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Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey
Bureau of Labor Statistics > Current Population Survey > Home

Labor Force Characteristics by Race and Ethnicity, 2008

Labor force participation

  • The overall labor force participation rate peaked at 67.1 percent in the late 1990s into 2000 and then began to trend down. The participation rate was 66.0 percent in 2008. (See tables 1 and 2.)
  • Among the major race and ethnicity groups, Hispanics continued to have the highest labor force participation rate (68.5 percent) in 2008, while the participation rate for blacks was the lowest (63.7 percent). The participation rates for whites (66.3 percent) and Asians (67.0 percent) were roughly midway between the rates for blacks and Hispanics, continuing a long-term pattern. Compared with annual average data for 2007, the participation rates for whites and Hispanics were down slightly in 2008, while the rate for blacks held steady and the rate for Asians continued to trend up.


 

Last Modified Date: December 4, 2009