Payroll employment and the number of jobs needed to keep up with the growth in the potential labor force, Jan. 2000–Dec. 2011

Source: Authors' analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics and Congressional Budget Office (2012)

Documentation and methodology

Underlying data are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics public data series and a 2012 Congressional Budget Office report, The Budget and Economic Outlook, Table 2-3, “Key Assumptions in the CBO’s Projection of Potential GDP.” Since the CBO estimates of the size of the potential labor force are annual, the annual values are assigned to June of each year and extrapolated for the monthly figure.