Amy Wright digs up fun facts about work for Labor Day

We blinked. So summer will be unofficially over tomorrow.  That's how fast time travels from June to September.

While we celebrate summer's last hurrah I've dug up some fun Labor Day facts.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that 155.6 million people were in the nation's workforce in 2013.

Why do we celebrate Labor Day?  The holiday honors the contributions and achievements of the American women and men who are in the U.S. workforce.

As of last year, here are the ten largest occupations in the country.:

1. Retail sales

2.  Cashiers

3.  Food prep workers

4.  Office clerks

5.  Waiters and waitresses.

6.  Customer service reps

7.  Freight and stockroom workers

8.  Secretaries and administrative assistants

9.  Medical workers

10.  Janitors

How long does it take you to get to work?  Statistics from 2012 says the commute time for for the average American worker s just under 26 minutes.  Our neighbors in New York and Maryland have the longest commutes averaging 32 minutes.

The first Labor Day happened way back on September 5, 1882 in New York City.

Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day an official holiday in 1887.

It wasn't until June 28, 1894 that Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday.

I know it may be a bummer that vacation time for lots of us is over.  But here's something to keep in mind.  In the late 1800's the average American worked a twelve hour day.  Here's the kicker.  Most people back then had a seven day work week.

Thank goodness most of us don't have that schedule.

But lets not forget all the moms and dads who do work those long, hard hours now in 2014 to put food on the table for their kids.

I hope the rest of your weekend will be safe and happy.