2010 Work Experience Summary

On December 8, 2011 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that approximately 152 million American civilians over the age of 16 worked for at least some portion of the year in 2010.  While the proportion of this population declined from 64.9 percent in 2009 to 63.7 percent in 2010, the number of workers experiencing some unemployment  also dropped to 25.2 million, dropping by nearly 900,000 people from 2009. Some additional highlights from the report include: workers working full time increased from 64 percent in 2009 to 64.7 percent in 2010; job-seekers who searched for work without success rose to 6.6 million, an increase of 715,000 over 2009.

Of those employed at some point during 2010, the percent of working men fell to 69.3 percent, from 70.6 percent in 2009. The proportion of working dropped to 58.5 percent, down from 59.6 percent in 2009. Employed workers working full time remained virtually unchanged from 2009 at 78.2 percent; though men were considerably more likely (84.3 percent) to work full time than women (71.5 percent). Furthermore, individuals who worked during 2010 were 75.9 percent likely to work year round.

The data were collected during the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASES) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The ASES is a specialized report containing an agglomeration of employment and unemployment information collected during the preceding year. The data supplement the monthly CPS report presented to the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the Census Bureau.