It’s easy to get bogged down in stagnant numbers and disheartening details when reading about unemployment. Last week, Gallup reported that the mid-September unadjusted unemployment estimate (8.1 percent) would be the lowest monthly unadjusted rate since Gallup began tracking unemployment in 2010 at 8.6 percent. But numbers are still fairly stationary.
Fortunately, Gallup’s new Payroll to Population (P2P) measure has revealed good — and insightful — data surrounding our favorite buzz word: unemployment. According to the P2P measure, U.S. college graduates and those aged 25 to 54 are the most likely to hold full-time jobs with an employer (60 percent).
The Payroll to Population (P2P) measure tracks full-time employment with an employer among the entire U.S. adult population. It’s important to note that the P2P measure doesn’t account for the self-employed, part-time worker, underemployed, unemployed, or those out of the workforce.
College graduates and those continuing their education also receive some encouragement from the P2P data. Americans with a college degree or postgraduate degree have high P2P rates, low underemployment rates, and relatively low out of the workforce rates.
“A potential silver lining in the country’s economic struggle is that if a significant number of workers have left the workforce to pursue more education over the past several years, those individuals will be poised to foster positive gains in the future, both for themselves and the economy, provided they are able to secure full-time jobs,” said the Gallup report.
Check out some other interesting insights from the P2P measure:
- Adults who are 25 to 34 are more likely to be underemployed at 17 percent than those aged 35 to 54 at 14 percent.
- Adults who are 18 to 24 have one of the highest underemployment rates overall at 31 percent.
- At least six in 10 25 to 54-year-olds are employed in full-time jobs.
- Men have a higher P2P rate than women, 53 percent vs. 38 percent.
- Women are more likely than men to be underemployed, 20 percent vs. 14 percent.
So if you were worried that your degree or specialized training wasn’t worth it, statistics show you are less likely to face unemployment!
Do you think Gallup’s research represents the current job market? Share your reactions to Gallup’s study below.
