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[Zephyr]

Gallup US Payroll to Population
Released On 1/8/2015 8:30:00 AM For Dec, 2014
Prior Actual
level 44.2 44.3
Highlights
December U.S. payroll to population employment rate (P2P) was 44.3 percent in December, virtually unchanged from November's 44.2 percent. The percentage of Americans employed full time for an employer in 2014 did not show a steep end of year decline as it did in 2012 and 2013, offering hope that the P2P metric may strengthen more in the new year.

Workforce participation among U.S. adults dipped slightly from 66.9 percent in November to 66.3 percent in December. Workforce participation measures the percentage of adults aged 18 and older who are working, or who are not working but are actively looking for work and are available for employment. Workforce participation generally falls in the fourth quarter as retirements and layoffs are often pegged to the end of the year. The workforce participation rate has ranged narrowly between lows of 65.8 percent and highs of 68.5 percent since January 2010, but the 66.3 percent in December is among the lowest figures recorded in that time span. Workforce participation since mid-2013 has most often registered below 67 percent, whereas in prior years it was typically higher than that. This pattern reflects both a growing retiree population and declining participation among those still in their prime working years.

Gallup's U.S. unemployment rate represents the percentage of adults in the workforce who did not have any paid work in the past seven days, for an employer or themselves, and who were actively looking for and available to work. Gallup's unadjusted U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent in December, continuing a relatively steady decline over the past 12 months, and reaching a new low in Gallup's five year trend.

Gallup's measure of underemployment in December is 15.1 percent, unchanged from November, but still lower than what Gallup has measured in prior years. Gallup's U.S. underemployment rate combines the percentage of adults in the workforce who are unemployed (5.8 percent) and those who are working part time but desire full-time work (9.3 percent). While Gallup's measure of unemployment fell slightly in December from November, the percentage working part time but who want full-time work rose the same amount, leaving the combined underemployment rate the same.