The employment rate of prime-age workers of color reached historic heights in the past few years: Prime-age employment-to-population ratios by race and ethnicity, 2000–2024
| Year | Black | Hispanic | AAPI | AIAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 76.9% | 76.9% | 78.8% | 72.1% |
| 2001 | 75.7% | 75.8% | 78.1% | 72.1% |
| 2002 | 73.9% | 74.8% | 76.4% | 69.7% |
| 2003 | 73.5% | 73.9% | 75.6% | 71.2% |
| 2004 | 73.0% | 75.2% | 77.0% | 69.4% |
| 2005 | 73.7% | 75.6% | 76.9% | 69.3% |
| 2006 | 74.2% | 76.6% | 78.3% | 70.9% |
| 2007 | 74.9% | 76.9% | 78.6% | 71.5% |
| 2008 | 73.9% | 75.4% | 78.9% | 70.4% |
| 2009 | 68.8% | 71.5% | 75.9% | 63.7% |
| 2010 | 67.8% | 71.7% | 74.7% | 62.0% |
| 2011 | 66.7% | 71.6% | 75.0% | 63.0% |
| 2012 | 68.7% | 72.4% | 75.3% | 66.8% |
| 2013 | 69.1% | 72.8% | 76.1% | 63.4% |
| 2014 | 70.6% | 74.3% | 75.1% | 66.4% |
| 2015 | 71.9% | 74.5% | 75.3% | 67.8% |
| 2016 | 73.1% | 75.2% | 75.9% | 68.6% |
| 2017 | 74.3% | 75.9% | 77.3% | 69.0% |
| 2018 | 75.6% | 76.8% | 77.8% | 70.0% |
| 2019 | 76.2% | 77.4% | 78.5% | 71.3% |
| 2020 | 70.1% | 71.5% | 73.4% | 65.5% |
| 2021 | 72.4% | 74.1% | 77.6% | 69.1% |
| 2022 | 76.3% | 77.4% | 80.2% | 71.9% |
| 2023 | 77.7% | 77.9% | 80.6% | 71.0% |
| 2024 | 77.6% | 78.2% | 80.8% | 72.1% |
Notes: Prime-age refers to workers ages 25 to 54. AIAN refers to American Indian and Alaska Native, and AAPI refers to Asian American and Pacific Islander. Race and ethnicity are mutually exclusive for White, Black, and AAPI workers, but not for AIAN workers (i.e. Black non-Hispanic, Hispanic any race, AAPI non-Hispanic, and AIAN any ethnicity). Race groups are single-race only.
Source: Economic Policy Institute analysis of Current Population Survey basic monthly microdata from EPI Microdata Extracts, Version 1.0.60 (2025); https://microdata.epi.org.