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Participation rate, employment–population ratio, and unemployment rate in April 2014

May 06, 2014

In April, the labor force participation rate was 62.8 percent—this is the number of people who are employed (145.7 million) plus the number of people who are unemployed (9.8 million) added together (which is the civilian labor force, 155.4 million) then divided by the civilian noninstitutional population (247.4 million). The civilian labor force dropped by 806,000 in April, following an increase of 503,000 in March.  The participation rate, which decreased 0.4 percentage point in April, has shown no clear trend in recent months and is currently the same as it was this past October.

 

 

Labor force participation rate, employment–population ratio, and unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, January 2004–April 2014
MonthLabor force participation rateEmployment–population ratioUnemployment rate

Jan 2004

66.162.35.7

Feb 2004

66.062.35.6

Mar 2004

66.062.25.8

Apr 2004

65.962.35.6

May 2004

66.062.35.6

Jun 2004

66.162.45.6

Jul 2004

66.162.55.5

Aug 2004

66.062.45.4

Sep 2004

65.862.35.4

Oct 2004

65.962.35.5

Nov 2004

66.062.55.4

Dec 2004

65.962.45.4

Jan 2005

65.862.45.3

Feb 2005

65.962.45.4

Mar 2005

65.962.45.2

Apr 2005

66.162.75.2

May 2005

66.162.85.1

Jun 2005

66.162.75.0

Jul 2005

66.162.85.0

Aug 2005

66.262.94.9

Sep 2005

66.162.85.0

Oct 2005

66.162.85.0

Nov 2005

66.062.75.0

Dec 2005

66.062.84.9

Jan 2006

66.062.94.7

Feb 2006

66.163.04.8

Mar 2006

66.263.14.7

Apr 2006

66.163.04.7

May 2006

66.163.14.6

Jun 2006

66.263.14.6

Jul 2006

66.163.04.7

Aug 2006

66.263.14.7

Sep 2006

66.163.14.5

Oct 2006

66.263.34.4

Nov 2006

66.363.34.5

Dec 2006

66.463.44.4

Jan 2007

66.463.34.6

Feb 2007

66.363.34.5

Mar 2007

66.263.34.4

Apr 2007

65.963.04.5

May 2007

66.063.04.4

Jun 2007

66.063.04.6

Jul 2007

66.062.94.7

Aug 2007

65.862.74.6

Sep 2007

66.062.94.7

Oct 2007

65.862.74.7

Nov 2007

66.062.94.7

Dec 2007

66.062.75.0

Jan 2008

66.262.95.0

Feb 2008

66.062.84.9

Mar 2008

66.162.75.1

Apr 2008

65.962.75.0

May 2008

66.162.55.4

Jun 2008

66.162.45.6

Jul 2008

66.162.25.8

Aug 2008

66.162.06.1

Sep 2008

66.061.96.1

Oct 2008

66.061.76.5

Nov 2008

65.961.46.8

Dec 2008

65.861.07.3

Jan 2009

65.760.67.8

Feb 2009

65.860.38.3

Mar 2009

65.659.98.7

Apr 2009

65.759.89.0

May 2009

65.759.69.4

Jun 2009

65.759.49.5

Jul 2009

65.559.39.5

Aug 2009

65.459.19.6

Sep 2009

65.158.79.8

Oct 2009

65.058.510.0

Nov 2009

65.058.69.9

Dec 2009

64.658.39.9

Jan 2010

64.858.59.7

Feb 2010

64.958.59.8

Mar 2010

64.958.59.9

Apr 2010

65.258.79.9

May 2010

64.958.69.6

Jun 2010

64.658.59.4

Jul 2010

64.658.59.5

Aug 2010

64.758.69.5

Sep 2010

64.658.59.5

Oct 2010

64.458.39.5

Nov 2010

64.658.29.8

Dec 2010

64.358.39.4

Jan 2011

64.258.49.1

Feb 2011

64.258.49.0

Mar 2011

64.258.49.0

Apr 2011

64.258.49.1

May 2011

64.258.49.0

Jun 2011

64.058.29.1

Jul 2011

64.058.29.0

Aug 2011

64.158.39.0

Sep 2011

64.258.49.0

Oct 2011

64.158.48.8

Nov 2011

64.158.58.6

Dec 2011

64.058.58.5

Jan 2012

63.758.58.2

Feb 2012

63.958.58.3

Mar 2012

63.858.68.2

Apr 2012

63.758.58.2

May 2012

63.858.68.2

Jun 2012

63.858.68.2

Jul 2012

63.758.58.2

Aug 2012

63.558.48.1

Sep 2012

63.658.67.8

Oct 2012

63.758.87.8

Nov 2012

63.658.77.8

Dec 2012

63.658.67.9

Jan 2013

63.658.67.9

Feb 2013

63.558.67.7

Mar 2013

63.358.57.5

Apr 2013

63.458.67.5

May 2013

63.458.77.5

Jun 2013

63.558.77.5

Jul 2013

63.458.77.3

Aug 2013

63.258.67.2

Sep 2013

63.258.67.2

Oct 2013

62.858.27.2

Nov 2013

63.058.67.0

Dec 2013

62.858.66.7

Jan 2014

63.058.86.6

Feb 2014

63.058.86.7

Mar 2014

63.258.96.7

Apr 2014

62.858.96.3

 

The employment–population ratio—the ratio of employed persons to the civilian noninstitutional population—was 58.9 percent in April, unchanged from March and little changed over the year. 

The number of unemployed persons, at 9.8 million, decreased by 733,000 in April. The unemployment rate—the number of unemployed divided by the labor force—was 6.3 percent in April, a decline from 6.7 percent in March.  Both measures had shown little movement over the prior 4 months. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons declined by 1.2 percentage points and 1.9 million, respectively.

These data are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "The Employment Situation — April 2014," (HTML) (PDF) news release USDL-14-0701. To learn more about labor force and unemployment concepts, see How the Government Measures Unemployment.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Participation rate, employment–population ratio, and unemployment rate in April 2014 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2014/ted_20140506.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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