Federal Reserve Economic Data: Your trusted data source since 1991

Labor Force Participation Rate (CIVPART)

Observation:

Feb 2024: 62.5 (+ more)   Updated: Mar 8, 2024
Feb 2024:  62.5  
Jan 2024:  62.5  
Dec 2023:  62.5  
Nov 2023:  62.8  
Oct 2023:  62.7  
View All

Units:

Percent,
Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:

Monthly

NOTES

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics  

Release: Employment Situation  

Units:  Percent, Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Monthly

Notes:

The series comes from the 'Current Population Survey (Household Survey)'
The source code is: LNS11300000

The Labor Force Participation Rate is defined by the Current Population Survey (CPS) as “the number of people in the labor force as a percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population […] the participation rate is the percentage of the population that is either working or actively looking for work.”

The Labor Force Participation Rate is collected in the CPS and published by the BLS. It is provided on a monthly basis, so this data is used in part by macroeconomists as an initial economic indicator of current labor market trends. The labor force participation rate helps government agencies, financial markets, and researchers gauge the overall health of the economy.

Note that long-run changes in labor force participation may reflect secular economic trends that are unrelated to the overall health of the economy. For instance, demographic changes such as the aging of population can lead to a secular increase of exits from the labor force, shrinking the labor force and decreasing the labor force participation rate.

For more information, see:
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CES Overview
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Concepts and Definitions (CPS)

Suggested Citation:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Participation Rate [CIVPART], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART, March 14, 2024.


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