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In 2012, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders had the highest labor force participation rates (71.4 percent) among the race and ethnicity groups, while American Indians and Alaska Natives and Blacks had the lowest participation rates (59.3 percent and 61.5 percent, respectively).
Race or Hispanic ethnicity group | Percent |
---|---|
Total | 63.7 |
Men | 70.2 |
Women | 57.7 |
White | 64.0 |
Men | 71.0 |
Women | 57.4 |
Black or African American | 61.5 |
Men | 63.6 |
Women | 59.8 |
Asian | 63.9 |
Men | 72.2 |
Women | 56.5 |
American Indian and Alaska Native | 59.3 |
Men | 66.4 |
Women | 52.6 |
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 71.4 |
Men | 73.9 |
Women | 69.1 |
Two or More Races | 65.3 |
Men | 70.4 |
Women | 60.5 |
Hispanic or Latino | 66.4 |
Men | 76.1 |
Women | 56.6 |
Note: People whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.
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The participation rates for Hispanics, Whites, and Asians, were 66.4 percent, 64.0 percent, and 63.9 percent, respectively. The participation rate for people of Two or More Races was 65.3 percent. Across the race and ethnicity groups, men typically have higher labor force participation rates than women.
Among people age 25 and older in the labor force, Asians were the most likely of the groups to have graduated from college; 58 percent of Asians in the labor force had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 36 percent of Whites, 26 percent of Blacks, and 17 percent of Hispanics.
Race or Hispanic ethnicity group | Percent distribution | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Less than a high school diploma | High school graduates, no college | Some college or associate degree | Bachelor's degree and higher | |
White | 8.5 | 27.4 | 27.8 | 36.3 |
Black or African American | 8.3 | 32.8 | 32.7 | 26.2 |
Asian | 7.0 | 17.4 | 17.7 | 58.0 |
Hispanic or Latino | 29.5 | 30.8 | 22.9 | 16.9 |
Note: People whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Data may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding. |
In 2012, thirty percent of Hispanics age 25 and older in the labor force had less than a high school diploma, compared with 9 percent of Whites, 8 percent of Blacks, and 7 percent of Asians.
These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see "Labor Force Characteristics by Race and Ethnicity, 2012" (PDF), Report 1044, October 2013. People whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Racial and ethnic characteristics of the U.S. labor force in 2012 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2013/ted_20131119.htm (visited October 31, 2024).