page_title: Labor force in the United States
section_title: Analyzing the LFPR
hierarchical_section_title: Labor force in the United States / Analyzing the LFPR
caption_attribution_description: English: The line chart shows the long-term decline in labor force participation for males of prime-working age (25-54 years), based on educational attainment.
context_page_description: The labor force is the actual number of people available for work and is the sum of the employed and the unemployed. The U.S. labor force reached a high of 164.6 million persons in February 2020, just at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines the labor force thus: "Included are persons 16 years of age and older residing in the 50 States and the District of Columbia who are not inmates of institutions, and who are not on active duty in the Armed Forces." The U.S. labor force has risen each year since 1960, with the exception of the period following the Great Recession, when it remained below 2008 levels from 2009-2011.
  The labor force participation rate, LFPR, is the ratio between the labor force and the overall size of their cohort. Much as in other countries, the labor force participation rate in the U.S. increased significantly in the West during the later half of the 20th century, largely because women entering the workplace in increasing numbers.
  In the U.S., the overall labor force participation rate has declined steadily since 2000, primarily because of the aging and retirement of the Baby Boom generation.
caption: The line chart shows the long-term decline in labor force participation for U.S. males of prime-working age (25–54 years), based on educational attainment.[12]
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