Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Regional Working Poor (2013)

Recently the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing that the US now had over 10 million working poor people in 2013. The working poor, by the BLS definition, are people who spent at least 27 weeks in the labor force during the year—either working or looking for work—but whose incomes were below the official poverty level. Nationally the working-poor rate, or the ratio of the working poor to all those in the labor force for at least 27 weeks, was 7.0 percent in 2013. Local PUMS data, derived from looking at those seeking work and those that worked at least 27 weeks in the past year, shows a working poor rate of 8.3% in the region.

The graphic below provides some insight into who constitutes the working poor regionally. Some comparisons with national data are possible by visiting the link cited above. The graphic can be enlarged by clicking on it.

CLICK TO ENLARGE