Worker Access to Paid Leave Benefits in the United States

In the United States, 76 percent of workers have access to paid sick leave through their employers. The same share has access to paid vacation (76%) and a slightly higher share have paid holidays (78%). This access varies between the public and private sectors. In private industry, 73 percent of workers have access to paid sick leave and four out of five workers have access to paid vacation and paid holidays. Among state and local government employees, access to paid sick leave (91%) far outweighs access to paid vacation and holidays (61% and 68%, respectively).

These figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey, which includes very little detail at the sub-national level. Oregon is grouped with the Pacific West region, which includes Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. Access to paid leave benefits is a bit more widespread in this area of the country compared with the national average. Nine out of 10 workers in the Pacific West region have access to paid sick leave. Pacific West workers are also more likely to have access to paid holidays (80%) and to paid vacation (80%) than the national average.

Nationally, workers with the lowest wages also have the least access to paid leave benefits through their employers. Access to paid sick leave has a direct positive relationship with earnings, with each step up in earnings quartile matched by improved access to paid sick leave. In contrast, for paid vacation and paid holidays, this relationship only holds for the shift between the third quartile, with the highest quartile of earners having about as much access to paid vacation and paid holidays as the second 25 percent.

The size of the employer also influences the availability of paid leave benefits. This is especially true in the private sector, while public-sector workers have a tighter range based on employer size. In the private sector, access to paid vacation and holidays improves as the employer size increases – workers at large employers are more likely to have access to these paid leaves than workers at smaller employers. In the public sector, there’s little variation in the availability of paid vacation and holidays by size; workers at smaller government establishments are about as likely as workers at the largest government establishments to be able to enjoy these forms of paid leave.

Overall, it is access to paid sick leave that varies the most by employer size. Sixty-four percent of the workforce of the smallest employers – those with fewer than 50 employees – have access to paid sick leave, while 91 percent of workers at large employers with more than 500 workers have access to paid sick leave. Among the private-sector workforce, access to paid sick leave ranges from 64 percent of workers at the smallest employers to 89 percent of workers at the largest employers. Among the public-sector workforce, 85 percent of workers at the smallest employers had paid sick leave, compared with 93 percent of workers at the largest employers.

In the United States, most workers have access to at least some paid leave through their employers. This access improves with full-time work and access is the greatest for the high-wage workforce and the workforce of large employers.


To learn more, read economist Jessica Nelson's full article here. 

Shutdown Impacts 9,600 Federal Jobs in Oregon

Roughly 9,600 jobs in Oregon are at federal agencies that are not currently funded and are affected by the partial federal government shutdown.

Some of these workers have already been furloughed. Others have funding to cover operations for a few more days. Excepted personnel are still working even though funding for their paychecks has not been appropriated. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, this includes employees who are performing emergency work involving the safety of human life or the protection of property, or performing certain other types of excepted work.

These figures are based on a March 2018 count of jobs at federal establishments that do not have current funding. The number of jobs at these agencies totaled 9,583. Of these jobs, 6,632 are located in urban counties and 2,809 jobs are in rural counties (the rest are multi-county or unknown). The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management account for nearly half (45%) of the jobs without current appropriations.

Federal contractors in Oregon may also be affected by the shutdown, but we don’t have a way to directly measure that impact.

The 2013 full federal government shutdown lasted two weeks. It wasn’t long enough to have a noticeable impact on the jobs figures or the unemployment rate. More than 500 federal workers in Oregon filed unemployment insurance claims during that shutdown.

In total, there are about 28,000 federal employees in Oregon, but two-thirds work in agencies that have funding and are not directly affected by the shutdown. This includes the U.S. Postal Service, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Department of Labor.

The number of jobs by county and by federal agency are available upon request. Please contact Nick Beleiciks for this information. 

Employee Tenure Averages Four Years

How long do workers stay in a given job? Nationally, the average employee tenure in January 2018 was 4.2 years. Data to address this question isn’t available for Oregon, but every two years the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes this information for the nation, which results from supplemental questions in the Current Population Survey.

Data back to 2006 show little variation – job tenure has been fairly consistent over the last decade plus. A slight peak was reached in the January 2012 results, which is probably the effect of workers staying longer in the jobs they held – if they managed to hang on to them – when the nation entered the Great Recession, which lasted from late 2007 to the middle of 2009.

Public-sector workers tend to stay in their jobs longer than the average in the much larger private-sector workforce. The January 2018 median tenure for public-sector workers was 6.8 years, compared with 3.8 years among workers in the private sector.

It may come as no surprise that management occupations have the longest tenure among occupation groups. Workers in management occupations had a median tenure with their current employer of 6.4 years in January 2018. That doesn’t mean they were necessarily a manager for the entirety of their tenure – this would include workers who began in another role and moved into management with the same employer, because the data measure a worker’s time with an employer, not their time in their current role.

On the lower end of employee tenure, three occupation groups had median tenure of three years or less. Workers in food preparation and serving occupations had been with their current employer for a median of just 1.9 years. Personal care and service occupations, and health care support occupations had a median of 3.0 years. Food preparation and personal care occupations have a lot of part-time and low-paying jobs. Many workers have their first jobs in these occupations, but move out of these jobs as they gain education and experience. For health care support occupations, the low tenure may speak to career pathways where workers gain health care experience in entry-level roles while pursuing more training.

For more information on worker tenure, read the full article written by Employment Economist Jessica Nelson.

Facts for Features: Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! Here are some fun facts about dads in the United States.

The first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Father’s Day has been celebrated annually since 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed the public law that made it permanent.

In 2014, there were an estimated 72.2 million fathers across the nation. 29.2 million fathers are also grandfathers.

Here are some more fun facts about dads:

209,000
The number of U.S. dads who were stay-at-home parents in 2016

392,000

The number of children under age 15 stay-at-home dads cared for in 2016

2.0 million
Single fathers living with their children under 18 in 2016

30,500

The number of single, male Oregonians in the labor force with children under 18 in 2015

17%

The share of single, male parents nationwide in 2016

4.9%

Percentage of married Oregon families in 2015 with children under 18 and men not in the labor force while their spouses were in the labor force

For more father facts, visit the Census Bureau's "Facts for Features: Father's Day: June 18, 2017" article. 

September Jobs Up Nationwide, Unemployment Rate Steady

The nation added 142,00 jobs in September 2015 while the unemployment rate held steady at 5.1 percent. This month's growth comes in below the 12-month average of 229.000 jobs added.

“National job growth is looking good, but not great like it did earlier in the year," says State Employment Economist Nick Beleiciks. 

Jobs saw huge growth near the end of 2014 and in the beginning of 2015. See the graph below for more details.

"Most of the major sectors are continuing along their growth paths, but low oil prices are leading to severe job losses in the mining sector.”

The mining sector has seen losses of 102,000 jobs since its peak in December of 2015.

U.S. Payrolls Add 173,000 Jobs in August

This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 173,000 in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 5.1 percent.

According to the BLS, employment growth had averaged 247,000 per month over the prior 12 months. In August, job gains occurred in health care and social assistance and in financial activities. Employment in manufacturing and mining declined. 

The BLS reported health care and social assistance added 56,000 jobs in August. Health care employment increased by 41,000 over the month, with job growth occurring in ambulatory health care services (+21,000) and hospitals (+16,000). Employment rose by 16,000 in social assistance, which includes child day care services and services for the elderly and disabled. Over the year, employment has risen by 457,000 in health care and by 107,000 in social assistance.

Financial activities -- an industry that long lagged in employment gains -- added 19,000 jobs in August. Gains totaled 8,000 in real estate, while securities, commodity contracts, and investments added 5,000. Over the year, employment in financial activities has grown by 170,000.

Manufacturing employment decreased by 17,000 in August, after changing little in July (+12,000). Job losses occurred in a number of component industries, including fabricated metal products and food manufacturing (-7,000 each). Thus far in 2015, overall employment in manufacturing has shown little net change.

Employment in mining fell in August (-9,000), with losses concentrated in support activities for mining (-7,000). Since reaching a peak in December 2014, mining employment has declined by 90,000.

You can find more information and details about the unemployment rate in the full Employment Situation news release.

U.S. Payrolls Add 223,000 Jobs in June

This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its summary of June's employment situation. The unemployment rate dropped slightly to 5.3 percent, and payroll employment grew by 223,000 jobs.

June's job growth was on pace with the average for the last three months (221,000), but slightly below the average monthly gain of 250,000 for the prior 12 months. Professional and business services saw the largest monthly gain in June, 64,000 jobs, with nearly one-third of that due to an increase in temporary help services. Health care added 40,000 jobs in June.

The BLS noted unemployment rates of 4.8 percent each for adult men and adult women. By comparison, the unemployment rate for teens was 18.1 percent last month. That's down from 20.7 percent in June 2014, but teens still face significantly higher unemployment rates than adults. In June, the unemployment sat below 4.0 percent for those ages 35 to 44, 45 to 54, and 55 and older nationwide.

Note: all figures in this post are seasonally adjusted, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics is the source for all data.

U.S. Employers Added 280,000 Jobs to Payrolls in May

This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the unemployment rate and employment estimates for May. The unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged at 5.5 percent last month. The U.S. logged above average employment growth in May though, with a gain of 280,000 jobs. The average monthly gain for the past 12 months totaled 251,000.

Industries with notable gains in May included professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and health care. Together, these three industries added 167,000 jobs over the month.

Employment in mining declined for the fifth consecutive month.
You can find more details on the labor force and industry employment growth in the full release from the BLS.

Department of Homeland Security Employment in Oregon

Congress is working on passing a Department of Homeland Security funding bill before February 27. Without funding, the Department could begin a partial shutdown. 

Although most Homeland Security employees would continue to work during a partial shutdown, we have been asked about the number and types of Department of Homeland Security jobs in Oregon. In Oregon, almost 1,000 people were employed by the Department of Homeland Security. The bulk of this employment was in Multnomah County for the Transportation Security Administration. 

For more information on Department of Homeland Security funding, see DHS Budget.

Employed Young Adults in Oregon: Then and Now

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its report Young Adults Then and Now. It compares a number of statistics on young adults ages 18-34 down to the census tract level across the U.S. In Oregon, 71.7 percent of young adults were employed in 2000. Between 2009 and 2013, 65.2 percent were employed.

Unemployment Rates in Oregon and Neighboring States

This is a wonderful time of the year to check in with the neighbors. Being the research types that we are, we decided to see what unemployment rates were doing in neighboring states.

Each neighboring state saw significant improvement in its unemployment rate over the year, unlike Oregon’s rate, which has been relatively unchanged since October 2013. That’s because Oregon’s labor force expanded to accommodate the state’s job growth without reducing the number of unemployed by very much. Labor force growth was slower in California and Washington, and was nearly nonexistent in Idaho and Nevada.

Job growth without labor force growth is a recipe for falling unemployment rates. Nevada’s unemployment rate drop was one of the biggest in the nation, falling 2.3 percentage points. That’s because the Silver State added 28,600 jobs in the last 12 months while the labor force grew by just 1,300 people, so those jobs were filled from the pool of unemployed.

Oregon’s unemployment rate has remained relatively stable over the last year and that is not likely to change soon. It is expected to continue to fall slowly, dropping to 6.5 percent over the next three years, according to the latest economic forecast from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis.

Thanks to our state employment economist, Nick, for today's guest blog post!

Oregonians More Likely to Have High-Speed Internet Access

High-speed internet access is more crucial than ever in managing daily life. It's affecting how we communicate, teach, learn, shop, do business, and spend leisure time. Those without high-speed internet access are at a growing disadvantage as these activities continue to transform. In 2013, to get a more accurate picture of internet access across the nation, the U.S. Census Bureau began surveying computer ownership and internet access in the United States.

Last week, the Census Bureau published an article on findings from the first release of these data, and made a nice infographic ranking states by population with high-speed internet. Oregon's high-speed internet access ranked 13th in the nation at 82.4 percent, which was higher than the national average of 78.1 percent.

While Oregon has greater access than the nation as a whole, access is not equal among counties. Note that since this survey is in its initial phases, data are only available for geographic locations with population higher than 65,000, or 15 of Oregon's 36 counties.

Benton County had the highest percentage of individuals with high-speed internet access at home (89%), which put Corvallis metro highest among all metro areas in the nation. You can read more about it in this OPB story: Census Report: Corvallis Residents Most Likely to Have High-Speed Internet. 

Douglas County had the lowest of Oregon’s counties (with available data to date) with 71 percent.  

Employee Tenure Increased During Recessionary Years

Median tenure for employees 16 and over in January 2014 was 4.6 years. This estimate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics means that half of all workers in January 2014 had been working for their current employer for more than 4.6 years, and half of all workers had been working for their current employer for less than 4.6 years.

Changes in employment levels and the unemployment rate were the focus of the most recent recession, but employee tenure saw a shift -- although perhaps less dramatically -- during this period too. In fact, between 2008 and 2012, median employee tenure jumped from 4.1 years to 4.6 years. Median tenure did not change between 2012 and 2014.

Tenure likely increased for a number of reasons. First, tenure tends to rise as the population ages. Since employee tenure naturally increases with age (on average), an increase of workers in older age brackets push median tenure up. Another reason for an increase in tenure is a decrease in job openings and hires. A decrease in job openings and hires means employees are more likely to stay put in current positions.

As median tenure has increased over the past decade, the gap between tenure for men and women has narrowed. Both groups increased tenure, as population increase and the recession affected both groups, but an increased labor force participation rate among women has helped to close this gap.

Median tenure is lower for those with less than a high school diploma. Despite this, there is not a distinct relationship between longer tenure and higher educational attainment. For example, high school graduates had a median tenure of 5.8 years in January 2014, but those with a bachelor's degree had a median tenure of 5.4 years.

Median tenure varies quite a bit depending on one's occupation, and tends to increase as wages increase. Management and professional (6.2 years), education (6.2 years), and protective service workers (6.5 years) have longer tenures, while food prep (2.2 years) and personal care service (2.9 years) workers have shorter median tenure. All occupations saw an increase in median tenure between 2006 and 2014.

For more on median tenure in the United States: Employee Tenure in 2014.

Oregon Coffee Fun Facts

In honor of national coffee day, here are some fun employment facts about the much-loved Monday morning pick-me-up:

• Coffee shops -- along with ice cream parlors, smoothie shops, and other similar businesses -- are classified in the "snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars" industry. This industry had roughly 1,100 establishments in Oregon in 2013.

• Employment statewide for the coffee shops et al. industry totaled 10,300 in 2013.

• Baristas are classified as "counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop." Oregon had 9,400 of them in 2012.

• The U.S. made the top 20 list of countries in terms of per capita coffee consumption in 2013, with an average of 0.93 cups per day.

• Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. that grows coffee beans on a broad, commercial scale.

One out of Sixteen Oregon Workers Holds Two or More Jobs

Oregon workers were more likely to hold more than one job at a time than our national counterparts in 2013, a trend dating back nearly a decade. Oregon’s multiple-jobholding rate was 6.2 percent, higher than the national rate of 4.9 percent. Twenty-two other states had multiple jobholding rates significantly higher than the national average. Like Oregon, most of the states with high multiple-jobholding rates in 2013 had consistently high rates since estimates became available in 1994.

South Dakota recorded the highest multiple-jobholding rate of any state at 8.9 percent, followed by Vermont (8.8%) and Maine (8.6%). Florida had the lowest multiple-jobholding rate at 3.5 percent.

The U.S. multiple-jobholding rate has declined gradually or remained flat each year since peaking at 6.2 percent in 1996. The U.S. rate has been 4.9 percent since 2010. Most states see similar slow changes. Missouri (+1.2 percentage points) and Louisiana (+1.1 points) had the only statistically significant changes in their multiple-jobholding rates from 2012.

The multiple-jobholding rate is the percent of individuals who hold more than one job at a time. They could be wage or salary workers who hold two or more jobs, self-employed workers who also hold a wage or salary job, or unpaid family members who also hold a wage or salary job.

This information is based on an article posted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). You can get more details in the original article, including a state-by-state look at the current and historical data.

U.S. Employment Situation - July 2014

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that total nonfarm employment increased by 209,000 in July 2014. The average monthly gain over the past three months was 245,000, while the average gain over the past year was 214,000.

Professional and business services added 47,000 jobs in July and has added 648,000 jobs over the past 12 months.

Over the year, total nonfarm employment increased by 2,570,000 jobs. This is the highest over-the-year gain since 2006.  

The unemployment rate for July changed little, increasing from 6.1 percent to 6.2 percent. The total number of unemployed persons, as well as the long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more), also changed little in July.

For more information on the national employment figures, see the BLS press release.

Five Consecutive Months of 200,000+ Job Gains in U.S.

This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employers added 288,000 jobs to payrolls in June. That marks the fifth consecutive month where the U.S. added at least 200,000 jobs. Over the past three months, job gains averaged 272,000 per month; over the past year, monthly growth averaged 208,000 jobs.

In June, professional and business services added 67,000 jobs, while retail trade employment rose by 40,000, and health care added 21,000. The only decline among broad industry sectors occurred in other services (-6,000).

The unemployment rate dropped to 6.1 percent in June. The number of long-term (27+ weeks) unemployed persons fell by 293,000, but they still account for one-third of all unemployed persons.

More information about June's national employment situation can be found in the full BLS news release.

Home Prices Rose in Portland and the U.S. in March

After stagnating in recent months, the Case-Shiller index shows that home prices rose in March. 

The Oregonian reports that Portland metro home prices were up by 1.3 percent in March, and increased by 11.8 percent from a year earlier. Portland was one of 13 cities in the index where prices are rising at a slower year-over-year rate than they were in March 2013. The relatively low inventory of homes on the market -- due to lagging construction and homeowners with low equity not listing homes for sale -- are among the factors cited for pushing up prices.

The article also notes that diminishing foreclosures on the market may be influencing the numbers. Foreclosures generally sell for prices considerably less than "normal" market value. In a more active market, those homes grew more expensive, and accounted for a smaller share of the market, contributing to higher average home sale prices.

Technology Bringing Robots and Self-Service to U.S. Companies

Today a pair of stories from CNN Money report on U.S. companies looking to implement robots and other technology like self-service kiosks into their operations.

The first report shares news that Amazon plans to use 10,000 robots -- up from the current 1,000 -- by the end of this year to fulfill customer orders. The company expects that the number of people they currently employ will not be affected by this change.
 
The second article reports that Panera Bread is introducing self-service kiosks and mobile ordering options to all of its locations within the next three years. The Chili's and Applebees chains have already introduced tablet devices at restaurant tables for patrons to directly self-order and pay.

Portland Leads Nation in Biking to Work

Today is Bike to Work Day, which is part of the larger National Bike Month. According to the League of American Bicyclists, commuting by bike burns an average of 540 calories per hour, and a daily four-mile commute will save about 66 gallons of gas per year. Since 2000, bike commuting has grown by 62 percent!

Oregon is a particularly special place for bike commuters. With a rate of 2.3 percent (based on Census Bureaus statistics) of commuters traveling by bike, it is the only state where this percent is higher than two.  Portland leads all large cities across the nation with 6.1 percent of commuters on bikes. The next nearest large city comes in at 5.1 percent. Between 1990 and 2011, the percentage of workers traveling by bike increased by 443 percent in Portland. This was a greater increase than any other major city.

Across the United States, the share of workers traveling by bike in large cities is 1.0 percent, up from 0.6 percent in 2000.  The Western United States had the highest percentage of any broad region with a 1.1 percent rate.  The South had a bike-commuting rate of just 0.3 percent.  Here are a few more general stats on bike commuting in the U.S.:

• Men (0.8%) bike to work more than women (0.3%).
• Workers with professional or graduate degrees (0.9%) bike to work more than workers at any other education level.  However, those with less than a high school diploma were next in line at 0.7 percent. 
• The average commute time for bikers is 19.3 minutes.
• Workers with a lower income are more likely to bike to work.
• Younger workers are more likely to bike to work than older workers.  Each progressive age bracket surveyed saw a decrease in bike commuting.  

For more on the bike commuting in Oregon and across the Unites States, read the Census Bureau's full report: Modes Less Traveled—Bicycling and Walking to Work in the United States: 2008–2012.