Figure C2

: Men's prime-age labor force participation rate by race and ethnicity, 1976–2024

Year Black White Other Hispanic
1976 88.2% 95.0% 91.0% 92.4%
1977 88.3% 95.0% 90.2% 93.1%
1978 88.8% 95.0% 92.5% 93.0%
1979 88.9% 95.2% 91.0% 93.1%
1980 88.2% 95.1% 89.7% 93.1%
1981 87.5% 95.2% 88.5% 93.0%
1982 88.0% 95.0% 88.7% 93.0%
1983 88.5% 94.8% 88.4% 92.7%
1984 88.1% 95.0% 88.6% 92.6%
1985 87.8% 95.0% 89.2% 92.4%
1986 88.5% 94.8% 89.3% 92.6%
1987 87.9% 94.8% 89.6% 92.3%
1988 87.6% 94.7% 88.2% 92.6%
1989 87.7% 94.8% 89.2% 92.7%
1990 87.6% 94.6% 88.1% 92.3%
1991 86.7% 94.4% 88.9% 91.2%
1992 86.1% 94.3% 89.4% 91.5%
1993 85.2% 93.9% 88.3% 91.7%
1994 84.6% 93.1% 87.4% 91.0%
1995 84.2% 92.9% 87.6% 91.0%
1996 84.3% 93.2% 88.0% 91.6%
1997 84.7% 93.1% 88.9% 91.9%
1998 84.4% 93.1% 90.1% 91.6%
1999 85.1% 93.0% 88.7% 91.6%
2000 84.3% 92.7% 90.4% 92.5%
2001 83.6% 92.5% 90.0% 91.7%
2002 83.4% 92.3% 89.4% 91.5%
2003 82.8% 91.7% 88.8% 91.6%
2004 82.3% 91.5% 89.6% 92.1%
2005 83.1% 91.5% 88.6% 92.0%
2006 82.9% 91.6% 89.1% 92.4%
2007 83.6% 91.8% 89.5% 92.7%
2008 83.6% 91.2% 90.0% 92.6%
2009 81.8% 90.7% 89.3% 91.5%
2010 82.1% 90.1% 87.3% 91.5%
2011 80.5% 89.7% 87.7% 90.8%
2012 80.3% 89.8% 88.0% 90.3%
2013 80.4% 89.3% 88.6% 90.4%
2014 80.8% 89.0% 87.5% 90.6%
2015 80.6% 89.1% 87.4% 90.8%
2016 81.3% 89.4% 88.0% 90.7%
2017 81.9% 89.4% 88.3% 90.6%
2018 82.6% 90.0% 88.2% 90.3%
2019 82.7% 90.2% 88.5% 90.3%
2020 80.0% 89.2% 87.5% 89.3%
2021 80.6% 88.8% 89.0% 89.8%
2022 82.5% 89.2% 89.4% 90.1%
2023 84.1% 89.9% 89.6% 90.1%
2024 84.2% 89.9% 89.6% 90.8%
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Economic Policy Institute

Notes: Data include the civilian non-institutional population. “Prime age” refers to ages 25 to 54. Race and ethnicity groups are mutually exclusive.

Source: EPI analysis of the Current Population Survey (CPS) basic monthly microdata, EPI Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 2025.6.11https://microdata.epi.org

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