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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 693-4650
As the 20th century came to an end, the flu bug gripped
America but the nation's economic health continued to be excellent.
In the last employment situation report of the century,
unemployment continued at a 30-year low of 4.1 percent. We saw impressive gains
in a wide variety of industries; services added 109,000 jobs in December,
employment in business services rose by 77,000 especially in help supply and
computer and data processing services. Retail trade employment rose by 65,000
with heavy concentration in stores and restaurants.
I am particularly pleased to note that we reached a
historic low in the unemployment rate for Hispanics 5.9 percent, the lowest
since the department began collecting data for this group in 1973.
As we close the century and begin a new one, it is
important to look back at how our workforce and workplace are changing at warp
speed: who works, how we work and where we are working has shifted dramatically
in the past one hundred years.
For example:
- WHO: The women's labor force participation rate more than tripled
over the 20th century. In 1900, less than 20 percent of women worked; today,
that figure is about sixty percent.
- HOW: We are working smarter. In 1950 the majority of American workers
had less than a high school degree. Today, the majority of workers have at
least some college education.
- WHERE: In 1900, one out of three workers was employed in agriculture,
and one out of three in services. Today, three out of four workers are in
services, and only three out of a hundred are in agriculture.
Our challenge today is to take the values that guided us in
the 20th century into the new workplace of the 21st century.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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