July 24, 2020

There are three major labor market problems that can hinder a worker’s ability to earn an income that is above the poverty threshold: low earnings, periods of unemployment, and involuntary part-time employment. In 2018, 10.9 percent of families with only one member in the labor force for more than half the year were living below the poverty level. This compared with 1.3 percent for families with two or more members in the labor force.

I’m an epidemiologist currently focused on contact tracing for COVID-19. I’m in charge of the vaccine preventable disease program at our county public health department. My responsibilities include monitoring the health of patients and the contacts of patients who have been recently diagnosed with a disease.

Contact tracing is a method of identifying and gathering information about symptoms, exposure and travel history, and close contacts of people diagnosed with communicable diseases. Close contact includes household members, co-workers, healthcare workers, or anyone in community settings where they may have exposed others. We use contact tracing to help stop the spread of many different kinds of diseases, not just COVID-19.

July 23, 2020

Median weekly earnings of the nation's 104.5 million full-time wage and salary workers were $1,002 in the second quarter of 2020. Full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $630, compared with $789 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,416 for those holding at least a bachelor's degree.

July 23, 2020

Median weekly earnings of the nation's 104.5 million full-time wage and salary workers were $1,002 in the second quarter of 2020. Full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $630, compared with $789 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,416 for those holding at least a bachelor's degree.

Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment (Monthly)Wednesday, July 29, 2020 (10:00 AM)Quarterly Data Series on Business Employment DynamicsWednesday, July 29, 2020 (10:00 AM)Productivity and Costs by Industry: Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, and Food Services and Drinking PlacesThursday, July 30, 2020 (10:00 AM)Employment Cost IndexFriday, July 31, 2020 (08:30 AM)Employment SituationFriday, August 07, 2020 (08:30 AM)Job Openings and Labor Turnover SurveyMonday, August 10, 2020 (10:00 AM)

July 22, 2020

Massachusetts had the highest unemployment rate in June, 17.4 percent, followed by New Jersey, 16.6 percent, and New York, 15.7 percent. The rates in these three states set new highs. (All state data begin in 1976.) Kentucky had the lowest unemployment rate in June, 4.3 percent.

July 22, 2020

Massachusetts had the highest unemployment rate in June, 17.4 percent, followed by New Jersey, 16.6 percent, and New York, 15.7 percent. The rates in these three states set new highs. (All state data begin in 1976.) Kentucky had the lowest unemployment rate in June, 4.3 percent.

July 21, 2020

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in June 2020. Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in all 50 states and the District.

In 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) marks 50 years since President Richard Nixon signed into law the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970. This law was intended to ensure “so far as possible every working man and woman in the nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources.”1 To accomplish this, the OSH Act authorized the Secretary of Labor to “develop and maintain an effective program of collection, compilation, and analysis of occupational safety and health statistics.”2 The Secretary delegated this responsibility to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which first published estimates from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) for the 1972 survey year.3

This Beyond the Numbers article recognizes the 50th anniversary of the OSH Act of 1970 and discusses the SOII and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and changes in occupational safety and health data. These sister programs publish...

July 21, 2020

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in June 2020. Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in all 50 states and the District.

July 20, 2020

Over the month, prices for U.S. imports increased 1.4 percent in June 2020, after rising 0.8 percent the previous month. Led by higher fuel prices, the increase in June was the largest since prices rose 1.4 percent from February 2012 to March 2012. Import fuel prices increased 21.9 percent in June, the largest advance since monthly prices were first published in September 1992.

July 20, 2020

Over the month, prices for U.S. imports increased 1.4 percent in June 2020, after rising 0.8 percent the previous month. Led by higher fuel prices, the increase in June was the largest since prices rose 1.4 percent from February 2012 to March 2012. Import fuel prices increased 21.9 percent in June, the largest advance since monthly prices were first published in September 1992.

July 17, 2020

Real average hourly earnings for all private nonfarm employees increased 4.3 percent from June 2019 to June 2020. The increase in real average hourly earnings combined with a 0.3-percent increase in the average workweek resulted in a 4.6-percent increase in real average weekly earnings over the year. The increases in real average hourly and weekly earnings largely reflect the substantial job loss over the year among lower-paid workers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it.

Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment (Monthly)Wednesday, July 29, 2020 (10:00 AM)Quarterly Data Series on Business Employment DynamicsWednesday, July 29, 2020 (10:00 AM)Productivity and Costs by Industry: Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, and Food Services and Drinking PlacesThursday, July 30, 2020 (10:00 AM)Employment Cost IndexFriday, July 31, 2020 (08:30 AM)Employment SituationFriday, August 07, 2020 (08:30 AM)Job Openings and Labor Turnover SurveyMonday, August 10, 2020 (10:00 AM)

Visitors to the BLS website may experience interruptions in service on Saturday, July 18, from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time because of system maintenance. If this occurs, please visit the BLS website after the conclusion of the scheduled maintenance period. If any problems continue after this maintenance period, please contact the Helpdesk for assistance.

The intermittent downtime will affect the following BLS website(s)  during this period:

July 17, 2020

Real average hourly earnings for all private nonfarm employees increased 4.3 percent from June 2019 to June 2020. The increase in real average hourly earnings combined with a 0.3-percent increase in the average workweek resulted in a 4.6-percent increase in real average weekly earnings over the year. The increases in real average hourly and weekly earnings largely reflect the substantial job loss over the year among lower-paid workers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Consumer prices increased 0.6 percent for the year ended June 2020 on the Internet at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/consumer-prices-increased-0-point-6-percent-for-the-year-ended-june-2020.htm (visited July 16, 2020).

About 38.1 million people, or 11.8 percent of the nation’s population, lived below the official poverty level in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.[1] (See the technical notes section for examples of poverty levels.) Although the poor were primarily adults who had not participated in the labor force during the year and children, 7.0 million individuals were among the “working poor” in 2018, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS); this measure was little changed from 6.9 million in 2017. The working poor are people who spent at least 27 weeks in the labor force (that is, working or looking for work) but whose incomes still fell below the official poverty level. In 2018, the working-poor rate—the ratio of the working poor to all individuals in the labor force for at least 27 weeks—was 4.5 percent, unchanged from the previous year’s figure. (See table A, chart 1, and table 1.)

Following are some highlights from the 2018 data:

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Consumer prices increased 0.6 percent for the year ended June 2020 on the Internet at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/consumer-prices-increased-0-point-6-percent-for-the-year-ended-june-2020.htm (visited July 16, 2020).