Elizabeth Cross | June 2020

If you play Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you probably keep busy doing many activities on your island. Now, imagine how your Animal Crossing bank account would swell if you actually got paid for all that work.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a popular life-simulation video game that finds you and a gaggle of lovable animal friends moving to a desert island. In playing the game, you do all the work necessary to improve your island, such as tending the land, building structures, and planning neighborhoods. In real life, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has a stat for that: it collects data on nearly a dozen occupations involved in completing those tasks.    

Of course, in real life you don’t get paid for the work you do yourself on your own home or land. This article is simply a fun way to identify the occupations in the game and calculate their earnings with 2019 median wage data from the BLS...

June 15, 2020

The number of job separations decreased by 4.8 million in April 2020 to 9.9 million.  Despite the over-the-month decline, the separations level is the second highest in history. Separations include quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations.

June 12, 2020

Unemployment rates were higher in April 2020 than a year earlier in all 389 metropolitan areas. A total of 52 areas had jobless rates of less than 10.0 percent and 12 areas had rates of at least 25.0 percent.

Employer Costs for Employee CompensationThursday, June 18, 2020 (10:00 AM)State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly)Friday, June 19, 2020 (10:00 AM)American Time Use SurveyThursday, June 25, 2020 (10:00 AM)Productivity and Costs by Industry: Manufacturing and Mining IndustriesThursday, June 25, 2020 (10:00 AM)Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment (Monthly)Wednesday, July 01, 2020 (10:00 AM)Employment SituationThursday, July 02, 2020 (08:30 AM)

June 12, 2020

Unemployment rates were higher in April 2020 than a year earlier in all 389 metropolitan areas. A total of 52 areas had jobless rates of less than 10.0 percent and 12 areas had rates of at least 25.0 percent.

June 11, 2020

In April, 377 metropolitan areas had over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment and 12 were essentially unchanged. The largest over-the-year percentage losses in employment occurred in Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey (?32.9 percent), Norwich-New London-Westerly, Connecticut-Rhode Island (?27.4 percent), and Barnstable Town, Massachusetts (?25.0 percent).

Nonfatal workplace injury and illness data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) provide a valuable measure of the safety and health of U.S. workers. Concerns have been raised about the completeness of the SOII data—in particular, that the number of injury and illness cases are underreported in the survey. In 2015, BLS conducted a survey of SOII respondents to determine if follow-up interviews or company records could be used to capture cases that were not initially reported by employers in the SOII. Results from the SOII Respondent Follow-Up Survey indicate that keeping of injury and illness logs is not widely prevalent and that small establishments are less likely than midsized and large establishments to keep records. The survey results also show that there is considerable misunderstanding of the recordkeeping requirements as well as some of the key concepts of the SOII.

June 11, 2020

In April, 377 metropolitan areas had over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment and 12 were essentially unchanged. The largest over-the-year percentage losses in employment occurred in Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey (?32.9 percent), Norwich-New London-Westerly, Connecticut-Rhode Island (?27.4 percent), and Barnstable Town, Massachusetts (?25.0 percent).

June 10, 2020

In May 2020, there were 101.8 million people who were not in the labor force. Within this group, 9.0 million said they wanted a job. There were 9.9 million people who were not in the labor force but wanted a job in April 2020, which was an increase of 4.4 million over the 5.5 million in this category in March. In both April and May, people who wanted a job represented roughly 1 in 10 of those not in the labor force, much higher than in earlier months.

June 10, 2020

In May 2020, there were 101.8 million people who were not in the labor force. Within this group, 9.0 million said they wanted a job. There were 9.9 million people who were not in the labor force but wanted a job in April 2020, which was an increase of 4.4 million over the 5.5 million in this category in March. In both April and May, people who wanted a job represented roughly 1 in 10 of those not in the labor force, much higher than in earlier months.

June 09, 2020

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 2.5 million in May 2020, reflecting a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it. Employment fell by 1.4 million in March and 20.7 million in April. Despite the May increase, nonfarm employment in May was 13 percent below its February level.

June 09, 2020

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 2.5 million in May 2020, reflecting a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it. Employment fell by 1.4 million in March and 20.7 million in April. Despite the May increase, nonfarm employment in May was 13 percent below its February level.

June 08, 2020

Private nonfarm business sector labor productivity rose 0.7 percent from the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2020. Output was unchanged while unit labor costs rose 1.9 percent.

In the initial weeks of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, employment in several industries was especially vulnerable because of shutdown policies imposed by states, as well as a drop in demand as people engaged in social distancing. This article looks at the demographic characteristics of workers in the initially highly exposed industries, as well as the characteristics and earnings of families with workers in these industries. The article also uses recent Current Population Survey data to look at how various demographic groups have fared in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic between February and April.