Labor Day by the numbers

159.8 million

The number of people age 16 and older in the nation’s labor forces as of May 2017.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table A

Largest occupations in the United States

16.3 million

The number of wage and salary workers age 16 and over represented by a union in 2016. This group included both union members (14.6 million) and workers who reported no union affiliation but whose jobs were covered by a union contract (1.7 million). Among states, New York continued to have the highest union membership rate (23.6 percent), and South Carolina had the lowest rate (1.6 percent).

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic News Releases

1.8%

The percentage increase in employment, or 143.7 million, in the United States between December 2015 and December 2016. In December 2016, the 344 U.S. counties with 75,000 or more jobs accounted for 72.8 percent of total U.S. employment and 78.1 percent of total wages. These 344 counties had a net job growth of 1.4 million over the year, which accounted for 80.7 percent of the overall U.S. employment increase.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic News Release

$51,212 and $40,741

The 2015 real median earnings for male and female full-time, year-round workers, respectively. The 2015 real median household income of $56,516, an increase in real terms of 5.2 percent from the 2014 median of $53,718. This is the first annual increase in median household income since 2007, the year before the most recent recession.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Income and Poverty in the United States: 2015

$77,166

The 2015 median Asian household income, the highest among race groups. The median income of non-Hispanic, white households was $62,950 and for black households it was $36,898. For Hispanic households the median income was $45,148.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Income and Poverty in the United States: 2015

108.0%

The projected percentage growth from 2014 to 2024 in the number of wind turbine service technicians (4,400 jobs in 2014), the projected fastest-growing occupation. Meanwhile, the occupation expected to add the greatest number of positions over this period is personal care aides (458,100).

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 1.3, Fastest growing occupations, 2014 and projected 2024, and Table 1.4, Occupations with the most job growth, 2014 and projected 2024

90.1%

The percentage of full-time, year-round workers ages 19 to 64 covered by health insurance during all or part of 2015.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2015

6.5 million

The number of commuters who left for work between midnight and 4:59 a.m. in 2015. They represented 4.6 percent of all commuters. The most common time was between 7 a.m. and 7:29 a.m. — with 20.9 million commuters.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey, Table B08132

4.6%

The percentage of workers age 16 and over who worked at home in 2015.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey, Table B08128

76.6%

The percentage of workers age 16 and over who drove alone to work in 2015. Another 9.0 percent carpooled and 0.6 percent biked to work.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey, Table S0801

26.4 minutes

The average time it took workers in the United States to commute to work in 2015. New York (33.1 minutes) and Maryland (32.6 minutes) had the most time-consuming commutes.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey, Table R0801