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Work Stoppages
WSP WSP Program Links
Annual work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers, 1947 - Present
Year Number of work stoppages in the period Number of workers (in thousands) in the period (1) Days of idleness (2)
Beginning In effect Beginning In effect Number (in thousands) Percent of total working time (3)

1947

 270 (4) 1,629.0 (4) 25,720.0 (4)

1948

 245 (4) 1,435.0 (4) 26,127.0 0.22

1949

 262 (4) 2,537.0 (4) 43,420.0 0.38

1950

 424 (4) 1,698.0 (4) 30,390.0 0.26

1951

 415 (4) 1,462.0 (4) 15,070.0 0.12

1952

 470 (4) 2,746.0 (4) 48,820.0 0.38

1953

 437 (4) 1,623.0 (4) 18,130.0 0.14

1954

 265 (4) 1,075.0 (4) 16,630.0 0.13

1955

 363 (4) 2,055.0 (4) 21,180.0 0.16

1956

 287 (4) 1,370.0 (4) 26,840.0 0.20

1957

 279 (4) 887.0 (4) 10,340.0 0.07

1958

 332 (4) 1,587.0 (4) 17,900.0 0.13

1959

 245 (4) 1,381.0 (4) 60,850.0 0.43

1960

 222 (4) 896.0 (4) 13,260.0 0.09

1961

 195 (4) 1,031.0 (4) 10,140.0 0.07

1962

 211 (4) 793.0 (4) 11,760.0 0.08

1963

 181 (4) 512.0 (4) 10,020.0 0.07

1964

 246 (4) 1,183.0 (4) 16,220.0 0.11

1965

 268 (4) 999.0 (4) 15,140.0 0.10

1966

 321 (4) 1,300.0 (4) 16,000.0 0.10

1967

 381 (4) 2,192.0 (4) 31,320.0 0.18

1968

 392 (4) 1,855.0 (4) 35,367.0 0.20

1969

 412 (4) 1,576.0 (4) 29,397.0 0.16

1970

 381 (4) 2,468.0 (4) 52,761.0 0.29

1971

 298 (4) 2,516.0 (4) 35,538.0 0.19

1972

 250 (4) 975.0 (4) 16,764.0 0.09

1973

 317 (4) 1,400.0 (4) 16,260.0 0.08

1974

 424 (4) 1,796.0 (4) 31,809.0 0.16

1975

 235 (4) 965.0 (4) 17,563.0 0.09

1976

 231 (4) 1,519.0 (4) 23,962.0 0.12

1977

 298 (4) 1,212.0 (4) 21,258.0 0.10

1978

 219 (4) 1,006.0 (4) 23,774.0 0.11

1979

 235 (4) 1,021.0 (4) 20,409.0 0.09

1980

 187 (4) 795.0 (4) 20,844.0 0.09

1981

 145 151 728.9 746.5 16908.4 0.07

1982

 96 98 655.8 661.1 9061.2 0.04

1983

 81 83 909.4 945.8 17460.7 0.08

1984

 62 68 376.0 390.9 8498.8 0.04

1985

 54 61 323.9 335.2 7079.1 0.03

1986

 69 72 533.1 537.5 11860.5 0.05

1987

 46 51 174.4 214.7 4481.4 0.02

1988

 40 43 118.3 121.9 4381.4 0.02

1989

 51 52 452.1 454.1 16996.3 0.07

1990

 44 50 184.9 200.3 5926.1 0.02

1991

 40 45 392.0 412.1 4583.6 0.02

1992

 35 41 363.8 383.4 3989.0 0.01

1993

 35 36 181.9 183.5 3981.2 0.01

1994

 45 45 322.2 322.2 5020.5 0.02

1995

 31 34 191.5 206.7 5771.2 0.02

1996

 37 38 272.7 275.2 4888.6 0.02

1997

 29 34 338.6 350.6 4497.1 0.01

1998

 34 34 386.8 386.8 5115.7 0.02

1999

 17 21 72.6 80.4 1995.8 0.01

2000

 39 40 393.7 396.7 20419.4 0.06

2001

 29 30 99.1 101.8 1151.3 (5)

2002

 19 20 45.9 46.9 659.6 (5)

2003

 14 15 129.2 130.5 4091.2 0.01

2004

 17 18 170.7 232.0 3344.1 0.01

2005

 22 24 99.6 102.1 1736.1 0.01

2006

 20 23 70.1 76.6 2687.5 0.01

2007

 21 23 189.2 192.9 1264.8 (5)

2008

 15 16 72.2 82.7 1954.1 0.01

2009

 5 5 12.5 12.5 124.1 (5)

2010

 11 11 44.5 44.5 302.3 (5)

2011

 19 19 112.5 112.5 1020.2 (5)

2012

 19 21 148.1 150.4 1130.8 (5)

2013

 15 15 54.5 54.5 289.9 (5)

2014

 11 11 34.3 34.3 200.2 (5)

2015

 12 13 47.3 49.0 740.0 (5)

2016

 15 16 99.4 101.6 1543.4 (5)

2017

 7 7 25.3 25.3 439.8 (5)

2018

 20 21 485.2 487.0 2815.4 0.01

2019

 25 27 425.5 428.5 3244.3 0.01

2020

 8 10 27.0 30.6 965.7 (5)

2021

 16 17 80.7 82.5 1551.9 (5)

2022

 23 26 120.6 126.5 2312.7 0.01

Footnotes:
(1) Number of workers involved includes only those workers who participated in work stoppages in the calendar year. Workers are counted more than once if they are involved in more than one stoppage during the reference period. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand. Starting 1981 the numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred.
(2) Days idle includes all stoppages in effect during the reference period. For work stoppages that are still ongoing at the end of the calendar year, only those days of idleness in the calendar year are counted.
(3) Percent of estimated working time is calculated using employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics program and the number of workdays in the month and number of days idle from the Work Stoppages program.
(4) Data not available.
(5) Less than .005.

Access the following tables containing data on work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers:


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Last Modified Date: February 22, 2023