ILGWU* women marching in a Labor Day parade with placards that read, "'60 is the year to vote reaction out." by Kheel Center, Cornell University, via Flickr Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From these, a movement developed to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

 Who Are We Celebrating?: 159.8 million

 The number of people age 16 and over in the nation's labor force as of May 2017. 

 Our Jobs

 Largest Occupations, May 2016                                                      Number of Employees

 Retail salespersons                                                                                           4,528,550

 Cashiers                                                                                                              3,541,010

 Combined food preparation and serving workers,                                               3,426,090  including fast food

 Office clerks, general                                                                                           2,955,550

 Registered nurses                                                                                                2,857,180

 Customer service representatives                                                                       2,707,040

 Laborers and freight, stock and material movers, hand                                      2,587,900

 Waiters and waitresses                                                                                       2,564,610

 Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal,                                      2,295,510

 medical and executive

 General and operations managers                                                                   2,188,870 

 16.3 million: The number of wage and salary workers age 16 and over represented by a union in 2016. This group included both union members (14.6 million) and workers who reported no union affiliation but whose jobs were covered by a union contract (1.7 million). Among states, New York continued to have the highest union membership rate (23.6 percent), and South Carolina had the lowest rate (1.6 percent). 

15.3 million: The number of employed female workers age 16 and over in service occupations in 2015. Among male workers age 16 and over, 11.7 million were employed in service-related occupations. 

 1.8%: The percentage increase in employment, or 143.7 million, in the United States between December 2015 and December 2016. In December 2016, the 344 U.S. counties with 75,000 or more jobs accounted for 72.8 percent of total U.S. employment and 78.1 percent of total wages. These 344 counties had a net job growth of 1.4 million over the year, which accounted for 80.7 percent of the overall US employment increase. 

 Another Day, Another Dollar:  $51,212 and $40,742:  The 2015 real median earnings for male and female full-time, year-round workers, respectively. The 2015 real median household income of $56,516, an increase in real terms of 5.2 percent from the 2014 median of $53,718. This is the first annual increase in median household income since 2007, the year before the most recent recession. 

$77,166: The 2015 median Asian household income, the highest among race groups. The median income of non-Hispanic, white households was $62,950 and for black households it was $36,898. For Hispanic households the median income was $45,148. 

Fastest Growing Jobs, 108.0%:  The projected percentage growth from 2014 to 2024 in the number of wind turbine service technicians (4,400 jobs in 2014), the projected fastest-growing occupation. Meanwhile, the occupation expected to add the greatest number of positions over this period is personal care aides (458,100).  

Employee Benefits: 90.1%  The percentage of full-time, year-round workers ages 19 to 64 covered by health insurance during all or part of 2015. 

 Say Goodbye to Summer:  Labor Day is celebrated by most workers in America as the symbolic end of the summer and the start of the back-to-school season. 25,027 — The number of shoe stores for back-to-school shopping in 2015. Also catering to back-to-school needs were 28,910 family clothing stores; 7,885 department stores; 7,185 children and infants’ clothing stores; 6,475 office supply and stationery stores; and 6,870 book stores. 

 21,890: The number of sporting goods stores nationwide in 2015. Examples of these types of stores include athletic uniform supply, fishing supply and exercise equipment, as well as bicycle and golf pro shops. In US sports, college football teams usually play their first games the week before Labor Day, with the NFL traditionally playing its first game the Thursday following Labor Day.

 51,045: The number of travel agents employed full time, year-round in the United States in 2015. In addition, there were 17,915 tour and travel guides employed full time, year-round nationwide. On a weekend intended to give US workers a day of rest, many people climb into their drivers' seats or board an airplane for a quick end of the summer getaway.

921,654: The number of paid employees (for the pay period including March 12) who worked for a gasoline station in the United States in 2015. Oregon (11,003 paid gasoline station employees) and New Jersey (18,095 paid gasoline station employees) are the only states without self-service gasoline stations. Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day a holiday in February 1887. 

The Commute to Work, 6.5 million: The number of commuters who left for work between midnight and 4:59 a.m. in 2015. They represented 4.6 percent of all commuters. The most common time was between 7 a.m. and 7:29 a.m. — with 20.9 million commuters.  

4.6%: The percentage of workers age 16 and over who worked at home in 2015. 

76.6%: The percentage of workers age 16 and over who drove alone to work in 2015. Another 9.0 percent carpooled and 0.6 percent biked to work. 

26.4 minutes: The average time it took workers in the United States to commute to work in 2015. New York (33.1 minutes) and Maryland (32.6 minutes) had the most time-consuming commutes. 

*The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first US unions to have a primarily female membership, and a key player in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s.

More Articles

• February’s Hot Data Releases: Governor Christopher J. Waller, Federal Reserve Board Frames a Few of the Issues Around Inflation and the Economic Outlook
• Justice Department Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco Delivers Remarks on Charges and New Arrest in Connection with Assassination Plot Directed from Iran
• "Henry Ford Innovation Nation", a Favorite Television Show
• Remarks by President Biden on American Rescue Plan Investments; September 02, 2022, South Court Auditorium Eisenhower Executive Office Building
• Julia Sneden Wrote: Going Forth On the Fourth After Strict Blackout Conditions and Requisitioned Gunpowder Had Been the Law
• Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Statement on Supreme Court Ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
• Jo Freeman Reviews: Gendered Citizenship: The Original Conflict Over the Equal Rights Amendment, 1920 – 1963
• The US Housing and Mortgage Market, Risks and Resilience: Federal Reserve Governor Michelle W. Bowman
• Jo Freeman Writes: It’s About Time
• Jo Freeman Reviews: Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight