Editing Economy of the United States (section)

==Employment==
{{Further|List of largest United States–based employers globally|List of U.S. states by employment rate}}
{{see also|JOLTS report}}
[[File:Jobs and quits rate.webp|thumb|380px|right|[[JOLTS report]]
{{legend-line|#AA4643 solid 3px|[[Unemployment in the United States|Total unemployed people]]}}
{{legend-line|#89A54E solid 3px|Total job openings}}
{{legend-line|#4572A7 solid 3px|[[Turnover (employment)|Total quits]]}}
]]

[[File:Job Growth by U.S. President - v1.png|thumb|right|300px|Job growth by US president, measured as cumulative percentage change from month after inauguration to end of term<ref>[https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS Federal Reserve Economic Data-All Employees Total Non-Farm-Retrieved July 29, 2018].</ref>]]
[[File:U.S. Econonomic Trends 2014-2017 Nine Panel.png|thumb|right|300px|Panel chart illustrates nine key economic variables measured annually in 2014–2017. The years 2014–2016 were during President Obama's second term, while 2017 was during President Trump's term. Refer to citations on detail page.]]
There were approximately 160.4 million people in the U.S. labor force in 2017, the fourth largest labor force in the world behind China, India, and the European Union.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states/| title = ''CIA World Factbook''. "United States.| date = February 16, 2022}}</ref>
The government (federal, state and local) employed 22 million in 2010.<ref name="Mcfeatters">{{cite news| url=http://napavalleyregister.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_43f9e712-b96a-11df-9e2d-001cc4c002e0.html | newspaper=Napa Valley Register | title=Saluting 154 million in workforce on Labor Day | first=Dale | last=McFeatters | date=September 6, 2010}}</ref> Small businesses are the nation's largest employer, representing 37% of American workers.<ref name="sba.gov" /> The second-largest share of employment belongs to large businesses employing 36% of the U.S. workforce.<ref name="sba.gov" /> [[White-collar worker|White collar workers]] comprise 44% of the workforce as of 2022, up from 34% in 2000.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 4, 2022 |title=Is a white-collar recession looming? |url=https://www.economist.com/business/2022/12/04/is-a-white-collar-recession-looming | newspaper=[[The Economist]] | quote=Managerial and professional occupations now make up 44% of total employment, up from 34% in 2000, according to the BLS (see chart). }}</ref>

The nation's [[private sector]] employs 85% of working Americans. [[Public sector|Government]] accounts for 14% of all U.S. workers. Over 99% of all private employing organizations in the U.S. are small businesses.<ref name="sba.gov" /> The 30 million small businesses in the U.S. account for 64% of newly created jobs (those created minus those lost).<ref name="sba.gov" /> Jobs in small businesses accounted for 70% of those created in the last decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if9NOcUK1F0  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/if9NOcUK1F0| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Obama: Small Business 'Heart' of Economy – YouTube |work=Youtube |date=March 16, 2009 |access-date=April 21, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The proportion of Americans employed by small business versus large business has remained relatively the same year by year as some small businesses become large businesses and just over half of small businesses survive for more than five years.<ref name="sba.gov" /> Amongst large businesses, several of the largest companies and employers in the world are American companies. Amongst them are [[Walmart]], which is both the largest company and the largest [[private sector]] employer in the world. Walmart employs 2.1 million people worldwide and 1.4 million in the U.S. alone.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2010/full_list/ |publisher=CNN | title=Global 500 2010: Global 500 1–100}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090318030352/http://walmartstores.com/download/2230.pdf Walmart Corporate and Financial Facts].</ref>
[[File:US Census Bureau Number of Employees per Business.png|thumb|300x300px|US Census Bureau (number of employees per business)]]
[[File:Productivity and Real Median Family Income Growth in the United States.png|thumb|upright=1.8|300x300px|Since the 1970s there has been a decoupling of U.S. wage gains from worker productivity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hopkin |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Hopkin |date=2020 |title=Anti-System Politics: The Crisis of Market Liberalism in Rich Democracies |chapter=American Nightmare: How Neoliberalism Broke US Democracy |url= |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IyXTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |location= |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=87–92 |isbn=978-0190699765 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780190699765.003.0004}}</ref>]]
There are nearly thirty million small businesses in the U.S.. Minorities such as [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanics]], African Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans (35% of the country's population),<ref>"[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jun-10-la-na-census-20100611-story.html Minority population growing in the United States, census estimates show]". ''Los Angeles Times''. June 10, 2010.</ref> own 4.1 million of the nation's businesses. Minority-owned businesses generate almost $700{{spaces}}billion in revenue, and they employ almost five million workers in the U.S.<ref name="sba.gov" /><ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/lauhsthl.htm
| title = Current Unemployment Rates for States and Historical Highs/Lows
| publisher = BLS
| date = June 2012
| access-date = June 15, 2012
}}</ref>
Americans have the highest average [[List of countries by average wage|employee]] income among OECD nations.<ref name="autogenerated4">{{cite web |title=OECD Better Life Index |url=http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/#/11111111111 |access-date=November 25, 2012 |publisher=OECD}}</ref> The median household income in the U.S. as of 2008 is $52,029.<ref>[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20100223212411/http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/acsbr08-2.pdf Median Household Income for States: 2007 and 2008], September 2009, [https://www.census.gov/ census.gov].</ref> About 284,000 working people in the U.S. have two full-time jobs and 7.6 million have part-time ones in addition to their full-time employments.<ref name="Mcfeatters" /> Out of all [[Working class in the United States|working individuals in the U.S.]], 12% belong to a labor union and most union members work for the government.<ref name="Mcfeatters" /> The decline of [[Trade unions in the United States|union membership]] in the U.S. over the last several decades parallels that of labor's share of the economy.<ref>Doree Armstrong (February 12, 2014). [http://www.washington.edu/news/2014/02/12/jake-rosenfeld-explores-the-sharp-decline-of-union-membership-influence/ Jake Rosenfeld explores the sharp decline of union membership, influence]. ''UW Today.'' See also: Jake Rosenfeld (2014) ''[http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674725119 What Unions No Longer Do].'' [[Harvard University Press]]. {{ISBN|0674725115}}</ref><ref>Keith Naughton, Lynn Doan and Jeffrey Green (February 20, 2015). [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-20/unions-poised-for-comeback-as-middle-class-wages-stall As the Rich Get Richer, Unions Are Poised for Comeback]. ''Bloomberg.''
* "A 2011 study drew a link between the decline in union membership since 1973 and expanding wage disparity. Those trends have since continued, said [[Bruce Western]], a professor of sociology at Harvard University who co-authored the study."</ref><ref>Michael Hiltzik (March 25, 2015). [https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-imf-agrees-loss-of-union-power-20150325-column.html IMF agrees: Decline of union power has increased income inequality]. ''[[Los Angeles Times]].''</ref> The World Bank ranks the United States first in the ease of hiring and firing workers.<ref name="EDBI">{{cite web|url=http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/?economyid=197|access-date=June 28, 2007|title=Doing Business in the United States (2006)|publisher=World Bank}}</ref> The United States is the only advanced economy that does not [[List of statutory minimum employment leave by country|legally guarantee its workers paid vacation]] or [[Sick leave#United States|paid sick days]], and is one of just a few countries in the world without [[paid family leave]] as a [[legal right]], with the others being [[Papua New Guinea]], [[Suriname]] and [[Liberia]].<ref>Rebecca Ray, Milla Sanes, and John Schmitt (May 2013). [http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/no-vacation-update-2013-05.pdf No-Vacation Nation Revisited]. ''[[Center for Economic and Policy Research]].''</ref><ref>Tara Siegel Bernard (February 22, 2013). [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/your-money/us-trails-much-of-the-world-in-providing-paid-family-leave.html In Paid Family Leave, U.S. Trails Most of the Globe]. ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref><ref>Maxwell Strachan, Alissa Scheller, Jan Diehm (October 29, 2013). [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/american-exceptionalism_n_4170683.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000029 15 Ways The United States Is The Best (At Being The Worst)]. ''[[The Huffington Post]].''</ref> In 2014 and again in 2020, the [[International Trade Union Confederation]] graded the U.S. a 4{{spaces}}out of{{spaces}}5+, its third-lowest score, on the subject of [[Labor rights|workers' rights]].<ref>Ishaan Tharoor (May 20, 2014). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/05/20/map-the-worst-places-in-the-world-to-be-a-worker/ MAP: The worst places in the world to be a worker]. ''[[The Washington Post]].'' see also: [http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/survey_ra_2014_eng_v2.pdf ITUC Global Rights Index].</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1= O'Brien |first1=Fergal |last2= Schneeweiss |first2=Zoe |date=June 18, 2020 |title=U.S. Ranked Worst for Workers' Rights Among Major Economies |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-18/u-s-ranked-worst-for-workers-rights-among-major-economies |work=Bloomberg|access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref> Similarly, a 2023 study published by [[Oxfam]] found that the United States ranks among the worst among developed countries for [[labour protection|labor protection]]s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ghilarducci|first=Teresa |date=June 14, 2023 |title=New Study: U.S. Tops Rich Nations As Worst Place To Work|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/teresaghilarducci/2023/06/14/new-study-us-tops-rich-nations-in-worst-place-to-work/?sh=403bcced3be6|work=Forbes |location= |access-date=July 27, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/research-publications/where-hard-work-doesnt-pay-off/|title=Where hard work doesn't pay off: An index of US labor policies compared to peer nations|last=Henderson|first= Kaitlyn |date=May 3, 2023 |website= |publisher=Oxfam |access-date=July 27, 2023 |quote=The US is falling drastically behind similar countries in mandating adequate wages, protections, and rights for millions of workers and their families. The wealthiest country in the world is near the bottom of every dimension of this index.}}</ref> Some scholars, including business theorist [[Jeffrey Pfeffer]] and political scientist Daniel Kinderman, posit that contemporary employment practices in the United States relating to the increased performance pressure from management, and the hardships imposed on employees such as toxic working environments, [[precarity]], and long hours, could be responsible for 120,000 excess deaths annually, making the workplace the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.<ref>{{cite book |last= Pfeffer|first=Jeffrey|date=2018 |title=Dying for a Paycheck: How Modern Management Harms Employee Health and Company Performance – and What We Can Do About It|publisher=HarperBusiness|page=38 |isbn=978-0062800923|author-link=Jeffrey Pfeffer}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= McGregor|first=Jena|date=March 22, 2018|title=This professor says the workplace is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2018/03/22/this-professor-says-the-workplace-is-the-fifth-leading-cause-of-death-in-the-u-s/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=July 5, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Kinderman|first=Daniel|date=2019|title=The Neoliberal Revolution in Industrial Relations|journal=Catalyst|volume=2|issue=4|pages=117–118|issn=2475-7365|quote=Neoliberal industrial relations reform and increased employer discretion has enabled employers to significantly increase the performance pressure, with serious repercussions for employees. In the United States, work-related issues including layoffs, job insecurity, toxic cultures, and long hours may be responsible for up to 120,000 deaths a year.}}</ref>

===Unemployment===
{{Main|Unemployment in the United States|List of U.S. states and territories by unemployment rate}}
[[File:U1-U6 unemployment rate.webp|thumb|450px|U1-U6 unemployment rate]]
As of December 2017, the [[unemployment]] rate in the U.S. was 4.1%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/UNRATE |title=Federal Reserve Database-FRED-Data Series UNRATE |publisher=Research.stlouisfed.org |date=September 6, 2013 |access-date=October 20, 2013}}</ref> or 6.6 million people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/UNEMPLOY |title=Federal Reserve Database-FRED-Data Series Unemploy |date=January 1948 |publisher=Research.stlouisfed.org |access-date=October 20, 2013}}</ref> The government's broader U-6 unemployment rate, which includes the part-time [[underemployment|underemployed]], was 8.1%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/U6RATE |title=Federal Reserve Database-FRED-Data Series U6RATE-March 2013 |publisher=Research.stlouisfed.org |date=September 6, 2013 |access-date=October 20, 2013}}</ref> or 8.2 million people. These figures were calculated with a civilian labor force of approximately 160.6 million people,<ref name="research.stlouisfed.org">{{cite web|url=http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CLF16OV |title=Federal Reserve Database-CLF160V Data Series|date=January 1948|publisher=Research.stlouisfed.org |access-date=October 20, 2013}}</ref> relative to a U.S. population of approximately 327 million people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/POP |title=FRED Database – POP Data Series – U.S. Population. November 2012 |date=January 1952 |publisher=Research.stlouisfed.org |access-date=October 20, 2013}}</ref>

Between 2009 and 2010, following the Great Recession, the emerging problem of [[jobless recovery|jobless recoveries]] resulted in record levels of [[long-term unemployment]] with more than six million workers looking for work for more than six months as of January 2010. This particularly affected older workers.<ref name="Goodman">[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/business/economy/21unemployed.html "Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs"] article by [[Peter S. Goodman]] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' February 20, 2010.</ref> A year after the recession ended in June 2009, immigrants gained 656,000 jobs in the U.S., while U.S.-born workers lost more than a million jobs, due in part to an aging country (relatively more white retirees) and demographic shifts.<ref>"[https://money.cnn.com/2010/10/29/news/economy/jobs_immigrants/ Immigrants top native born in U.S. job hunt]". [[CNNMoney.com]]. October 29, 2010.</ref> In April 2010, the official unemployment rate was 9.9%, but the government's broader [[Unemployment#United States Bureau of Labor statistics|U-6 unemployment]] rate was 17.1%.<ref>"[https://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/05/07/broader-u-6-unemployment-rate-increases-to-171-in-april/ Broader U-6 Unemployment Rate Increases to 17.1% in April]". ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''. May 7, 2010.</ref> Between February 2008 and February 2010, the number of people working part-time for economic reasons (i.e., would prefer to work full-time) increased by 4.0 million to 8.8 million, an 83% increase in part-time workers during the two-year period.<ref name="EconPost">{{cite web |title=Four million more people working part time than 2 years ago |publisher=EconPost.com |date=March 17, 2010 |url=http://econpost.com/unitedstateseconomy/four-million-more-people-working-part-time-2-years-ago |access-date=March 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711052533/http://econpost.com/unitedstateseconomy/four-million-more-people-working-part-time-2-years-ago |archive-date=July 11, 2010 }}</ref>

By 2013, although the unemployment rate had fallen below 8%, the record proportion of long term unemployed and continued decreasing household income remained indicative of a jobless recovery.<ref name=SchwartzJobless>{{cite news|last=Schwartz|first=Nelson|title=Recovery in U.S. Is Lifting Profits, but Not Adding Jobs|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/business/economy/corporate-profits-soar-as-worker-income-limps.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=March 18, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 3, 2013}}</ref> However, the number of payroll jobs returned to its pre-recession (November 2007) level by May 2014 as the economy recovered.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS |title=FRED – All Employees Total Non-farm Payrolls |date=January 1939}}</ref>

After being higher in the post-war period, the U.S. unemployment rate fell below the rising [[eurozone]] unemployment rate in the mid-1980s and has remained significantly lower almost continuously since.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Constance Sorrentino|author2=Joyanna Moy|title=U.S. labor market performance in international perspective|journal=Monthly Labor Review|date=June 2002 |url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2002/06/art2full.pdf |access-date=August 22, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chronic Unemployment in the Euro Area: Causes and Cures|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/1999/01/0599ch4.pdf |work=World Economic Outlook|publisher=International Monetary Fund|access-date=August 22, 2013|year=1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Unemployment|url=http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/euroeconomics/Unemployment.php|work=Euro Economics|publisher=University of North Carolina|access-date=August 22, 2013|quote=Chart}}</ref> In 1955, 55% of Americans worked in services, between 30% and 35% in industry, and between 10% and 15% in [[Agriculture in the United States|agriculture]]. By 1980, over 65% were employed in services, between 25% and 30% in industry, and less than 5% in agriculture.<ref>Time-Life Books, Library of Nations: United States, Sixth European English language printing, 1989</ref> [[Male unemployment]] continued to be significantly higher than those of females (at 9.8% vs. 7.5% in 2009). The unemployment among Caucasians continues being much lower than those for African-Americans (at 8.5% vs. 15.8% also in 2009).<ref name="CPS06052009">{{cite web |url=http://www.bls.gov/cps/ |title=Current Population Survey |publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Government |date=June 5, 2009 |access-date=June 19, 2009}}</ref>

The [[youth unemployment]] rate was 18.5% in July 2009, the highest rate in that month since 1948.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20100327214616/http://www.bls.gov/news.release/youth.nr0.htm Employment and Unemployment Among Youth Summary]". United States Department of Labor. August 27, 2009.</ref> The unemployment rate of young African Americans was 28.2% in May 2013.<ref>"[https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/06/07/the-unemployment-news-is-worse-for-many/ The Unemployment News Is Worse For Many]". ''[[Forbes]]''. June 7, 2013.</ref>

The unemployment rate reached an all-time high of 14.7% in April 2020 before falling back to 11.1% in June 2020. Due to the effects of the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 pandemic]], Q2 GDP in the US fell 32.9% in 2020.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gross Domestic Product, 2nd Quarter 2020 (Advance Estimate) and Annual Update {{!}} U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)|url=https://www.bea.gov/news/2020/gross-domestic-product-2nd-quarter-2020-advance-estimate-and-annual-update|access-date=June 8, 2021|website=www.bea.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=The U.S. economy added 4.8 million jobs in June, but fierce new headwinds have emerged|language=en-US|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/02/june-2020-jobs-report/|access-date=June 8, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Cox|first=Jeff|date=July 30, 2020|title=Second-quarter GDP plunged by worst-ever 32.9% amid virus-induced shutdown|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/30/us-gdp-q2-2020-first-reading.html|access-date=June 8, 2021|website=CNBC|language=en}}</ref> The unemployment rate continued its rapid decline falling to 3.9% in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 7, 2022 |title=The US labor market recovered rapidly in 2021 but still fell short even before Omicron wave |url=https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economic-issues-watch/us-labor-market-recovered-rapidly-2021-still-fell-short-even |access-date=April 12, 2022 |website=PIIE |language=en}}</ref>
It reached 3.7% in May 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Aratani |first1=Lauren |title=US jobs market remains strong despite high interest rates and debt ceiling fight |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/02/us-jobs-report-may-unemployment-rate |agency=The Guardian |date=June 2, 2023}}</ref>

===Employment by sector===
{{See also|List of largest United States–based employers globally#Employment_by_major_industry_sector|l1=Employment by major industry sector in United States}}

U.S. employment, as estimated in 2012, is divided into 79.7% in the service sector, 19.2% in the manufacturing sector, and 1.1% in the agriculture sector.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states/ |title=The World Factbook (United States) |publisher=CIA.gov |date=September 25, 2013 |access-date=October 26, 2013}}</ref>