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Employment–population ratio at 60.2 percent in February 2023

March 15, 2023

The employment–population ratio—the proportion of the population that is employed—was 60.2 percent in February 2023 for people age 16 and older. The ratio was about unchanged over the month and has shown little net change since early last year. The February ratio was 0.4 percentage point higher than in February 2022 (59.8 percent) and is 0.9 percentage point below its February 2020 value, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Employment–population ratios, February 2013 to February 2023
Month Total Men 20 years and older Women 20 years and older 16–19 years old Hispanic or Latino White Black or African-American Asian

Feb 2013

58.6% 67.7% 54.8% 25.8% 59.8% 59.3% 53.2% 60.9%

Mar 2013

58.5 67.6 54.7 25.8 59.3 59.3 53.3 61.0

Apr 2013

58.6 67.5 55.0 25.8 59.8 59.4 53.3 60.6

May 2013

58.6 67.5 55.0 26.3 60.5 59.4 53.5 60.8

Jun 2013

58.6 67.5 55.0 26.6 60.3 59.4 52.9 62.2

Jul 2013

58.7 67.5 55.1 26.8 60.4 59.5 53.5 61.0

Aug 2013

58.7 67.2 55.3 26.7 60.2 59.4 53.0 61.4

Sep 2013

58.7 67.3 55.1 27.4 60.0 59.4 53.3 61.8

Oct 2013

58.3 66.9 54.7 26.6 59.7 59.1 52.8 60.8

Nov 2013

58.6 67.4 54.8 27.1 60.2 59.4 53.0 61.3

Dec 2013

58.7 67.5 55.0 26.8 60.0 59.5 53.1 61.8

Jan 2014

58.8 67.5 55.2 26.4 60.4 59.6 53.3 60.9

Feb 2014

58.7 67.4 55.4 25.6 60.6 59.6 53.7 60.2

Mar 2014

58.9 67.8 55.2 26.9 60.9 59.6 53.9 60.7

Apr 2014

58.9 67.6 55.2 26.8 60.8 59.7 53.9 59.8

May 2014

58.9 67.6 55.2 27.2 60.7 59.7 53.9 60.1

Jun 2014

59.0 67.9 55.3 26.8 61.2 59.7 54.4 59.9

Jul 2014

59.0 67.9 55.2 27.3 60.9 59.7 54.5 60.2

Aug 2014

59.0 68.0 55.1 27.2 61.2 59.8 54.1 60.9

Sep 2014

59.1 68.1 55.1 27.3 61.6 59.8 54.8 60.6

Oct 2014

59.3 68.1 55.3 29.0 62.0 60.0 54.8 60.6

Nov 2014

59.2 67.8 55.4 29.0 62.0 59.9 54.7 60.2

Dec 2014

59.3 68.1 55.3 28.7 61.9 59.9 54.9 60.6

Jan 2015

59.3 68.1 55.4 28.3 62.1 60.1 54.6 60.1

Feb 2015

59.2 68.1 55.3 28.6 61.7 59.9 54.8 60.6

Mar 2015

59.2 68.1 55.2 28.6 61.7 59.8 55.0 60.4

Apr 2015

59.3 68.2 55.3 28.7 61.8 59.8 56.2 60.5

May 2015

59.4 68.3 55.4 28.8 61.8 60.0 55.8 61.1

Jun 2015

59.4 68.2 55.5 27.9 61.7 59.9 55.9 60.3

Jul 2015

59.3 68.3 55.3 28.2 61.4 59.9 55.9 60.2

Aug 2015

59.4 68.2 55.5 28.1 61.3 59.9 55.9 60.3

Sep 2015

59.2 68.1 55.2 28.2 61.3 59.8 55.7 59.9

Oct 2015

59.3 68.1 55.4 28.5 61.5 59.9 55.9 59.6

Nov 2015

59.4 67.9 55.6 28.6 61.3 59.9 55.8 60.7

Dec 2015

59.6 68.2 55.7 29.6 61.4 60.0 56.4 60.7

Jan 2016

59.7 68.4 55.7 29.4 61.9 60.3 56.1 60.1

Feb 2016

59.8 68.6 55.7 29.7 62.4 60.3 56.2 60.6

Mar 2016

59.8 68.7 55.8 29.4 62.6 60.4 56.0 60.8

Apr 2016

59.7 68.6 55.6 29.8 61.7 60.3 55.8 61.4

May 2016

59.7 68.4 55.7 29.8 61.9 60.3 56.1 60.7

Jun 2016

59.7 68.6 55.6 28.9 61.9 60.2 56.1 61.0

Jul 2016

59.8 68.5 55.7 29.9 62.3 60.3 56.1 61.2

Aug 2016

59.8 68.5 55.7 30.5 62.5 60.2 56.9 60.6

Sep 2016

59.7 68.4 55.7 29.9 61.9 60.1 56.7 61.0

Oct 2016

59.7 68.4 55.7 29.6 61.8 60.0 56.5 61.5

Nov 2016

59.7 68.4 55.7 29.8 61.8 60.1 57.0 61.0

Dec 2016

59.7 68.4 55.7 29.8 61.8 60.0 57.1 61.0

Jan 2017

59.9 68.6 55.8 30.1 62.2 60.1 57.6 61.5

Feb 2017

60.0 68.6 56.0 30.0 62.7 60.3 57.3 61.4

Mar 2017

60.2 68.6 56.3 31.0 63.3 60.5 57.3 61.0

Apr 2017

60.2 68.9 56.2 30.7 62.8 60.5 57.7 61.6

May 2017

60.1 68.7 56.1 30.1 62.8 60.4 57.8 61.6

Jun 2017

60.1 68.7 56.1 31.1 62.9 60.4 57.7 61.3

Jul 2017

60.2 68.7 56.3 30.2 63.1 60.5 57.7 61.7

Aug 2017

60.1 68.7 56.2 30.4 62.5 60.4 57.3 61.7

Sep 2017

60.4 69.0 56.3 31.2 63.1 60.6 58.2 62.0

Oct 2017

60.1 68.8 56.1 29.7 62.2 60.3 57.4 61.7

Nov 2017

60.1 68.8 56.2 29.1 62.3 60.4 57.7 61.0

Dec 2017

60.1 68.9 56.0 29.8 62.4 60.4 58.0 61.1

Jan 2018

60.1 68.9 56.0 30.6 62.5 60.5 57.4 61.1

Feb 2018

60.4 69.2 56.2 31.0 62.9 60.7 58.6 60.9

Mar 2018

60.4 69.2 56.2 30.9 62.5 60.6 58.4 61.3

Apr 2018

60.4 69.1 56.2 30.4 63.3 60.7 57.9 61.5

May 2018

60.5 69.3 56.3 30.3 63.2 60.8 58.5 61.5

Jun 2018

60.5 69.0 56.4 31.0 63.5 60.7 58.3 61.6

Jul 2018

60.6 69.1 56.6 30.7 63.9 60.8 58.4 61.9

Aug 2018

60.3 68.9 56.4 28.9 62.8 60.4 58.2 61.7

Sep 2018

60.4 68.9 56.5 30.4 63.0 60.5 58.7 61.9

Oct 2018

60.5 68.9 56.6 31.1 63.2 60.7 58.6 61.9

Nov 2018

60.6 69.1 56.7 30.8 63.6 60.8 58.4 62.3

Dec 2018

60.6 68.9 56.7 31.2 64.0 60.8 58.0 61.5

Jan 2019

60.6 69.1 56.7 30.8 63.9 60.7 58.5 62.5

Feb 2019

60.7 69.2 56.9 30.0 63.6 60.9 58.1 62.5

Mar 2019

60.6 69.1 56.7 31.0 63.8 60.9 58.0 62.2

Apr 2019

60.6 69.1 56.7 29.5 63.2 60.8 58.3 61.4

May 2019

60.6 69.3 56.6 29.9 63.6 60.8 58.6 61.6

Jun 2019

60.7 69.2 56.6 31.2 63.6 60.9 58.2 62.3

Jul 2019

60.8 69.3 56.7 31.7 63.6 60.9 59.0 62.0

Aug 2019

60.8 69.3 57.0 30.7 63.9 60.9 58.8 62.1

Sep 2019

61.0 69.2 57.3 30.8 64.4 61.1 59.1 62.4

Oct 2019

61.0 69.2 57.3 31.2 64.5 61.1 59.0 63.3

Nov 2019

61.0 69.4 57.1 31.6 64.5 61.2 58.8 62.9

Dec 2019

61.0 69.3 57.3 31.4 64.3 61.2 59.4 61.8

Jan 2020

61.1 69.4 57.3 31.8 64.9 61.3 58.9 61.9

Feb 2020

61.1 69.2 57.4 32.5 65.0 61.3 59.3 62.8

Mar 2020

59.8 68.0 56.1 30.7 62.9 60.1 57.6 61.1

Apr 2020

51.3 59.6 47.6 20.1 51.4 51.7 48.7 52.1

May 2020

52.7 61.1 48.8 23.1 52.9 53.5 49.6 51.8

Jun 2020

54.7 62.7 50.9 25.8 56.0 55.5 50.8 53.1

Jul 2020

55.2 63.2 51.6 26.8 56.4 55.8 51.5 55.9

Aug 2020

56.5 64.6 52.7 28.1 58.4 57.2 52.5 56.9

Sep 2020

56.6 64.7 52.5 30.2 58.2 57.3 52.6 57.3

Oct 2020

57.4 65.3 53.5 31.1 59.8 58.1 53.7 58.0

Nov 2020

57.4 65.2 53.7 30.9 59.8 57.9 54.1 58.5

Dec 2020

57.4 65.2 53.6 30.3 59.3 57.9 54.0 58.3

Jan 2021

57.5 65.4 53.6 30.4 59.4 57.8 54.7 58.5

Feb 2021

57.6 65.3 53.8 31.3 59.8 57.9 54.2 59.4

Mar 2021

57.8 65.4 54.1 31.4 60.3 58.1 54.9 59.3

Apr 2021

57.9 65.6 54.0 32.7 60.1 58.2 55.2 59.1

May 2021

58.0 65.6 54.1 33.0 60.4 58.3 55.4 59.7

Jun 2021

58.0 65.8 54.2 31.7 60.6 58.2 55.9 59.8

Jul 2021

58.4 66.2 54.6 32.2 61.5 58.6 55.8 61.0

Aug 2021

58.6 66.5 54.6 32.0 61.5 58.7 56.2 61.2

Sep 2021

58.8 66.7 54.8 32.4 61.6 58.9 56.5 61.7

Oct 2021

59.0 66.9 55.0 32.2 62.0 59.1 56.3 62.6

Nov 2021

59.4 67.4 55.3 32.4 63.0 59.5 56.8 62.9

Dec 2021

59.5 67.5 55.7 32.2 62.8 59.7 56.6 62.3

Jan 2022

59.7 67.5 56.0 32.6 63.2 59.9 57.7 62.1

Feb 2022

59.8 67.9 55.9 32.2 63.6 60.1 58.1 61.1

Mar 2022

60.1 68.0 56.3 33.3 63.7 60.2 58.2 62.3

Apr 2022

59.9 67.8 56.1 32.9 63.4 59.9 58.6 62.5

May 2022

60.0 67.9 56.3 32.7 63.6 59.9 59.1 63.4

Jun 2022

59.9 67.7 56.2 32.6 63.7 59.9 58.5 62.5

Jul 2022

59.9 67.7 56.4 31.8 63.1 60.0 58.3 63.2

Aug 2022

60.1 67.7 56.4 33.7 63.8 60.1 57.9 63.4

Sep 2022

60.1 68.1 56.2 32.6 63.5 60.1 58.5 63.2

Oct 2022

60.0 68.0 56.0 32.7 63.3 60.0 58.4 62.9

Nov 2022

59.9 67.9 55.9 33.5 63.1 59.8 58.8 63.0

Dec 2022

60.1 68.2 56.2 33.1 63.5 60.2 58.9 62.7

Jan 2023

60.2 67.9 56.5 33.3 63.3 60.2 59.5 62.3

Feb 2023

60.2 67.9 56.6 33.3 63.2 60.1 59.8 62.8

The employment–population ratios for adult men, adult women, teenagers, Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics in February 2023 were little changed from the previous month. The ratios for adult women, Blacks, and Asians all increased over the year, while the ratios for adult men, teenagers, Whites, and Hispanics were unchanged.

These data are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "The Employment Situation — February 2023." We also have more charts on employment and the labor force. People whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment–population ratio at 60.2 percent in February 2023 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/employment-population-ratio-at-60-2-percent-in-february-2023.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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