COR 691

Labor Force and Current Occupation for the 1975 and 1977 Surveys

     The concepts used in this section are defined in U.S. Bureau
of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-23, No. 22,
BLS Report 313, Concepts and methods used in manpower statistics
from the current population survey.  Note that the series of
questions asked in 1977 was considerably condensed from those
asked in 1975.

     The following are excerpts from this publication:

     Civilian employed persons comprise (1) all civilians who,
during the survey week, did any work at all as paid employees or
in their own business or profession, or on their own farm, or who
worked 15 or more hours as unpaid workers on a farm or in a
business operated by a member of the family, and (2) all those
who were not working but who had jobs or businesses from which
they were temporarily absent because of illness, bad weather,
vacation, or labor-management dispute, or because they were
taking time off for personal reasons. Excluded from the employed
group are persons whose only activity consisted of work around
the house (such as own home housework, painting or repairing
home, etc.) or volunteer work for religious, charitable and
similar organizations.

     Unemployed persons are those civilians who had no employment
during the survey week, were available for work and

     1. Had engaged in any specific job seeking activity within 
        the past 4 weeks. Principle activities include: 
        registering at a public or private employment office, 
        meeting with prospective employers, checking with friends 
        or relatives, placing or answering advertisements, 
        writing letters of application, or being on a union or
        professional register;

     2. Were waiting to be called back to a job from which they 
        had been laid off, or

     3. Were waiting to report to a new wage or salary job 
        scheduled to start within the following 30 days.

     All persons who are not classified as employed, unemployed,
or in the Armed Forces are defined as "not in labor force." These
persons are further classified as "engaged in own home
housework", "in school", "unable to work" because of long term
physical or mental illness, and "other". The "other" group
includes retired persons, individuals reported as temporarily
unable to work, the voluntary idle, seasonal workers for whom the
survey week fell in an "off" season and who were not reported as
looking for work because they believed that no jobs were
available in the area, or that no jobs were available for which
they could qualify. Persons doing only incidental unpaid family
work (less than 15 hours in the survey week) are also classified
as not in the labor force.