Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Employment Projections

Civilian labor force participation rate by age, sex, race, and ethnicity

Other available formats: (XLSX)

 Table 3.3 Civilian labor force participation rates by age, sex, race, and ethnicity, 1998, 2008, 2018, and projected 2028 (in percent)

Group

Participation rate

Percentage-point change

Annual growth rate

1998

2008

2018

2028

1998–08

2008–18

2018–28

1998–08

2008–18

2018–28

Total, 16 years and older

67.1

66.0

62.9

61.2

-1.1

-3.1

-1.7

-0.2

-0.5

-0.3

16 to 24

65.9

58.8

55.2

51.7

-7.1

-3.6

-3.5

-1.1

-0.6

-0.7

16 to 19

52.8

40.2

35.1

30.9

-12.6

-5.1

-4.2

-2.7

-1.3

-1.3

20 to 24

77.5

74.4

71.1

67.8

-3.1

-3.3

-3.3

-0.4

-0.5

-0.5

25 to 54

84.1

83.1

82.1

81.7

-1.0

-1.0

-0.4

-0.1

-0.1

0.0

25 to 34

84.6

83.3

82.5

81.6

-1.3

-0.9

-0.8

-0.2

-0.1

-0.1

35 to 44

84.7

84.1

82.9

82.3

-0.7

-1.2

-0.6

-0.1

-0.1

-0.1

45 to 54

82.5

81.9

80.8

81.0

-0.6

-1.1

0.2

-0.1

-0.1

0.0

55 and older

31.3

39.4

40.0

39.6

8.1

0.6

-0.4

2.3

0.2

-0.1

55 to 64

59.3

64.5

65.0

67.9

5.3

0.4

3.0

0.9

0.1

0.4

65 to 74

17.7

25.1

27.0

32.5

7.4

2.0

5.4

3.5

0.8

1.8

75 and older

4.7

7.3

8.7

12.1

2.6

1.4

3.3

4.5

1.8

3.3

 

Men, 16 years and older

74.9

73.0

69.1

66.1

-1.9

-3.9

-3.0

-0.3

-0.5

-0.4

16 to 24

68.4

61.0

55.9

50.7

-7.3

-5.1

-5.2

-1.1

-0.9

-1.0

16 to 19

53.3

40.1

34.2

29.0

-13.2

-5.8

-5.3

-2.8

-1.6

-1.7

20 to 24

82.0

78.7

73.2

67.8

-3.3

-5.5

-5.4

-0.4

-0.7

-0.8

25 to 54

91.8

90.5

89.0

87.3

-1.3

-1.5

-1.7

-0.1

-0.2

-0.2

25 to 34

93.2

91.5

89.1

86.8

-1.7

-2.4

-2.4

-0.2

-0.3

-0.3

35 to 44

92.6

92.2

90.9

89.5

-0.4

-1.3

-1.4

0.0

-0.1

-0.2

45 to 54

89.2

88.0

87.0

85.3

-1.2

-1.0

-1.6

-0.1

-0.1

-0.2

55 and older

39.1

46.0

46.2

44.3

6.9

0.2

-1.9

1.6

0.0

-0.4

55 to 64

68.1

70.4

71.2

71.8

2.3

0.9

0.5

0.3

0.1

0.1

65 to 74

22.6

29.7

31.6

36.5

7.1

1.8

4.9

2.8

0.6

1.5

75 and older

7.5

10.4

11.9

15.4

2.9

1.6

3.4

3.4

1.4

2.6

 

Women, 16 years and older

59.8

59.5

57.1

56.6

-0.4

-2.4

-0.5

-0.1

-0.4

-0.1

16 to 24

63.3

56.5

54.5

52.7

-6.8

-2.0

-1.8

-1.1

-0.4

-0.3

16 to 19

52.3

40.2

36.0

32.9

-12.0

-4.2

-3.1

-2.6

-1.1

-0.9

20 to 24

73.0

70.0

69.0

67.7

-3.0

-1.0

-1.3

-0.4

-0.1

-0.2

25 to 54

76.5

75.8

75.3

76.1

-0.7

-0.5

0.8

-0.1

-0.1

0.1

25 to 34

76.3

75.2

75.9

76.5

-1.1

0.7

0.6

-0.1

0.1

0.1

35 to 44

77.1

76.1

75.1

75.1

-0.9

-1.0

0.0

-0.1

-0.1

0.0

45 to 54

76.2

76.1

74.9

76.7

-0.1

-1.2

1.9

0.0

-0.2

0.2

55 and older

25.0

33.9

34.8

35.5

8.9

0.9

0.7

3.1

0.2

0.2

55 to 64

51.2

59.1

59.1

64.3

7.9

0.0

5.2

1.5

0.0

0.8

65 to 74

13.7

21.1

23.1

28.9

7.4

2.0

5.8

4.4

0.9

2.3

75 and older

2.9

5.2

6.4

9.6

2.3

1.1

3.2

6.0

2.0

4.1

 

White

67.3

66.3

62.8

61.0

-1.0

-3.4

-1.9

-0.2

-0.5

-0.3

Men

75.6

73.7

69.5

66.4

-1.9

-4.2

-3.1

-0.3

-0.6

-0.5

Women

59.4

59.2

56.4

55.7

-0.3

-2.7

-0.7

0.0

-0.5

-0.1

 

Black

65.6

63.7

62.3

60.6

-1.9

-1.4

-1.7

-0.3

-0.2

-0.3

Men

69.0

66.7

64.8

61.8

-2.3

-1.9

-3.0

-0.3

-0.3

-0.5

Women

62.8

61.3

60.2

59.6

-1.5

-1.0

-0.6

-0.2

-0.2

-0.1

 

Asian

67.0

67.0

63.5

63.2

0.0

-3.5

-0.3

0.0

-0.5

0.0

Men

75.5

75.3

71.6

70.8

-0.2

-3.7

-0.8

0.0

-0.5

-0.1

Women

59.2

59.4

56.4

56.6

0.2

-3.0

0.2

0.0

-0.5

0.0

 

All other groups1

65.6

64.5

63.7

-1.1

-0.8

-0.2

-0.1

Men

71.4

69.0

66.4

-2.4

-2.6

-0.3

-0.4

Women

60.1

60.3

61.2

0.2

0.9

0.0

0.1

 

Hispanic origin

67.9

68.5

66.3

65.8

0.6

-2.2

-0.5

0.1

-0.3

-0.1

Men

79.8

80.2

75.7

73.6

0.4

-4.5

-2.1

0.0

-0.6

-0.3

Women

55.6

56.2

57.0

58.0

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.1

0.1

0.2

 

Other than Hispanic origin

67.0

65.6

62.2

60.1

-1.4

-3.4

-2.1

-0.2

-0.5

-0.3

Men

74.3

71.7

67.7

64.2

-2.6

-4.0

-3.5

-0.4

-0.6

-0.5

Women

60.3

60.0

57.1

56.2

-0.3

-2.9

-0.9

-0.1

-0.5

-0.2

 

White non-Hispanic

67.2

65.9

62.1

59.6

-1.3

-3.8

-2.5

-0.2

-0.6

-0.4

Men

75.0

72.4

68.0

64.1

-2.6

-4.4

-3.8

-0.4

-0.6

-0.6

Women

59.9

59.8

56.4

55.2

-0.2

-3.3

-1.2

0.0

-0.6

-0.2

Age of baby boomers

34 to 52

44 to 62

54 to 72

64 to 82

Footnotes:
  1 The "all other groups" category includes (1) those classified as being of multiple racial origin and (2) the race categories of (2a) American Indian and Alaska Native or (2b) Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders.
Note: Dash indicates no data collected for category. Details may not sum to totals because of rounding.
Source: Employment Projections program, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Back to top

 

Last Modified Date: September 4, 2019