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United States — Labor participation
Labor Force Participation Rate for United States, 1990–2025.
Latest value · 2025
61.70%
Labor Force Participation Rate · % of population ages 15+ · -5.5% since 1990
Labor participation for United States was 61.70% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 36 years, from 1990 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 66.15% in 2000. The lowest was 61.50% in 2021 (about 1.0× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -0.16% per year.
United States ranks 92 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 49%. The median for North America is 64.52%, so United States sits below it. It peaked in 2000 and has fallen 7% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 1%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
61.70%
First (1990)
65.29%
Change
-5.5%
Highest
66.15%
in 2000
Lowest
61.50%
in 2021
Average
64.07%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-0.16%
Years of data
36
Recent years
| Year | % of population ages 15+ |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 61.7% |
| 2024 | 61.96% |
| 2023 | 62.08% |
| 2022 | 61.79% |
| 2021 | 61.5% |
| 2020 | 61.56% |
| 2019 | 62.85% |
| 2018 | 62.59% |
| 2017 | 62.55% |
| 2016 | 62.43% |
| 2015 | 62.27% |
| 2014 | 62.45% |
Reading this correctly. Proportion of the population aged 15 and above that is economically active: supplying labor for the production of goods and services. Figures are in % of population ages 15+. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SL.TLF.CACT.ZS — Labor Force Participation Rate. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.