This report presents detailed occupation data at the National and regional levels from the 1970 and 1980 Censuses of Population. It compares the occupational distributions of the "experienced civilian labor force," by sex, at both points in time, and thereby provides a measure of some of the changes that occurred in these distributions over the decade.

The 1980 data are derived from the computer file called the "1980 Census/ EEO Special File," originally produced to help meet the needs of both government and private sector employers in planning Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action programs. The 1970 data are derived from the 1970 decennial census "Sixth-Count" data file. Data from the 1970 census required adjustment before tabulation in this report. The 1970 data were originally tabulated in terms of the occupation classification used for that census. The 1980 data, however, were tabulated according to a completely different classification system modeled after the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). (See "Occupation" in "Definitions and Explanations" section for more details on the classification systems.)