In 2024, the employment rate of the workforce of 55 years and older decreased to 37.3 percent. Employment rate among young adults (age 16-24) was at 50.9 percent in 2024. For monthly updates on employment in the United States visit the annual national employment rate here.

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Working-Age Population Male: From 25 to 54 Years for United States (LFWA25MAUSQ647S) from Q1 1977 to Q1 2025 about 25 to 54 years, working-age, males, population, and USA.

Working Age Population: Aged 15-64: All for the United States was 211554500.00000 Persons in April of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Working Age Population: Aged 15-64: All for the United States reached a record high of 211554500.00000 in April of 2025 and a record low of 135211700.00000 in January of 1977. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Working Age Population: Aged 15-64: All for the United States - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on June of 2025.

United States US: Age Dependency Ratio: % of Working-Age Population data was reported at 52.268 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 51.652 % for 2016. United States US: Age Dependency Ratio: % of Working-Age Population data is updated yearly, averaging 52.247 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 66.700 % in 1962 and a record low of 49.442 % in 2009. United States US: Age Dependency Ratio: % of Working-Age Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Age dependency ratio is the ratio of dependents--people younger than 15 or older than 64--to the working-age population--those ages 15-64. Data are shown as the proportion of dependents per 100 working-age population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Weighted average; Relevance to gender indicator: this indicator implies the dependency burden that the working-age population bears in relation to children and the elderly. Many times single or widowed women who are the sole caregiver of a household have a high dependency ratio.

United States US: Labour Force With Advanced Education: Male: % of Male Working-age Population data was reported at 73.250 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 73.560 % for 2016. United States US: Labour Force With Advanced Education: Male: % of Male Working-age Population data is updated yearly, averaging 77.826 % from Dec 1994 (Median) to 2017, with 24 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 81.128 % in 1994 and a record low of 73.250 % in 2017. United States US: Labour Force With Advanced Education: Male: % of Male Working-age Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Labour Force. The percentage of the working age population with an advanced level of education who are in the labor force. Advanced education comprises short-cycle tertiary education, a bachelor’s degree or equivalent education level, a master’s degree or equivalent education level, or doctoral degree or equivalent education level according to the International Standard Classification of Education 2011 (ISCED 2011).; ; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in September 2018.; Weighted average;

This EnviroAtlas dataset shows the employment rate, or the percent of the population aged 16-64 who have worked in the past 12 months. The employment rate is a measure of the percent of the working-age population who are employed. It is an indicator of the prevalence of unemployment, which is often used to assess labor market conditions by economists. It is a widely used metric to evaluate the sustainable development of communities (NRC, 2011, UNECE, 2009). This dataset is based on the American Community Survey 5-year data for 2008-2012. This dataset was produced by the US EPA to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

Labor Force Participation Rate in the United States decreased to 62.40 percent in May from 62.60 percent in April of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Labor Force Participation Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

United States US: Labour Force With Basic Education: Female: % of Female Working-age Population data was reported at 52.687 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 52.814 % for 2016. United States US: Labour Force With Basic Education: Female: % of Female Working-age Population data is updated yearly, averaging 52.685 % from Dec 1994 (Median) to 2017, with 24 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 55.074 % in 2007 and a record low of 47.123 % in 1994. United States US: Labour Force With Basic Education: Female: % of Female Working-age Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Labour Force. The percentage of the working age population with a basic level of education who are in the labor force. Basic education comprises primary education or lower secondary education according to the International Standard Classification of Education 2011 (ISCED 2011).; ; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in September 2018.; Weighted average;

In 2022, about 17.3 percent of the American population was 65 years old or over; an increase from the last few years and a figure which is expected to reach 22 percent by 2050. This is a significant increase from 1950, when only eight percent of the population was 65 or over.

A rapidly aging population

In recent years, the aging population of the United States has come into focus as a cause for concern, as the nature of work and retirement is expected to change in order to keep up. If a population is expected to live longer than the generations before, the economy will have to change as well in order to fulfill the needs of the citizens. In addition, the birth rate in the U.S. has been falling over the last 20 years, meaning that there are not as many young people to replace the individuals leaving the workforce.

The future population

It’s not only the American population that is aging -- the global population is, too. By 2025, the median age of the global workforce is expected to be 39.6 years, up from 33.8 years in 1990. Additionally, it is projected that there will be over three million people worldwide aged 100 years and over by 2050.

In 2024, the U.S. employment rate stood at 60.1 percent. Employed persons consist of: persons who did any work for pay or profit during the survey reference week; persons who did at least 15 hours of unpaid work in a family-operated enterprise; and persons who were temporarily absent from their regular jobs because of illness, vacation, bad weather, industrial dispute, or various personal reasons. The employment-population ratio represents the proportion of the civilian non-institutional population that is employed. The monthly unemployment rate for the United States can be found here.

In 2023, it was estimated that over 161 million Americans were in some form of employment, while 3.64 percent of the total workforce was unemployed. This was the lowest unemployment rate since the 1950s, although these figures are expected to rise in 2023 and beyond. 1980s-2010s Since the 1980s, the total United States labor force has generally risen as the population has grown, however, the annual average unemployment rate has fluctuated significantly, usually increasing in times of crisis, before falling more slowly during periods of recovery and economic stability. For example, unemployment peaked at 9.7 percent during the early 1980s recession, which was largely caused by the ripple effects of the Iranian Revolution on global oil prices and inflation. Other notable spikes came during the early 1990s; again, largely due to inflation caused by another oil shock, and during the early 2000s recession. The Great Recession then saw the U.S. unemployment rate soar to 9.6 percent, following the collapse of the U.S. housing market and its impact on the banking sector, and it was not until 2016 that unemployment returned to pre-recession levels. 2020s 2019 had marked a decade-long low in unemployment, before the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic saw the sharpest year-on-year increase in unemployment since the Great Depression, and the total number of workers fell by almost 10 million people. Despite the continuation of the pandemic in the years that followed, alongside the associated supply-chain issues and onset of the inflation crisis, unemployment reached just 3.67 percent in 2022 - current projections are for this figure to rise in 2023 and the years that follow, although these forecasts are subject to change if recent years are anything to go by.

This statistic depicts the age distribution in the United States from 2013 to 2023. In 2023, about 17.59 percent of the U.S. population fell into the 0-14 year category, 64.97 percent into the 15-64 age group and 17.43 percent of the population were over 65 years of age. The increasing population of the United States The United States of America is one of the most populated countries in the world, trailing just behind China and India. A total population count of around 320 million inhabitants and a more-or-less steady population growth over the past decade indicate that the country has steadily improved its living conditions and standards for the population. Leading healthier lifestyles and improved living conditions have resulted in a steady increase of the life expectancy at birth in the United States. Life expectancies of men and women at birth in the United States were at a record high in 2012. Furthermore, a constant fertility rate in recent years and a decrease in the death rate and infant mortality, all due to the improved standard of living and health care conditions, have helped not only the American population to increase but as a result, the share of the population younger than 15 and older than 65 years has also increased in recent years, as can be seen above.

US: Labour Force With Intermediate Education: Female: % of Female Working-age Population data was reported at 64.850 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 64.893 % for 2016. US: Labour Force With Intermediate Education: Female: % of Female Working-age Population data is updated yearly, averaging 70.991 % from Dec 1994 (Median) to 2017, with 24 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 75.022 % in 1994 and a record low of 64.705 % in 2015. US: Labour Force With Intermediate Education: Female: % of Female Working-age Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Labour Force. The percentage of the working age population with an intermediate level of education who are in the labor force. Intermediate education comprises upper secondary or post-secondary non tertiary education according to the International Standard Classification of Education 2011 (ISCED 2011).; ; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in September 2018.; Weighted average;

United States Employment: Age 16 to 17 data was reported at 1,940.000 Person th in Oct 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,826.000 Person th for Sep 2018. United States Employment: Age 16 to 17 data is updated monthly, averaging 2,179.000 Person th from Jan 1948 (Median) to Oct 2018, with 850 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,403.000 Person th in Jul 1978 and a record low of 1,101.000 Person th in Jan 1950. United States Employment: Age 16 to 17 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.G013: Current Population Survey: Employment.

The unemployment rate for people ages 16 to 24 in the United States in 202024 23 was 10 percent. However, this rate was much lower for people aged 45 and over, at 2.9 percent. U.S. unemployment The unemployment rate in the United States varies based on several factors, such as race, gender, and level of education. Black and African-American individuals had the highest unemployment rate in 2021 out of any ethnicity, and people who had less than a high school diploma had the highest unemployment rate by education level. Alaska is consistently the state with the highest unemployment rate, although the El Centro, California metropolitan area was the area with the highest unemployment rate in the country in 2019. Additionally, in August 2022, farming, fishing, and forestry occupations had the highest unemployment rate in the United States Unemployment rate The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is the agency that researches and calculates the unemployment rate in the United States. Unemployment rises during recessions, which causes the cost of social welfare programs to increase. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says unemployed people are those who are jobless, have looked for employment within the last four weeks, and are free to work.

United States US: Labour Force With Intermediate Education: Male: % of Male Working-age Population data was reported at 57.479 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 57.477 % for 2016. United States US: Labour Force With Intermediate Education: Male: % of Male Working-age Population data is updated yearly, averaging 63.114 % from Dec 1994 (Median) to 2017, with 24 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 66.074 % in 1997 and a record low of 57.368 % in 2015. United States US: Labour Force With Intermediate Education: Male: % of Male Working-age Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Labour Force. The percentage of the working age population with an intermediate level of education who are in the labor force. Intermediate education comprises upper secondary or post-secondary non tertiary education according to the International Standard Classification of Education 2011 (ISCED 2011).; ; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in September 2018.; Weighted average;

Age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) in United States was reported at 27.08 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - Age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

In 2024, the employment rate for men in the United States stood at 65.2 percent, reflecting a slight decrease from the previous year. Despite continued growth, the employment rate of men has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. The monthly figure of full-time employees in the U.S. can be accessed here.

Graph and download economic data for Not in Labor Force (LNS15000000) from Jan 1975 to May 2025 about 16 years +, labor force, labor, household survey, and USA.

Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in North America was reported at 53.94 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. North America - Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.