Workers of color make up more than 40% of the U.S. labor force, and that share is growing as more of the white non-Hispanic population reaches retirement age and recent immigration trends help sustain the growth of our labor force and economy. Over the last five years, workers of color—who identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN)—made significant gains in employment and earnings. This was a direct result of the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to full employment during the post-pandemic recovery and the Federal Reserve’s successful navigation of a soft landing. But Trump’s anti-worker, anti-immigrant policy actions could soon erase this progress.
The broad-based nature of the labor market recovery is most evident when examining the employment-to-population (EPOP) ratio of prime-age workers between the ages of 25 and 54. Unlike the unemployment rate, the EPOP ratio is not influenced by changes in labor force participation since it captures the share of workers during a given period that have a job. The prime-age EPOP ratio is also less influenced by college attendance and the aging of the population when compared with the employment rate of all workers. As shown in Figure A, the employment rate of prime-age Black, Hispanic, AAPI, and AIAN workers hit record highs within the past few years. For example, the share of prime-age Black workers with a job reached a historic peak of 77.7% in 2023.
The employment rate of prime-age workers of color reached historic heights in the past few years: Prime-age employment-to-population ratios by race and ethnicity, 2000–2024
| year | Black | Hispanic | AIAN | AAPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 76.9% | 76.8% | 72.1% | 78.8% |
| 2001 | 75.7% | 75.8% | 72.1% | 78.1% |
| 2002 | 73.9% | 74.8% | 69.8% | 76.4% |
| 2003 | 73.5% | 73.8% | 71.2% | 75.6% |
| 2004 | 73.0% | 75.2% | 69.3% | 77.0% |
| 2005 | 73.7% | 75.6% | 69.3% | 76.9% |
| 2006 | 74.2% | 76.6% | 70.9% | 78.3% |
| 2007 | 74.9% | 76.9% | 71.5% | 78.6% |
| 2008 | 73.9% | 75.5% | 70.3% | 78.9% |
| 2009 | 68.8% | 71.6% | 63.6% | 75.9% |
| 2010 | 67.8% | 71.8% | 62.0% | 74.7% |
| 2011 | 66.7% | 71.7% | 62.9% | 75.0% |
| 2012 | 68.7% | 72.4% | 66.8% | 75.3% |
| 2013 | 69.1% | 72.8% | 63.4% | 76.1% |
| 2014 | 70.6% | 74.3% | 66.3% | 75.1% |
| 2015 | 71.9% | 74.5% | 67.8% | 75.3% |
| 2016 | 73.1% | 75.2% | 68.6% | 75.9% |
| 2017 | 74.3% | 75.9% | 69.0% | 77.3% |
| 2018 | 75.6% | 76.8% | 70.0% | 77.8% |
| 2019 | 76.2% | 77.4% | 71.3% | 78.5% |
| 2020 | 70.1% | 71.6% | 65.5% | 73.4% |
| 2021 | 72.4% | 74.1% | 69.1% | 77.6% |
| 2022 | 76.3% | 77.5% | 71.9% | 80.2% |
| 2023 | 77.7% | 78.0% | 71.1% | 80.6% |
| 2024 | 77.6% | 78.3% | 72.2% | 80.8% |