Labor force participation rate of Black men lower than the rate for all men
Historically, the labor force participation rate (the proportion of people working or looking for work as a percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population) for Black men has been lower than the rate for all men. In 2019, the rate for Black men was 64.8 percent, which was 4.4 percentage points lower than the rate of 69.2 percent for men overall.
Black women have typically had higher labor force participation rates than all women, though the difference is not as great. In 2019, the rate for Black women was 60.5 percent, while the rate for women overall was 57.4 percent.
The labor force participation rate for all men has generally been on a downward trend since 1972. In contrast, the participation rate for all women increased dramatically from the 1970s through the 1980s, before slowing in the 1990s. After reaching a peak in 1999, labor force participation among women began a gradual decline, before leveling off in recent years.