Established in 1915, Monthly Labor Review is the principal journal of fact, analysis, and research from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor.

Each month, economists, statisticians, and experts from the Bureau join with private sector professionals and State and local government specialists to provide a wealth of research in a wide variety of fields—the labor force, the economy, employment, inflation, productivity, occupational injuries and illnesses, wages, prices, and many more.

The October Review
Fasten your seatbelts as you peruse our lead article this month on the turbulence that has affl icted the airline transportation industry in recent years.

As the author Christopher J. Goodman notes, the industry has been buff eted with the recession of 2001 and that year’s September 11th terrorist attacks, with fi nancial difficulties, waves of restructuring, changes in passenger volume and, most recently, soaring fuel prices. He documents the expansion of business activity in the industry in the latter half of the 1990s, when passenger volume was increasingly steadily, profits were generally sound, and employment was growing. The recession of 2001 sharply aff ected demand for air travel, especially among business travelers, and the September 11th attacks exacerbated an already difficult situation.

Although air travel eventually began to grow again, it did not translate into renewed growth in airline employment; in fact, the number of jobs in the industry has not returned to prerecession levels.

Over the years, the Monthly Labor Review from time to time has published articles taking a historical look at changes in labor-related programs, laws, or regulations. Stephen A. Wandner this month provides a history of three employment services programs related to the unemployment insurance system: Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services; Short-Time Compensation; and Self-Employment Assistance.

James A. Walker provides a look at union membership in 2007 in a visual essay. Using annual average figures from the Current Population Survey, he examines the current composition of union membership by industry, occupation, age and other variables. He also provides some historical perspective by showing long-term trends in union membership rates overall, as well as those for men and women and major race/ethnic groups.

Download Monthly Labor Review, October 2008

PDF format, 1.9MB, 122Pages.

Volume 131, Number 10. October 2008
Take off and descent of airline employment 3
After several years of growth, airline employment declined with the 2001 recession and the September 11th attacks and has not fully recovered since
Christopher J. Goodman

Employment programs for unemployment insurance recipients 17
Three programs provide employment services exclusively to unemployment insurance beneficiaries; the programs’ history and State-level implementations are examined
Stephen A. Wandner

Union membership in 2007: a visual essay 28
James A. Walker

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The following departments appear in Monthly Labor Review with varying frequencies:

• Labor month in review summarizes the current issue each month and digests selected publications and news releases from the BLS. Read it for a quick overview of an issue's offerings and an update on what is new in labor statistics.

• The law at work explains legal decisions pertaining to the working world.

• Book reviews analyze the merits of today's hottest books for the Review audience.

• Précis briefly summarizes articles, newsletter items, reports, working papers, etc., from the tremendous amount of information that passes across the MLR editors' desks.

• Letters to the editor give readers an opportunity to hear other readers' opinions.

• At issue is a synopsis of a "hot topic" that will keep you "in-the-know."

• Regional trends present regional tabulations from the Current Population Survey.

• International report features accounts of economic and labor developments in other countries.

• Technical notes explain new statistical methodologies or programs conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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