The unemployment rate increased to nearly 6% in 2002. Without a clear sign that the economy had returned to sustainable growth, most employers remained reluctant to hire. Travel-related industries were most affected. Interest-rate sensitive and health-related industries experienced employment gains. (Contains 63 references.) (JOW)

From 1992-2000, high employment and wage growth occurred together with low unemployment in a number of U.S. Rust Belt metropolitan areas. Localities with these characteristics had larger and younger companies in environments with high rates of both job creation and job destruction. (Contains 24 references.) (Author)

The female-male earnings gap narrowed significantly between 1979 and 1987, reflecting increases in earnings per hour, rather than in hours worked. (Author)

The earnings gap between more and less educated workers widened during the 1980s. Changes in occupational demand accounted for roughly one-third of the increase. (Author)

Includes "The 1990-91 Recession: How Bad Was the Labor Market?" (Gardner); "Long-Term Unemployment in Recent Recessions" (Ilg); and "Job Losses among Hispanics in the Recent Recession" (Boisjoly, Duncan). (JOW)

Entrepreneurial activity, which is higher in the United States than in Europe, is important to job growth but not as important as job expansion in existing firms. However, smaller companies play a much larger role in job growth in services than in manufacturing. (Author/JOW)

In 1999 unemployment reached a 30-year low; more than half of all job growth was in services; federal employment increased because of Census 2000; the home health care industry began a slight recovery. Nearly half of total employment growth was in high-paying managerial and professional specialties, especially for women and blacks. (SK)

Labor force diversity will continue to increase; as the baby boom generation gets older, the median age of the labor force will rise to record levels. (Author)

The inverse relationship between educational attainment and unemployment is indicated in data concerning three major age groups during 1974-1975. The long-term uptrend in the educational level of the labor force continues, with college graduates experiencing changes in occupational distribution. (LH)

Older workers appear more sensitive to labor market conditions in discouragement trms as well as on regular measures of labor force participation. Thus, the age-mismatch group is especially important in the interpretation of discouraged worker patterns. (Author)

The author discusses the significance of immigrant Mexican labor on the United States labor market. (Adapted from a 1974 Industrial Relations Research Association conference paper.) (EA)

Two alternative procedures for developing employment projections are evaluated, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' simple regression equation and the Florida fully specified econometric model. The simple equation was judged more cost effective and generally as useful as the fully specified model. (MF)

The 1986 survey of displaced workers presents a more positive picture of post-displacement success than that conducted in 1984. Regional distribution also improved slightly. (CH)

Summarizes the findings and methodology of some of the recent innovative labor market studies in the private sector. Emphasis is placed on the micro-data study of the job creation process at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Similar studies at the University of California at Berkeley and at the Brookings Institution are also summarized. (CT)

Highlights recent employment trends, analyzes the sudden steep rise in unemployment from the perspective of its differential effects on groups of workers, and examines other labor market indicators in an assessment of the economic downturn. (SK)