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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, 2002, 2012, 2022, and projected 2032
(in percent)

Group

Participation rate, 2002

Participation rate, 2012

Participation rate, 2022

Participation rate, 2032

Participation rate change, 2002–12

Participation rate change, 2012–22

Participation rate change, 2022–32

Compound annual rate of change, 2002–12

Compound annual rate of change, 2012–22

Compound annual rate of change, 2022–32

Total, 16 years and older

66.6

63.7

62.2

60.4

-2.9

-1.5

-1.8

-0.4

-0.2

-0.3

16 to 24

63.3

54.9

55.6

51.3

-8.4

0.7

-4.3

-1.4

0.1

-0.8

16 to 19

47.4

34.3

36.8

30.9

-13.1

2.5

-5.9

-3.2

0.7

-1.7

20 to 24

76.4

70.9

71.0

67.8

-5.5

0.0

-3.2

-0.7

0.0

-0.5

25 to 54

83.3

81.4

82.4

81.7

-1.9

1.0

-0.8

-0.2

0.1

-0.1

25 to 34

83.7

81.7

83.2

82.1

-2.0

1.5

-1.0

-0.2

0.2

-0.1

35 to 44

84.1

82.6

83.0

81.9

-1.6

0.4

-1.0

-0.2

0.0

-0.1

45 to 54

82.1

80.2

81.1

80.9

-1.9

0.9

-0.2

-0.2

0.1

0.0

55 and older

34.5

40.5

38.8

37.4

5.9

-1.6

-1.4

1.6

-0.4

-0.4

55 to 64

61.9

64.5

65.2

68.4

2.6

0.7

3.2

0.4

0.1

0.5

65 to 74

20.4

26.8

26.6

29.9

6.5

-0.3

3.3

2.8

-0.1

1.2

75 and older

5.1

7.6

8.2

9.9

2.5

0.6

1.7

4.1

0.8

1.9

 

Men, 16 years and older

74.1

70.2

68.0

65.2

-3.9

-2.2

-2.8

-0.5

-0.3

-0.4

16 to 24

65.5

56.5

56.5

51.0

-9.0

0.0

-5.5

-1.5

0.0

-1.0

16 to 19

47.5

34.0

36.3

30.1

-13.5

2.4

-6.2

-3.3

0.7

-1.9

20 to 24

80.7

74.5

73.2

68.2

-6.2

-1.3

-5.0

-0.8

-0.2

-0.7

25 to 54

91.0

88.7

88.6

86.7

-2.4

-0.1

-1.9

-0.3

0.0

-0.2

25 to 34

92.4

89.5

88.7

86.2

-2.9

-0.8

-2.5

-0.3

-0.1

-0.3

35 to 44

92.1

90.7

89.7

88.0

-1.4

-1.0

-1.7

-0.2

-0.1

-0.2

45 to 54

88.5

86.0

87.1

85.6

-2.4

1.1

-1.5

-0.3

0.1

-0.2

55 and older

42.0

46.8

44.7

42.3

4.7

-2.1

-2.4

1.1

-0.5

-0.5

55 to 64

69.2

69.9

71.0

72.2

0.7

1.1

1.2

0.1

0.2

0.2

65 to 74

25.5

31.8

31.4

34.5

6.3

-0.4

3.1

2.2

-0.1

1.0

75 and older

7.6

11.3

11.1

12.9

3.7

-0.2

1.7

4.0

-0.2

1.5

 

Women, 16 years and older

59.6

57.7

56.8

55.9

-1.9

-0.9

-0.9

-0.3

-0.2

-0.2

16 to 24

61.1

53.2

54.6

51.5

-7.9

1.4

-3.1

-1.4

0.3

-0.6

16 to 19

47.3

34.6

37.2

31.7

-12.7

2.6

-5.5

-3.1

0.7

-1.6

20 to 24

72.1

67.4

68.7

67.3

-4.7

1.3

-1.4

-0.7

0.2

-0.2

25 to 54

75.9

74.5

76.4

76.7

-1.4

1.9

0.3

-0.2

0.3

0.0

25 to 34

75.1

74.1

77.6

78.2

-1.1

3.6

0.5

-0.1

0.5

0.1

35 to 44

76.4

74.8

76.3

75.7

-1.6

1.5

-0.5

-0.2

0.2

-0.1

45 to 54

76.0

74.7

75.2

76.3

-1.4

0.6

1.0

-0.2

0.1

0.1

55 and older

28.5

35.1

33.6

33.1

6.6

-1.5

-0.5

2.1

-0.4

-0.1

55 to 64

55.2

59.4

59.6

64.7

4.3

0.1

5.1

0.8

0.0

0.8

65 to 74

16.1

22.5

22.3

25.7

6.4

-0.2

3.4

3.4

-0.1

1.4

75 and older

3.5

5.0

6.0

7.6

1.5

0.9

1.7

3.7

1.7

2.5

 

White

66.8

64.0

62.0

59.9

-2.8

-2.0

-2.1

-0.4

-0.3

-0.3

Men

74.8

71.0

68.1

65.1

-3.8

-2.9

-3.0

-0.5

-0.4

-0.5

Women

59.3

57.4

56.1

54.9

-2.0

-1.3

-1.2

-0.3

-0.2

-0.2

 

Black

64.8

61.5

62.2

60.4

-3.2

0.7

-1.8

-0.5

0.1

-0.3

Men

68.4

63.6

65.2

62.2

-4.8

1.6

-2.9

-0.7

0.2

-0.5

Women

61.8

59.8

59.7

58.8

-2.0

-0.1

-0.9

-0.3

0.0

-0.1

 

All other groups(1)

66.8

63.9

64.2

63.6

-2.9

0.3

-0.5

-0.4

0.0

-0.1

Men

75.5

71.2

70.6

69.2

-4.3

-0.6

-1.4

-0.6

-0.1

-0.2

Women

58.9

57.3

58.3

58.5

-1.6

1.0

0.2

-0.3

0.2

0.0

 

Hispanic origin

69.1

66.4

66.3

65.3

-2.8

-0.1

-1.0

-0.4

0.0

-0.1

Men

80.2

76.1

75.2

72.7

-4.2

-0.8

-2.5

-0.5

-0.1

-0.3

Women

57.6

56.6

57.3

57.9

-1.0

0.7

0.5

-0.2

0.1

0.1

 

Other than Hispanic origin

66.2

63.2

61.4

59.2

-3.0

-1.8

-2.2

-0.5

-0.3

-0.4

Men

73.2

69.1

66.4

63.2

-4.2

-2.7

-3.2

-0.6

-0.4

-0.5

Women

59.9

57.9

56.7

55.4

-2.0

-1.2

-1.3

-0.3

-0.2

-0.2

 

Age of baby boomers

38 to 56

48 to 66

58 to 76

68 to 86

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 Population Survey (CPS) data due to rounding at different aggregate levels.
Source: Employment Projections program, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Last Modified Date: September 6, 2023