Labor Day Stats - The Good the Bad and the Irony

Labor Day Stats – The Good the Bad and the Irony

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Labor Day Stats – History and statistics about Labor Day in the U.S., including how the holiday will be celebrated and which workers might not have the day off.

Labor Day Stats – How Labor Day is Celebrated in the U.S.

As we know it now, Labor Day was created by the labor movement in the late 1800’s and became a federal holiday in 1894. Though it’s meant to be a celebration to the achievements and contributions of U.S. workers age 16 and above, it’s also representative of the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of the school year. Professional baseball season begins to wind down and college and professional football kicks into high gear. The back to school shopping season comes to a close and parents across the country either look forward to more free time during the school day or more activities and commitments that come along with the school year – or both.

Labor Day celebrations range from formal parades and events to neighborhood get-togethers and family barbecues; however, not everyone will have the day off. Ironically, many members of the largest occupations in the U.S. have to work on Labor Day (or even all weekend), as throughout the nation, one of the biggest celebrations comes in the form of Labor Day sales. According to factmonster.com, the ten biggest occupations in the United States include:

  • 4.6 million retail salespeople
  • 3.5 million cashiers
  • 3.2 million food preparation and servers
  • 2.9 million office clerks
  • 2.7 million registered nurses
  • 2.6 million customer service representatives
  • 2.5 million waiters and waitresses
  • 2.5 million laborers and freight, stock and material movers
  • 2.3 million secretaries and administrative professionals
  • 2.1 million janitors and cleaners (not including maids and housekeepers)

Labor Day Stats: Spotlight on the Average American Worker

Today Americans aged 25 to 54 with children work nearly 9 hours per day on average, but that’s nothing compared to the work days put in during the late 1800’s when Labor Day, the “workingmen’s holiday,” was first established. History.com notes that the average American worked 12 hour days, 7 days per week at the height of the Industrial Revolution, when Labor Day was first established, with children as young as 5 working in mills, factories and mines – and earning a fraction of their adult counterparts.

Even so, Americans are often considered workaholics by the rest of the world. However, there are more than a dozen countries that have a longer average work week than the U.S. workers’ 34.4 hous-per-week average, including:

  • Mexico – 42.85 hours
  • Costa Rica – 42.62 hours
  • Korea – 40.85 hours
  • Greece – 39.27 hours
  • Chile – 38.27 hours
  • Russia – 38.17 hours
  • Latvia – 37.27 hours
  • Poland – 36.98 hours
  • Iceland – 35.85 hours
  • Estonia – 35.75 hours
  • Hungary – 35.73 hours
  • Portugal – 35.71 hours
  • Israel – 35.63 hours
  • Lithuania – 35.27 hours
  • Ireland – 35.02 hours

When it comes to full time, year-round workers, American men earn an average just over $50k per year while American woman earn just under $40k per year on average, according to numbers published on infoplease.com.  You’ll find a list of the top 50 highest-paying occupations on careerinfonet.org, one that is notably dominated in the top 14 spots by health care-related professions, although CEO’s also made the list at number 10.

Nine out of ten full time, year-round workers between the age of 18 and 64 are covered by health insurance. U.S. workers enjoy an average of nine paid days off (holidays) in addition to any paid vacation or sick days taken by the average worker. In addition, 43 percent of U.S. respondents in a Society of Human Resource Managers said their company offered workers at least one floating holiday, and nearly one in ten offer as many as four floating holidays to workers each year. All in all, U.S. workers enjoy an average of 14 days off per year in the first year of employment at a company, and as much as 27 paid days off when they have 15 or more years of service according to salary.com.

Labor Day Stats: Celebrating the American Entrepreneur

It’s hard to talk about Labor Day stats without referencing the American entrepreneur and the role of micro and small business in the United States. Though still far from it’s high of more than 700,000 startups in 2006, the number of U.S. businesses less than a month old has risen steadily since 2010 and was about 675,000 in March 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The small businesses started and run by U.S. entrepreneurs (who, by the way, typically work more than 52 hours and 6 days each week) number about 28 million, including more than 22 million solo-preneur businesses. Even so, more than half of all U.S. workers work in a small business, and small businesses have generated more than 65 percent of new jobs created since 1995 (Forbes.com), demonstrating the tremendous impact startups and small businesses have on the nation’s economic well-being.

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