How are the civilian labor force, employment, unemployment, and unemployment rate defined?
• Civilian labor force includes persons aged 16 and older who were not institutionalized or on active military duty and were either employed or unemployed. • Employment includes those who did any work as paid employees; worked in their own business or farm; or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in a family business during the reference week (normally the week including the 12th of the month). It also includes those who had a job but did not work due to a temporary absence. Each employed person is counted only once, even if they had more than one job. • Unemployment includes those who did not have a job during the reference week, were available for work, and made specific efforts to find a job sometime during the 4 weeks prior to the reference week. • Unemployment rate is the percent of the civilian labor force that was unemployed.
