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New monthly and quarterly labor force data for detailed Asian groups
September 12, 2023
With the publication of "The Employment Situation" news release on September 1, 2023, monthly and quarterly data for Asian groups, including Asian Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, and Other Asians, were made available in the BLS database, with data going back to January 2013.
The labor force participation rate represents the number of people in the labor force (people who are employed or unemployed) as a percent of the population. Labor force participation rates vary widely among the different Asian ethnic groups. Asian Indians and Filipinos tended to have significantly higher labor force participation rates than the national average from 2013 to 2023, while the Japanese labor force participation rate was consistently below the national average during this period.
Labor force participation rates, quarterly averages, 2013–23, not seasonally adjusted
Quarter
Total United States
Asian Indian
Chinese
Filipino
Japanese
Korean
Vietnamese
Other Asian
Q1 2013
63.2
69.5
62.6
69.1
58.4
59.1
65.2
63.8
Q2 2013
63.5
69.4
61.7
67.7
58.6
60.5
66.4
62.7
Q3 2013
63.5
67.5
63.7
68.7
59.6
62.0
65.2
63.1
Q4 2013
62.8
65.8
63.1
68.6
56.2
60.6
62.9
64.7
Q1 2014
62.7
66.7
63.0
68.3
56.8
62.5
63.7
62.3
Q2 2014
63.0
68.5
62.0
66.5
57.3
62.1
62.5
60.4
Q3 2014
63.1
66.9
63.6
67.2
54.9
58.6
64.5
61.0
Q4 2014
62.7
68.4
61.8
67.5
54.6
58.5
59.7
62.5
Q1 2015
62.5
67.0
59.8
68.3
56.2
60.3
61.6
61.4
Q2 2015
62.9
66.4
61.8
68.3
56.0
58.0
62.6
62.9
Q3 2015
62.7
64.6
59.8
67.7
55.1
57.6
66.3
62.0
Q4 2015
62.5
66.3
58.2
68.0
56.7
59.4
61.7
62.6
Q1 2016
62.6
68.8
57.2
67.2
61.0
59.0
61.9
63.0
Q2 2016
62.9
69.5
57.0
66.5
59.7
60.3
64.4
64.6
Q3 2016
63.0
66.9
59.6
69.4
55.3
60.0
63.4
64.5
Q4 2016
62.6
66.3
59.8
69.0
56.5
58.7
61.5
61.5
Q1 2017
62.7
67.8
59.1
67.5
57.8
61.1
63.8
62.9
Q2 2017
62.9
69.1
61.2
64.4
54.7
61.0
64.7
63.5
Q3 2017
63.2
70.1
62.4
66.1
53.3
63.3
64.0
64.0
Q4 2017
62.6
66.9
57.9
67.3
55.6
61.6
65.7
61.9
Q1 2018
62.7
67.5
58.0
66.5
56.3
58.5
65.1
63.7
Q2 2018
63.0
68.6
62.3
63.8
53.8
58.9
64.8
60.7
Q3 2018
63.0
70.5
62.6
64.7
57.0
61.7
63.2
62.0
Q4 2018
62.9
69.2
61.0
65.7
55.0
61.4
61.3
64.4
Q1 2019
62.9
69.1
60.4
67.8
57.8
61.6
61.7
64.9
Q2 2019
63.0
67.3
60.9
65.5
57.4
60.9
61.6
62.0
Q3 2019
63.3
67.4
64.1
65.2
59.3
60.8
63.3
63.1
Q4 2019
63.2
69.4
62.4
65.1
55.0
62.4
63.6
63.8
Q1 2020
62.9
68.4
63.0
62.7
58.8
61.7
61.2
64.0
Q2 2020
60.8
66.7
61.0
60.8
57.6
58.2
53.6
60.2
Q3 2020
61.7
67.0
62.9
62.2
57.1
61.5
61.2
65.8
Q4 2020
61.5
68.0
61.7
61.3
59.9
58.9
57.7
61.8
Q1 2021
61.3
68.5
62.1
62.3
57.0
55.4
63.4
60.2
Q2 2021
61.7
68.7
62.2
64.1
55.6
57.1
59.9
61.9
Q3 2021
61.9
70.0
64.2
65.4
51.5
59.3
60.9
65.9
Q4 2021
61.8
71.2
64.5
63.7
58.4
59.8
62.7
64.3
Q1 2022
62.1
69.2
60.7
62.4
57.6
62.3
62.0
64.3
Q2 2022
62.3
70.3
62.8
65.4
56.3
63.4
62.4
62.4
Q3 2022
62.4
70.4
63.7
67.0
55.8
60.9
62.5
66.3
Q4 2022
62.1
71.0
60.0
66.1
59.2
64.5
61.3
64.3
Q1 2023
62.4
70.5
59.5
67.9
56.1
65.8
63.1
63.8
Q2 2023
62.6
70.9
62.9
65.5
55.2
61.7
62.5
64.1
In the second quarter of 2023, the labor force participation rate was 70.9 percent for Asian Indians and 65.5 percent for Filipinos. By contrast, the rate was 55.2 percent for Japanese. The overall labor force participation rate was 62.6 percent in the second quarter of 2023 for everyone age 16 and older living in the United States. The labor force participation rates for other detailed Asian groups were much closer to the national average. As you can see in the chart, volatility in these rates can be high for these detailed groups. That’s because estimates produced from smaller sample sizes are associated with larger margins of error.
United States Department of Labor
