Chart 9. Labor force participation rate and employment–population ratio, quarterly averages, seasonally adjusted, 1968–2023 (in percent)
Quarter Labor force participation rate Employment–population ratio

Q1 1968

59.4 57.2

Q2 1968

59.8 57.7

Q3 1968

59.6 57.5

Q4 1968

59.6 57.6

Q1 1969

59.8 57.8

Q2 1969

60.0 57.9

Q3 1969

60.2 58.1

Q4 1969

60.3 58.1

Q1 1970

60.5 57.9

Q2 1970

60.4 57.5

Q3 1970

60.3 57.2

Q4 1970

60.4 56.9

Q1 1971

60.2 56.6

Q2 1971

60.0 56.5

Q3 1971

60.2 56.6

Q4 1971

60.3 56.7

Q1 1972

60.3 56.8

Q2 1972

60.4 57.0

Q3 1972

60.4 57.1

Q4 1972

60.4 57.2

Q1 1973

60.4 57.4

Q2 1973

60.8 57.8

Q3 1973

60.8 57.9

Q4 1973

61.1 58.2

Q1 1974

61.3 58.2

Q2 1974

61.2 58.0

Q3 1974

61.3 57.9

Q4 1974

61.3 57.2

Q1 1975

61.2 56.2

Q2 1975

61.3 55.9

Q3 1975

61.3 56.1

Q4 1975

61.1 56.0

Q1 1976

61.3 56.5

Q2 1976

61.5 56.9

Q3 1976

61.7 57.0

Q4 1976

61.8 57.0

Q1 1977

61.9 57.2

Q2 1977

62.2 57.8

Q3 1977

62.2 58.0

Q4 1977

62.6 58.5

Q1 1978

62.8 58.8

Q2 1978

63.1 59.3

Q3 1978

63.2 59.4

Q4 1978

63.5 59.7

Q1 1979

63.7 60.0

Q2 1979

63.4 59.8

Q3 1979

63.7 60.0

Q4 1979

63.8 60.0

Q1 1980

63.9 59.9

Q2 1980

63.8 59.1

Q3 1980

63.7 58.8

Q4 1980

63.7 59.0

Q1 1981

64.0 59.2

Q2 1981

64.1 59.4

Q3 1981

63.7 59.0

Q4 1981

63.8 58.5

Q1 1982

63.8 58.1

Q2 1982

64.0 58.0

Q3 1982

64.1 57.7

Q4 1982

64.1 57.3

Q1 1983

63.8 57.1

Q2 1983

63.9 57.5

Q3 1983

64.3 58.2

Q4 1983

64.1 58.6

Q1 1984

64.0 59.0

Q2 1984

64.5 59.6

Q3 1984

64.5 59.7

Q4 1984

64.5 59.8

Q1 1985

64.8 60.1

Q2 1985

64.7 60.0

Q3 1985

64.7 60.1

Q4 1985

64.9 60.4

Q1 1986

65.0 60.5

Q2 1986

65.2 60.6

Q3 1986

65.4 60.8

Q4 1986

65.4 60.9

Q1 1987

65.4 61.1

Q2 1987

65.6 61.4

Q3 1987

65.6 61.7

Q4 1987

65.7 61.9

Q1 1988

65.8 62.0

Q2 1988

65.8 62.2

Q3 1988

66.0 62.3

Q4 1988

66.1 62.6

Q1 1989

66.3 62.9

Q2 1989

66.4 63.0

Q3 1989

66.5 63.0

Q4 1989

66.5 63.0

Q1 1990

66.7 63.1

Q2 1990

66.5 63.0

Q3 1990

66.5 62.7

Q4 1990

66.4 62.3

Q1 1991

66.3 61.9

Q2 1991

66.3 61.7

Q3 1991

66.1 61.6

Q4 1991

66.1 61.4

Q1 1992

66.3 61.4

Q2 1992

66.6 61.5

Q3 1992

66.6 61.5

Q4 1992

66.3 61.4

Q1 1993

66.2 61.5

Q2 1993

66.2 61.5

Q3 1993

66.3 61.8

Q4 1993

66.3 61.9

Q1 1994

66.6 62.2

Q2 1994

66.5 62.4

Q3 1994

66.5 62.5

Q4 1994

66.7 63.0

Q1 1995

66.8 63.1

Q2 1995

66.6 62.9

Q3 1995

66.6 62.8

Q4 1995

66.5 62.8

Q1 1996

66.5 62.8

Q2 1996

66.7 63.1

Q3 1996

66.9 63.3

Q4 1996

67.0 63.5

Q1 1997

67.0 63.5

Q2 1997

67.1 63.8

Q3 1997

67.2 63.9

Q4 1997

67.1 64.0

Q1 1998

67.1 64.0

Q2 1998

67.0 64.1

Q3 1998

67.1 64.0

Q4 1998

67.2 64.2

Q1 1999

67.1 64.3

Q2 1999

67.1 64.2

Q3 1999

67.1 64.2

Q4 1999

67.1 64.4

Q1 2000

67.3 64.6

Q2 2000

67.2 64.5

Q3 2000

66.9 64.2

Q4 2000

66.9 64.3

Q1 2001

67.2 64.3

Q2 2001

66.8 63.8

Q3 2001

66.7 63.5

Q4 2001

66.7 63.0

Q1 2002

66.6 62.8

Q2 2002

66.7 62.8

Q3 2002

66.6 62.8

Q4 2002

66.4 62.5

Q1 2003

66.3 62.4

Q2 2003

66.4 62.4

Q3 2003

66.1 62.1

Q4 2003

66.1 62.2

Q1 2004

66 62.3

Q2 2004

66 62.3

Q3 2004

66 62.4

Q4 2004

66 62.4

Q1 2005

65.9 62.4

Q2 2005

66.1 62.7

Q3 2005

66.1 62.8

Q4 2005

66 62.8

Q1 2006

66.1 63.0

Q2 2006

66.1 63.1

Q3 2006

66.1 63.1

Q4 2006

66.3 63.3

Q1 2007

66.3 63.3

Q2 2007

66.0 63.0

Q3 2007

65.9 62.8

Q4 2007

66.0 62.8

Q1 2008

66.1 62.8

Q2 2008

66.0 62.5

Q3 2008

66.0 62.1

Q4 2008

65.9 61.4

Q1 2009

65.7 60.2

Q2 2009

65.7 59.6

Q3 2009

65.3 59.0

Q4 2009

64.9 58.4

Q1 2010

64.9 58.5

Q2 2010

64.9 58.6

Q3 2010

64.6 58.5

Q4 2010

64.4 58.3

Q1 2011

64.2 58.4

Q2 2011

64.1 58.3

Q3 2011

64.1 58.3

Q4 2011

64.1 58.5

Q1 2012

63.8 58.5

Q2 2012

63.7 58.5

Q3 2012

63.6 58.5

Q4 2012

63.7 58.7

Q1 2013

63.5 58.5

Q2 2013

63.4 58.6

Q3 2013

63.3 58.7

Q4 2013

62.9 58.5

Q1 2014

63.0 58.8

Q2 2014

62.8 58.9

Q3 2014

62.9 59.0

Q4 2014

62.9 59.3

Q1 2015

62.7 59.3

Q2 2015

62.8 59.4

Q3 2015

62.5 59.3

Q4 2015

62.6 59.4

Q1 2016

62.8 59.8

Q2 2016

62.8 59.7

Q3 2016

62.8 59.8

Q4 2016

62.7 59.7

Q1 2017

62.9 60.0

Q2 2017

62.9 60.1

Q3 2017

62.9 60.2

Q4 2017

62.7 60.1

Q1 2018

62.8 60.3

Q2 2018

62.9 60.4

Q3 2018

62.8 60.4

Q4 2018

63.0 60.5

Q1 2019

63.1 60.6

Q2 2019

62.9 60.6

Q3 2019

63.1 60.9

Q4 2019

63.3 61.0

Q1 2020

63.1 60.7

Q2 2020

60.8 52.9

Q3 2020

61.6 56.1

Q4 2020

61.6 57.4

Q1 2021

61.4 57.6

Q2 2021

61.6 58.0

Q3 2021

61.8 58.6

Q4 2021

61.9 59.3

Q1 2022

62.2 59.9

Q2 2022

62.2 60.0

Q3 2022

62.3 60.1

Q4 2022

62.2 60.0

Q1 2023

62.5 60.3

Q2 2023

62.6 60.3

Q3 2023

62.7 60.4

Q4 2023

62.6 60.3

Note: Q1 = first quarter, Q2 = second quarter, Q3 = third quarter, and Q4 = fourth quarter.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.