Celebrating African American History Month : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

In honor of African American History Month, we’d like to highlight some employment statistics about Black or African American men and women.

Historically, the employment–population ratio for Black men has been considerably lower than the rate for men overall. For example, 60.0 percent of Black men were employed in January 2022, 5.1 percentage points lower than the employment–population ratio for men overall. By contrast, the employment–population ratios for Black women and for women overall have historically been much closer. In January 2022, the ratio for Black women was 55.7 percent, 1.1 percentage points higher than the ratio for women overall.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the employment–population ratio for Black men fell by 10.2 percentage points between February 2020 and April 2020 to 50.4 percent. This was the lowest in the history of the data, going back to 1972. Over the same period, the ratio for men overall fell by a slightly smaller amount—9.6 percentage points—to 57.2 percent. However, between April 2020 and January 2022, the ratio for Black men has risen by 9.6 percentage points, while the ratio for men overall has risen by a smaller amount, 7.9 percentage points.

Between February 2020 and April 2020, the employment–population ratio for Black women fell by 11.0 percentage points, a greater decline than the 10.1 percentage points for women overall. Since April 2020, the measure for Black women has risen less than that for women overall (8.3 percentage points versus 8.8 percentage points).

Employment–population ratios of Blacks or African Americans and the total population by sex, January 1972–January 2022, seasonally adjusted

Editor’s note: Data for this chart are available in the table below.

The disparity in the recovery of the employment–population ratio between men and women may partially reflect the industries in which they are employed.

In 2021, 14.9 percent of employed Black men worked in transportation and utilities, a larger share than for men overall (8.7 percent). Within transportation and utilities, Black men were particularly likely to work in couriers and messengers and in warehousing and storage; these industries have fully recovered the jobs they lost between February 2020 and April 2020 and have continued to add jobs.

Percent distribution of employed Blacks or African Americans and the total workforce by selected industry and sex, 2021 annual averages

Editor’s note: Data for this chart are available in the table below.

In 2021, 40.1 percent of employed Black women worked in education and health services, a larger share than for women overall (36.0 percent). Employment in the education and health services industry is still 2.6 percent below its February 2020 level. Within this broad industry, Black women were especially likely to work in nursing and residential care facilities, where employment is 12.1 percent below its level before the pandemic.

We have more information about the labor force characteristics of Black men and women on our labor force demographics page.

This is just a sample of the information available on the labor force status of African Americans. Explore for yourself some of our other resources to expand your knowledge.

Employment–population ratios of Blacks or African Americans and the total population by sex, January 1972–January 2022, seasonally adjusted
Month	Total men	Total women	Black men	Black women
Jan 1972	74.6%	40.8%	65.1%	43.1%
Feb 1972	74.6	40.8	65.7	42.9
Mar 1972	74.9	41.0	66.7	42.9
Apr 1972	74.9	40.9	67.1	43.0
May 1972	74.9	41.0	67.0	43.2
Jun 1972	75.1	40.9	68.5	42.9
Jul 1972	75.1	40.9	66.8	42.6
Aug 1972	75.3	41.0	67.2	42.4
Sep 1972	75.1	40.9	66.8	42.7
Oct 1972	75.0	40.9	66.6	42.3
Nov 1972	75.1	41.1	66.8	43.7
Dec 1972	75.4	41.3	67.2	43.9
Jan 1973	75.1	41.0	66.7	43.1
Feb 1973	75.4	41.6	67.8	43.8
Mar 1973	75.7	41.7	68.0	43.8
Apr 1973	75.5	41.9	67.5	43.5
May 1973	75.3	42.1	67.0	43.3
Jun 1973	75.6	42.3	67.1	43.1
Jul 1973	75.7	42.1	67.4	44.5
Aug 1973	75.4	42.1	67.4	44.4
Sep 1973	75.4	42.2	67.2	43.9
Oct 1973	75.7	42.4	68.0	44.4
Nov 1973	75.8	42.6	67.9	44.2
Dec 1973	75.8	42.5	68.3	44.0
Jan 1974	76.0	42.3	68.6	44.0
Feb 1974	75.8	42.6	67.6	43.9
Mar 1974	75.5	42.7	67.0	42.9
Apr 1974	75.1	42.7	66.6	43.7
May 1974	75.3	42.6	66.6	43.9
Jun 1974	75.0	42.7	65.7	43.8
Jul 1974	74.8	43.0	65.6	43.6
Aug 1974	74.7	42.8	65.2	43.9
Sep 1974	74.6	42.7	64.8	44.3
Oct 1974	74.4	42.6	65.3	43.5
Nov 1974	74.1	42.3	64.1	42.3
Dec 1974	73.4	42.1	63.0	42.0
Jan 1975	72.6	42.0	62.1	41.8
Feb 1975	72.2	41.7	61.4	41.4
Mar 1975	71.9	41.7	60.6	41.6
Apr 1975	71.6	41.8	59.7	41.4
May 1975	71.7	41.9	60.4	41.5
Jun 1975	71.3	41.9	60.1	42.0
Jul 1975	71.7	42.1	60.8	41.7
Aug 1975	71.8	42.2	60.7	41.4
Sep 1975	71.6	42.2	60.7	41.4
Oct 1975	71.5	42.3	60.2	41.6
Nov 1975	71.4	42.2	60.1	41.8
Dec 1975	71.4	42.4	59.7	42.1
Jan 1976	71.8	42.7	60.2	42.6
Feb 1976	71.9	42.8	60.1	42.6
Mar 1976	71.9	43.0	60.0	43.8
Apr 1976	72.2	43.1	60.9	43.4
May 1976	72.2	43.4	60.9	43.1
Jun 1976	71.8	43.3	59.9	42.8
Jul 1976	72.1	43.5	60.5	42.4
Aug 1976	72.3	43.3	61.1	42.5
Sep 1976	72.1	43.2	60.8	42.3
Oct 1976	72.1	43.2	60.6	42.2
Nov 1976	72.0	43.6	60.9	43.3
Dec 1976	72.0	43.6	61.2	42.7
Jan 1977	72.1	43.6	61.5	42.5
Feb 1977	72.2	43.8	61.8	42.5
Mar 1977	72.3	44.0	61.7	42.8
Apr 1977	72.6	44.2	62.3	43.1
May 1977	72.6	44.6	60.9	43.7
Jun 1977	72.8	44.4	62.0	43.3
Jul 1977	72.8	44.4	61.1	42.9
Aug 1977	72.9	44.6	60.8	43.5
Sep 1977	72.8	44.8	60.3	43.8
Oct 1977	73.2	44.8	60.6	43.5
Nov 1977	73.5	45.1	61.6	43.3
Dec 1977	73.6	45.3	62.6	45.0
Jan 1978	73.5	45.5	62.5	44.8
Feb 1978	73.4	45.7	62.8	45.4
Mar 1978	73.3	45.8	63.3	45.4
Apr 1978	73.6	46.2	63.2	45.6
May 1978	73.8	46.3	63.3	45.7
Jun 1978	74.1	46.5	63.5	46.1
Jul 1978	73.8	46.3	63.7	45.3
Aug 1978	73.9	46.4	62.6	46.6
Sep 1978	73.7	46.7	63.6	46.7
Oct 1978	73.8	47.0	63.8	46.5
Nov 1978	74.1	47.0	63.5	46.0
Dec 1978	73.9	47.1	63.5	46.0
Jan 1979	74.2	47.1	63.2	45.8
Feb 1979	74.3	47.3	63.1	45.8
Mar 1979	74.0	47.5	63.2	46.6
Apr 1979	73.9	47.1	62.9	45.9
May 1979	73.8	47.2	63.4	45.4
Jun 1979	74.0	47.2	63.8	45.8
Jul 1979	73.9	47.5	63.9	46.3
Aug 1979	73.7	47.3	64.2	45.3
Sep 1979	73.9	47.6	64.4	45.9
Oct 1979	73.5	47.7	63.7	46.4
Nov 1979	73.4	47.9	62.9	46.5
Dec 1979	73.5	48.0	62.6	46.6
Jan 1980	73.3	48.0	61.9	46.4
Feb 1980	73.4	47.9	61.6	46.3
Mar 1980	73.0	47.8	61.3	45.8
Apr 1980	72.3	47.7	60.9	45.6
May 1980	71.9	47.6	60.3	45.7
Jun 1980	71.5	47.5	59.8	45.4
Jul 1980	71.4	47.5	59.9	45.7
Aug 1980	71.4	47.5	59.7	46.0
Sep 1980	71.4	47.6	59.5	45.7
Oct 1980	71.6	47.6	60.0	45.4
Nov 1980	71.6	47.7	60.1	45.3
Dec 1980	71.7	47.6	59.9	45.2
Jan 1981	71.7	47.8	60.3	45.7
Feb 1981	71.6	48.0	59.8	45.2
Mar 1981	71.8	48.1	60.2	45.2
Apr 1981	72.1	48.3	60.3	46.3
May 1981	71.9	48.4	60.5	45.2
Jun 1981	71.1	48.1	58.4	45.1
Jul 1981	71.5	48.1	58.7	45.0
Aug 1981	71.4	48.1	58.2	44.3
Sep 1981	71.1	47.5	58.9	44.6
Oct 1981	70.8	47.9	58.4	45.0
Nov 1981	70.5	47.9	57.5	45.6
Dec 1981	70.0	47.6	57.5	44.9
Jan 1982	69.9	47.7	57.1	45.2
Feb 1982	69.9	47.7	57.2	44.5
Mar 1982	69.6	47.7	56.8	44.2
Apr 1982	69.5	47.6	56.6	43.7
May 1982	69.7	47.8	56.4	44.0
Jun 1982	68.9	47.8	55.5	44.2
Jul 1982	68.8	47.8	56.1	44.0
Aug 1982	68.8	47.8	56.0	44.3
Sep 1982	68.6	47.8	55.1	44.4
Oct 1982	68.4	47.5	55.0	44.0
Nov 1982	68.2	47.5	55.5	43.8
Dec 1982	68.0	47.5	54.6	44.1
Jan 1983	67.9	47.5	55.0	43.8
Feb 1983	67.8	47.5	55.3	44.5
Mar 1983	67.8	47.5	55.4	44.0
Apr 1983	68.0	47.6	55.2	43.8
May 1983	68.1	47.5	55.0	44.1
Jun 1983	69.0	47.7	56.1	43.7
Jul 1983	69.2	48.0	56.7	44.4
Aug 1983	69.2	48.4	56.2	44.3
Sep 1983	69.3	48.7	56.8	44.8
Oct 1983	69.4	48.5	57.1	43.9
Nov 1983	69.9	48.7	58.0	44.1
Dec 1983	69.9	48.8	58.0	44.1
Jan 1984	70.0	48.7	58.1	44.4
Feb 1984	70.3	49.0	59.4	45.7
Mar 1984	70.3	49.0	58.5	45.6
Apr 1984	70.4	49.3	57.8	46.1
May 1984	70.7	49.9	59.3	46.4
Jun 1984	71.2	49.7	58.8	47.3
Jul 1984	70.8	49.8	58.4	46.9
Aug 1984	70.7	49.5	59.5	47.4
Sep 1984	70.9	49.6	59.8	47.5
Oct 1984	70.9	49.6	60.2	47.3
Nov 1984	71.0	49.7	60.6	47.9
Dec 1984	71.0	49.9	60.0	48.0
Jan 1985	70.9	50.1	59.8	48.4
Feb 1985	70.8	50.3	59.6	47.5
Mar 1985	71.0	50.5	59.6	48.2
Apr 1985	71.0	50.4	59.7	48.5
May 1985	71.1	50.2	59.9	48.0
Jun 1985	70.6	50.1	60.1	48.6
Jul 1985	70.7	50.2	59.9	47.9
Aug 1985	70.9	50.2	60.9	47.8
Sep 1985	71.0	50.6	60.3	47.7
Oct 1985	71.0	50.7	59.9	48.1
Nov 1985	71.0	50.8	59.4	48.0
Dec 1985	71.0	50.9	60.1	48.6
Jan 1986	71.3	50.9	60.7	48.5
Feb 1986	70.9	50.8	60.5	48.5
Mar 1986	70.9	51.0	61.0	48.9
Apr 1986	70.9	51.0	60.9	49.2
May 1986	70.8	51.2	61.5	49.1
Jun 1986	70.9	51.5	61.0	48.9
Jul 1986	70.9	51.6	60.6	48.7
Aug 1986	70.9	51.7	59.4	48.2
Sep 1986	70.9	51.7	59.9	48.8
Oct 1986	70.9	51.8	60.3	49.2
Nov 1986	71.1	51.7	60.5	49.0
Dec 1986	71.2	51.7	61.2	48.7
Jan 1987	71.3	51.7	61.2	48.8
Feb 1987	71.3	51.9	61.5	49.4
Mar 1987	71.2	52.1	61.6	49.2
Apr 1987	71.3	52.3	61.6	49.5
May 1987	71.5	52.6	61.3	49.9
Jun 1987	71.3	52.5	61.7	50.2
Jul 1987	71.4	52.7	62.2	50.7
Aug 1987	71.6	52.9	62.9	51.3
Sep 1987	71.6	52.6	62.4	50.5
Oct 1987	71.7	52.8	62.6	51.5
Nov 1987	71.7	52.9	62.7	51.4
Dec 1987	71.8	53.1	62.5	51.5
Jan 1988	71.9	53.1	62.8	51.2
Feb 1988	72.0	53.1	62.1	50.9
Mar 1988	71.6	53.2	61.5	50.6
Apr 1988	72.2	53.2	62.9	50.1
May 1988	72.0	52.9	62.5	50.1
Jun 1988	72.1	53.3	62.5	50.1
Jul 1988	72.2	53.3	62.6	51.9
Aug 1988	72.2	53.5	63.3	51.4
Sep 1988	72.1	53.5	63.0	51.4
Oct 1988	72.0	53.8	63.1	51.8
Nov 1988	72.1	54.1	62.8	52.1
Dec 1988	72.0	54.1	62.9	52.4
Jan 1989	72.2	54.4	63.0	51.9
Feb 1989	72.4	54.2	62.8	52.0
Mar 1989	72.6	54.2	63.1	51.9
Apr 1989	72.5	54.2	62.0	51.8
May 1989	72.4	54.2	62.6	52.3
Jun 1989	72.8	54.1	63.3	51.6
Jul 1989	72.7	54.2	63.7	52.3
Aug 1989	72.6	54.4	63.0	52.0
Sep 1989	72.0	54.5	62.3	52.0
Oct 1989	72.4	54.3	62.4	51.7
Nov 1989	72.3	54.7	62.3	52.0
Dec 1989	72.3	54.4	62.2	51.9
Jan 1990	72.6	54.6	62.8	52.9
Feb 1990	72.6	54.5	63.1	52.9
Mar 1990	72.6	54.6	63.2	52.8
Apr 1990	72.3	54.5	63.2	52.5
May 1990	72.4	54.6	63.3	52.9
Jun 1990	72.2	54.4	63.1	52.1
Jul 1990	72.1	54.3	62.5	51.4
Aug 1990	71.9	54.4	62.4	51.2
Sep 1990	71.6	54.2	62.0	51.0
Oct 1990	71.6	54.2	62.0	51.2
Nov 1990	71.4	54.0	62.0	51.2
Dec 1990	71.3	53.9	61.8	50.9
Jan 1991	71.0	53.8	61.8	51.1
Feb 1991	70.7	53.8	61.7	50.8
Mar 1991	70.6	53.7	62.4	50.9
Apr 1991	70.7	54.1	61.5	51.1
May 1991	70.4	53.6	60.1	50.9
Jun 1991	70.4	53.7	61.1	50.6
Jul 1991	70.3	53.6	61.3	51.0
Aug 1991	70.2	53.5	60.9	50.3
Sep 1991	70.3	53.7	61.9	51.2
Oct 1991	70.1	53.7	61.1	49.6
Nov 1991	70.0	53.6	61.0	49.7
Dec 1991	69.7	53.5	60.7	50.3
Jan 1992	69.8	53.8	60.7	50.3
Feb 1992	69.6	53.7	59.8	50.3
Mar 1992	69.8	53.8	59.8	50.4
Apr 1992	70.0	53.9	59.7	50.3
May 1992	69.9	53.8	59.7	50.4
Jun 1992	69.9	53.7	60.1	51.0
Jul 1992	70.0	53.8	60.0	51.3
Aug 1992	70.0	53.8	60.3	51.9
Sep 1992	69.9	53.7	60.1	51.4
Oct 1992	69.7	53.6	59.6	50.8
Nov 1992	69.7	53.7	60.0	50.4
Dec 1992	69.8	53.7	59.2	50.6
Jan 1993	69.8	53.7	59.9	49.5
Feb 1993	69.9	53.7	60.7	50.8
Mar 1993	69.9	53.9	59.3	50.5
Apr 1993	69.8	53.8	58.8	50.3
May 1993	70.1	54.1	60.2	50.9
Jun 1993	70.1	54.1	59.8	50.5
Jul 1993	70.2	54.1	60.7	50.7
Aug 1993	70.3	54.3	61.1	51.1
Sep 1993	70.0	54.2	60.0	51.3
Oct 1993	70.0	54.3	59.9	51.6
Nov 1993	70.1	54.4	59.5	51.8
Dec 1993	70.1	54.6	59.7	52.1
Jan 1994	70.2	54.9	59.4	51.5
Feb 1994	70.1	55.1	59.8	51.8
Mar 1994	70.0	54.9	60.5	51.9
Apr 1994	70.1	55.1	60.6	52.2
May 1994	70.3	55.4	61.3	51.7
Jun 1994	70.2	55.1	60.8	52.8
Jul 1994	70.1	55.2	60.3	52.8
Aug 1994	70.5	55.3	60.1	52.7
Sep 1994	70.6	55.4	61.0	52.7
Oct 1994	70.8	55.5	61.6	52.5
Nov 1994	71.0	55.6	61.7	52.3
Dec 1994	71.3	55.5	62.6	52.0
Jan 1995	71.2	55.5	62.3	52.5
Feb 1995	71.3	55.6	63.1	53.4
Mar 1995	71.3	55.6	63.3	53.2
Apr 1995	71.1	55.7	62.6	53.3
May 1995	70.5	55.6	61.7	53.7
Jun 1995	70.8	55.3	61.7	52.9
Jul 1995	70.7	55.6	60.8	52.6
Aug 1995	70.6	55.7	60.5	52.8
Sep 1995	70.8	55.6	61.2	52.5
Oct 1995	70.7	55.8	61.4	54.0
Nov 1995	70.3	55.9	61.3	55.5
Dec 1995	70.4	55.6	60.5	54.6
Jan 1996	70.5	55.5	61.0	54.1
Feb 1996	70.7	55.7	60.8	53.8
Mar 1996	70.7	55.8	60.7	54.1
Apr 1996	70.7	55.9	60.7	54.1
May 1996	70.8	55.8	61.3	54.6
Jun 1996	71.0	55.9	60.7	54.4
Jul 1996	71.1	56.1	61.3	54.7
Aug 1996	71.1	56.2	62.2	54.4
Sep 1996	71.1	56.4	60.8	54.2
Oct 1996	71.3	56.4	61.1	54.8
Nov 1996	70.9	56.5	61.1	54.8
Dec 1996	71.1	56.4	61.1	54.7
Jan 1997	71.0	56.4	60.5	55.0
Feb 1997	71.0	56.3	60.7	54.9
Mar 1997	71.2	56.6	60.3	55.5
Apr 1997	71.3	56.7	60.6	55.4
May 1997	71.5	56.7	60.9	55.1
Jun 1997	71.3	56.8	60.9	54.8
Jul 1997	71.4	57.0	61.8	55.9
Aug 1997	71.4	57.0	63.5	56.5
Sep 1997	71.3	57.0	62.4	56.4
Oct 1997	71.4	57.0	62.1	55.6
Nov 1997	71.7	57.0	62.0	55.8
Dec 1997	71.4	57.2	61.1	56.4
Jan 1998	71.5	57.0	62.0	56.5
Feb 1998	71.5	57.0	61.8	57.0
Mar 1998	71.4	57.1	62.7	57.1
Apr 1998	71.8	57.0	63.1	56.5
May 1998	71.7	57.1	62.6	56.0
Jun 1998	71.6	57.0	63.7	57.1
Jul 1998	71.5	57.0	62.8	57.0
Aug 1998	71.4	57.1	62.8	57.3
Sep 1998	71.6	57.3	62.9	57.0
Oct 1998	71.6	57.1	63.8	57.8
Nov 1998	71.8	57.1	63.1	58.1
Dec 1998	71.7	57.4	63.1	58.5
Jan 1999	71.9	57.4	64.0	58.7
Feb 1999	71.7	57.3	62.9	58.0
Mar 1999	71.7	57.3	62.9	58.1
Apr 1999	71.6	57.3	62.7	58.7
May 1999	71.7	57.5	63.6	58.4
Jun 1999	71.6	57.4	63.2	58.6
Jul 1999	71.6	57.4	62.2	58.7
Aug 1999	71.5	57.5	63.2	58.6
Sep 1999	71.6	57.4	62.9	58.9
Oct 1999	71.5	57.6	63.0	58.7
Nov 1999	71.7	57.6	62.9	58.8
Dec 1999	71.8	57.6	63.3	58.3
Jan 2000	72.2	57.6	61.2	59.0
Feb 2000	72.2	57.5	61.5	58.9
Mar 2000	72.2	57.5	61.2	58.9
Apr 2000	72.1	58.0	64.5	59.0
May 2000	71.9	57.5	63.3	58.8
Jun 2000	72.0	57.5	63.2	58.5
Jul 2000	71.6	57.3	63.2	58.1
Aug 2000	71.9	57.1	62.9	58.2
Sep 2000	71.7	57.4	62.9	58.1
Oct 2000	71.6	57.4	63.3	58.5
Nov 2000	71.7	57.5	63.7	58.7
Dec 2000	71.7	57.6	63.3	58.7
Jan 2001	71.8	57.6	63.7	58.1
Feb 2001	71.6	57.5	63.2	58.5
Mar 2001	71.4	57.7	62.6	58.7
Apr 2001	71.3	57.2	62.2	58.6
May 2001	71.1	57.2	62.1	58.6
Jun 2001	70.9	57.0	61.6	58.6
Jul 2001	70.9	57.0	62.1	58.5
Aug 2001	70.4	56.6	61.5	57.5
Sep 2001	70.8	56.7	62.5	57.0
Oct 2001	70.3	56.6	61.2	56.7
Nov 2001	70.0	56.6	60.9	56.2
Dec 2001	70.0	56.3	61.8	56.1
Jan 2002	69.7	56.2	62.0	55.9
Feb 2002	69.9	56.6	61.9	55.9
Mar 2002	69.8	56.4	61.7	55.3
Apr 2002	69.8	56.2	61.8	55.6
May 2002	70.1	56.1	62.5	55.5
Jun 2002	69.8	56.2	60.7	55.6
Jul 2002	69.7	56.1	61.0	55.3
Aug 2002	69.7	56.3	60.9	55.7
Sep 2002	70.0	56.4	61.4	56.5
Oct 2002	69.7	56.3	61.2	56.1
Nov 2002	69.2	56.2	59.0	55.9
Dec 2002	69.1	56.2	59.1	56.2
Jan 2003	68.9	56.5	59.6	56.4
Feb 2003	69.2	56.2	60.2	55.5
Mar 2003	68.9	56.3	59.2	56.1
Apr 2003	69.0	56.3	59.5	56.1
May 2003	68.8	56.3	59.1	56.8
Jun 2003	68.7	56.4	59.4	55.6
Jul 2003	68.6	56.1	59.6	55.4
Aug 2003	68.6	56.0	59.3	55.6
Sep 2003	68.9	55.7	59.5	55.6
Oct 2003	68.9	55.9	59.2	54.8
Nov 2003	69.0	56.0	59.7	55.7
Dec 2003	69.2	55.7	60.0	54.3
Jan 2004	69.4	55.7	60.3	55.4
Feb 2004	69.1	56.0	59.4	55.7
Mar 2004	69.0	55.9	59.7	55.8
Apr 2004	69.0	56.0	58.9	56.0
May 2004	68.9	56.1	59.2	55.0
Jun 2004	69.2	56.0	59.4	54.7
Jul 2004	69.4	56.0	58.5	55.9
Aug 2004	69.3	56.0	59.0	55.8
Sep 2004	69.1	55.9	59.3	55.6
Oct 2004	69.2	55.9	59.5	55.5
Nov 2004	69.4	56.0	59.4	55.3
Dec 2004	69.2	56.1	58.9	55.4
Jan 2005	69.1	56.1	58.8	55.3
Feb 2005	69.2	56.0	58.6	55.0
Mar 2005	69.4	56.0	59.4	55.0
Apr 2005	69.6	56.2	60.2	55.2
May 2005	69.8	56.2	60.8	55.6
Jun 2005	69.8	56.1	60.9	55.8
Jul 2005	69.8	56.2	61.8	56.0
Aug 2005	69.9	56.4	61.2	55.9
Sep 2005	69.7	56.4	60.7	56.1
Oct 2005	69.7	56.4	60.7	57.0
Nov 2005	69.6	56.3	59.3	56.1
Dec 2005	69.7	56.3	60.0	55.9
Jan 2006	70.0	56.3	60.0	55.9
Feb 2006	70.0	56.4	60.7	56.4
Mar 2006	70.2	56.4	61.1	56.4
Apr 2006	70.0	56.4	60.9	56.0
May 2006	70.0	56.6	61.1	56.6
Jun 2006	70.0	56.7	60.3	56.2
Jul 2006	69.6	56.8	60.0	56.2
Aug 2006	69.9	56.8	60.3	57.1
Sep 2006	70.2	56.5	60.0	56.1
Oct 2006	70.2	56.8	60.6	57.2
Nov 2006	70.2	56.8	60.9	57.1
Dec 2006	70.4	56.9	61.6	57.2
Jan 2007	70.3	56.8	61.8	57.5
Feb 2007	70.1	56.8	61.2	57.2
Mar 2007	70.2	56.9	60.4	56.9
Apr 2007	70.0	56.3	60.6	56.7
May 2007	69.9	56.6	60.3	56.5
Jun 2007	69.8	56.7	59.9	56.7
Jul 2007	69.6	56.6	61.4	56.6
Aug 2007	69.4	56.5	61.7	56.3
Sep 2007	69.5	56.8	60.9	56.4
Oct 2007	69.3	56.5	59.8	56.3
Nov 2007	69.6	56.6	60.3	55.7
Dec 2007	69.4	56.5	59.8	56.1
Jan 2008	69.6	56.6	60.9	56.1
Feb 2008	69.5	56.5	60.8	56.3
Mar 2008	69.3	56.5	60.1	56.6
Apr 2008	69.2	56.6	60.2	56.8
May 2008	69.0	56.5	59.6	56.0
Jun 2008	68.8	56.4	59.7	55.9
Jul 2008	68.6	56.3	59.0	56.1
Aug 2008	68.3	56.1	59.9	55.6
Sep 2008	68.1	56.1	58.5	54.9
Oct 2008	67.8	56.1	57.8	55.1
Nov 2008	67.3	55.8	56.7	55.1
Dec 2008	66.7	55.6	56.4	55.3
Jan 2009	66.2	55.2	55.6	54.8
Feb 2009	65.7	55.2	54.9	53.8
Mar 2009	65.1	55.0	54.2	53.5
Apr 2009	65.0	54.9	53.8	53.4
May 2009	64.8	54.7	53.9	53.0
Jun 2009	64.6	54.5	53.5	53.2
Jul 2009	64.5	54.5	53.9	53.2
Aug 2009	64.2	54.3	53.2	52.6
Sep 2009	63.9	53.9	52.8	51.9
Oct 2009	63.7	53.7	52.8	51.3
Nov 2009	63.6	53.8	52.7	52.0
Dec 2009	63.3	53.5	52.7	51.3
Jan 2010	63.3	53.9	52.5	51.6
Feb 2010	63.4	53.8	52.5	51.8
Mar 2010	63.6	53.7	52.5	51.6
Apr 2010	64.0	53.7	53.3	51.5
May 2010	63.9	53.6	54.1	52.1
Jun 2010	63.8	53.6	52.8	52.2
Jul 2010	63.9	53.5	53.2	51.5
Aug 2010	63.9	53.5	53.4	51.3
Sep 2010	63.8	53.5	52.8	51.2
Oct 2010	63.6	53.3	53.4	51.5
Nov 2010	63.4	53.4	53.1	51.8
Dec 2010	63.6	53.3	53.2	51.8
Jan 2011	63.7	53.3	52.6	51.3
Feb 2011	63.8	53.2	52.7	51.2
Mar 2011	63.8	53.4	52.6	50.9
Apr 2011	63.7	53.3	52.5	50.4
May 2011	63.8	53.2	52.0	50.4
Jun 2011	63.7	53.0	52.6	50.0
Jul 2011	63.6	53.1	52.4	49.9
Aug 2011	63.9	53.1	52.5	50.6
Sep 2011	63.9	53.2	53.1	51.5
Oct 2011	63.9	53.3	53.5	51.7
Nov 2011	64.3	53.2	53.0	50.8
Dec 2011	64.4	53.1	54.4	50.6
Jan 2012	64.3	52.9	55.2	50.9
Feb 2012	64.3	53.1	54.0	52.2
Mar 2012	64.3	53.2	54.1	52.4
Apr 2012	64.3	53.0	53.8	52.6
May 2012	64.3	53.1	54.2	52.0
Jun 2012	64.4	53.2	54.3	52.1
Jul 2012	64.3	53.0	53.8	52.0
Aug 2012	64.1	53.1	53.7	52.2
Sep 2012	64.5	53.3	53.6	52.4
Oct 2012	64.7	53.3	54.0	52.9
Nov 2012	64.6	53.2	54.3	52.2
Dec 2012	64.6	53.2	54.0	51.7
Jan 2013	64.5	53.0	54.8	52.1
Feb 2013	64.5	53.0	55.2	51.6
Mar 2013	64.5	52.9	55.3	51.6
Apr 2013	64.4	53.2	54.4	52.4
May 2013	64.4	53.2	54.3	52.8
Jun 2013	64.5	53.2	53.9	52.0
Jul 2013	64.4	53.4	54.8	52.4
Aug 2013	64.3	53.5	54.0	52.1
Sep 2013	64.4	53.3	54.7	52.1
Oct 2013	64.0	52.9	54.4	51.5
Nov 2013	64.5	53.1	54.6	51.7
Dec 2013	64.5	53.2	54.4	52.1
Jan 2014	64.5	53.4	54.4	52.4
Feb 2014	64.3	53.6	54.2	53.3
Mar 2014	64.8	53.4	55.2	52.8
Apr 2014	64.6	53.5	55.4	52.7
May 2014	64.6	53.5	55.3	52.7
Jun 2014	64.9	53.5	56.1	53.0
Jul 2014	65.0	53.4	56.3	53.0
Aug 2014	65.0	53.4	56.3	52.1
Sep 2014	65.2	53.4	57.0	53.0
Oct 2014	65.3	53.7	56.9	53.1
Nov 2014	65.1	53.7	56.2	53.3
Dec 2014	65.3	53.6	56.7	53.4
Jan 2015	65.3	53.7	56.4	53.2
Feb 2015	65.3	53.6	56.7	53.3
Mar 2015	65.3	53.6	56.9	53.5
Apr 2015	65.5	53.6	58.5	54.2
May 2015	65.5	53.8	57.6	54.2
Jun 2015	65.3	53.8	57.1	54.8
Jul 2015	65.4	53.6	57.2	54.8
Aug 2015	65.4	53.8	57.2	54.8
Sep 2015	65.3	53.5	57.1	54.5
Oct 2015	65.3	53.7	57.2	54.9
Nov 2015	65.2	54.0	56.7	55.0
Dec 2015	65.5	54.1	57.9	55.1
Jan 2016	65.7	54.1	57.7	54.9
Feb 2016	65.9	54.1	58.2	54.5
Mar 2016	65.9	54.2	58.3	54.1
Apr 2016	65.8	54.0	58.2	53.8
May 2016	65.7	54.1	58.5	54.0
Jun 2016	65.9	53.9	58.5	54.1
Jul 2016	65.8	54.1	58.3	54.4
Aug 2016	65.9	54.1	58.5	55.6
Sep 2016	65.8	54.1	58.4	55.3
Oct 2016	65.7	54.1	58.0	55.3
Nov 2016	65.7	54.1	58.6	55.6
Dec 2016	65.7	54.1	58.7	55.7
Jan 2017	65.9	54.2	59.6	56.0
Feb 2017	65.9	54.4	59.0	55.9
Mar 2017	66.0	54.7	59.0	56.0
Apr 2017	66.2	54.6	59.8	55.9
May 2017	66.0	54.5	59.7	56.1
Jun 2017	66.1	54.6	59.8	55.9
Jul 2017	66.0	54.8	59.5	56.2
Aug 2017	66.0	54.6	58.9	55.9
Sep 2017	66.3	54.8	60.4	56.3
Oct 2017	66.0	54.5	58.9	56.2
Nov 2017	65.9	54.6	59.0	56.6
Dec 2017	66.1	54.5	59.4	56.8
Jan 2018	66.3	54.5	59.4	55.8
Feb 2018	66.6	54.7	61.4	56.3
Mar 2018	66.5	54.7	60.7	56.7
Apr 2018	66.5	54.7	60.3	56.0
May 2018	66.5	54.8	61.0	56.6
Jun 2018	66.3	54.9	59.7	57.2
Jul 2018	66.3	55.2	60.1	57.0
Aug 2018	66.1	54.8	60.4	56.1
Sep 2018	66.1	55.0	60.2	57.2
Oct 2018	66.2	55.1	60.2	57.1
Nov 2018	66.4	55.1	60.2	56.7
Dec 2018	66.2	55.2	59.6	56.4
Jan 2019	66.5	55.2	60.0	57.3
Feb 2019	66.5	55.3	60.0	56.7
Mar 2019	66.5	55.2	59.9	56.5
Apr 2019	66.4	55.2	60.3	56.8
May 2019	66.5	55.0	60.2	57.3
Jun 2019	66.6	55.1	60.0	56.7
Jul 2019	66.7	55.2	61.2	57.1
Aug 2019	66.6	55.4	60.7	57.1
Sep 2019	66.6	55.6	61.1	57.4
Oct 2019	66.5	55.7	60.9	57.3
Nov 2019	66.8	55.5	61.1	56.8
Dec 2019	66.7	55.7	61.0	57.9
Jan 2020	66.8	55.8	60.4	57.7
Feb 2020	66.8	55.9	60.6	58.4
Mar 2020	65.6	54.6	59.5	56.1
Apr 2020	57.2	45.8	50.4	47.4
May 2020	58.6	47.3	51.4	48.2
Jun 2020	60.2	49.5	51.9	49.9
Jul 2020	60.6	50.2	52.9	50.3
Aug 2020	62.0	51.3	54.1	51.0
Sep 2020	62.3	51.2	53.8	51.5
Oct 2020	63.0	52.1	55.0	52.5
Nov 2020	62.8	52.3	55.1	53.2
Dec 2020	62.9	52.2	55.5	52.6
Jan 2021	63.2	52.2	57.0	52.9
Feb 2021	63.2	52.5	56.4	52.5
Mar 2021	63.2	52.8	57.1	53.1
Apr 2021	63.4	52.8	57.3	53.6
May 2021	63.5	52.9	57.4	53.8
Jun 2021	63.5	52.9	58.3	53.9
Jul 2021	63.8	53.3	57.8	54.2
Aug 2021	64.1	53.4	57.7	54.8
Sep 2021	64.4	53.5	57.9	55.3
Oct 2021	64.6	53.6	58.4	54.5
Nov 2021	65.0	53.9	58.7	55.1
Dec 2021	65.1	54.3	58.2	55.0
Jan 2022	65.1	54.6	60.0	55.7

Percent distribution of employed Blacks or African Americans and the total workforce by selected industry and sex, 2021 annual averages
Selected industry	Total men	Total women	Black men	Black women
Construction	12.4%	1.7%	7.2%	0.7%
Manufacturing	12.9	6.0	11.2	5.3
Wholesale and retail trade	13.3	12.4	15.0	11.5
Transportation and utilities	8.7	3.2	14.9	5.3
Information	2.0	1.5	2.0	1.4
Financial activities	6.4	7.8	5.3	7.5
Professional and business services	13.7	11.4	11.5	8.9
Education and health services	11.0	36.0	13.6	40.1
Leisure and hospitality	7.7	9.0	8.3	7.8
Other services	4.3	5.2	4.1	3.9
Public administration	4.9	4.8	6.0	7.3
Note: Data do not sum to 100 percent because values are not shown for agriculture and related industries or for mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.