Wages 2021
Employment composition of the pre-pandemic and pandemic workforces, by selected job characteristics
| Employment | Alt-2019 (millions) | Alt-2020 (millions) | Alt-2021 (millions) | Alt-2019–Alt-2020 | Alt-2020–Alt-2021 | Alt-2019–Alt-2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 141.58 | 130.42 | 137.01 | -7.9% | 5.1% | -3.2% |
| Part-time status | ||||||
| Part-time | 23.96 | 21.00 | 21.87 | -12.4% | 4.2% | -8.7% |
| Full-time | 117.62 | 109.42 | 115.14 | -7.0% | 5.2% | -2.1% |
| Union status | ||||||
| Not union | 125.22 | 114.64 | 121.32 | -8.4% | 5.8% | -3.1% |
| Union | 16.36 | 15.77 | 15.68 | -3.6% | -0.6% | -4.1% |
| Major industry | ||||||
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting | 1.36 | 1.32 | 1.33 | -2.8% | 0.4% | -2.4% |
| Mining | 0.71 | 0.61 | 0.56 | -14.6% | -8.3% | -21.7% |
| Construction | 8.73 | 8.15 | 8.64 | -6.7% | 6.1% | -1.1% |
| Manufacturing | 15.03 | 13.88 | 14.28 | -7.6% | 2.9% | -5.0% |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 18.21 | 17.36 | 18.15 | -4.6% | 4.5% | -0.3% |
| Transportation and utilities | 7.99 | 7.73 | 8.52 | -3.3% | 10.2% | 6.6% |
| Information | 2.56 | 2.26 | 2.43 | -11.8% | 7.4% | -5.2% |
| Financial activities | 9.45 | 9.21 | 9.25 | -2.5% | 0.5% | -2.1% |
| Professional and business services | 16.33 | 15.15 | 16.02 | -7.2% | 5.7% | -1.9% |
| Education and health services | 34.31 | 32.02 | 32.98 | -6.7% | 3.0% | -3.9% |
| Leisure and hospitality | 13.52 | 10.03 | 11.79 | -25.9% | 17.6% | -12.8% |
| Other services | 6.13 | 5.27 | 5.68 | -14.0% | 7.8% | -7.3% |
| Major occupation | ||||||
| Management, business, and financial occupations | 22.08 | 22.00 | 22.87 | -0.3% | 3.9% | 3.6% |
| Professional and related occupations | 34.65 | 33.25 | 34.15 | -4.0% | 2.7% | -1.4% |
| Service occupations | 24.46 | 19.88 | 22.04 | -18.7% | 10.9% | -9.9% |
| Sales and related occupations | 13.30 | 11.97 | 12.23 | -9.9% | 2.1% | -8.0% |
| Office and administrative support occupations | 17.00 | 14.90 | 15.37 | -12.4% | 3.2% | -9.6% |
| Farming, fishing, and forestry extractions | 1.04 | 0.91 | 0.93 | -12.1% | 2.1% | -10.3% |
| Construction and extraction occupations | 6.82 | 6.19 | 6.62 | -9.2% | 6.8% | -3.0% |
| Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations | 4.49 | 4.17 | 4.49 | -7.1% | 7.7% | 0.0% |
| Production occupations | 8.21 | 7.29 | 7.61 | -11.3% | 4.4% | -7.4% |
| Transportation and material moving occupations | 9.53 | 9.86 | 10.70 | 3.4% | 8.6% | 12.2% |
Notes: Data for each 12-month period is the average employment over that period. Percent changes are calculated using unrounded data. Alt-2019 refers to the 12 months before the pandemic (March 2019–February 2020), alt-2020 refers to the initial 12 months of the pandemic (March 2020–February 2021), and alt-2021 refers to the most recent 12 months of the pandemic (March 2021–February 2022).
Source: Authors' analysis of Current Population Survey basic monthly microdata, EPI Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 1.0.27 (2022), https://microdata.epi.org.
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