Unemployment - Job Search

Unemployed workers use different methods to find new jobs, as reported in Employment and Earnings. In 2005 most TABLE 3.5 Unemployed persons by industry, class of worker, and sex, 2004–05job seekers tried an average of 1.85 different techniques. Almost two-thirds (60.6%) approached an employer directly, and more than one-half (55.4%) sent out reésumeés or filled out applications. Other methods included contacting a public employment agency (18.3%), seeking help from friends or relatives (17.7%), and placing or answering an employment advertisement (14.8%). Women (57.7%) were somewhat more likely than men (53.2%) to send out resumes or fill out applications, while men favored contacting the employer directly (61.4%) slightly more than women did (59.8%). Men (19.4%) were also more likely than women (15.8%) to solicit job leads from friends or relatives. (See Table 3.10.)

TABLE 3.5
Unemployed persons by industry, class of worker, and sex, 2004–05
Industry and class of worker	Thousands of persons		Unemployment rates
	Total		Total		Men		Women
	2004	2005	2004	2005	2004	2005	2004	2005
Total, 16 years and over	8,149	7,591	5.5	5.1	5.6	5.1	5.4	5.1
Nonagricultural private wage and salary workers	6,484	5,989	5.7	5.2	5.7	5.1	5.6	5.3
Mining	21	20	3.9	3.1	3.9	3.4	4.4	1.5
Construction	769	712	8.4	7.4	8.5	7.6	7.1	6.0
Manufacturing	966	812	5.7	4.9	5.2	4.4	6.8	6.0
Durable goods	590	485	5.5	4.6	5.2	4.3	6.6	5.4
Nonmetallic mineral products	26	25	5.0	4.9	4.9	4.6	5.5	6.1
Primary and fabricated metal products	108	86	5.5	4.4	5.3	4.1	6.1	5.8
Machinery manufacturing	80	52	6.3	4.2	6.0	4.4	7.2	3.5
Computer and electronic products	99	71	6.0	4.5	5.4	4.0	7.1	5.5
Electrical equipment and appliances	33	26	6.4	5.1	5.9	4.7	7.4	6.0
Transportation equipment	113	108	4.8	4.6	4.2	4.1	6.4	6.1
Wood products	27	33	5.3	6.0	5.4	5.7	5.0	7.2
Furniture and fixtures	31	34	4.8	5.2	4.8	4.6	4.9	6.6
Miscellaneous manufacturing	74	52	6.1	4.4	5.5	4.5	7.0	4.2
Nondurable goods	375	326	5.9	5.3	5.2	4.6	7.0	6.6
Food manufacturing	110	95	6.7	6.1	6.3	5.5	7.4	7.1
Beverage and tobacco products	15	11	5.7	3.7	6.0	3.1	5.0	5.4
Textile, apparel, and leather	85	70	8.6	7.8	7.1	6.0	9.9	9.4
Paper and printing	67	55	4.9	4.4	4.5	3.7	5.8	5.9
Petroleum and coal products	9	7	5.2	4.6	2.9	4.8	12.3	a
Chemicals	43	50	3.5	4.0	3.4	3.9	3.5	4.1
Plastic and rubber products	47	37	6.3	5.4	5.5	4.8	7.9	6.5
Wholesale and retail trade	1,197	1,137	5.8	5.4	5.2	4.8	6.5	6.1
Wholesale trade	210	182	4.6	4.0	4.0	3.6	5.9	5.1
Retail trade	987	954	6.1	5.7	5.6	5.2	6.6	6.3
Transportation and utilities	236	232	4.4	4.1	4.3	4.0	5.0	4.8
Transportation and warehousing	219	216	4.9	4.5	4.8	4.3	5.4	5.4
Utilities	17	16	1.9	1.9	1.6	1.9	3.0	1.7
Informationb	189	163	5.7	5.0	5.4	4.8	6.0	5.3
Publishing, except Internet	38	35	4.6	4.2	4.4	3.7	4.8	4.7
Motion picture and sound recording industries	35	29	8.7	8.5	9.1	8.7	8.1	8.1
Broadcasting, except Internet	22	26	4.2	4.6	3.7	5.0	5.0	4.1
Telecommunications	80	62	6.0	5.2	5.5	4.6	6.8	6.2
Internet service providers and data processing services	8	8	5.2	4.6	4.4	4.5	6.1	4.9
Other information services	5	3	5.5	2.2	a	2.5	5.3	2.0
Financial activities	332	272	3.6	2.9	3.6	2.5	3.5	3.1
Finance and insurance	228	183	3.4	2.7	3.3	2.2	3.5	3.0
Finance	156	127	3.6	2.9	3.5	2.2	3.6	3.4
Insurance	73	56	3.1	2.4	2.7	2.3	3.3	2.5
Real estate and rental and leasing	104	89	4.1	3.3	4.4	3.2	3.7	3.4
Real estate	72	65	3.5	3.0	3.9	2.7	3.1	3.2
Rental and leasing services	32	23	6.1	4.7	5.6	4.5	7.2	5.2
Professional and business services	861	792	6.8	6.2	6.6	5.8	7.1	6.8
Professional and technical services	298	259	4.1	3.5	3.8	2.9	4.4	4.2
Management, administrative, and waste servicesb	563	533	10.6	10.2	10.1	9.5	11.3	11.0
Administrative and support services	534	520	10.8	10.7	10.5	10.2	11.4	11.3
Waste management and remediation services	26	10	7.6	3.2	7.5	3.3	8.3	2.9
Education and health services	617	627	3.4	3.4	3.1	2.9	3.5	3.6
Educational services	128	129	3.7	3.7	3.4	3.1	3.9	4.0
Health care and social assistance	489	498	3.4	3.3	3.0	2.8	3.4	3.5
Hospitals	90	94	1.8	1.9	2.3	2.1	1.7	1.8
Health services, except hospitals	279	285	3.7	3.7	2.4	2.5	4.0	3.9
Social assistance	120	118	6.1	5.9	8.8	7.0	5.5	5.6

New entrants to the job market were somewhat less likely to seek out employers directly (57.4%) in 2005 than those who had lost their jobs or who had completed temporary jobs (63.1%). New entrants to the workforce at 10.2% were also less ikely to use employment agencies than those who had been working and lost their jobs (23.2%). (See Table 3.10.)

TABLE 3.5 Unemployed persons by industry, class of worker, and sex, 2004–05 (CONTINUED) "26. Unemployed Persons by Industry, Class of Worker, and Sex,"in Employment and Earnings, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2006, http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat26.pdf (accessed January 10, 2006)

TABLE 3.5
Unemployed persons by industry, class of worker, and sex, 2004–05 (CONTINUED)
Industry and class of worker	Thousands of persons		Unemployment rates
	Total		Total		Men		Women
	2004	2005	2004	2005	2004	2005	2004	2005
aData not shown where base is less than 35,000.
bbIncludes other industries, not shown separately.
Note: Dash indicates no data or data that do not meet publication criteria.
SOURCE: "26. Unemployed Persons by Industry, Class of Worker, and Sex,"in Employment and Earnings, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2006, http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat26.pdf (accessed January 10, 2006)
Leisure and hospitality	972	921	8.3	7.8	8.0	7.3	8.6	8.2
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	149	145	7.2	6.9	7.5	7.3	6.9	6.5
Accomodation and food services	823	776	8.6	8.0	8.2	7.3	8.9	8.5
Accomodation	114	117	7.2	7.3	6.6	5.8	7.6	8.3
Food services and drinking places	709	659	8.8	8.1	8.4	7.5	9.2	8.6
Other services	324	301	5.3	4.8	5.3	4.9	5.3	4.8
Other services, except private households	256	230	4.8	4.3	5.0	4.7	4.6	3.8
Repair and maintenance	105	90	6.1	5.1	6.2	5.3	5.6	3.2
Personal and laundry services	77	65	4.8	4.1	4.3	4.9	5.0	3.7
Membership associations and organizations	74	75	3.7	3.7	3.3	3.4	4.0	4.0
Private households	69	71	8.1	8.1	16.7	12.2	7.3	7.7
Agricultural and related private wage and salary workers	129	104	9.9	8.3	9.5	7.4	11.2	11.4
Government workers	548	534	2.7	2.6	2.9	2.6	2.5	2.5
Self-employed and unpaid family workers	303	298	2.8	2.7	2.9	2.9	2.6	2.5
No previous work experience	686	666	—	—	—	—	—	—