Highlights of America’s Workforce: Labor Day 2006

Strong, Competitive and Growing

On Labor Day 2006, our nation's economy is strong and growing. Unemployment is low, job opportunities are expanding, and compensation is rising. But more still needs to be done to keep America's workforce the most competitive and innovative in the world.

The Department of Labor is committed to providing American workers with the tools and protections they need to succeed in the 21st century economy, including a stronger pension system. In fact, on August 17, 2006, President Bush signed into law sweeping, bipartisan reforms that he sought to ensure greater pension protection and a more secure retirement for working Americans.

Here are some of the current trends that illustrate the state of the economy and workforce:

Overall

• In the first half of 2006, the national unemployment rate averaged 4.7 percent. That's a full point lower than the average 5.7 percent unemployment rate of the 1990s.
• As of June 2006, more than 5.4 million net new jobs were created in the United States since August 2003.
• By June 2006, total jobs reached an all-time high of 135.2 million — nearly 2.7 million more jobs than the previous record set in 2001.
• In 2005, real hourly wages were 1.9 percent higher than in 2000, compared to the 1.1 percent rise in wages between 1990 and 1995. This means that wages are increasing at a rate that's more than 1½ times faster than that of the early '90s.
• The average level of compensation in 2005 was 7 percent higher than in 2000.
• From 2003 to 2005, the total number of displaced workers dropped by nearly 30 percent compared to the previous two-year period for which data were collected.

Working Women

• During the first half of 2006, the unemployment rate for women averaged 4.7 percent versus 5.5 percent for the same period ten years earlier.
• Over the past year, employment growth among women nearly doubled the rate for men.
• More women than ever are in higher-paying jobs: women held 56.3 percent of all professional and related jobs and 42.5 percent of management-related, business and finance positions in 2005.
• Earnings potential for women is expected to continue to rise because education has proven to be a key factor in increased earnings, and more than 50 percent of bachelor's degrees over the last five years have been earned by women.
• In addition, over 50 percent of workers who have benefited from services offered through the Department of Labor's Adult and Dislocated Worker programs at One-Stop Career Centers are women.
• Although women, on average, may earn less than men for a variety of reasons, including differences in work schedules and career decisions to accommodate raising their families or taking care of loved ones, education is a great equalizer, accounting for more favorable changes in real earnings for women than for men over the last 25 years.
• What has been called the "pay gap" is shrinking and is now the smallest it has ever been since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began tracking this data.

Minority Workers

• The strong labor market in 2005 benefited American workers across all categories of race and ethnicity — average annual employment of black, Asian, and Hispanic workers rose in numbers and as a percent of the total employed.
• In 2005, unemployment rates fell across all racial and ethnic categories.
• The unemployment rate for Hispanic workers averaged 5.4 percent in the first half of 2006 compared to 9.4 percent during the same period ten years ago — that's a significant drop.
• The number of minority workers employed in professional and managerial jobs — higher-paying jobs requiring higher levels of education — has steadily increased in recent years.

Working Veterans

• While the national unemployment rate for non-veterans averaged 4.6 percent in the first half of 2006, the rate for veterans averaged 4 percent — 0.6 percent lower than the non-veteran average during this period.
• A 37 percent drop in the rate of complaints under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) between two major mobilization efforts — Desert Storm in 1991 and today's larger Global War on Terror — underscores the effectiveness of both the Department's first-ever regulations implementing the Act and outreach activities to employers and service members.

…But America's workers still face challenges, and here's what the Department is doing to help our workers remain strong and competitive…

The majority of job growth over the past five years has been in occupations that require some kind of post-secondary education. Our goal at the Department is to ensure that all American workers have access to the information, training and resources that will help them gain the skills they need to be competitive and have greater opportunities in the 21st century economy.

• The President's High Growth Job Training Initiative (HGJTI): Through this Initiative, the Department has awarded 138 grants — totaling $267 million — to create partnerships among the public workforce system; business and industry; education and training providers; and the economic development community to prepare workers for new and increasing job opportunities in high-growth, high-demand and economically vital sectors of the economy, such as health care, energy and advanced manufacturing.
• The President's Community-Based Job Training Initiatives (CBJTI): The Labor Department has provided $125 million in competitive grants (with another $125 million to be awarded this fall) to strengthen the capacity of community and technical colleges to train workers in the areas and skills required by today's employers.
• Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED): In the new global economy, developing talent is a key factor in our nation's economic competitiveness. As part of the President's Competitiveness Agenda, the Department is investing $195 million in 13 competitively selected economic regions across the country to support innovate approaches to education and workforce development that go beyond traditional strategies and state borders.
• Career Advancement Accounts (CAAs): CAAs are self-managed accounts that get more training dollars directly in the hands of workers. CAAs empower workers to pursue the skills they need for the 21st century economy and effectively respond to their individual changing needs, giving workers greater ownership of their careers.
• Hispanic Worker Initiative: To address the challenges faced by Hispanic workers and help them prepare for — and find — good jobs at good wages, the Department continues to: help Hispanic Americans develop language and occupational skills; help Hispanic youth stay on an educational path that leads to rewarding careers; and encourage collaboration between employers, community colleges and the public workforce system to help Hispanic workers build the skills required for jobs in growing industries.
• Veterans Employment and Training: The Department's Veterans' Employment & Training Service (VETS) offers several employment and transition services, as well as competitive grant opportunities, to link veterans — including disabled veterans — to good-paying jobs. In addition, veterans receive Priority of Service throughout the nation's 3,500 One-Stop Career Centers.

The Department also continues to promote policies and initiatives that improve access to quality, affordable health care for workers in America's small businesses; that allow for more flexible work arrangements; and that protect the employment and reemployment rights of America's service members who bravely serve our country abroad.

• Association Health Plans (AHPs): AHPs would provide small businesses the opportunity to band together through trade and professional associations to purchase affordable health benefits, giving them the greater bargaining power, economies of scale, and administrative efficiencies currently enjoyed by large employer and union plans. AHPs will level the playing field and provide greater access to health insurance for workers.
• Workplace Flexibility: The Department continues to look for ways to help working men and women achieve a greater balance between work and family, including promoting flexible work schedules and teleworking. In the changing workplace of the 21st century, comp time, for example, gives workers more power over their own lives by allowing them to choose between paid time off and overtime pay. Public sector employees already enjoy this benefit — and have for decades. It's time to extend this option to all Americans.
• Flex-Options for Women: Through the Department's Women's Bureau, the Flex-Options for Women project helps businesses create and enhance flexible workplace policies and programs for their workforce by bringing together volunteer corporate executives and entrepreneurs to mentor business owners interested in establishing such policies. In fiscal year 2006, seven regions, covering 30 states, are participating in this project. The Flex-Options for Women Web site is at www.we-inc.org/flex.html.
• Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA): In 2005, the Labor Department issued the first-ever regulations protecting employment and reemployment rights and benefits of service members when they return to civilian life. These regulations provide comprehensive guidance on USERRA, which works to preserve the seniority, promotion, health care, pension and other benefits of our service members when they return home, and is one of a series of proactive steps the Department has taken to ensure job security for those who put themselves in harm's way to defend our freedoms.