Civilian Labor Force

The aim of the information contained within thispage is to clear up some of misconceptions about the US labor force.

"According to the CPS definitions, the civilian labor force comprises all civilians in the noninstitutional population (Those in prison, metal falucities, nursing homes, and etc.) 16 years and over classified as "employed" or "unemployed" according to the following criteria: Employed civilians comprise

• All civilians, who, during the reference week, did any work for pay or profit (minimum of an hour’s work) or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in a family enter-prise, and

• All civilians who were not working but who had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent for noneconomic reasons (illness, weather conditions, vacation, labor-management dispute, etc.) whether they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs.

Unemployed persons comprise all civilians who had no employment during the reference week, who made specific efforts to find a job within the previous 4 weeks (such as applying directly to an employer, or to a public employment service, or checking with friends), and who were available for work during that week, except for temporary illness. Persons on layoff from a job and expecting recall are also classified as unemployed. All other civilian persons, 16 years old and over, are not in the labor force."