TED: The Economics Daily

Overall, 64.2 percent of the U.S. population worked in 2023, up from 63.8 percent in 2022. In 2023, the percentage of women who worked at some time during the year increased by 0.5 percentage point to 59.4 percent, and the percentage of men who worked at some time during the year was up by 0.4 percentage point to 69.2 percent. Men continued to be more likely to work at some time during the year than women.

Labor unions celebrated the first Labor Day with a parade in 1882, and Congress declared it a federal holiday 12 years later. In recognition of labor unions and the federal holiday, let’s look at some wage and benefit data by bargaining status (that is, whether workers are represented by unions).

In July 2025, the District of Columbia had the highest unemployment rate, 6.0 percent. The next highest rates were in California, 5.5 percent, and Nevada, 5.4 percent. South Dakota had the lowest jobless rate in July, 1.9 percent. In total, 21 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 4.2 percent, 4 states and the District had higher rates, and 25 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

The unemployment rate in July for those ages 16 to 24, at 10.8 percent, was higher than the prior summer (9.8 percent in July 2024). The rates for young men and white youth increased over the year, to 11.0 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively.