2004 Work at Home — 2005-09-22

In May 2004, 20.7 million persons usually did some work at home as part of their primary job, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. These workers, who reported working at home at least once per week, accounted for about 15 percent of total nonagricultural employment in May 2004, essentially the same percentage as in May 2001. (See table A.) These findings are from a special supplement to the May 2004 Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian nonistitutional population age 16 and over. Data on work at home were last collected in the CPS in May 2001. The May 2001 data presented in this release have been revised to be comparable with the May 2004 estimates. For further information, see the Technical Note. The likelihood of working at home varies greatly by occupation.