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Employment Projections

Civilian labor force participation rate by age, sex, race, and ethnicity

Other available formats: (XLSX)

Table 3.3 Civilian labor force participation rates by age, sex, race, and ethnicity, 2001, 2011, 2021, and projected 2031 (in percent)

Group

Participation rate, 2001

Participation rate, 2011

Participation rate, 2021

Participation rate, 2031

Participation rate change, 2001–11

Participation rate change, 2011–21

Participation rate change, 2021–31

Compound annual rate of change, 2001–11

Compound annual rate of change, 2011–21

Compound annual rate of change, 2021–31

Total, 16 years and older

66.8

64.1

61.7

60.1

-2.7

-2.5

-1.6

-0.4

-0.4

-0.3

16 to 24

64.5

55.0

55.5

51.1

-9.6

0.5

-4.4

-1.6

0.1

-0.8

16 to 19

49.6

34.1

36.2

29.7

-15.5

2.1

-6.5

-3.7

0.6

-2.0

20 to 24

77.1

71.3

70.8

67.9

-5.8

-0.5

-2.9

-0.8

-0.1

-0.4

25 to 54

83.7

81.6

81.6

81.1

-2.1

0.0

-0.5

-0.3

0.0

-0.1

25 to 34

84.0

81.5

81.9

81.2

-2.5

0.4

-0.8

-0.3

0.1

-0.1

35 to 44

84.6

82.7

82.0

81.3

-1.9

-0.7

-0.7

-0.2

-0.1

-0.1

45 to 54

82.3

80.7

80.7

80.9

-1.7

0.0

0.2

-0.2

0.0

0.0

55 and older

33.2

40.2

38.4

37.7

7.0

-1.9

-0.7

1.9

-0.5

-0.2

55 to 64

60.4

64.2

64.6

68.2

3.9

0.3

3.6

0.6

0.1

0.5

65 to 74

19.7

26.4

25.8

30.7

6.8

-0.6

4.9

3.0

-0.2

1.7

75 and older

5.2

7.5

8.6

11.1

2.2

1.1

2.5

3.6

1.4

2.6

 

Men

74.4

70.5

67.6

64.9

-4.0

-2.9

-2.7

-0.5

-0.4

-0.4

16 to 24

67.0

56.6

56.5

50.7

-10.4

-0.1

-5.8

-1.7

0.0

-1.1

16 to 19

50.2

33.7

35.9

28.8

-16.5

2.2

-7.1

-3.9

0.6

-2.2

20 to 24

81.6

74.7

73.0

68.2

-6.8

-1.7

-4.8

-0.9

-0.2

-0.7

25 to 54

91.3

88.7

88.0

86.4

-2.6

-0.7

-1.6

-0.3

-0.1

-0.2

25 to 34

92.7

89.2

87.7

85.3

-3.6

-1.5

-2.4

-0.4

-0.2

-0.3

35 to 44

92.5

90.9

89.6

88.3

-1.5

-1.3

-1.4

-0.2

-0.1

-0.2

45 to 54

88.5

86.2

86.6

85.4

-2.3

0.4

-1.2

-0.3

0.0

-0.1

55 and older

40.9

46.3

44.2

42.3

5.4

-2.1

-1.9

1.3

-0.5

-0.4

55 to 64

68.3

69.3

70.4

71.9

1.1

1.1

1.5

0.2

0.2

0.2

65 to 74

24.6

31.7

30.7

35.2

7.1

-1.0

4.5

2.6

-0.3

1.4

75 and older

8.2

10.4

11.5

14.0

2.2

1.1

2.4

2.4

1.0

1.9

 

Women

59.8

58.1

56.1

55.5

-1.7

-2.0

-0.6

-0.3

-0.4

-0.1

16 to 24

62.0

53.3

54.5

51.5

-8.7

1.2

-3.0

-1.5

0.2

-0.6

16 to 19

49.0

34.6

36.5

30.6

-14.4

2.0

-5.9

-3.4

0.6

-1.7

20 to 24

72.7

67.8

68.6

67.6

-5.0

0.8

-1.0

-0.7

0.1

-0.1

25 to 54

76.4

74.7

75.3

75.9

-1.7

0.7

0.6

-0.2

0.1

0.1

25 to 34

75.5

73.9

76.2

77.0

-1.7

2.3

0.8

-0.2

0.3

0.1

35 to 44

77.1

74.7

74.6

74.3

-2.4

0.0

-0.3

-0.3

0.0

0.0

45 to 54

76.4

75.4

75.0

76.5

-1.0

-0.3

1.5

-0.1

0.0

0.2

55 and older

27.0

35.1

33.3

33.6

8.0

-1.8

0.3

2.6

-0.5

0.1

55 to 64

53.2

59.5

59.2

64.8

6.4

-0.4

5.6

1.1

-0.1

0.9

65 to 74

15.6

21.8

21.6

26.7

6.2

-0.3

5.2

3.4

-0.1

2.2

75 and older

3.3

5.4

6.4

8.9

2.1

1.0

2.5

5.0

1.8

3.3

 

White

67.0

64.5

61.5

59.7

-2.5

-3.0

-1.8

-0.4

-0.5

-0.3

Men

75.1

71.3

67.9

65.0

-3.9

-3.4

-2.9

-0.5

-0.5

-0.4

Women

59.4

58.0

55.4

54.6

-1.4

-2.7

-0.8

-0.2

-0.5

-0.1

 

Black

65.3

61.4

60.9

59.5

-3.9

-0.5

-1.5

-0.6

-0.1

-0.2

Men

68.5

64.2

63.5

60.7

-4.2

-0.7

-2.8

-0.6

-0.1

-0.4

Women

62.8

59.1

58.8

58.4

-3.7

-0.4

-0.4

-0.6

-0.1

-0.1

 

All other groups(1)

66.8

64.0

63.9

63.6

-2.8

-0.1

-0.3

-0.4

0.0

0.0

Men

75.5

71.5

70.3

69.2

-4.0

-1.1

-1.1

-0.5

-0.2

-0.2

Women

58.9

57.1

58.0

58.4

-1.8

0.9

0.4

-0.3

0.1

0.1

 

Hispanic origin

69.5

66.5

65.5

64.9

-3.0

-1.0

-0.6

-0.4

-0.1

-0.1

Men

81.0

76.5

75.4

73.2

-4.5

-1.1

-2.2

-0.6

-0.1

-0.3

Women

57.5

55.9

55.8

56.6

-1.7

-0.1

0.9

-0.3

0.0

0.2

 

Other than Hispanic origin

66.5

63.7

60.9

58.9

-2.8

-2.9

-2.0

-0.4

-0.5

-0.3

Men

73.5

69.4

65.9

62.8

-4.1

-3.5

-3.2

-0.6

-0.5

-0.5

Women

60.1

58.5

56.1

55.3

-1.6

-2.3

-0.9

-0.3

-0.4

-0.2

 

Age of baby boomers

37 to 55

47 to 65

57 to 75

67 to 85

Footnotes:
(1) The "all other groups" category includes (1) those classified as being of multiple racial origin and (2) the race categories of (2a) Asian, (2b) American Indian and Alaska Native or (2c) Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders.
Note: Historic data may not match BLS' Current Populations Survey (CPS) data due to rounding at different aggregate levels.
Source: Employment Projections program, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Last Modified Date: September 8, 2022