Farm and Nonfarm Labor Force, 1940–2005

(number in thousands)

Year	Civilian labor force employed
Year	Total	Agriculture	Nonagricultural industries
1940¹	47,520	9,540	37,980
1945¹	52,820	8,580	44,240
1950	58,918	7,160	51,758
1955	62,170	6,450	55,722
1960²	65,778	5,458	60,318
1965	71,088	4,361	66,726
1970	78,678	3,463	75,215
1975	85,846	3,408	82,438
1980	99,302	3,364	95,938
1985	107,150	3,179	103,971
1990²	118,793	3,223	115,570
1995	124,900	3,440	121,460
1996	126,708	3,443	123,264
1997³	129,558	3,399	126,159
1998³	131,463	3,378	128,085
1999³	133,488	3,281	130,207
2000³	136,891	2,464	134,427
2001	136,933	2,299	134,635
2002	136,485	2,311	134,174
2003	137,736	2,275	135,461
2004	139,252	2,232	137,020
2005	141,730	2,197	139,532

1. Data for persons age 14 and over. Beginning 1950, data relate to persons age 16 and over.

2. Not strictly comparable with data for prior years.

3. Beginning in Jan. 2000, data are not strictly comparable with data for 1999 and earlier years because of the revisions in the population controls used in the household survey.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web: www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat1.pdf .

Median Weekly Earnings of Selected Occupations, 2005

Labor and Employment

Persons in the Labor Force, 1840–2005