Labor Day, a national holiday created by the labor movement in the late 19th century to pay tribute to the social and economic achievements of American workers, is fast approaching.
What are your plans? A road trip? Barbecue? Relaxing at home? Shopping? Working?
Travel
AAA Travel projects 35.5 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Labor Day holiday weekend, the highest travel volume for the holiday since 2008 and a 1 percent increase over 2014.
Most travelers – 30.4 million, 86 percent – will celebrate the holiday with a final road trip before the end of summer, but air travel is also projected to grow 1.5 percent this Labor Day. More than 2.6 million travelers are expected to travel by air, making this the largest volume of air travel since 2007 for this holiday.
Travelers will see the lowest Labor Day gas prices in at least five years. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $2.57, $.86 cents less than the average price from a year ago; this is the lowest U.S. average since 2009.
Airfares are down 1 percent, with the average round-trip discounted fare for the top 40 U.S. routes costing $216, down from $219 last year.
American workers
The U.S. Census Bureau offers these facts and figures on American workers for Labor Day 2015:
Number of American workers
157 million
Their jobs
|
Largest Occupations May 2014 |
Number of employees |
|
Retail salespeople |
4,562,160 |
|
Cashiers |
3,398,330 |
|
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food |
3,131,390 |
|
Office clerks, general |
2,889,970 |
|
Registered nurses |
2,687,310 |
|
Customer service representatives |
2,511,130 |
|
Waiters and waitresses |
2,445,230 |
|
Laborers and freight, stock and material movers, hand |
2,400,490 |
|
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical and executive |
2,207,220 |
|
Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners |
2,137,730 |
16.2 million
The number of wage and salary workers age 16 and over represented by a union in 2014. This group includes union members, 14.6 million, and workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract, 1.6 million. Among states, New York continued to have the highest union membership rate, 24.6 percent, and North Carolina again had the lowest rate, 1.9 percent.
15 million
Number of employed female workers 16 and over in service occupations in 2013. Among male workers 16 and over, 11.6 million were employed in service-related occupations.
2%
Percentage increase in employment, or 2.7 million, in the United States between September 2013 and September 2014. Employment increased in 306 of the 339 largest U.S. counties.
Income
$50,033 and $39,157
The 2013 real median earnings for male and female full-time, year-round workers, respectively. The real median household income $51,939, about 8 percent lower than in 2007.
Fastest growing jobs
53%
Projected percentage growth from 2012 to 2022 in the number of industrial-organizational psychologists, 1,600 jobs in 2012, the projected fastest-growing occupation. Meanwhile, the occupation expected to add the greatest number of positions over this period is personal care aides, 580,800.
Employee benefits
86.1%
Percentage of full-time, year-round workers age 18 to 64 covered by health insurance during all or part of 2013.
The commute to work
6 million
Number of commuters who left for work between midnight and 4:59 a.m. in 2013. They represented 4.4 percent of all commuters. The most common time was between 7 and 7:29 a.m. – with 20 million commuters.
4.4%
Percentage of workers 16 and over who worked from home in 2013.
Percentage of workers 16 and over who drove alone to work in 2013. Another 9.4 percent carpooled and .6 percent biked to work.
25.8 minutes
The average time it took workers in the U.S. to commute to work in 2013. Maryland, 32.5 minutes, and New York, 32.1 minutes, had the most time-consuming commutes.
Best wishes on Labor Day, whatever your plans.
