2022 Work Experience of the Population — 2023-12-19

There were 13.0 million persons who experienced unemployment at some point during 2022, down significantly from 16.1 million in 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In 2022, labor market conditions continued to recover from the recession induced by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over who worked at some time during the year increased by 0.5 percentage point to 63.8 percent in 2022; this was 1.1 percentage points lower than the pre-pandemic figure in 2019. These data are based on information collected in the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The ASEC collects information on employment and unemployment experienced during the prior calendar year. Additional information about the CPS and the ASEC, including concepts and definitions, is provided in the Technical Note.