US civilian Labor force

Civilian Non-institutional Labor Force in United States 1988-2023.

The labor force is a subset of population that includes non-institutional people 16 and older, not in the military, and who are working or looking for work. In May 2023, employed people (16 or 16 +) were 60.3% of the civilian non-institutional population (16 or higher). Unemployed people in May 2023 were 3.7% of the labor force.

The size of civilian non institutional labor force in United States was 162.1 million in 2018, rising from 160 million in 2017.

The following table shows the size of the  total civilian non-institutional labor force in United States from 1988 to 2023. Figures are in thousands.

		Total	Total	Employed	Employed	Unemployed	Unemployed	Not in Labor Force
	Civilian Non-Inst. Population	Number	% of population	Number	% of population	Number	% of labor force
1988	184,613	121,669	65.9	114,968	62.3	6,701	5.5	62,944
1989	186,393	123,869	66.5	117,342	63.0	6,528	5.3	62,523
1990	189,164	125,840	66.5	118,793	62.8	7,047	5.6	63,324
1991	190,925	126,346	66.2	117,718	61.7	8,628	6.8	64,578
1992	192,805	128,105	66.4	118,492	61.5	9,613	7.5	64,700
1993	194,838	129,200	66.3	120,259	61.7	8,940	6.9	65,638
1994	196,814	131,056	66.6	123,060	62.5	7,996	6.1	65,758
1995	198,584	132,304	66.6	124,900	62.9	7,404	5.6	66,280
1996	200,591	133,943	66.8	126,708	63.2	7,236	5.4	66,647
1997	203,133	136,297	67.1	129,558	63.8	6,739	4.9	66,837
1998	205,220	137,673	67.1	131,463	64.1	6,210	4.5	67,547
1999	207,753	139,368	67.1	133,488	64.3	5,880	4.2	68,385
2000	212,577	142,583	67.1	136,891	64.4	5,692	4.0	69,994
2001	215,092	143,734	66.8	136,933	63.7	6,801	4.7	71,359
2002	217,570	144,863	66.6	136,485	62.7	8,378	5.8	72,707
2003	221,168	146,510	66.2	137,736	62.3	8,774	6.0	74,658
2004	223,357	147,401	66.0	139,252	62.3	8,149	5.5	75,956
2005	226,082	149,320	66.0	141,730	62.7	7,591	5.1	76,762
2006	228,815	151,428	66.2	144,427	63.1	7,001	4.6	77,387
2007	231,867	153,124	66.0	146,047	63.0	7,078	4.6	78,743
2008	233,788	154,287	66.0	145,362	62.2	8,924	5.8	79,501
2009	235,801	154,142	65.4	139,877	59.3	14,265	9.3	81,659
2010	237,830	153,889	64.7	139,064	58.5	14,825	9.6	83,941
2011	239,618	153,617	64.1	139,869	58.4	13,747	8.9	86,001
2012	243,284	154,975	63.7	142,469	58.6	12,506	8.1	88,310
2013	245,679	155,389	63.2	143,929	58.6	11,460	7.4	90,290
2014	247,947	155,922	62.9	146,305	59.0	9,617	6.2	92,025
2015	250,801	157,130	62.7	148,834	59.3	8,296	5.3	93,671
2016	253,538	159,187	62.8	151,436	59.7	7,751	4.9	94,351
2017	255,079	160,320	62.9	153,337	60.1	6,982	4.4	94,759
2018	257,791	162,075	62.9	155,761	60.4	6,314	3.9	95,716
2019	259,175	163,539	63.1	157,538	60.8	6,001	3.7	95,636
2020	260,329	160,742	61.7	147,795	56.8	12,947	8.1	99,587
2021	261,445	161,204	61.7	152,581	58.4	8,623	5.3	100,241
2022	263,973	164,287	62.2	158,291	60.0	5,996	3.6	99,686
2022
May	263,679	164,278	62.3	158,299	60.0	5,979	3.6	99,400
June	263,835	164,002	62.2	158,057	59.9	5,945	3.6	99,833
July	264,012	163,990	62.1	158,272	59.9	5,718	3.5	100,021
August	264,184	164,714	62.3	158,694	60.1	6,021	3.7	99,469
september	264,356	164,619	62.3	158,850	60.1	5,770	3.5	99,736
October	264,535	164,646	62.2	158,593	60.0	6,053	3.7	99,890
November	264,708	164,527	62.2	158,527	59.9	6,000	3.6	100,181
December	264,844	164,966	62.3	159,244	60.1	5,722	3.5	99,878
2023
Jan	265,962	165,832	62.4	160,138	60.2	5,694	3.4	100,130
Feb	266,112	166,251	62.5	160,315	60.2	5,936	3.6	99,861
March	266,272	166,731	62.6	160,892	60.4	5,839	3.5	99,541
April	266,443	166,688	62.6	161,031	60.4	5,657	3.4	99,755
May	266,618	166,818	62.6	160,721	60.3	6,097	3.7	99,800

Sources:

United States  Department of Labor.

Bureau of Labor Statistics.