Census Bureau News -- Profile America Facts for Features: Labor Day 2012: Sept. 3 (resend)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The first observance of Labor Day is believed to have been a parade of 10,000 workers on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, organized by Peter J. McGuire, a Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary. By 1893, more than half the states were observing "Labor Day" on one day or another, and Congress passed a bill to establish a federal holiday in 1894. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill soon afterward, designating the first Monday in September as Labor Day. 

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Who Are We Celebrating?
155.2 million
Number of people 16 and older in the nation's labor force in June 2012. 
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

Employee Benefits
85.0%
Percentage of full-time workers 18 to 64 covered by health insurance during all or part of 2010.
Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010, derived from Table 8
http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf

Our Jobs

Americans worked in a variety of occupations in 2010. Here is a sampling:

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table B24124 http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B24124&prodType=table

26.3 million
Number of female workers 16 and older in management, business, science, and arts occupations in 2010. Among male workers, 16 and older, 23.7 million were employed in management, professional and related occupations.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table C24010
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_C24010&prodType=table

1.4%
Percentage increase in employment in the United States between December 2010 and December 2011. Employment increased in 266 of the 322 largest counties (large counties are defined as having employment levels of 75,000 or more).  
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cewqtr.nr0.htm

5.3%
Percentage increase in Kern County, Calif., between December 2010 and December 2011, the largest increase in employment among the 322 largest counties. Harris County, Texas, had the highest level increase of 62,700 jobs.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cewqtr.nr0.htm

3.4%
Percentage decline in employment in Benton County, Wash., between December 2010 and December 2011, the largest percentage decrease among the nation's 322 largest counties.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cewqtr.nr0.htm

5.9 million
The number of people who worked from home in 2010.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table B08128
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B08128&prodType=table

Another Day, Another Dollar

$47,715 and $36,931
The 2010 real median earnings for male and female full-time, year-round workers, respectively.
Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010 
http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf

Early, Lonely and Long — the Commute to Work

16.3 million
Number of commuters who left for work between midnight and 5:59 a.m. in 2010. They represent 12.5 percent of all commuters.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table B08132
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B08132&prodType=table

76.6%
Percentage of workers who drove alone to work in 2010. Another 9.7 percent carpooled and 4.9 percent took public transportation (excluding taxicabs).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table DP03 http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_DP03&prodType=table

25.3 minutes
The average time it took people in the nation to commute to work in 2010. Maryland and New York had the most time-consuming commutes, averaging 31.8 and 31.3 minutes, respectively.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table R0801 http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_R0801.US01PRF&prodType=table

3.2 million
Number of workers who faced extreme commutes to work of 90 or more minutes each day in 2010. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table B08012
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B08012&prodType=table

For detailed information on the data force, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://www.bls.gov/

Following is a list of observances typically covered by the Census Bureau's Facts for Features series:

Editor's note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau's Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030;  or e-mail: [email protected].

Contact: Public Information Office
301-763-3030
[email protected]

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau