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Labor force participation rate, at 62.8 percent, changed little in August 2014

September 09, 2014

In August 2014, the civilian labor force participation rate, at 62.8 percent, changed little and has been essentially unchanged since April. The employment-population ratio—the ratio of employed persons to the civilian noninstitutional population—was 59.0 percent for the third consecutive month in August 2014 but was up by 0.4 percentage point from August 2013. 

Labor force participation rate, employment-population ratio, and unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, January 2004–August 2014
Month Labor force participation rate Employment-population ratio Unemployment rate

Jan 2004

66.1 62.3 5.7

Feb 2004

66.0 62.3 5.6

Mar 2004

66.0 62.2 5.8

Apr 2004

65.9 62.3 5.6

May 2004

66.0 62.3 5.6

Jun 2004

66.1 62.4 5.6

Jul 2004

66.1 62.5 5.5

Aug 2004

66.0 62.4 5.4

Sep 2004

65.8 62.3 5.4

Oct 2004

65.9 62.3 5.5

Nov 2004

66.0 62.5 5.4

Dec 2004

65.9 62.4 5.4

Jan 2005

65.8 62.4 5.3

Feb 2005

65.9 62.4 5.4

Mar 2005

65.9 62.4 5.2

Apr 2005

66.1 62.7 5.2

May 2005

66.1 62.8 5.1

Jun 2005

66.1 62.7 5.0

Jul 2005

66.1 62.8 5.0

Aug 2005

66.2 62.9 4.9

Sep 2005

66.1 62.8 5.0

Oct 2005

66.1 62.8 5.0

Nov 2005

66.0 62.7 5.0

Dec 2005

66.0 62.8 4.9

Jan 2006

66.0 62.9 4.7

Feb 2006

66.1 63.0 4.8

Mar 2006

66.2 63.1 4.7

Apr 2006

66.1 63.0 4.7

May 2006

66.1 63.1 4.6

Jun 2006

66.2 63.1 4.6

Jul 2006

66.1 63.0 4.7

Aug 2006

66.2 63.1 4.7

Sep 2006

66.1 63.1 4.5

Oct 2006

66.2 63.3 4.4

Nov 2006

66.3 63.3 4.5

Dec 2006

66.4 63.4 4.4

Jan 2007

66.4 63.3 4.6

Feb 2007

66.3 63.3 4.5

Mar 2007

66.2 63.3 4.4

Apr 2007

65.9 63.0 4.5

May 2007

66.0 63.0 4.4

Jun 2007

66.0 63.0 4.6

Jul 2007

66.0 62.9 4.7

Aug 2007

65.8 62.7 4.6

Sep 2007

66.0 62.9 4.7

Oct 2007

65.8 62.7 4.7

Nov 2007

66.0 62.9 4.7

Dec 2007

66.0 62.7 5.0

Jan 2008

66.2 62.9 5.0

Feb 2008

66.0 62.8 4.9

Mar 2008

66.1 62.7 5.1

Apr 2008

65.9 62.7 5.0

May 2008

66.1 62.5 5.4

Jun 2008

66.1 62.4 5.6

Jul 2008

66.1 62.2 5.8

Aug 2008

66.1 62.0 6.1

Sep 2008

66.0 61.9 6.1

Oct 2008

66.0 61.7 6.5

Nov 2008

65.9 61.4 6.8

Dec 2008

65.8 61.0 7.3

Jan 2009

65.7 60.6 7.8

Feb 2009

65.8 60.3 8.3

Mar 2009

65.6 59.9 8.7

Apr 2009

65.7 59.8 9.0

May 2009

65.7 59.6 9.4

Jun 2009

65.7 59.4 9.5

Jul 2009

65.5 59.3 9.5

Aug 2009

65.4 59.1 9.6

Sep 2009

65.1 58.7 9.8

Oct 2009

65.0 58.5 10.0

Nov 2009

65.0 58.6 9.9

Dec 2009

64.6 58.3 9.9

Jan 2010

64.8 58.5 9.7

Feb 2010

64.9 58.5 9.8

Mar 2010

64.9 58.5 9.9

Apr 2010

65.2 58.7 9.9

May 2010

64.9 58.6 9.6

Jun 2010

64.6 58.5 9.4

Jul 2010

64.6 58.5 9.5

Aug 2010

64.7 58.6 9.5

Sep 2010

64.6 58.5 9.5

Oct 2010

64.4 58.3 9.5

Nov 2010

64.6 58.2 9.8

Dec 2010

64.3 58.3 9.4

Jan 2011

64.2 58.4 9.1

Feb 2011

64.2 58.4 9.0

Mar 2011

64.2 58.4 9.0

Apr 2011

64.2 58.4 9.1

May 2011

64.2 58.4 9.0

Jun 2011

64.0 58.2 9.1

Jul 2011

64.0 58.2 9.0

Aug 2011

64.1 58.3 9.0

Sep 2011

64.2 58.4 9.0

Oct 2011

64.1 58.4 8.8

Nov 2011

64.1 58.5 8.6

Dec 2011

64.0 58.5 8.5

Jan 2012

63.7 58.5 8.2

Feb 2012

63.9 58.5 8.3

Mar 2012

63.8 58.6 8.2

Apr 2012

63.7 58.5 8.2

May 2012

63.8 58.6 8.2

Jun 2012

63.8 58.6 8.2

Jul 2012

63.7 58.5 8.2

Aug 2012

63.5 58.4 8.1

Sep 2012

63.6 58.6 7.8

Oct 2012

63.7 58.8 7.8

Nov 2012

63.6 58.7 7.8

Dec 2012

63.6 58.6 7.9

Jan 2013

63.6 58.6 7.9

Feb 2013

63.5 58.6 7.7

Mar 2013

63.3 58.5 7.5

Apr 2013

63.4 58.6 7.5

May 2013

63.4 58.7 7.5

Jun 2013

63.5 58.7 7.5

Jul 2013

63.4 58.7 7.3

Aug 2013

63.2 58.6 7.2

Sep 2013

63.2 58.6 7.2

Oct 2013

62.8 58.2 7.2

Nov 2013

63.0 58.6 7.0

Dec 2013

62.8 58.6 6.7

Jan 2014

63.0 58.8 6.6

Feb 2014

63.0 58.8 6.7

Mar 2014

63.2 58.9 6.7

Apr 2014

62.8 58.9 6.3

May 2014

62.8 58.9 6.3

Jun 2014

62.8 59.0 6.1

Jul 2014

62.9 59.0 6.2

Aug 2014

62.8 59.0 6.1

In August, both the unemployment rate (6.1 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (9.6 million) changed little. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were down by 1.1 percentage points and 1.7 million, respectively.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) declined by 192,000 to 3.0 million in August. These individuals accounted for 31.2 percent of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed has declined by 1.3 million.

Number of unemployed people by duration of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, August 2004–August 2014
Month Fewer than 5 weeks 5 to 14 weeks 15 to 26 weeks 27 weeks and over

Aug 2004

2,660,000 2,563,000 1,206,000 1,640,000

Sep 2004

2,758,000 2,276,000 1,209,000 1,702,000

Oct 2004

2,732,000 2,303,000 1,304,000 1,737,000

Nov 2004

2,638,000 2,339,000 1,258,000 1,702,000

Dec 2004

2,768,000 2,268,000 1,274,000 1,653,000

Jan 2005

2,635,000 2,298,000 1,203,000 1,648,000

Feb 2005

2,749,000 2,345,000 1,268,000 1,628,000

Mar 2005

2,483,000 2,328,000 1,157,000 1,660,000

Apr 2005

2,688,000 2,289,000 1,069,000 1,609,000

May 2005

2,754,000 2,231,000 1,145,000 1,538,000

Jun 2005

2,659,000 2,361,000 1,030,000 1,375,000

Jul 2005

2,568,000 2,368,000 1,068,000 1,380,000

Aug 2005

2,570,000 2,304,000 1,161,000 1,407,000

Sep 2005

2,763,000 2,294,000 1,098,000 1,439,000

Oct 2005

2,719,000 2,296,000 1,070,000 1,422,000

Nov 2005

2,823,000 2,282,000 1,116,000 1,370,000

Dec 2005

2,588,000 2,249,000 1,073,000 1,356,000

Jan 2006

2,527,000 2,194,000 1,100,000 1,170,000

Feb 2006

2,577,000 2,088,000 1,195,000 1,350,000

Mar 2006

2,659,000 1,999,000 1,064,000 1,309,000

Apr 2006

2,665,000 2,142,000 1,022,000 1,331,000

May 2006

2,545,000 2,189,000 969,000 1,333,000

Jun 2006

2,705,000 2,076,000 982,000 1,145,000

Jul 2006

2,721,000 2,126,000 986,000 1,304,000

Aug 2006

2,603,000 2,246,000 987,000 1,306,000

Sep 2006

2,608,000 2,053,000 986,000 1,245,000

Oct 2006

2,616,000 2,103,000 984,000 1,078,000

Nov 2006

2,511,000 2,212,000 1,028,000 1,131,000

Dec 2006

2,596,000 2,047,000 990,000 1,093,000

Jan 2007

2,561,000 2,267,000 1,015,000 1,141,000

Feb 2007

2,574,000 2,168,000 962,000 1,249,000

Mar 2007

2,307,000 2,138,000 1,010,000 1,245,000

Apr 2007

2,456,000 2,178,000 1,075,000 1,206,000

May 2007

2,464,000 2,183,000 1,100,000 1,132,000

Jun 2007

2,551,000 2,134,000 1,138,000 1,143,000

Jul 2007

2,502,000 2,203,000 1,073,000 1,291,000

Aug 2007

2,614,000 2,156,000 1,086,000 1,246,000

Sep 2007

2,557,000 2,292,000 1,091,000 1,264,000

Oct 2007

2,545,000 2,502,000 1,003,000 1,298,000

Nov 2007

2,645,000 2,241,000 992,000 1,374,000

Dec 2007

2,718,000 2,376,000 1,177,000 1,324,000

Jan 2008

2,554,000 2,406,000 1,152,000 1,388,000

Feb 2008

2,653,000 2,370,000 1,116,000 1,329,000

Mar 2008

2,823,000 2,537,000 1,168,000 1,323,000

Apr 2008

2,493,000 2,574,000 1,314,000 1,372,000

May 2008

3,278,000 2,476,000 1,219,000 1,561,000

Jun 2008

2,753,000 3,016,000 1,337,000 1,576,000

Jul 2008

2,854,000 2,833,000 1,450,000 1,664,000

Aug 2008

3,256,000 2,758,000 1,554,000 1,866,000

Sep 2008

2,848,000 3,035,000 1,599,000 2,027,000

Oct 2008

3,170,000 3,055,000 1,710,000 2,280,000

Nov 2008

3,335,000 3,260,000 1,704,000 2,219,000

Dec 2008

3,255,000 3,498,000 1,936,000 2,610,000

Jan 2009

3,524,000 3,662,000 2,065,000 2,699,000

Feb 2009

3,450,000 3,936,000 2,456,000 2,999,000

Mar 2009

3,465,000 4,122,000 2,625,000 3,260,000

Apr 2009

3,338,000 4,138,000 2,634,000 3,752,000

May 2009

3,246,000 4,458,000 3,049,000 3,973,000

Jun 2009

3,114,000 4,052,000 3,488,000 4,349,000

Jul 2009

3,137,000 3,505,000 2,923,000 4,917,000

Aug 2009

2,940,000 3,927,000 2,791,000 5,037,000

Sep 2009

2,841,000 3,775,000 2,908,000 5,494,000

Oct 2009

3,223,000 3,552,000 3,006,000 5,643,000

Nov 2009

2,816,000 3,457,000 2,847,000 5,908,000

Dec 2009

2,879,000 3,457,000 2,712,000 6,122,000

Jan 2010

2,918,000 3,387,000 2,570,000 6,334,000

Feb 2010

2,798,000 3,389,000 2,764,000 6,170,000

Mar 2010

2,773,000 3,290,000 2,519,000 6,576,000

Apr 2010

2,726,000 3,082,000 2,363,000 6,770,000

May 2010

2,775,000 3,117,000 2,248,000 6,644,000

Jun 2010

2,680,000 3,156,000 2,294,000 6,604,000

Jul 2010

2,810,000 2,994,000 2,220,000 6,484,000

Aug 2010

2,683,000 3,534,000 2,171,000 6,234,000

Sep 2010

2,817,000 3,309,000 2,293,000 6,151,000

Oct 2010

2,657,000 3,343,000 2,385,000 6,232,000

Nov 2010

2,911,000 3,321,000 2,377,000 6,319,000

Dec 2010

2,681,000 3,169,000 2,118,000 6,431,000

Jan 2011

2,676,000 3,015,000 2,210,000 6,220,000

Feb 2011

2,454,000 3,114,000 2,244,000 5,969,000

Mar 2011

2,541,000 2,974,000 2,034,000 6,150,000

Apr 2011

2,785,000 2,966,000 2,106,000 5,901,000

May 2011

2,682,000 2,911,000 2,031,000 6,158,000

Jun 2011

2,935,000 2,981,000 1,899,000 6,208,000

Jul 2011

2,650,000 2,976,000 2,009,000 6,142,000

Aug 2011

2,670,000 2,996,000 2,213,000 6,001,000

Sep 2011

2,743,000 2,888,000 2,015,000 6,266,000

Oct 2011

2,663,000 3,244,000 1,947,000 5,861,000

Nov 2011

2,560,000 2,914,000 2,032,000 5,681,000

Dec 2011

2,646,000 2,865,000 1,955,000 5,600,000

Jan 2012

2,461,000 2,880,000 1,942,000 5,524,000

Feb 2012

2,584,000 2,842,000 2,021,000 5,352,000

Mar 2012

2,724,000 2,792,000 1,924,000 5,292,000

Apr 2012

2,621,000 2,839,000 1,951,000 5,106,000

May 2012

2,575,000 3,018,000 1,677,000 5,392,000

Jun 2012

2,741,000 2,804,000 1,839,000 5,331,000

Jul 2012

2,708,000 3,037,000 1,780,000 5,166,000

Aug 2012

2,832,000 2,834,000 1,845,000 5,003,000

Sep 2012

2,517,000 2,825,000 1,853,000 4,875,000

Oct 2012

2,619,000 2,850,000 1,774,000 5,021,000

Nov 2012

2,636,000 2,777,000 1,796,000 4,767,000

Dec 2012

2,688,000 2,876,000 1,862,000 4,772,000

Jan 2013

2,753,000 3,077,000 1,867,000 4,707,000

Feb 2013

2,677,000 2,788,000 1,735,000 4,750,000

Mar 2013

2,497,000 2,843,000 1,779,000 4,576,000

Apr 2013

2,491,000 2,844,000 1,969,000 4,360,000

May 2013

2,704,000 2,642,000 1,934,000 4,353,000

Jun 2013

2,665,000 2,848,000 1,892,000 4,325,000

Jul 2013

2,548,000 2,826,000 1,786,000 4,246,000

Aug 2013

2,527,000 2,738,000 1,704,000 4,269,000

Sep 2013

2,571,000 2,685,000 1,802,000 4,125,000

Oct 2013

2,794,000 2,636,000 1,777,000 4,047,000

Nov 2013

2,439,000 2,585,000 1,742,000 4,044,000

Dec 2013

2,255,000 2,506,000 1,651,000 3,878,000

Jan 2014

2,434,000 2,429,000 1,689,000 3,646,000

Feb 2014

2,373,000 2,568,000 1,615,000 3,849,000

Mar 2014

2,461,000 2,581,000 1,677,000 3,739,000

Apr 2014

2,447,000 2,359,000 1,533,000 3,452,000

May 2014

2,559,000 2,390,000 1,441,000 3,374,000

Jun 2014

2,410,000 2,416,000 1,472,000 3,081,000

Jul 2014

2,587,000 2,431,000 1,412,000 3,155,000

Aug 2014

2,609,000 2,449,000 1,486,000 2,963,000

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see "The Employment Situation — August 2014" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL‑14‑1642. More charts featuring Current Population Survey data can be found in Charting the labor market: Data from the Current Population Survey (PDF).

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Labor force participation rate, at 62.8 percent, changed little in August 2014 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2014/ted_20140909.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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