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In October 2021, 7.9 percent of people who were not in the labor force but wanted to work were prevented from looking for a job because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was down from 52.6 percent in May 2020, the first month these data were collected. To be counted as unemployed, a person must be actively looking for work or on temporary layoff.
Percent of people not in the labor force who want a job but were prevented from looking for work because of the COVID-19 pandemic, May 2020–October 2021
Month
Total, 16 years and older
16 to 24 years
25 to 54 years
55 years and older
Men
Women
May 2020
52.6%
48.4%
57.6%
48.2%
51.9%
53.3%
Jun 2020
43.3
39.0
46.9
41.8
41.0
45.5
Jul 2020
38.4
38.3
37.6
40.1
39.3
37.7
Aug 2020
32.6
28.3
35.5
31.6
30.9
34.2
Sep 2020
29.9
19.8
34.2
30.9
28.9
30.8
Oct 2020
26.0
19.9
28.9
26.0
23.4
28.3
Nov 2020
28.4
20.3
31.4
29.8
26.9
29.9
Dec 2020
30.8
27.4
34.4
27.5
29.2
32.3
Jan 2021
29.8
22.1
32.9
31.2
27.8
31.5
Feb 2021
26.0
17.5
28.2
29.0
22.7
29.0
Mar 2021
22.0
19.9
20.6
26.6
21.1
22.8
Apr 2021
18.5
12.0
20.9
21.0
15.9
20.9
May 2021
16.5
9.0
20.7
18.7
14.3
18.6
Jun 2021
9.3
3.6
12.1
11.1
7.5
11.0
Jul 2021
9.3
5.8
10.2
11.1
7.9
10.5
Aug 2021
11.4
4.9
13.1
14.2
9.6
12.7
Sep 2021
8.4
3.7
10.1
10.1
5.8
10.4
Oct 2021
7.9
4.8
9.1
8.6
7.4
8.3
The share of people who were not in the labor force and wanted a job but did not look for work because of the pandemic varied across age groups. In October 2021, a smaller percentage of people ages 16 to 24 did not look for work because of the pandemic (4.8 percent), compared with people ages 25 to 54 (9.1 percent) and those age 55 and older (8.6 percent).
Women who wanted a job were more likely than men to be prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic in October.
For all groups, the share of people not in the labor force who wanted a job but were prevented from looking for work because of the pandemic is substantially lower than in May 2020.
United States Department of Labor
