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Digest of Education Statistics: 2009
Digest of Education Statistics: 2009

NCES 2010-013
April 2010


Table 381. Labor force participation rates and employment to population ratios of persons 16 to 64 years old, by highest level of education, age, sex, and race/ethnicity: 2008
Age, sex, and
race/ethnicity
Labor force participation rate1 Employment to population ratio2
Total Less than
high school
comple-
tion3
High school
completion
College Total Less than
high school
comple-
tion3
High school
completion
College
Some
college,
no degree
Associate's
degree
Bachelor's
or higher
degree
Some
college,
no degree
Associate's
degree
Bachelor's
or higher
degree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
16 to 19 years old4  40.2 (0.38) 31.2 (0.44) 60.9 (0.88) 54.3 (1.00) (†) (†) 32.6 (0.36) 24.3 (0.40) 49.6 (0.90) 48.8 (1.01) (†) (†)
Male 40.1 (0.53) 31.1 (0.60) 63.4 (1.20) 52.8 (1.51) (†) (†) 31.6 (0.50) 23.5 (0.55) 49.9 (1.24) 46.4 (1.51) (†) (†)
Female 40.2 (0.54) 31.3 (0.63) 58.2 (1.28) 55.6 (1.34) (†) (†) 33.7 (0.52) 25.0 (0.59) 49.2 (1.30) 50.7 (1.35) (†) (†)
White 44.9 (0.49) 35.9 (0.59) 64.0 (1.10) 57.7 (1.22) (†) (†) 37.9 (0.48) 29.4 (0.56) 53.3 (1.14) 53.1 (1.24) (†) (†)
Black 29.1 (0.88) 21.0 (0.94) 52.1 (2.28) 43.0 (2.94) (†) (†) 20.0 (0.78) 13.2 (0.78) 38.2 (2.22) 33.7 (2.80) (†) (†)
Hispanic 36.9 (0.81) 27.7 (0.90) 59.8 (1.95) 56.0 (2.48) (†) (†) 28.6 (0.76) 20.1 (0.81) 48.2 (1.98) 49.1 (2.49) (†) (†)
Asian 24.3 (1.77) 17.3 (1.97) 40.0 (5.73) 32.8 (3.96) (†) (†) 20.8 (1.68) 14.3 (1.83) 33.5 (5.52) 29.4 (3.84) (†) (†)
                                               
20 to 24 years old4  74.4 (0.35) 65.3 (1.14) 78.2 (0.61) 69.7 (0.60) 82.3 (1.18) 82.2 (0.83) 66.8 (0.38) 51.5 (1.20) 68.1 (0.69) 64.5 (0.63) 77.4 (1.30) 77.5 (0.91)
Male 78.7 (0.46) 78.5 (1.29) 84.9 (0.70) 70.5 (0.85) 84.5 (1.64) 83.6 (1.23) 69.7 (0.52) 62.9 (1.52) 73.5 (0.86) 64.4 (0.89) 79.5 (1.83) 78.1 (1.38)
Female 70.0 (0.50) 48.1 (1.73) 69.8 (0.97) 69.0 (0.80) 80.6 (1.57) 81.3 (1.05) 63.8 (0.52) 36.7 (1.66) 61.5 (1.03) 64.5 (0.83) 75.6 (1.71) 77.0 (1.14)
White 77.0 (0.43) 65.5 (1.89) 81.4 (0.76) 71.5 (0.72) 85.5 (1.31) 84.3 (0.91) 70.5 (0.47) 50.6 (1.99) 72.2 (0.87) 66.8 (0.76) 82.0 (1.43) 79.5 (1.01)
Black 67.9 (1.09) 55.4 (3.08) 70.1 (1.75) 66.9 (1.84) 75.5 (4.38) 79.5 (3.34) 55.7 (1.16) 36.3 (2.98) 55.8 (1.89) 58.4 (1.92) 63.3 (4.91) 73.0 (3.67)
Hispanic 73.7 (0.87) 70.1 (1.73) 77.1 (1.40) 70.1 (1.74) 80.0 (3.46) 82.6 (3.32) 65.2 (0.94) 59.3 (1.86) 67.6 (1.56) 64.2 (1.83) 73.1 (3.84) 77.7 (3.64)
Asian 59.7 (1.75) 61.4 (7.70) 69.5 (4.43) 51.4 (2.65) 63.7 (6.19) 66.9 (3.15) 56.4 (1.77) 53.8 (7.89) 62.9 (4.65) 49.5 (2.65) 60.2 (6.30) 63.8 (3.22)
                                               
25 to 64 years old 79.2 (0.12) 63.5 (0.42) 76.3 (0.23) 79.5 (0.28) 83.8 (0.34) 85.9 (0.18) 75.5 (0.12) 57.6 (0.43) 71.9 (0.24) 75.5 (0.30) 80.7 (0.37) 83.7 (0.19)
Male 86.4 (0.14) 76.8 (0.49) 84.3 (0.27) 85.9 (0.34) 89.0 (0.43) 91.7 (0.20) 82.3 (0.16) 69.9 (0.53) 79.2 (0.30) 81.6 (0.38) 85.7 (0.48) 89.5 (0.22)
Female 72.2 (0.17) 48.3 (0.60) 68.0 (0.34) 73.7 (0.40) 79.8 (0.47) 80.4 (0.27) 69.0 (0.18) 43.6 (0.60) 64.3 (0.35) 69.9 (0.42) 76.9 (0.50) 78.3 (0.28)
White 80.1 (0.14) 58.0 (0.71) 76.5 (0.28) 79.4 (0.34) 84.3 (0.39) 86.1 (0.20) 77.1 (0.15) 52.8 (0.71) 72.8 (0.29) 75.9 (0.35) 81.6 (0.42) 84.1 (0.22)
Black 75.9 (0.39) 54.3 (1.28) 73.2 (0.67) 79.3 (0.80) 82.4 (1.11) 87.2 (0.66) 69.9 (0.41) 45.9 (1.28) 66.4 (0.71) 72.8 (0.88) 77.3 (1.22) 83.9 (0.73)
Hispanic 77.9 (0.33) 70.9 (0.60) 79.1 (0.58) 81.6 (0.82) 83.8 (1.13) 86.7 (0.72) 73.2 (0.35) 65.2 (0.63) 74.2 (0.63) 77.2 (0.89) 80.5 (1.21) 83.8 (0.78)
Asian 79.0 (0.48) 63.2 (1.91) 76.3 (1.16) 78.5 (1.56) 80.5 (1.75) 82.3 (0.60) 76.3 (0.50) 59.0 (1.95) 73.0 (1.21) 75.7 (1.62) 77.6 (1.84) 80.0 (0.63)
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met.
1 Percentage of the civilian population who are employed or seeking employment.
2 Number of persons employed as a percentage of the civilian population.
3 Includes persons reporting no school years completed.
4 Excludes persons enrolled in school.
NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, unpublished 2008 annual average data from the Current Population Survey (CPS). (This table was prepared August 2009.)