Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Displaced Workers Summary - WORKER DISPLACEMENT: 2011-2013



From January 2011 through December 2013, 4.3 million workers were displaced from jobs they had held for at least 3 years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was down from 6.1 million workers for the prior survey period covering January 2009 to December 2011. In January 2014, 61 percent of workers displaced from 2011 to 2013 were reemployed, up by 5 percentage points from the prior survey in January 2012.

Since 1984, the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor has sponsored surveys that collect information on workers who were displaced from their jobs. These surveys have been conducted biennially as supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of households that is the primary source of information on the nation's labor force.

Displaced workers are defined as persons 20 years of age and older who lost or left jobs because their plant or company closed or moved, there was insufficient work for them to do, or their position or shift was abolished. The period covered in this study was 2011-13, the 3 calendar years prior to the January 2014 survey date. Most of this period was characterized by employment growth. The following analysis focuses primarily on the 4.3 million persons who had worked for their employer for 3 or more years at the time of displacement (referred to as long-tenured). An additional 5.2 million persons were displaced from jobs they had held for less than 3 years (referred to as short-tenured). Combining the short- and long-tenured groups, the number of displaced workers totaled 9.5 million from 2011 to 2013. In the prior survey, which was conducted in January 2012 and covered 2009-11, this group numbered 12.9 million.

Highlights from the January 2014 survey include:

   --In January 2014, 61 percent of the 4.3 million long-tenured displaced      workers were reemployed, up from 56 percent in January 2012 and 49 percent      in January 2010. (See table 1.)

   --Thirty-five percent of long-tenured displaced workers from the 2011-13      period cited that they lost their job because their plant or company closed      down or moved; an additional 33 percent cited insufficient work, and 32 percent said their position or shift was abolished. (See table 2.)

   --Eighteen percent of long-tenured displaced workers lost a job in manufacturing. (See table 4.)

   --Among long-tenured workers who were displaced from full-time wage and salary jobs and were reemployed in such jobs in January 2014, 52 percent had earnings that were as much or greater than those of their lost job, up from 46 percent in the prior survey. (See table 7.)

Characteristics of the Displaced

Sixty-one percent of the 4.3 million long-tenured displaced workers were reemployed at the time of the survey in January 2014, up from 56 percent for the January 2012 survey. The proportion unemployed at the time of the most recent survey was 21 percent, down from 27 percent in the January 2012 survey and from 36 percent in the January 2010 survey. Eighteen percent of long-tenured displaced workers were not in the labor force in January 2014, about unchanged from the previous survey. (See table 1.)

In January 2014, the reemployment rate was 68 percent for workers ages 25 to 54.

Reemployment rates were lower for older workers. The rates for those ages 55 to 64 and 65 years and over were 53 percent and 23 percent, respectively. Among those age 65 and over, 64 percent were no longer in the labor force when surveyed, up from 49 percent in the prior survey.

Among long-tenured displaced workers, men had a higher reemployment rate (64 percent) in January 2014 than women (58 percent). The reemployment rate for men increased by 3 percentage points from the prior survey, and the rate for women rose by 8 percentage points. Displaced men and women were about equally likely to be unemployed at the time of the survey in January 2014--22 percent and 20 percent, respectively. The share of displaced men who had left the labor force, at 14 percent, continued to be lower than that for women--22 percent.

In January 2014, the reemployment rates for long-tenured displaced Hispanics (65 percent), whites (62 percent), and blacks (55 percent) were higher than in January 2012. The reemployment rate for Asians, at 59 percent, changed little from the prior survey.

Reason for Job Loss and Receipt of Advance Notice

Of the 4.3 million long-tenured workers displaced during the January 2011 through December 2013 period, 35 percent lost or left their jobs due to plant or company closings or moves, 33 percent were displaced due to insufficient work, and 32 percent were displaced because their position or shift was abolished. (See table 2.)

Forty percent of long-tenured displaced workers in the January 2014 survey received written advance notice that their jobs would be terminated, about the same proportion as in the January 2012 survey. Workers who lost jobs during the 2011-13 period due to plant or company closings or moves continued to be most likely to receive written advance notice. Of this group, 57 percent received such notice. In contrast, 35 percent of workers who were displaced because their position or shift was abolished and 28 percent of those who lost jobs due to insufficient work were notified in advance. For each of these groups, reemployment rates were not statistically different for those who received written advanced notice and those who did not. (See table 3.)

Industry and Occupation

During the 2011-13 period, 765,000 long-tenured manufacturing workers were displaced from their jobs--18 percent of all long-tenured displaced workers.

Manufacturing displacements occurred mostly in the durable goods component (462,000). Workers in wholesale and retail trade and in professional and business services each accounted for 14 percent of all long-tenured displaced. (See table 4.)

Among the major industry groups, reemployment rates were higher than the overall reemployment rate for displaced workers (61 percent) for the following:

transportation and utilities (69 percent), leisure and hospitality (69 percent), construction (68 percent), and information (67 percent). Workers displaced from wholesale and retail trade and from other services were the least likely to be reemployed (58 percent each). (Workers were not necessarily reemployed in the same industries from which they were displaced.)

Reemployment rates differed by major occupation, but were highest for those displaced from management, professional, and related occupations (67 percent)  and from natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (66 percent). The rates were lower for those displaced from sales and office occupations (56 percent) and production, transportation, and material moving occupations (54 percent). Compared with the January 2012 survey, reemployment rates were higher in January 2014 for displaced workers from management, professional, and related occupations; service occupations; and sales and office occupations. Reemployment rates for workers displaced from the two other major occupational groups were similar across the 2014 and 2012 surveys. (See table 5.)

Geographic Divisions

The number of long-tenured workers displaced during the 2011-13 period declined from the 2009-11 period in all geographic divisions of the United States. In January 2014, reemployment rates ranged from 74 percent for the New England division to 53 percent for the Middle Atlantic division. (See table 6.)

Earnings

Of the 2.2 million displaced workers who lost full-time wage and salary jobs  during the 2011-13 period and were reemployed, 1.8 million had full-time wage  and salary jobs in January 2014. Of these reemployed full-time workers who reported earnings on their lost job, the proportion that were earning as much or more than they did at their lost job was 52 percent in January 2014, up from 46 percent in January 2012. The proportion who reported earnings losses of 20 percent or more fell to 27 percent in January 2014. (See table 7.)

Total Displaced Workers (With No Tenure Restriction)

The total number of workers displaced between January 2011 and December 2013 (regardless of how long they had held their jobs) was 9.5 million, down by 3.3 million from the 2009-11 survey period. Of the total number of workers who lost jobs over the 2011-13 period, 61 percent were reemployed, up from 57 percent in the prior survey. The proportion unemployed fell by 4 percentage points to 24 percent in January 2014. (See table 8.)



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