6 ms·

> The US has a population of 261 million and an employed non-farm workforce of 145 million, per the BLS. >According to the most recent US employment report, th

> The US has a population of 261 million and an employed non-farm workforce of 145 million, per the BLS. >According to the most recent US employment report, there are 145.8 million nonfarm payroll workers out of a total population of 332 million. ignoring the mismatching "Populations". (261 million seems to be "Civilian noninstitutional population") This [0] seems to say there are 152,283,000 employed in US. are there really ~6.4 million people working on farms in US? i thought farm work was <1% of employed peoples.

runnerup 5y ago
Probably has to do with precise definitions of "non farm", "farmer", "farming" and "agricultural". BLS has this showing 2.3 million people working in agriculture: https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat15.htm https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat15.htm And this showing there are 900,000 jobs for "Agricultural worker" https://www.bls.gov/ooh/farming-fishing-and-forestry/mobile/agricultural-workers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/farming-fishing-and-forestry/mobile/... Clearly the terms "Employed persons in agriculture industries" and "agricultural workers" have definitions that diverge much, much more than I would have thought as a layperson.
- meepmorp 5y ago
  If you expand the "What Agricultural Workers Do" section, it says: > Agricultural workers maintain crops and tend livestock. They perform physical labor and operate machinery under the supervision of farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers. According to https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/farmers-ranchers-and-other-agricultural-managers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/farmers-ranchers-and-othe..., there are 952,000 jobs as "agricultural managers," which isn't how I'd naively expect things to be divided, but it does make sense. I wonder how the remaining jobs are categorized.
  - MattGaiser 5y ago
    With automation, they may not manage anybody anymore, just machinery.
    - meepmorp 5y ago
      Eventually, we'll need philosophers to sort it all out.
      - mirkules 5y ago
        Luckily, there is no shortage of philosophers, especially on the internet.
  - munk-a 5y ago
    If agricultural workers are people working under the guidance of other folks then managers may also include the "self-managed" i.e. any independent farmers including those that rely heavily on automation. There's also probably a fair chance that subcontracting can mess this up with multiple farm hands hired onto a farm all counting as agricultural managers. It feels like agricultural worker is actually quite narrowly defined to only be unskilled people specifically requiring oversight and management.
burkaman 5y ago
Nonfarm also excludes military workers and non-profit employees, and a couple other categories.
bluedino 5y ago
There are 328 million according to the Census https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219

runnerup 5y ago

Probably has to do with precise definitions of "non farm", "farmer", "farming" and "agricultural". BLS has this showing 2.3 million people working in agriculture: https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat15.htm https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat15.htm And this showing there are 900,000 jobs for "Agricultural worker" https://www.bls.gov/ooh/farming-fishing-and-forestry/mobile/agricultural-workers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/farming-fishing-and-forestry/mobile/... Clearly the terms "Employed persons in agriculture industries" and "agricultural workers" have definitions that diverge much, much more than I would have thought as a layperson.

meepmorp 5y ago
If you expand the "What Agricultural Workers Do" section, it says: > Agricultural workers maintain crops and tend livestock. They perform physical labor and operate machinery under the supervision of farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers. According to https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/farmers-ranchers-and-other-agricultural-managers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/farmers-ranchers-and-othe..., there are 952,000 jobs as "agricultural managers," which isn't how I'd naively expect things to be divided, but it does make sense. I wonder how the remaining jobs are categorized.
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  With automation, they may not manage anybody anymore, just machinery.
  - meepmorp 5y ago
    Eventually, we'll need philosophers to sort it all out.
    - mirkules 5y ago
      Luckily, there is no shortage of philosophers, especially on the internet.
- munk-a 5y ago
  If agricultural workers are people working under the guidance of other folks then managers may also include the "self-managed" i.e. any independent farmers including those that rely heavily on automation. There's also probably a fair chance that subcontracting can mess this up with multiple farm hands hired onto a farm all counting as agricultural managers. It feels like agricultural worker is actually quite narrowly defined to only be unskilled people specifically requiring oversight and management.

burkaman 5y ago

Nonfarm also excludes military workers and non-profit employees, and a couple other categories.

bluedino 5y ago

There are 328 million according to the Census https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219