“A total of 157.0 million persons worked at some point during 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported [December 16, 2014]. The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over who worked at some time during 2013 was 63.5 percent, little different from 63.8 percent in 2012. The number of persons who experienced some unemployment during 2013 decreased by 1.5 million to 20.9 million. These data are based on information collected in the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The ASEC collects information on employment and unemployment experienced during the prior calendar year. Additional information about the CPS and the ASEC, including concepts and definitions, is provided in the Technical Note.

Highlights from the 2013 data:

• The proportion of workers who worked full time, year round in 2013 was 66.9 percent, up from 65.5 percent the prior year.
• The “work-experience unemployment rate”–defined as the number of persons unemployed at some time during the year as a proportion of the number of persons who worked or looked for work during the year–fell by 1.0 percentage point over the year to 12.9 percent in 2013.
• About 4.8 million individuals looked for a job but did not work at all in 2013, down from 5.5 million in 2012…”