Racial employment disparities appear across several measures: whether people participate in the labor force, whether they are employed, the occupations they enter, and what full-time work pays. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data for 2023 and 2024 show that these measures do not move together uniformly across racial and ethnic groups.
Contents: Participation · Employment · Unemployment · Education and occupations · Families and industries · Earnings
Labor-force participation by race and ethnicity
The labor-force participation rate measures the share of the civilian noninstitutional population that is working or actively looking for work. In the BLS annual-average estimates for 2023, participation was highest among Hispanic or Latino people at 66.9%, followed by Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders at 66.0%. The rate was 65.3% for people of Two or More Races and 65.0% for Asian people.
Participation was 63.1% for Black or African American people and 62.3% for White people. The American Indian and Alaska Native rate was 59.2%. These are descriptive national estimates, not measures of individual willingness to work or the causes of differences between groups. Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity are separate CPS concepts; Hispanic or Latino people may be of any race, so categories should not be added together.
Among adults age 20 and older, the 2023 gender pattern also varied. Hispanic or Latino men had a participation rate of 79.2%, compared with 68.6% for Black or African American men. Asian men had a rate of 75.8%, while White men had a rate of 70.1%. The comparisons use the BLS report’s 2023 annual-average definitions and population groups.
Employment-population ratios across demographic groups
The employment-population ratio is the share of the civilian noninstitutional population that is employed, whether or not people are looking for work. It therefore differs from labor-force participation: someone who is not working and not actively searching is outside the labor force and is not counted as unemployed.
For people age 16 and older, the overall U.S. employment-population ratio was 60.1% in the 2024 annual average. The ratio was 60.0% for White people, 59.2% for Black or African American people, and 62.7% for Asian people. The figures below combine the 2024 BLS annual-average table with comparable 2023 annual-average estimates from the BLS race and ethnicity report.
| Group and period | Employment-population ratio |
|---|---|
| Overall, age 16+, 2024 | 60.1% |
| White, age 16+, 2024 | 60.0% |
| Black or African American, age 16+, 2024 | 59.2% |
| Asian, age 16+, 2024 | 62.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino, 2023 | 63.8% |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 2023 | 63.3% |
Among adults age 20 and older in 2023, Hispanic or Latino men had the highest employment-population ratio at 75.9%. Black or African American men had the lowest ratio among the four largest groups at 65.0%. Women’s ratios were 60.1% for Black or African American women, 58.7% for Hispanic or Latino women, 58.4% for Asian women, and 55.9% for White women. These comparisons describe employment shares for the stated age and period; they do not establish why the ratios differ.
Unemployment gaps across race and ethnicity
The unemployment rate is the share of the labor force that is unemployed. Because the denominator includes only people working or actively seeking work, it should be read alongside participation and employment-population ratios.
The overall U.S. unemployment rate was 3.6% in the 2023 annual average. The rate was 6.6% for American Indians and Alaska Natives, 5.5% for Black or African Americans, and 5.4% for people of Two or More Races. It was 4.6% for Hispanic or Latino people and 4.1% for Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders. White people had a 3.3% unemployment rate, while Asian people had a 3.0% rate.
Within selected groups, the gender differences were narrower than the differences between some racial and ethnic groups. Black men had a 5.7% unemployment rate and Black women had a 5.4% rate in 2023. Asian men had a 3.4% rate and Asian women had a 2.6% rate. The BLS figures are annual averages, so they do not describe a particular month’s labor-market conditions.
Educational attainment and occupational sorting
Education and occupation provide context for employment disparities, but the supplied BLS figures do not measure the full effect of education, discrimination, geography, experience, or other factors. In 2023, 68% of Asians in the labor force age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher. The comparable shares were 44% for White people, 36% for Black or African Americans, and 25% for Hispanic or Latino people.
The distribution of workers across management, professional, and related occupations followed a similar pattern in the same annual-average report: 59% of Asian workers, 44% of White workers, 36% of Black or African American workers, and 26% of Hispanic or Latino workers were in that broad occupational group.
| Group, 2023 | Bachelor’s degree or higher | Management, professional, and related occupations |
|---|---|---|
| Asian | 68% | 59% |
| White | 44% | 44% |
| Black or African American | 36% | 36% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 25% | 26% |
Occupational concentration is also visible in service work. In 2023, 22% of Black or African American men worked in service occupations, compared with 12% of White men and 11% of Asian men. Hispanic or Latino men had a 22% share in management, professional, and related occupations. These categories are broad and do not show job quality, hours, benefits, seniority, or whether workers preferred a particular occupation.
Industry, family employment, and caregiving context
Employment statistics can look different at the family level. In 2023, 87% of Asian families and 87% of Hispanic or Latino families had at least one employed family member. The share was 81% for Black or African American families and 79% for White families.
Families maintained by women represented 39% of Black or African American families, compared with 24% of Hispanic or Latino families, 15% of White families, and 11% of Asian families. This measure describes family structure and maintenance status; it is not a measure of a woman’s individual earnings or employment quality.
Among mothers with children under 18, labor-force participation in 2023 was 79.5% for Black or African American mothers and 73.5% for White mothers. It was 70.7% for Asian mothers and 66.1% for Hispanic or Latino mothers. Among fathers with children under 18, participation was 94.0% for White fathers, 93.8% for Asian fathers, 93.0% for Hispanic or Latino fathers, and 90.5% for Black or African American fathers.
Industry representation adds another dimension. In the 2024 annual average, Hispanic or Latino workers accounted for 24.9% of employment in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting, while Black or African American workers accounted for 3.1%. This is a share of employment in that detailed industry, not a general employment rate and not a claim that all workers in either group work in that industry.
Weekly earnings disparities
Median usual weekly earnings show the midpoint among full-time wage and salary workers, in nominal dollars. They are not annual income, hourly pay, household income, or a measure of wealth. In 2024, median weekly earnings were $1,525 for Asian workers, $1,177 for White workers, $959 for Black workers, and $902 for Hispanic or Latino workers.
| Full-time wage and salary workers, 2024 | Median weekly earnings |
|---|---|
| Asian | $1,525 |
| White | $1,177 |
| Black | $959 |
| Hispanic or Latino | $902 |
The gender-specific figures show additional differences. Median weekly earnings were $1,288 for White men and $1,002 for Black men. They were $1,726 for Asian men and $963 for Hispanic or Latino men. Among women, median weekly earnings were $1,061 for White women, $922 for Black women, $1,365 for Asian women, and $832 for Hispanic or Latino women.
The 2023 annual-average BLS report also gives occupational comparisons. Across management, professional, and related occupations, median weekly earnings were $1,900 for Asian workers, $1,530 for White workers, $1,286 for Black or African American workers, and $1,315 for Hispanic or Latino workers. In management occupations, the figures were $2,097, $1,746, $1,402, and $1,408, respectively. In computer and mathematical occupations, they were $2,179 for Asian workers, $1,854 for White workers, $1,619 for Black or African American workers, and $1,592 for Hispanic or Latino workers.
These earnings measures cover full-time wage and salary workers and use nominal dollars. Percentages in the BLS report may not sum to 100% because of rounding and omitted race groups. Taken together, the participation, unemployment, occupation, family, industry, and earnings measures show why racial employment disparities cannot be represented by a single statistic.
Sources
- Labor force characteristics by race and ethnicity, 2023 — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population by sex, age, and race — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by selected characteristics — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Employed persons by detailed industry, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.