LABOR MARKET REPORT

EARNINGS The variable EARNWEEK measures earnin" rel="nofollow">ings per week in" rel="nofollow">in nomin" rel="nofollow">inal dollars. It takes a value of 9998 or 9999 if the person is missin" rel="nofollow">ing earnin" rel="nofollow">ings data or not in" rel="nofollow">in the universe (i.e. not in" rel="nofollow">in the Earner Study). If you do not filter out these values, your estimates will have a comically large upward bias. Always thin" rel="nofollow">ink about whether your estimates make sense before believin" rel="nofollow">ing them. Note: EARNWEEK is for the main" rel="nofollow">in job the respondent held in" rel="nofollow">in the previous year. INFLATION If you are comparin" rel="nofollow">ing dollar amounts over time, you must adjust for in" rel="nofollow">inflation usin" rel="nofollow">ing the CPI-Urban, 1999 base year. See the followin" rel="nofollow">ing for details and the in" rel="nofollow">index: https://cps.ipums.org/cps/cpi99.shtml Page 3 of 15 WEIGHTING For most of the analyses, the appropriate weight to use is WTSUPP. However, for variables from the Earner Study (EARNWEEK, HOURWAGE, PAIDHOUR, UNION, UHRSWORK, WKSWORKORH, ELIGORG, and OTPAY), you must use EARNWT as your weight. FRUSTRATION Learnin" rel="nofollow">ing a new system may be challengin" rel="nofollow">ing and frustratin" rel="nofollow">ing. However, workin" rel="nofollow">ing through challenges fosters meanin" rel="nofollow">ingful human capital development. Employers value employees who can learn and develop new skills themselves in" rel="nofollow">in a technologically-rich environment. GROUP DEFINITIONS When the questions below refer to groups, they use the followin" rel="nofollow">ing defin" rel="nofollow">initions. Because many of these defin" rel="nofollow">initions are different than the categories used in" rel="nofollow">in variables in" rel="nofollow">in the IPUMS database, you will need to do some recodin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in your analyses. Note: The CPS has changed over the years; thus, not all variables are available for the entire time-span. Age Groups, 1962-2016 o 18 - 24 year olds o 25 - 34 year olds o 35 - 44 year olds o 45 - 54 year olds o 55 - 64 year olds Educational Attain" rel="nofollow">inment Groups, 1962-2016 o Less than high school (in" rel="nofollow">include no schoolin" rel="nofollow">ing, grades 1 - 11, 12th grade no diploma) o High school only (in" rel="nofollow">include high school diploma, high school equivalent, or high school diploma unclear) o Some college (in" rel="nofollow">include 1 - 3 years of college no degree, Associate's degree, occupational/vocational program) o College (in" rel="nofollow">include 4 years of college or Bachelor's degree) o Postgraduate (in" rel="nofollow">include 5-6 years of college, Master's degree, Professional degree, Doctoral degree) Employment Status, 1962-2016 o Employed (in" rel="nofollow">include at work, has a job not at work last week) o Unemployed (in" rel="nofollow">include unemployed of any type) o Not In Labor Force (in" rel="nofollow">include not in" rel="nofollow">in the labor force of any type) Page 4 of 15 Hispanic Ethnicity Groups, 1971-2016 o Not Hispanic o Hispanic (in" rel="nofollow">include all Hispanic national origin" rel="nofollow">in groups) Labor Force Status, 1962-2016 o Labor Force Participant (in" rel="nofollow">include at work, has a job not at work last week, or unemployed of any type) o Not in" rel="nofollow">in Labor Force (in" rel="nofollow">include not in" rel="nofollow">in the labor force of any type) Racial Groups, 1962-2016 o White o Black o Asian (in" rel="nofollow">include Asian or Pacific Islander) o Other Races (in" rel="nofollow">include American Indian, biracial, multiracial groups) from "other races" in" rel="nofollow">in the mid-1980s. Because of the sample size of the CPS, decomposin" rel="nofollow">ing the "other races" category in" rel="nofollow">into larger groups would result in" rel="nofollow">in very noisy estimates. Marital Status Groups, 1962-2016 o Married (in" rel="nofollow">include spouse present and absent) o Divorced/Separated (in" rel="nofollow">include separated, divorced) o Sin" rel="nofollow">ingle (in" rel="nofollow">include widowed, never married, sin" rel="nofollow">ingle) Nativity Groups, 1994-2016 o Native-born, native parents o Native-born, immigrant parent (in" rel="nofollow">include native born with at least one foreign-born parent) o Foreign-born Region, 1962-2016 o Northeast Region (in" rel="nofollow">include New England and Middle Atlantic divisions) o Midwest Region (in" rel="nofollow">include (East North Central and West North Central divisions) o South Region (in" rel="nofollow">include South Atlantic, East South Central, and West South Central divisions) o West Region (in" rel="nofollow">include Mountain" rel="nofollow">in and Pacific division) Sex, 1962-2016 o Male o Female Page 5 of 15 Union Status, 1990-2016 o Non-union (in" rel="nofollow">include not a member, not covered by a union contract) o Union Coverage (in" rel="nofollow">include member of a labor union, non-member but covered by a union contract) Veteran Status, 1964-2016 o Veteran o Non-veteran QUESTION 1 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WORKING-AGE POPULATION Analysis: Frequencies Restrictions: Age 18-64 How have the characteristics of the American workin" rel="nofollow">ing-age population changed sin" rel="nofollow">ince the 1960s? Make the followin" rel="nofollow">ing graphs to illustrate. Summarize your fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings and comment on any noteworthy trends usin" rel="nofollow">ing labor economic theory with a few paragraphs totalin" rel="nofollow">ing 300 words. GRAPH 1A: AGE, 1962-2016 Graph the relative frequencies of age groups over time GRAPH 1B: RACE, 1962-2016 Graph the relative frequencies of racial groups over time GRAPH 1C: EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, 1962-2016 Graph the relative frequencies of educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment groups over time GRAPH 1D: NATIONAL ORIGIN, 1994-2016 Graph the relative frequencies of national origin" rel="nofollow">in groups over time GRAPH 1E: HISPANIC ETHNICITY, 1971-2016 Graph the relative frequency of Hispanic ethnicity over time GRAPH 1F: MARITAL STATUS, 1962-2016 Graph the relative frequencies of marital status groups over time GRAPH 1G: REGION, 1962-2016 Graph the relative frequencies of regional groups over time GRAPH 1H: VETERAN STATUS, 1964-2016 Graph the relative frequency of veteran status over time Page 7 of 15 QUESTION 2 CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATES OVER TIME Analysis: Frequencies Restrictions: Age 18-64, Civilian (not in" rel="nofollow">in the Armed Services) How has labor force participation changed for various groups changed sin" rel="nofollow">ince the 1960s? Make the followin" rel="nofollow">ing graphs to illustrate. Summarize your fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings and comment on any noteworthy trends usin" rel="nofollow">ing labor economic theory with a few paragraphs totalin" rel="nofollow">ing 300 words. GRAPH 2A: MALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION CONDITIONAL ON AGE, MALES, 1962-2016 Graph the labor force participation rates for males conditional on age group over time GRAPH 2B: FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION CONDITIONAL ON AGE, 1962-2016 Graph the labor force participation rates for females conditional on age group over time GRAPH 2C: MALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION CONDITIONAL ON RACE, 1962-2016 Graph the labor force participation rates for males conditional on racial group over time GRAPH 2D: FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION CONDITIONAL ON RACE, 1962-2016 Graph the labor force participation rates for females conditional on racial group over time GRAPH 2E: MALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION CONDITIONAL ON MARITAL STATUS, 1962-2016 Graph the labor force participation rates for males conditional on marital status group over time GRAPH 2F: FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION CONDITIONAL ON MARITAL STATUS, 1962-2016 Graph the labor force participation rates for females conditional on marital status group over time Page 8 of 15 QUESTION 3 CIVILIAN UNEMPLOYMENT RATES OVER TIME Analysis: Frequencies Restrictions: Age 18-64, Labor Force Participant2 , Civilian (not in" rel="nofollow">in the Armed Services) How has the unemployment rate changed for various groups sin" rel="nofollow">ince the 1960s? Make the followin" rel="nofollow">ing graphs to illustrate. Summarize your fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings and comment on any noteworthy trends usin" rel="nofollow">ing labor economic theory with a few paragraphs totalin" rel="nofollow">ing 300 words. GRAPH 3A: MALE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE CONDITIONAL ON AGE, 1962-2016 Graph the unemployment rate for males conditional on age group over time GRAPH 3B: FEMALE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE CONDITIONAL ON AGE, 1962-2016 Graph the unemployment rate for females conditional on age group over time GRAPH 3C: MALE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE CONDITIONAL ON RACE, 1962-2016 Graph the unemployment rate for males conditional on racial group over time GRAPH 3D: FEMALE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE CONDITIONAL ON RACE, 1962- 2016 Graph the unemployment rate for females conditional on racial group over time 2 Remin" rel="nofollow">inder: the unemployment rate has the labor force in" rel="nofollow">in the denomin" rel="nofollow">inator. Page 9 of 15 QUESTION 4 REAL WEEKLY EARNINGS OVER TIME, FULL-TIME WORKERS Analysis: Means Restrictions: Age 18-64, Full-time worker (35+ usual hours per week) How have real weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for various groups changed sin" rel="nofollow">ince 1990? Make the followin" rel="nofollow">ing graphs to illustrate. Summarize your fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings and comment on any noteworthy trends usin" rel="nofollow">ing labor economic theory with a few paragraphs totalin" rel="nofollow">ing 300 words. GRAPH 4A: REAL WEEKLY EARNINGS CONDITIONAL ON EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, 1990-2016 Graph real weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for workin" rel="nofollow">ing-age, full-time workers conditional on educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment GRAPH 4B: REAL WEEKLY EARNINGS CONDITIONAL ON RACE, 1990-2016 Graph real weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for workin" rel="nofollow">ing-age, full-time workers conditional on racial group GRAPH 4C: REAL WEEKLY EARNINGS CONDITIONAL ON SEX, 1990-2016 Graph real weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for workin" rel="nofollow">ing-age, full-time workers conditional on sex GRAPH 4D: REAL WEEKLY EARNINGS CONDITIONAL ON UNION COVERAGE, 1990-2016 Graph real weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for workin" rel="nofollow">ing-age, full-time workers conditional on union coverage GRAPH 4E: REAL WEEKLY EARNINGS CONDITIONAL ON REGION, 1990-2016 Graph real weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for workin" rel="nofollow">ing-age, full-time workers conditional on region Page 10 of 15 QUESTION 5 CHARACTERISTICS, EMPLOYED WORKERS, 1965-2016 Analysis: Frequencies Restrictions: Age 18-64, employed, certain" rel="nofollow">in years How have the characteristics of employed workers changed from 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995, to 2016? Make the followin" rel="nofollow">ing table to illustrate. Summarize your fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings and comment on any noteworthy trends usin" rel="nofollow">ing labor economic theory with a few paragraphs totalin" rel="nofollow">ing 300 words. TABLE 5A: CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYED WORKERS, 1964-2016 Columns: years 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995, 2016 Rows: o Age group relative frequencies o Educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment group relative frequencies o Hispanic ethnicity relative frequency (1995, 2016 only) o Racial group relative frequencies o Marital status relative frequencies o Nativity group relative frequencies (1995, 2016 only) o Region group relative frequencies o Sex relative frequencies o Union status relative frequencies (1995, 2016 only) o Veteran status relative frequencies Page 11 of 15 QUESTION 6 CHARACTERISTICS, 2016 Analysis: Frequencies Restrictions: Age 18-64 How did the characteristics of residents differ in" rel="nofollow">in characteristics between various race and sex groups in" rel="nofollow">in 2016? How did the characteristics of employed workers differ in" rel="nofollow">in characteristics between various race and sex groups in" rel="nofollow">in 2016? Make the followin" rel="nofollow">ing tables to illustrate. Summarize your fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings and comment on any noteworthy trends usin" rel="nofollow">ing labor economic theory with a few paragraphs totalin" rel="nofollow">ing 300 words. TABLE 6A: CHARACTERISTICS OF RESIDENTS, 2016 Columns: White males, White females, Black males, Black females, Asian males, Asian females, Other males, Other females Rows: o Age group relative frequencies o Educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment group relative frequencies o Hispanic ethnicity relative frequency o Labor force participation relative frequency o Marital status relative frequencies o Nativity group relative frequencies o Region relative frequencies o Veteran status relative frequencies TABLE 6B: CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYED WORKERS, 2016 Additional restriction: Employed workers only Columns: White males, White females, Black males, Black females, Asian males, Asian females, Other males, Other females Rows: o Age group relative frequencies o Educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment group relative frequencies o Hispanic ethnicity relative frequency o Marital status relative frequencies o Nativity group relative frequencies o Region relative frequencies o Union status relative frequencies o Veteran status relative frequencies Page 12 of 15 QUESTION 7 NOMINAL WEEKLY EARNINGS, EMPLOYED WORKERS, 2016 Analysis: Means Restrictions: Age 18-64, employed How did mean nomin" rel="nofollow">inal weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings of employed workers differ between various race and sex groups conditional on various characteristics in" rel="nofollow">in 2016? Make the followin" rel="nofollow">ing tables to illustrate. Summarize your fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings and comment on any noteworthy trends usin" rel="nofollow">ing labor economic theory with a few paragraphs totalin" rel="nofollow">ing 600 words. TABLE 7A: WEEKLY EARNINGS OF EMPLOYED WORKERS BY RACE/SEX, 2016 Columns: Males, Females Rows (cells are mean nomin" rel="nofollow">inal weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for each column group conditional on characteristics): o Racial group TABLE 7B: WEEKLY EARNINGS OF EMPLOYED WORKERS BY SEX AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, 2016 Columns: Males, Females Rows (cells are mean nomin" rel="nofollow">inal weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for each column group conditional on characteristics): o Educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment group TABLE 7C: WEEKLY EARNINGS OF EMPLOYED WORKERS BY RACE AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, 2016 Columns: Whites, Blacks, Asians, Other Rows (cells are mean nomin" rel="nofollow">inal weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for each column group conditional on characteristics): o Educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment group TABLE 7D: WEEKLY EARNIGNS OF EMPLOYED WORKERS BY SEX AND VETERAN STATUS, 2016 Columns: Males, Females Rows (cells are mean nomin" rel="nofollow">inal weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for each column group conditional on characteristics): o Veteran status group TABLE 7E: WEEKLY EARNIGNS OF EMPLOYED WORKERS BY EDUCAITONAL ATTAINMENT AND UNION STATUS, 2016 Columns: Union, Nonunion Rows (cells are mean nomin" rel="nofollow">inal weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for each column group conditional on characteristics): o Educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment group Page 13 of 15 QUESTION 8 CHARACTERISTICS AND EARNINGS BY NATIVITY, 2016 Analysis: Frequencies, Means Restrictions: Age 18-64 How did the characteristics and earnin" rel="nofollow">ings of residents differ in" rel="nofollow">in between various nativity groups in" rel="nofollow">in 2016? Make the followin" rel="nofollow">ing tables to illustrate. Summarize your fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings and comment on any noteworthy trends usin" rel="nofollow">ing labor economic theory with a few paragraphs totalin" rel="nofollow">ing 300 words. TABLE 8A: CHARACTERISTICS OF RESIDENTS BY NATIVITY, 2016 Columns: Native-born, Native-parents; Native-born, immigrant parent; Foreign-born Rows: o Age group relative frequencies o Educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment group relative frequencies o Hispanic ethnicity relative frequency o Labor force participation relative frequency o Marital status relative frequencies o Nativity group relative frequencies o Racial group relative frequencies o Region relative frequencies o Veteran status relative frequencies TABLE 8B: CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYED WORKERS BY NATIVITY, 2016 Additional restriction: Employed workers only Columns: Native-born, Native-parents; Native-born, immigrant parent; Foreign-born Rows: o Age group relative frequencies o Educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment group relative frequencies o Hispanic ethnicity relative frequency o Marital status relative frequencies o Racial group relative frequencies o Region relative frequencies o Union status relative frequencies o Veteran status relative frequencies TABLE 8C: MEAN NOMINAL WEEKLY EARNINGS OF EMPLOYED WORKERS BY NATIVITY AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, 2016 Additional restriction: Employed workers only Columns: Native-born, Native-parents; Native-born, immigrant parent; Foreign-born Rows (cells are mean nomin" rel="nofollow">inal weekly earnin" rel="nofollow">ings for each column group conditional on characteristics): o Educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment group Page 14 of 15 QUESTION 9 CHARACTERISTICS BY EMPLOYMENT STATUS, 2016 Analysis: Frequencies Restrictions: Age 18-64 How did the characteristics of employed workers differ from those of unemployed workers and labor market non-participants in" rel="nofollow">in 2016? Make the followin" rel="nofollow">ing table to illustrate. Summarize your fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings and comment on any noteworthy trends usin" rel="nofollow">ing labor economic theory with a few paragraphs totalin" rel="nofollow">ing 300 words. TABLE 9A: CHARACTERISTICS BY EMPLOYMENT STATUS, 2016 Columns: Employed, Unemployed, Not in" rel="nofollow">in the Labor Force Rows: o Age group relative frequencies o Educational attain" rel="nofollow">inment group relative frequencies o Hispanic ethnicity relative frequency o Marital status relative frequencies o Nativity group relative frequencies o Racial group relative frequencies o Region relative frequencies o Veteran status relative frequencies Page 15 of 15 QUESTION 10 CHOOSE YOUR OWN QUESTION Produce a novel, salient question from your own curiosity about the U.S. labor force. Answer your question with an IMPUS CPS onlin" rel="nofollow">ine analysis. If you cannot answer your question with the IPUMS CPS data, then choose another question. Illustrate with at least one graph or table. Motive your question, summarize your fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings, and comment on any noteworthy trends usin" rel="nofollow">ing labor economic theory with a few paragraphs totalin" rel="nofollow">ing 300 words.