Yet, more Americans are employed than at any time in our nation's history.
Blasphemer!
Heretic!
Get ye down unclean beast...
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Sorry, I was channeling Havoc there for a bit...
;-)
Actually, more people were employed for most of 2000 (in non-farm employment) than now:
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Ann |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 114551 | 115213 | 115972 | 116803 | 117523 | 118243 | 117008 | 117268 | 118180 | 118780 | 119017 | 119015 | 117298 |
| 1996 | 116315 | 117252 | 118056 | 118890 | 120017 | 120681 | 119642 | 119931 | 120673 | 121383 | 121842 | 121815 | 119708 |
| 1997 | 119269 | 120125 | 121007 | 121979 | 123052 | 123701 | 122709 | 122770 | 123770 | 124673 | 125063 | 125196 | 122776 |
| 1998 | 122636 | 123405 | 124121 | 125159 | 126240 | 126902 | 125833 | 126069 | 126874 | 127652 | 128052 | 128215 | 125930 |
| 1999 | 125462 | 126445 | 127158 | 128305 | 129176 | 129906 | 129039 | 129093 | 129867 | 130804 | 131262 | 131403 | 128993 |
| 2000 | 128763 | 129428 | 130526 | 131525 | 132481 | 132998 | 131777 | 131785 | 132450 | 133007 | 133372 | 133308 | 131785 |
| 2001 | 130433 | 131098 | 131690 | 132094 | 132800 | 133179 | 131686 | 131613 | 131871 | 132072 | 131880 | 131491 | 131826 |
| 2002 | 128602 | 129069 | 129672 | 130257 | 131023 | 131404 | 129959 | 130044 | 130559 | 131227 | 131346 | 130933 | 130341 |
| 2003 | 128248 | 128660 | 129148 | 129800 | 130559 | 130890 | 129549 | 129601 | 130253 | 131045 | 131207 | 131026 | 129999 |
| 2004 | 128365 | 128976 | 130019 | 131150 | 132068 | 132527 | 131384 | 131416 | 132127 | 133139 | 133406 | 133200(p) | 131481(p) |
| 2005 | 130538(p) | ||||||||||||
In fact, as a percentage of the total population, we are not even close to a record:
| Year | Population | Max Non-farm Employment | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 282192162 | 133372000 | 47.2% |
| 2001 | 285102075 | 133179000 | 46.7% |
| 2002 | 287941220 | 131404000 | 45.6% |
| 2003 | 290788976 | 131207000 | 45.1% |
| 2004 | 293655404 | 133406000 | 45.4% |
| 2005 | 295507134(e) | 130538000(p) | 44.17% |
Admittedly, the 2005 number of 44.17% is kind of fragile since the population number is just a census projection and the employment number is just a preliminary for a single month instead of a maximum for the whole 12 months, but generally it is useful to see that we sure aren't cooking with gas with respect to employment.