On this page: About the National Data | Methodology | History
About the National Data
Data
Data Source: Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS-ASEC), Census and DOL/BLS
Baseline: 70.6 percent of the working-age population aged 16 to 64 years were employed in 2018
Target: 75.0 percent
Methodology
Questions used to obtain the national baseline data
From the Current Population Survey (CPS):
Numerator:
People are classified as employed if, during the survey reference week, they meet any of the following criteria:
- worked at least 1 hour as a paid employee (see wage and salary workers)
- worked at least 1 hour in their own business, profession, trade, or farm (see self-employed)
- were temporarily absent from their job, business, or farm, whether or not they were paid for the time off (see with a job, not at work)
- worked without pay for a minimum of 15 hours in a business or farm owned by a member of their family (see unpaid family workers)
For criteria 1 and 2, the work must be for pay or profit; that is, the individual receives a wage or salary, profits or fees, or payment in kind (such as housing, meals, or supplies received in place of cash wages). For the self-employed, this includes those who intended to earn a profit but whose business or farm produced a loss. See the definition of self-employed for further details.
Denominator:
The civilian noninstitutional population excludes the following:
- active duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces
- people confined to, or living in, institutions or facilities such as
- prisons, jails, and other correctional institutions and detention centers
- esidential care facilities such as skilled nursing homes
Included in the civilian noninstitutional population are citizens of foreign countries who reside in the United States but do not live on the premises of an embassy.
Methodology notes
Employment-population ratio: The employment-population ratio represents the number of employed people as a percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population. In other words, it is the percentage of the population that is currently working.
The employment-population ratio is calculated as: (Employed ÷ Civilian Noninstitutional Population) x 100.
History
1. Effect size h=0.1 was chosen to correspond with 10% improvement from a baseline of 50%.