Issued August 2003
Census 2000 found that
63.9 percent of the
217.2 million people aged
16 and over in the United
States were in the labor
force.1 Of the 138.8 mil-
lion people in the labor
force, 129.7 million were
employed, 7.9 million
were unemployed, and
1.2 million were in the
Armed Forces. The civil-
ian unemployment rate
was 5.8 percent.2
Note that, in general,
the estimates in this
report will differ from
the official labor force
data collected in the
Current Population
Survey and released by
the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. For further
information on these
differences, see the text
box on page 3.
U S C E N S U S B U R E A U
Helping You Make Informed Decisions
U.S.Department of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Administration
U.S. CENSUS BUREAU
C2KBR-18
Employment Status: 2000
Census 2000 Brief
By
Sandra Luckett Clark
and
Mai Weismantle
LAST WEEK, did this person do ANY work for
either pay or profit? Mark
the "Yes" box even if the
person worked only 1 hour, or helped without pay in a
family business or farm for 15 hours or more, or was on
active duty in the Armed Forces.
Yes
No
Skip to 25a
x
Figure 1.
Reproduction of the Questions on
Employment Status From Census 2000
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 questionnaire.
Yes
Skip to 25c
No
a. LAST WEEK, was this person on layoff from
a job?
Yes, on vacation, temporary illness, labor
dispute, etc. Skip to 26
No
Skip to 25d
b. LAST WEEK, was this person TEMPORARILY
absent from a job or business?
Yes
Skip to 25e
No
c. Has this person been informed that he or she
will be recalled to work within the next 6 months
OR been given a date to return to work?
Yes
No
Skip to 26
d. Has this person been looking for work during
the last 4 weeks?
Yes, could have gone to work
e. LAST WEEK, could this person have started a
job if offered one, or returned to work if recalled?
No, because of own temporary illness
No, because of all other reasons (in school, etc.)
21
25
1 The labor force includes all
people classified in the civilian
labor force (employed or unem-
pl