February 22, 2010 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Work stoppages in 2009
Number of major work stoppages and number of workers idled, 1947–2009
| Year |
Number of work stoppages |
Numbers of workers involved |
1947 |
270 |
1,629,000 |
1948 |
245 |
1,435,000 |
1949 |
262 |
2,537,000 |
1950 |
424 |
1,698,000 |
1951 |
415 |
1,462,000 |
1952 |
470 |
2,746,000 |
1953 |
437 |
1,623,000 |
1954 |
265 |
1,075,000 |
1955 |
363 |
2,055,000 |
1956 |
287 |
1,370,000 |
1957 |
279 |
887,000 |
1958 |
332 |
1,587,000 |
1959 |
245 |
1,381,000 |
1960 |
222 |
896,000 |
1961 |
195 |
1,031,000 |
1962 |
211 |
793,000 |
1963 |
181 |
512,000 |
1964 |
246 |
1,183,000 |
1965 |
268 |
999,000 |
1966 |
321 |
1,300,000 |
1967 |
381 |
2,192,000 |
1968 |
392 |
1,855,000 |
1969 |
412 |
1,576,000 |
1970 |
381 |
2,468,000 |
1971 |
298 |
2,516,000 |
1972 |
250 |
975,000 |
1973 |
317 |
1,400,000 |
1974 |
424 |
1,796,000 |
1975 |
235 |
965,000 |
1976 |
231 |
1,519,000 |
1977 |
298 |
1,212,000 |
1978 |
219 |
1,006,000 |
1979 |
235 |
1,021,000 |
1980 |
187 |
795,000 |
1981 |
145 |
729,000 |
1982 |
96 |
656,000 |
1983 |
81 |
909,000 |
1984 |
62 |
376,000 |
1985 |
54 |
324,000 |
1986 |
69 |
533,000 |
1987 |
46 |
174,000 |
1988 |
40 |
118,000 |
1989 |
51 |
452,000 |
1990 |
44 |
185,000 |
1991 |
40 |
392,000 |
1992 |
35 |
364,000 |
1993 |
35 |
182,000 |
1994 |
45 |
322,000 |
1995 |
31 |
192,000 |
1996 |
37 |
273,000 |
1997 |
29 |
339,000 |
1998 |
34 |
387,000 |
1999 |
17 |
73,000 |
2000 |
39 |
394,000 |
2001 |
29 |
99,000 |
2002 |
19 |
46,000 |
2003 |
14 |
129,000 |
2004 |
17 |
171,000 |
2005 |
22 |
100,000 |
2006 |
20 |
70,000 |
2007 |
21 |
189,000 |
2008 |
15 |
72,000 |
2009 |
5 |
13,000 |
These data featured in the TED article, Work stoppages in 2009.
OF INTEREST
Recent editions of Spotlight on Statistics
United States Department of Labor
