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110,241 110,941 111,452 111,031 111,429 111,406 111,746 112,141 112,147

Private households.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656 676 659 Other industries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109,585 110,265 110,792 110,353 110,659 110,632 110,873 111,411 111,462

Self-employed workers, unincorporated. . . . . . . . . 8,433 8,496 8,264 8,547 8,959 8,935 8,746 8,686 8,407Unpaid family workers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 76 113

PERSONS AT WORK PART TIME2All industries

Part time for economic reasons3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,867 8,298 7,734 7,664 8,138 7,918 7,973 7,988 7,638Slack work or business conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,146 5,457 4,857 5,060 5,084 4,928 5,126 5,136 4,906Could only find part-time work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,427 2,474 2,578 2,360 2,648 2,616 2,630 2,578 2,576

Part time for noneconomic reasons4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,022 19,500 19,262 18,530 18,594 18,763 18,464 18,908 18,745Nonagricultural industries

Part time for economic reasons3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,753 8,163 7,598 7,587 8,029 7,812 7,867 7,865 7,544Slack work or business conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,062 5,354 4,771 5,003 5,025 4,887 5,047 5,045 4,832Could only find part-time work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,418 2,468 2,563 2,307 2,650 2,583 2,610 2,542 2,510

Part time for noneconomic reasons4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,615 19,201 18,949 18,106 18,310 18,469 18,182 18,549 18,435

1 Includes self-employed workers whose businesses are incorporated.2 Refers to those who worked 1 to 34 hours during the survey reference week and excludes employed persons who were absent from their jobs for the

entire week.3 Refers to those who worked 1 to 34 hours during the reference week for an economic reason such as slack work or unfavorable business conditions,

inability to find full-time work, or seasonal declines in demand.4 Refers to persons who usually work part time for noneconomic reasons such as childcare problems, family or personal obligations, school or training,

retirement or Social Security limits on earnings, and other reasons. This excludes persons who usually work full time but worked only 1 to 34 hours duringthe reference week for reasons such as vacations, holidays, illness, and bad weather.

- Data not available.NOTE: Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will not necessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment ofthe various series. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

HOUSEHOLD DATATable A-9. Selected employment indicators[Numbers in thousands]

CharacteristicNot seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted

Mar.2012

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

Mar.2012

Nov.2012

Dec.2012

Jan.2013

Feb.2013

Mar.2013

AGE AND SEXTotal, 16 years and over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141,412 142,228 142,698 142,020 143,277 143,305 143,322 143,492 143,286

16 to 19 years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,089 4,006 4,072 4,360 4,468 4,402 4,508 4,376 4,35116 to 17 years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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