2020 Employment Characteristics of Families — 2021-04-21

(NOTE: BLS reissued this news release on December 20, 2021, to correct 2019 and 2020 data on the number and percent of total married-couple families with only one spouse employed. The incorrect data appeared in the text of the news release, in table 2 of the news release, and in the online database.) In 2020, 9.8 percent of families included an unemployed person, twice the figure of 4.9 percent in 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The increase in unemployment among families reflects the effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the labor market. Of the nation's 83.1 million families, 78.2 percent had at least one employed member in 2020. These data on employment, unemployment, and family relationships are collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about 60,000 households. Data in this news release are annual averages.