Current Population Survey (CPS) Basic Demographics

Percentage of Persons Employed

Men, age 16+

(Annual averages)

Women, age 16+

78.9

77.5

(Annual averages for 2000)

Less than
high school

76.2
72.0

71.7

72.0

70.9

71.8

70.8

6.4

High school
graduate

3.5

Some college,
no degree
55.6

Associate
degree

50.4
47.7
40.8

2.9

Fact Sheet for
the Current
Population
Survey

57.7

54.3

35.5

BC-1433
(2-2001)

Unemployment Rate for Persons 25 Years and Older

2.3

Bachelor’s
degree or more

1.7

42.0

37.1

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unemployment Rate for 1991 to 2000
(Annual averages)
8.0

7.5
6.9
6.1

6.8
6.0

5.6

5.4

4.9
4.5

(NA)

1960

1965

1970

1975

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

1980

1985

4.2

4.0

4.0
1990

1995

2000
2.0

U.S. Department of Commerce
Economic and Statistics Administration
U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

0
1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

USCENSUSBUREAU
Helping You Make Informed Decisions

people who have jobs . . . . . those who want jobs . . . . . and those not in the job market.
What this survey is about

How you are chosen

This survey is the Current Population Survey. Its main purpose is to
collect up-to-date figures on people
who have jobs, those who want
jobs, and those who are not in the
market for jobs. The U.S. Census
Bureau collects the information and
the U.S. Department of Labor publishes the results. You probably
have heard on radio or have seen
on television something like: “The
civilian unemployment rate for last
month was 4.3 percent.” That information, along with other details,
comes from this survey.

We chose this address, not you as
a person or a family. At the beginning, we did not know your name.
If you should move during the
period, we will interview the new
family that moves to this address.

Why we need the Current
Population Survey
In a Nation as large as ours and one
that is changing so rapidly, we need
up-to-date facts in order to plan
effective programs for the future.
Although a complete census is
taken every 10 years (like the one in
2000), it is essential that we obtain
some items of information much
more frequently. We collect information on the number of persons
working, the kind of work they do,
and the number of persons looking

for work (the unemployed) on a
monthly basis in the Current Population Survey so that we can keep
abreast of changes.

Legal authorization
Congress authorized the collection
of most of the information requested in this survey under Title
13, United States Code, Section 182;
and Title 29, United States Code,
Sections 1 through 9. In some
months, the survey may contain
questions authorized under laws
other than those cited. You can
obtain further information concerning the authority for any particular
portion of the survey from the Field
Representative who visits your
household.

Why your answers are
important
People in government and private
organizations need the statistics
that we obtain from this survey to
develop and evaluate economic
policies that are consistent with the
current needs of the Nation. For
this reason, it is extremely important that these statistics be as reliable as possible. The only way we
can achieve this needed reliability is
through the cooperation of sample
households such as yours in providing complete and accurate information. Your answers represent
your household and approximately
2,000 other households similar to
yours. In all, we interview about
58,000 households each month.

Additional questions
In addition to questions about jobs,
from time to time we ask questions
about other important areas 0concerning the economic and social
health of our Nation. We may ask
how much schooling people in your
household have had, how many of
them are attending school now,
what kinds of work different members have done, whether or not you
have moved in the past year, and
other questions of similar nature.

Number of times we will
visit you
We will visit this address each
month for 4 months this year and
again for 4 months a year from now.

The Census Bureau never
reveals information
about you
All information given by you to the
Census Bureau for this survey is
confidential by law (Title 13, United
States Code, Section 9). Every
Census Bureau employee takes an
oath to this effect and is subject to
a jail penalty and a fine if he/she
discloses any census information
given to him/her. We present published information only in the form
of statistical summaries, and we
never release any information that
could identify individuals. The
Census Bureau has established rigid
procedures and guidelines to ensure
data confidentiality and is proud of
the excellent reputation it has
earned in this regard.
BC-1433