January, 05 2010 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Labor force demographics, 2008
Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population by race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, 2008
| Employment status |
White |
Hispanic or
Latino ethnicity |
Black or
African American |
Asian |
Civilian noninstitutional population |
189,540,000 |
32,141,000 |
27,843,000 |
10,751,000 |
Civilian labor force |
125,635,000 |
22,024,000 |
17,740,000 |
7,202,000 |
Employed |
119,126,000 |
20,346,000 |
15,953,000 |
6,917,000 |
Unemployed |
6,509,000 |
1,678,000 |
1,788,000 |
285,000 |
Not in labor force |
63,905,000 |
10,116,000 |
10,103,000 |
3,549,000 |
Labor force participation rate |
66.3% |
68.5% |
63.7% |
67.0% |
These data featured in the TED article, Labor force demographics, 2008.
Labor force participation rates by race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, 1980–2008
| Year |
White |
Black or
African American |
Asian |
Hispanic or
Latino ethnicity |
1980 |
64.1 |
61.0 |
|
64.0 |
1981 |
64.3 |
60.8 |
|
64.1 |
1982 |
64.3 |
61.0 |
|
63.6 |
1983 |
64.3 |
61.5 |
|
63.8 |
1984 |
64.6 |
62.2 |
|
64.9 |
1985 |
65.0 |
62.9 |
|
64.6 |
1986 |
65.5 |
63.3 |
|
65.4 |
1987 |
65.8 |
63.8 |
|
66.4 |
1988 |
66.2 |
63.8 |
|
67.4 |
1989 |
66.7 |
64.2 |
|
67.6 |
1990 |
66.9 |
64.0 |
|
67.4 |
1991 |
66.6 |
63.3 |
|
66.5 |
1992 |
66.8 |
63.9 |
|
66.8 |
1993 |
66.8 |
63.2 |
|
66.2 |
1994 |
67.1 |
63.4 |
|
66.1 |
1995 |
67.1 |
63.7 |
|
65.8 |
1996 |
67.2 |
64.1 |
|
66.5 |
1997 |
67.5 |
64.7 |
|
67.9 |
1998 |
67.3 |
65.6 |
|
67.9 |
1999 |
67.3 |
65.8 |
|
67.7 |
2000 |
67.3 |
65.8 |
67.2 |
69.7 |
2001 |
67.0 |
65.3 |
67.2 |
69.5 |
2002 |
66.8 |
64.8 |
67.2 |
69.1 |
2003 |
66.5 |
64.3 |
66.4 |
68.3 |
2004 |
66.3 |
63.8 |
65.9 |
68.6 |
2005 |
66.3 |
64.2 |
66.1 |
68.0 |
2006 |
66.5 |
64.1 |
66.2 |
68.7 |
2007 |
66.4 |
63.7 |
66.5 |
68.8 |
2008 |
66.3 |
63.7 |
67.0 |
68.5 |
These data featured in the TED article, Labor force demographics, 2008.
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