Celebration of labor

How it began

The first observance of Labor Day is believed to have been a parade of 10,000 workers on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, organized by Peter J. McGuire, a Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary. By 1893, more than half the states were observing Labor Day on one day or another, and Congress passed a bill to establish a federal holiday in 1894. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill soon afterward, designating the first Monday in September as Labor Day.

Who we celebrate

153.2 million people 16 and older in the nation’s labor force, as of July 2011.

Employee benefits

84.7 percent of full-time workers ages 18 to 64 were covered by health insurance during all or part of 2009.

Our jobs

Americans work in a variety of occupations. Examples:

• More than 3 million teachers, preschool through grade 12

• 1.48 million janitors and building cleaners

• 395,500 hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists

• 265,400 bus drivers

• 117,400 bakers

• 102,000 computer operators

• 55,700 telemarketers

• 32,400 telephone operators

• 11,000 actors

 

Moving on up

26.2 million female workers 16 and older work in management, professional and related occupations. Among male workers those ages, 24 million were employed in the same field.

Slow growth

U.S. employment grew just 0.9 percent between December 2009 and December 2010. Employment increased in 220 of the 326 largest counties.

Right at home

5.9 million Americans worked from home in 2009. About 11 percent of those who worked at home for some or all of their workweek reported working 11 or more hours in a typical day in 2005. Only about 7 percent of workers who worked outside the home reported doing so.

Unequal pay

Men working full time earned a median salary of $47,127 in 2009, while full-time female workers earned just $36,278.

Hot jobs

The number of network systems and data communication analysts are projected to increase 53 percent from 2008 to 2018 – a faster rate than any other job. The occupation expected to add more positions over this period than any other is registered nurses: 581,500.

Early risers

16.5 million commuters leave for work between midnight and 5:59 a.m. They represent 12.4 percent of all commuters.

Lonely drivers

76.1 percent of workers drive alone to work. Another 10 percent carpool and 5 percent take public transportation.

Drive time

The average time to commute to work is 25.1 minutes. About 3.2 million workers face commutes of 90 minutes or more daily.