What does the US Labour Force by Sex and Age table measure?

It measures population, labour force, employment, unemployment, and participation rates across specific demographic groups in the United States, providing a detailed breakdown beyond the headline figures.

How often is the US labour force by demographic group published and how far back do the series go?

The data are published monthly by the source and the historical series begin in 1948, allowing for long-term demographic analysis of the United States labour market.

What specific breakdowns are included in this table?

The table provides metrics for total figures as well as categories differentiated by sex and various age brackets, tracking employment status, participation rates, and people outside the labour force in the United States.

Are these US labour force series seasonally adjusted?

No, the series in this table are not seasonally adjusted and thus exhibit regular seasonal patterns, which should be considered when comparing month-to-month changes in the United States labour market.

US Labour Force by Sex and Age

Name: US Labour Force by Sex and Age
Creator: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

US monthly labour force and unemployment data by sex and age, from the BLS.

Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)Last updated: Sep 21, 2026, 14:15Curated by Bui Thanh PhucAbout this data ↓

Indicator	08-2026	07-2026	06-2026	05-2026	04-2026	03-2026	02-2026	01-2026	12-2025	11-2025	09-2025	08-2025	07-2025	06-2025	05-2025	04-2025	03-2025	02-2025	01-2025	12-2024	11-2024	10-2024	09-2024	08-2024	07-2024	06-2024	05-2024	04-2024	03-2024	02-2024	01-2024	12-2023	11-2023	10-2023	09-2023	08-2023	07-2023
Total (16 years and over)1
Population2	275,415	275,282	275,166	275,054	274,955	274,858	274,766	274,676	274,816	274,633	274,226	274,001	273,785	273,585	273,385	273,197	273,023	272,847	272,685	269,638	269,463	269,289	269,080	268,856	268,644	268,438	268,248	268,066	267,884	267,711	267,540	267,991	267,822	267,642	267,428	267,213	267,002
Labour force3	170,048	170,235	170,198	169,801	169,548	170,102	170,206	169,612	170,723	171,467	171,217	171,035	171,646	171,343	170,216	170,650	170,653	170,116	169,814	167,746	168,164	168,569	168,569	168,763	169,723	169,007	167,576	167,484	167,960	167,285	166,428	166,661	167,977	167,774	167,718	168,049	168,354
Labour force participation rate	61.7	61.8	61.9	61.7	61.7	61.9	61.9	61.7	62.1	62.4	62.4	62.4	62.7	62.6	62.3	62.5	62.5	62.3	62.3	62.2	62.4	62.6	62.6	62.8	63.2	63	62.5	62.5	62.7	62.5	62.2	62.2	62.7	62.7	62.7	62.9	63.1
Employed1	162,667	162,800	162,722	162,897	162,781	162,764	162,153	161,670	163,720	164,066	163,894	163,288	163,799	163,883	163,401	164,069	163,412	162,544	162,347	161,294	161,456	161,938	162,046	161,348	162,038	161,774	161,341	161,590	161,356	160,315	159,650	160,754	162,149	161,676	161,669	161,427	161,982
Employment-population ratio	59.1	59.1	59.1	59.2	59.2	59.2	59	58.9	59.6	59.7	59.8	59.6	59.8	59.9	59.8	60.1	59.9	59.6	59.5	59.8	59.9	60.1	60.2	60	60.3	60.3	60.1	60.3	60.2	59.9	59.7	60	60.5	60.4	60.5	60.4	60.7
Unemployed1	7,381	7,435	7,476	6,904	6,768	7,337	8,052	7,942	7,003	7,401	7,324	7,747	7,847	7,460	6,815	6,582	7,242	7,572	7,467	6,452	6,708	6,631	6,524	7,415	7,685	7,233	6,235	5,894	6,604	6,970	6,778	5,907	5,827	6,098	6,049	6,623	6,372
Unemployment rate	4.3	4.4	4.4	4.1	4	4.3	4.7	4.7	4.1	4.3	4.3	4.5	4.6	4.4	4	3.9	4.2	4.5	4.4	3.8	4	3.9	3.9	4.4	4.5	4.3	3.7	3.5	3.9	4.2	4.1	3.5	3.5	3.6	3.6	3.9	3.8
Not in labour force1	105,367	105,047	104,968	105,253	105,406	104,756	104,560	105,064	104,094	103,165	103,009	102,966	102,140	102,242	103,169	102,547	102,369	102,731	102,871	101,892	101,299	100,720	100,511	100,092	98,921	99,431	100,672	100,582	99,924	100,426	101,113	101,330	99,845	99,868	99,710	99,164	98,649
Of which: want a job	5,884	6,258	6,463	6,756	5,956	5,728	5,880	5,961	5,977	5,774	5,792	6,499	6,533	6,455	6,567	5,534	5,600	5,809	5,658	5,294	5,133	5,330	5,591	5,749	5,950	5,655	6,259	5,502	5,110	5,546	5,964	5,465	5,006	5,037	5,299	5,482	5,578
Men, 16 years and over1
Population2	132,876	132,816	132,763	132,714	132,670	132,627	132,586	132,546	134,046	133,957	133,760	133,651	133,546	133,449	133,351	133,260	133,175	133,089	133,010	131,455	131,371	131,287	131,186	131,077	130,975	130,875	130,782	130,694	130,605	130,520	130,436	130,985	130,903	130,816	130,713	130,608	130,507
Labour force3	89,604	89,680	89,384	89,018	88,712	88,827	88,835	88,653	90,199	90,525	90,615	91,113	91,334	91,247	90,249	90,451	90,318	89,792	89,844	88,712	88,922	89,279	89,209	89,138	90,256	89,900	88,591	88,472	88,892	88,299	88,014	88,610	89,258	88,730	89,159	89,299	89,647
Labour force participation rate	67.4	67.5	67.3	67.1	66.9	67	67	66.9	67.3	67.6	67.7	68.2	68.4	68.4	67.7	67.9	67.8	67.5	67.5	67.5	67.7	68	68	68	68.9	68.7	67.7	67.7	68.1	67.7	67.5	67.6	68.2	67.8	68.2	68.4	68.7
Employed1	85,734	85,897	85,498	85,245	84,981	84,852	84,460	84,291	86,372	86,582	86,849	87,194	87,317	87,272	86,565	86,688	86,216	85,519	85,611	85,139	85,296	85,770	85,754	85,379	86,368	86,182	85,076	85,187	85,253	84,391	83,959	85,198	85,910	85,384	85,745	85,838	86,417
Employment-population ratio	64.5	64.7	64.4	64.2	64.1	64	63.7	63.6	64.4	64.6	64.9	65.2	65.4	65.4	64.9	65.1	64.7	64.3	64.4	64.8	64.9	65.3	65.4	65.1	65.9	65.9	65.1	65.2	65.3	64.7	64.4	65	65.6	65.3	65.6	65.7	66.2
Unemployed1	3,870	3,782	3,886	3,773	3,731	3,975	4,375	4,362	3,827	3,942	3,766	3,920	4,017	3,975	3,685	3,763	4,102	4,273	4,233	3,574	3,626	3,509	3,455	3,759	3,889	3,719	3,515	3,285	3,639	3,908	4,055	3,412	3,347	3,345	3,414	3,461	3,231
Unemployment rate	4.3	4.2	4.3	4.2	4.2	4.5	4.9	4.9	4.2	4.4	4.2	4.3	4.4	4.4	4.1	4.2	4.5	4.8	4.7	4	4.1	3.9	3.9	4.2	4.3	4.1	4	3.7	4.1	4.4	4.6	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.9	3.6
Not in labour force	43,272	43,136	43,380	43,696	43,958	43,799	43,750	43,893	43,847	43,433	43,144	42,538	42,212	42,202	43,102	42,810	42,857	43,297	43,166	42,743	42,450	42,008	41,978	41,939	40,719	40,974	42,191	42,222	41,713	42,221	42,422	42,375	41,646	42,087	41,553	41,310	40,859
Men, 20 years and over1
Population2	123,959	123,887	123,822	123,760	123,704	123,657	123,612	123,570	124,981	124,889	124,684	124,571	124,462	124,361	124,261	124,166	124,082	123,996	123,918	122,480	122,398	122,316	122,221	122,118	122,021	121,929	121,844	121,763	121,685	121,611	121,539	122,187	122,111	122,029	121,931	121,832	121,735
Labour force3	86,126	86,002	85,820	85,927	85,739	85,931	85,945	85,812	87,251	87,584	87,553	87,779	87,478	87,428	87,032	87,280	87,135	86,634	86,808	85,558	85,908	86,204	86,045	85,816	86,388	85,994	85,283	85,347	85,656	85,313	85,134	85,564	86,094	85,542	86,086	85,868	86,062
Labour force participation rate	69.5	69.4	69.3	69.4	69.3	69.5	69.5	69.4	69.8	70.1	70.2	70.5	70.3	70.3	70	70.3	70.2	69.9	70.1	69.9	70.2	70.5	70.4	70.3	70.8	70.5	70	70.1	70.4	70.2	70	70	70.5	70.1	70.6	70.5	70.7
Employed1	82,744	82,739	82,589	82,646	82,420	82,429	82,038	81,964	83,874	84,157	84,252	84,280	84,106	84,147	83,836	83,940	83,485	82,838	82,954	82,378	82,745	83,121	83,091	82,552	83,026	82,865	82,225	82,424	82,457	81,802	81,485	82,493	83,128	82,663	83,057	82,865	83,320
Employment-population ratio	66.8	66.8	66.7	66.8	66.6	66.7	66.4	66.3	67.1	67.4	67.6	67.7	67.6	67.7	67.5	67.6	67.3	66.8	66.9	67.3	67.6	68	68	67.6	68	68	67.5	67.7	67.8	67.3	67	67.5	68.1	67.7	68.1	68	68.4
Unemployed1	3,381	3,263	3,231	3,281	3,320	3,503	3,907	3,848	3,377	3,427	3,301	3,498	3,372	3,281	3,196	3,340	3,650	3,796	3,854	3,179	3,164	3,083	2,955	3,264	3,362	3,129	3,057	2,923	3,199	3,511	3,650	3,071	2,966	2,879	3,029	3,003	2,743
Unemployment rate	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.9	4.1	4.5	4.5	3.9	3.9	3.8	4	3.9	3.8	3.7	3.8	4.2	4.4	4.4	3.7	3.7	3.6	3.4	3.8	3.9	3.6	3.6	3.4	3.7	4.1	4.3	3.6	3.4	3.4	3.5	3.5	3.2
Not in labour force	37,834	37,885	38,003	37,833	37,964	37,726	37,667	37,758	37,730	37,305	37,131	36,792	36,984	36,933	37,229	36,887	36,946	37,362	37,110	36,923	36,490	36,112	36,175	36,302	35,633	35,935	36,561	36,416	36,029	36,299	36,405	36,623	36,017	36,487	35,845	35,964	35,673
Women, 16 years and over1
Population2	142,540	142,467	142,403	142,340	142,284	142,231	142,180	142,130	140,770	140,676	140,466	140,350	140,239	140,136	140,033	139,937	139,848	139,758	139,674	138,183	138,092	138,002	137,894	137,779	137,669	137,564	137,465	137,372	137,279	137,191	137,104	137,006	136,919	136,826	136,715	136,605	136,496
Labour force3	80,444	80,555	80,814	80,783	80,837	81,274	81,370	80,959	80,524	80,943	80,602	79,921	80,311	80,095	79,967	80,200	80,336	80,323	79,969	79,034	79,242	79,290	79,361	79,626	79,467	79,107	78,985	79,011	79,068	78,986	78,413	78,051	78,719	79,045	78,559	78,750	78,706
Labour force participation rate	56.4	56.5	56.8	56.8	56.8	57.1	57.2	57	57.2	57.5	57.4	56.9	57.3	57.2	57.1	57.3	57.4	57.5	57.3	57.2	57.4	57.5	57.6	57.8	57.7	57.5	57.5	57.5	57.6	57.6	57.2	57	57.5	57.8	57.5	57.6	57.7
Employed1	76,933	76,903	77,224	77,652	77,799	77,912	77,693	77,379	77,348	77,484	77,045	76,094	76,482	76,611	76,836	77,381	77,195	77,025	76,736	76,155	76,161	76,169	76,292	75,970	75,670	75,592	76,265	76,403	76,103	75,924	75,691	75,556	76,239	76,292	75,924	75,589	75,565
Employment-population ratio	54	54	54.2	54.6	54.7	54.8	54.6	54.4	54.9	55.1	54.8	54.2	54.5	54.7	54.9	55.3	55.2	55.1	54.9	55.1	55.2	55.2	55.3	55.1	55	55	55.5	55.6	55.4	55.3	55.2	55.1	55.7	55.8	55.5	55.3	55.4
Unemployed1	3,511	3,653	3,590	3,130	3,037	3,362	3,677	3,580	3,176	3,459	3,557	3,827	3,830	3,484	3,130	2,819	3,140	3,298	3,234	2,879	3,082	3,121	3,069	3,656	3,797	3,515	2,720	2,609	2,965	3,062	2,723	2,495	2,480	2,753	2,634	3,162	3,141
Unemployment rate	4.4	4.5	4.4	3.9	3.8	4.1	4.5	4.4	3.9	4.3	4.4	4.8	4.8	4.4	3.9	3.5	3.9	4.1	4	3.6	3.9	3.9	3.9	4.6	4.8	4.4	3.4	3.3	3.7	3.9	3.5	3.2	3.2	3.5	3.4	4	4
Not in labour force	62,096	61,911	61,589	61,558	61,448	60,957	60,810	61,171	60,246	59,733	59,864	60,429	59,928	60,041	60,067	59,737	59,512	59,435	59,705	59,149	58,850	58,712	58,533	58,153	58,203	58,457	58,481	58,361	58,211	58,205	58,691	58,955	58,199	57,781	58,156	57,854	57,790
Women, 20 years and over1
Population2	133,948	133,864	133,789	133,715	133,648	133,593	133,541	133,489	132,034	131,935	131,717	131,597	131,481	131,374	131,268	131,167	131,080	130,991	130,908	129,518	129,428	129,340	129,236	129,125	129,021	128,922	128,830	128,742	128,659	128,581	128,503	128,513	128,430	128,342	128,237	128,132	128,028
Labour force3	77,251	76,909	77,080	77,714	77,854	78,181	78,384	78,018	77,358	77,725	77,476	76,636	76,672	76,552	76,861	77,173	77,153	77,276	77,020	75,961	76,149	76,282	76,264	76,216	75,657	75,336	75,723	75,901	75,945	75,995	75,382	75,079	75,681	75,888	75,602	75,305	74,856
Labour force participation rate	57.7	57.5	57.6	58.1	58.3	58.5	58.7	58.4	58.6	58.9	58.8	58.2	58.3	58.3	58.6	58.8	58.9	59	58.8	58.6	58.8	59	59	59	58.6	58.4	58.8	59	59	59.1	58.7	58.4	58.9	59.1	59	58.8	58.5
Employed1	74,178	73,666	74,093	74,979	75,168	75,125	75,121	74,738	74,572	74,736	74,278	73,300	73,404	73,630	74,073	74,642	74,398	74,320	74,136	73,359	73,386	73,566	73,598	73,014	72,348	72,339	73,338	73,579	73,304	73,299	72,909	72,862	73,504	73,499	73,292	72,515	72,120
Employment-population ratio	55.4	55	55.4	56.1	56.2	56.2	56.3	56	56.5	56.6	56.4	55.7	55.8	56	56.4	56.9	56.8	56.7	56.6	56.6	56.7	56.9	56.9	56.5	56.1	56.1	56.9	57.2	57	57	56.7	56.7	57.2	57.3	57.2	56.6	56.3
Unemployed1	3,072	3,243	2,987	2,734	2,686	3,055	3,263	3,281	2,787	2,990	3,198	3,336	3,268	2,923	2,787	2,531	2,754	2,956	2,884	2,602	2,762	2,716	2,667	3,202	3,309	2,997	2,385	2,322	2,642	2,696	2,473	2,217	2,177	2,390	2,310	2,790	2,737
Unemployment rate	4	4.2	3.9	3.5	3.4	3.9	4.2	4.2	3.6	3.8	4.1	4.4	4.3	3.8	3.6	3.3	3.6	3.8	3.7	3.4	3.6	3.6	3.5	4.2	4.4	4	3.1	3.1	3.5	3.5	3.3	3	2.9	3.1	3.1	3.7	3.7
Not in labour force	56,697	56,955	56,709	56,002	55,793	55,413	55,157	55,471	54,675	54,210	54,241	54,961	54,809	54,822	54,407	53,994	53,927	53,715	53,888	53,557	53,280	53,057	52,972	52,909	53,364	53,585	53,106	52,841	52,714	52,586	53,121	53,434	52,749	52,454	52,635	52,826	53,171
Youth, 16–19 years1
Population2	17,508	17,531	17,555	17,579	17,603	17,608	17,613	17,617	17,801	17,808	17,824	17,833	17,843	17,850	17,856	17,863	17,862	17,860	17,859	17,640	17,636	17,633	17,623	17,612	17,602	17,588	17,574	17,561	17,540	17,519	17,498	17,291	17,281	17,270	17,260	17,249	17,239
Labour force3	6,672	7,324	7,298	6,160	5,955	5,990	5,877	5,782	6,113	6,158	6,188	6,620	7,496	7,363	6,323	6,197	6,366	6,205	5,986	6,227	6,107	6,083	6,260	6,731	7,678	7,676	6,570	6,236	6,359	5,978	5,911	6,018	6,202	6,344	6,030	6,876	7,435
Labour force participation rate	38.1	41.8	41.6	35	33.8	34	33.4	32.8	34.3	34.6	34.7	37.1	42	41.2	35.4	34.7	35.6	34.7	33.5	35.3	34.6	34.5	35.5	38.2	43.6	43.6	37.4	35.5	36.3	34.1	33.8	34.8	35.9	36.7	34.9	39.9	43.1
Employed1	5,744	6,394	6,040	5,271	5,193	5,211	4,994	4,969	5,275	5,173	5,363	5,707	6,288	6,107	5,492	5,487	5,528	5,386	5,257	5,556	5,325	5,252	5,357	5,782	6,664	6,569	5,777	5,587	5,595	5,214	5,256	5,399	5,517	5,514	5,321	6,046	6,542
Employment-population ratio	32.8	36.5	34.4	30	29.5	29.6	28.4	28.2	29.6	29	30.1	32	35.2	34.2	30.8	30.7	31	30.2	29.4	31.5	30.2	29.8	30.4	32.8	37.9	37.3	32.9	31.8	31.9	29.8	30	31.2	31.9	31.9	30.8	35.1	38
Unemployed1	927	929	1,258	889	762	779	883	813	839	985	825	913	1,207	1,256	831	711	837	820	728	671	782	832	902	949	1,014	1,107	793	649	764	763	655	619	685	830	710	830	893
Unemployment rate	13.9	12.7	17.2	14.4	12.8	13	15	14.1	13.7	16	13.3	13.8	16.1	17.1	13.1	11.5	13.2	13.2	12.2	10.8	12.8	13.7	14.4	14.1	13.2	14.4	12.1	10.4	12	12.8	11.1	10.3	11	13.1	11.8	12.1	12
Not in labour force	10,837	10,207	10,257	11,418	11,648	11,618	11,736	11,835	11,688	11,650	11,636	11,213	10,347	10,487	11,533	11,666	11,496	11,655	11,873	11,412	11,529	11,550	11,364	10,881	9,924	9,912	11,004	11,326	11,181	11,541	11,587	11,273	11,079	10,927	11,230	10,373	9,804

Latest reading

Unemployment rate stood at 4.3% in Aug 2026. That is −0.1 pp from Jul 2026 and −0.2 pp from a year earlier. The series on this page is monthly and runs from Jan 1948 to Aug 2026. Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis).

Latest: 4.3%; Aug 2026
vs previous period: −0.1 pp; Jul 2026
vs a year earlier: −0.2 pp

About this data

US monthly labour force and unemployment data by sex and age, from the BLS. The table details population, labour force, employment, and unemployment rates across demographic categories. Published monthly, the series go back to 1948 from FRED. The data are not seasonally adjusted.

Frequently asked questions

What does the US Labour Force by Sex and Age table measure?: It measures population, labour force, employment, unemployment, and participation rates across specific demographic groups in the United States, providing a detailed breakdown beyond the headline figures.
How often is the US labour force by demographic group published and how far back do the series go?: The data are published monthly by the source and the historical series begin in 1948, allowing for long-term demographic analysis of the United States labour market.
What specific breakdowns are included in this table?: The table provides metrics for total figures as well as categories differentiated by sex and various age brackets, tracking employment status, participation rates, and people outside the labour force in the United States.
Are these US labour force series seasonally adjusted?: No, the series in this table are not seasonally adjusted and thus exhibit regular seasonal patterns, which should be considered when comparing month-to-month changes in the United States labour market.