United States
US desk: United States first; United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, euro-area members, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand alongside.
−0.26 pp
As of 2025 | % of population ages 15+
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 61.70% |
| 2024 | 61.96% |
| 2023 | 62.08% |
| 2022 | 61.79% |
| 2021 | 61.50% |
| 2020 | 61.56% |
| 2019 | 62.85% |
| 2018 | 62.59% |
| 2017 | 62.55% |
| 2016 | 62.43% |
| 2015 | 62.27% |
| 2014 | 62.45% |
| 2013 | 62.73% |
| 2012 | 63.11% |
| 2011 | 63.23% |
| 2010 | 63.73% |
| 2009 | 64.37% |
| 2008 | 64.98% |
| 2007 | 64.99% |
| 2006 | 65.17% |
| 2005 | 65.05% |
| 2004 | 65.00% |
| 2003 | 65.22% |
| 2002 | 65.59% |
Labour force participation is the share of people ages 15 and over who are employed or unemployed (SL.TLF.CACT.ZS). It is not the unemployment rate. Latest: 61.70% in 2025.
A falling unemployment rate can coincide with people leaving the labour force. This series is the usual check. From 1990 to 2025 (36 years): mean 64.07%, median 64.99%; low 61.50% (2021), high 66.15% (2000).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the labour-force participation rate for people aged 15 and over: the share who are either employed or unemployed and looking for work. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.TLF.CACT.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate. It measures who is in the labour market, not what they earn, and it is not the same as the employment ratio: unemployed people count in the numerator here but not there.
Participation reflects retirement ages, education, caring responsibilities and social norms as well as job availability, so levels differ for reasons that have little to do with the unemployment rate. The series is modelled from national surveys and censuses and is revised periodically. Use the chart and range buttons to follow one economy and the ranked ledger to compare latest published years. Treat small cross-country gaps with caution, because the estimate carries uncertainty where survey coverage is thin. A fall can mean people left the labour force rather than lost work, so read it with the unemployment rate.
The US desk places the United States first and shows a related set alongside it: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the euro area, Germany, Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand, as far as each series covers them. The figures are the same World Bank ILO modelled estimates used on the all-countries pages, filtered to this set; the build does not recompute anything for the desk. Taiwan appears only on the headline unemployment page, where the rate is filled from the IMF World Economic Outlook because the World Bank does not publish it.
Use the Country selector to move between desks, the Chart and Table tabs for the same values in two forms, and the range buttons to change the period. Every page names its indicator code, source and licence. A blank or absent economy means the source does not publish that series, not that the rate is zero.