Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics: 2012
Digest of Education Statistics: 2012

NCES 2014-015
December 2013


Table 427. Labor force participation, employment, and unemployment of persons 25 to 64 years old, by sex, race/ethnicity, age group, and educational attainment: 2009, 2010, and 2011
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Sex, race/ethnicity, age group, and educational attainment Labor force participation Employment Unemployment
Labor force participation rate1 Number of participants (in thousands) Employment to population ratio2 Number employed (in thousands) Unemployment rate3 Number unemployed (in thousands)
2009 2010 2011 2011 2009 2010   2011 2011 2009 2010   2011 2011
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
                                                 
All persons 25 to 64 years old,
   all education levels
78.6 (0.04) 77.9 (0.04) 77.5 (0.04) 127,498 (72.9) 72.1 (0.04) 70.7 (0.04) 70.8 (0.04) 116,524 (72.1) 8.4 (0.03) 9.2 (0.03) 8.6 (0.03) 10,974 (44.3)
Less than high school completion 62.6 (0.15) 61.3 (0.14) 61.0 (0.13) 12,339 (50.6) 53.1 (0.16) 51.1 (0.14) 51.4 (0.14) 10,405 (48.4) 15.2 (0.14) 16.6 (0.13) 15.7 (0.14) 1,934 (18.1)
High school completion4 75.1 (0.08) 74.1 (0.08) 73.6 (0.09) 32,642 (77.2) 67.1 (0.09) 65.4 (0.09) 65.5 (0.10) 29,076 (74.2) 10.6 (0.06) 11.7 (0.08) 10.9 (0.09) 3,566 (29.9)
Some college, no degree 79.9 (0.08) 78.9 (0.08) 78.3 (0.10) 28,288 (70.2) 72.7 (0.09) 71.0 (0.09) 70.7 (0.11) 25,556 (65.7) 9.0 (0.06) 10.0 (0.07) 9.7 (0.07) 2,732 (20.2)
Associate's degree 83.9 (0.11) 83.1 (0.13) 82.4 (0.12) 11,628 (38.7) 78.3 (0.12) 76.9 (0.14) 76.7 (0.15) 10,820 (37.7) 6.6 (0.09) 7.5 (0.08) 6.9 (0.09) 808 (11.1)
Bachelor's or higher degree 86.4 (0.05) 86.1 (0.06) 85.8 (0.06) 42,602 (109.7) 82.5 (0.06) 81.8 (0.07) 81.9 (0.07) 40,668 (105.9) 4.5 (0.03) 5.0 (0.04) 4.5 (0.04) 1,934 (18.9)
                                                 
Sex                                                
Male, all education levels 84.1 (0.05) 83.2 (0.04) 82.8 (0.05) 67,082 (45.3) 76.5 (0.06) 75.1 (0.06) 75.5 (0.06) 61,178 (48.4) 9.0 (0.05) 9.8 (0.05) 8.8 (0.05) 5,904 (31.2)
Less than high school completion 71.8 (0.17) 70.5 (0.16) 70.1 (0.16) 7,712 (32.9) 61.1 (0.20) 59.2 (0.17) 59.7 (0.19) 6,570 (33.0) 14.9 (0.18) 16.1 (0.16) 14.8 (0.17) 1,142 (13.3)
High school completion4 81.0 (0.09) 80.0 (0.11) 79.3 (0.11) 18,482 (53.5) 71.7 (0.11) 69.8 (0.12) 70.3 (0.13) 16,392 (52.9) 11.5 (0.09) 12.7 (0.10) 11.3 (0.11) 2,090 (20.2)
Some college, no degree 84.8 (0.09) 83.7 (0.10) 83.0 (0.13) 14,352 (50.8) 76.8 (0.12) 75.1 (0.15) 75.1 (0.15) 12,985 (49.2) 9.4 (0.10) 10.2 (0.11) 9.5 (0.11) 1,368 (15.8)
Associate's degree 88.2 (0.16) 87.2 (0.16) 86.9 (0.17) 5,225 (28.7) 81.8 (0.20) 80.3 (0.20) 80.8 (0.22) 4,858 (28.8) 7.3 (0.13) 8.0 (0.13) 7.0 (0.14) 367 (7.3)
Bachelor's or higher degree 91.7 (0.07) 91.4 (0.07) 91.1 (0.07) 21,311 (62.6) 87.4 (0.08) 86.8 (0.08) 87.1 (0.09) 20,373 (60.2) 4.7 (0.05) 5.0 (0.05) 4.4 (0.05) 938 (11.1)
                                                 
Female, all education levels 73.3 (0.06) 72.8 (0.06) 72.3 (0.06) 60,416 (48.8) 67.7 (0.07) 66.5 (0.06) 66.3 (0.06) 55,346 (51.1) 7.6 (0.04) 8.6 (0.05) 8.4 (0.05) 5,070 (28.2)
Less than high school completion 51.3 (0.22) 50.2 (0.18) 50.1 (0.21) 4,627 (30.6) 43.2 (0.23) 41.4 (0.19) 41.5 (0.22) 3,835 (28.1) 15.7 (0.21) 17.5 (0.21) 17.1 (0.29) 792 (14.4)
High school completion4 68.6 (0.14) 67.8 (0.11) 67.2 (0.14) 14,160 (47.9) 62.1 (0.15) 60.7 (0.12) 60.2 (0.15) 12,683 (44.4) 9.4 (0.10) 10.5 (0.10) 10.4 (0.11) 1,477 (16.8)
Some college, no degree 75.4 (0.12) 74.6 (0.11) 73.9 (0.12) 13,936 (49.2) 68.9 (0.13) 67.3 (0.11) 66.7 (0.13) 12,571 (47.8) 8.6 (0.09) 9.8 (0.09) 9.8 (0.09) 1,365 (13.5)
Associate's degree 80.6 (0.15) 80.1 (0.16) 79.1 (0.16) 6,402 (32.7) 75.8 (0.17) 74.4 (0.19) 73.6 (0.18) 5,962 (31.7) 6.0 (0.11) 7.2 (0.13) 6.9 (0.12) 440 (7.9)
Bachelor's or higher degree 81.5 (0.08) 81.4 (0.08) 81.0 (0.08) 21,290 (65.0) 77.9 (0.09) 77.4 (0.09) 77.3 (0.10) 20,295 (63.9) 4.4 (0.05) 4.9 (0.06) 4.7 (0.06) 996 (13.4)
                                                 
Race/ethnicity                                                
White, all education levels 79.6 (0.05) 78.9 (0.05) 78.5 (0.05) 83,985 (51.9) 73.9 (0.05) 72.7 (0.05) 72.8 (0.05) 77,880 (55.3) 7.2 (0.04) 7.9 (0.04) 7.3 (0.04) 6,105 (30.9)
Less than high school completion 57.3 (0.25) 55.3 (0.22) 55.2 (0.24) 3,968 (24.9) 47.8 (0.25) 45.1 (0.23) 45.5 (0.25) 3,270 (22.3) 16.6 (0.23) 18.3 (0.22) 17.6 (0.24) 698 (10.7)
High school completion4 75.4 (0.10) 74.6 (0.10) 73.9 (0.11) 21,310 (56.1) 68.3 (0.11) 66.7 (0.10) 66.7 (0.12) 19,258 (55.8) 9.4 (0.08) 10.6 (0.08) 9.6 (0.09) 2,052 (19.5)
Some college, no degree 79.8 (0.10) 78.7 (0.09) 78.1 (0.12) 18,842 (52.8) 73.3 (0.11) 71.7 (0.11) 71.5 (0.13) 17,248 (49.3) 8.1 (0.07) 8.9 (0.08) 8.5 (0.08) 1,595 (16.8)
Associate's degree 84.1 (0.12) 83.5 (0.15) 82.7 (0.13) 8,372 (34.2) 79.0 (0.15) 78.0 (0.17) 77.8 (0.16) 7,868 (33.5) 6.0 (0.09) 6.6 (0.10) 6.0 (0.10) 504 (8.4)
Bachelor's or higher degree 86.3 (0.06) 86.2 (0.06) 85.8 (0.07) 31,494 (77.1) 82.8 (0.06) 82.3 (0.06) 82.4 (0.07) 30,237 (76.3) 4.1 (0.04) 4.5 (0.04) 4.0 (0.04) 1,257 (12.3)
                                                 
Black, all education levels 74.3 (0.14) 73.5 (0.12) 73.1 (0.14) 14,494 (30.6) 64.4 (0.16) 62.6 (0.12) 62.5 (0.14) 12,404 (30.6) 13.3 (0.13) 14.8 (0.12) 14.4 (0.13) 2,089 (20.4)
Less than high school completion 49.5 (0.40) 48.7 (0.39) 48.1 (0.44) 1,344 (16.6) 37.4 (0.37) 35.2 (0.36) 35.2 (0.37) 984 (13.3) 24.4 (0.55) 27.7 (0.47) 26.7 (0.43) 359 (7.3)
High school completion4 70.8 (0.23) 69.6 (0.25) 69.0 (0.26) 4,326 (29.3) 59.7 (0.26) 57.2 (0.23) 57.1 (0.28) 3,584 (25.4) 15.8 (0.25) 17.8 (0.25) 17.2 (0.28) 742 (13.9)
Some college, no degree 79.0 (0.23) 78.2 (0.25) 77.1 (0.24) 4,077 (27.8) 68.7 (0.27) 66.9 (0.28) 65.8 (0.27) 3,482 (25.4) 13.1 (0.21) 14.5 (0.23) 14.6 (0.22) 594 (9.8)
Associate's degree 83.9 (0.38) 82.1 (0.36) 82.0 (0.46) 1,303 (13.1) 76.0 (0.49) 73.0 (0.42) 73.0 (0.51) 1,160 (12.7) 9.4 (0.36) 11.1 (0.35) 11.0 (0.39) 143 (5.2)
Bachelor's or higher degree 89.2 (0.21) 88.9 (0.18) 88.5 (0.24) 3,444 (24.8) 83.4 (0.24) 82.2 (0.20) 82.1 (0.32) 3,194 (25.3) 6.6 (0.15) 7.4 (0.15) 7.3 (0.22) 250 (7.5)
                                                 
Hispanic, all education levels 78.3 (0.10) 77.3 (0.11) 77.1 (0.10) 19,373 (30.6) 70.4 (0.13) 68.9 (0.12) 69.2 (0.12) 17,409 (32.4) 10.1 (0.10) 10.9 (0.09) 10.1 (0.10) 1,964 (19.0)
Less than high school completion 71.7 (0.21) 70.6 (0.19) 70.0 (0.18) 6,133 (37.4) 62.9 (0.24) 61.2 (0.21) 61.4 (0.20) 5,377 (35.8) 12.3 (0.19) 13.3 (0.17) 12.3 (0.19) 756 (11.8)
High school completion4 78.3 (0.24) 77.1 (0.20) 77.1 (0.23) 5,335 (27.3) 69.8 (0.24) 68.4 (0.24) 68.7 (0.27) 4,754 (28.5) 10.8 (0.18) 11.3 (0.19) 10.9 (0.19) 582 (9.7)
Some college, no degree 82.7 (0.25) 81.8 (0.20) 81.4 (0.26) 3,694 (28.9) 75.2 (0.28) 73.3 (0.25) 73.5 (0.31) 3,335 (27.9) 9.2 (0.19) 10.3 (0.22) 9.7 (0.23) 359 (8.9)
Associate's degree 84.7 (0.39) 84.2 (0.36) 83.1 (0.41) 1,198 (15.0) 78.4 (0.48) 76.3 (0.47) 76.3 (0.46) 1,099 (14.1) 7.4 (0.32) 9.4 (0.36) 8.2 (0.36) 98 (4.6)
Bachelor's or higher degree 87.9 (0.23) 86.8 (0.26) 86.7 (0.21) 3,013 (28.3) 82.7 (0.26) 81.2 (0.31) 81.8 (0.26) 2,844 (27.2) 5.9 (0.18) 6.4 (0.20) 5.6 (0.20) 169 (6.3)
                                                 
Asian, all education levels 79.4 (0.14) 79.0 (0.15) 78.7 (0.18) 6,836 (21.3) 74.0 (0.17) 73.1 (0.17) 73.3 (0.18) 6,361 (20.6) 6.8 (0.11) 7.5 (0.13) 6.9 (0.12) 475 (8.3)
Less than high school completion 66.4 (0.62) 65.7 (0.48) 64.4 (0.59) 666 (11.1) 59.6 (0.70) 58.0 (0.57) 57.7 (0.62) 596 (10.5) 10.2 (0.56) 11.8 (0.54) 10.4 (0.47) 69 (3.3)
High school completion4 75.2 (0.46) 74.6 (0.48) 75.1 (0.49) 949 (15.0) 68.6 (0.51) 67.3 (0.49) 68.1 (0.56) 860 (14.6) 8.8 (0.35) 9.8 (0.38) 9.4 (0.45) 89 (4.4)
Some college, no degree 78.4 (0.45) 79.0 (0.52) 78.7 (0.52) 903 (12.9) 71.7 (0.54) 71.7 (0.47) 71.5 (0.55) 820 (12.1) 8.5 (0.38) 9.1 (0.34) 9.2 (0.36) 83 (3.5)
Associate's degree 79.8 (0.68) 80.5 (0.64) 79.1 (0.66) 471 (9.3) 74.6 (0.69) 74.4 (0.70) 73.4 (0.73) 437 (8.8) 6.5 (0.41) 7.7 (0.44) 7.2 (0.41) 34 (2.1)
Bachelor's or higher degree 83.6 (0.24) 83.0 (0.21) 82.8 (0.23) 3,847 (23.4) 79.2 (0.27) 78.3 (0.23) 78.5 (0.24) 3,648 (23.6) 5.3 (0.13) 5.7 (0.14) 5.2 (0.16) 200 (6.0)
                                                 
American Indian/Alaska Native, all                                                
education levels 68.8 (0.52) 67.0 (0.63) 66.6 (0.62) 714 (10.3) 60.0 (0.60) 56.8 (0.61) 57.0 (0.65) 611 (9.8) 12.7 (0.43) 15.2 (0.46) 14.5 (0.50) 103 (3.8)
Less than high school completion 47.3 (1.62) 46.9 (1.54) 44.9 (1.46) 74 (3.5) 36.4 (1.61) 35.1 (1.36) 32.7 (1.41) 54 (2.9) 23.1 (2.11) 25.3 (1.74) 27.2 (2.22) 20 (2.0)
High school completion4 67.2 (0.93) 64.4 (1.06) 63.1 (1.08) 222 (5.7) 57.0 (1.03) 52.4 (1.08) 52.4 (1.08) 184 (5.5) 15.2 (0.84) 18.7 (0.92) 17.0 (0.91) 38 (2.1)
Some college, no degree 72.6 (0.85) 71.0 (0.88) 71.9 (1.01) 218 (5.9) 63.6 (1.02) 61.0 (0.84) 61.8 (1.12) 188 (5.6) 12.4 (0.84) 14.1 (0.87) 14.1 (0.78) 31 (1.7)
Associate's degree 80.3 (1.54) 75.5 (1.78) 74.1 (1.70) 71 (2.6) 73.4 (1.78) 66.3 (1.87) 67.3 (1.95) 65 (2.7) 8.5 (1.07) 12.1 (1.46) 9.2 (1.23) 7 (0.9)
Bachelor's or higher degree 82.6 (1.24) 83.5 (1.19) 82.5 (0.93) 128 (4.4) 79.1 (1.21) 78.5 (1.36) 77.3 (1.11) 120 (4.1) 4.1 (0.52) 6.0 (0.73) 6.3 (0.77) 8 (1.1)
                                                 
Age group                                                
25 to 34, all education levels 82.9 (0.07) 82.1 (0.09) 81.8 (0.08) 33,635 (42.8) 74.5 (0.09) 73.1 (0.11) 73.2 (0.08) 30,084 (41.9) 10.2 (0.08) 11.0 (0.08) 10.6 (0.08) 3,551 (27.0)
Less than high school completion 67.8 (0.28) 66.8 (0.29) 66.0 (0.31) 3,321 (25.2) 55.0 (0.27) 53.4 (0.28) 53.2 (0.32) 2,674 (23.7) 18.8 (0.28) 20.1 (0.28) 19.5 (0.28) 648 (9.9)
High school completion4 79.6 (0.13) 78.5 (0.16) 78.1 (0.19) 7,795 (35.7) 68.4 (0.18) 66.3 (0.20) 66.8 (0.20) 6,668 (30.4) 14.1 (0.16) 15.5 (0.17) 14.5 (0.20) 1,127 (17.6)
Some college, no degree 83.8 (0.15) 82.8 (0.16) 82.2 (0.17) 7,856 (36.9) 74.5 (0.16) 72.9 (0.18) 72.1 (0.20) 6,892 (34.7) 11.1 (0.13) 12.0 (0.17) 12.3 (0.17) 964 (14.0)
Associate's degree 87.9 (0.18) 87.4 (0.24) 86.3 (0.25) 3,025 (24.4) 81.6 (0.24) 80.3 (0.28) 79.4 (0.28) 2,784 (25.1) 7.2 (0.16) 8.1 (0.20) 8.0 (0.20) 241 (5.9)
Bachelor's or higher degree 90.0 (0.11) 89.5 (0.11) 89.3 (0.11) 11,638 (51.5) 85.7 (0.12) 84.9 (0.14) 84.9 (0.13) 11,067 (49.5) 4.7 (0.07) 5.1 (0.09) 4.9 (0.10) 571 (12.0)
                                                 
35 to 44, all education levels 83.3 (0.07) 82.7 (0.06) 82.5 (0.08) 33,647 (41.9) 76.6 (0.08) 75.3 (0.07) 75.7 (0.09) 30,879 (44.0) 8.1 (0.06) 9.0 (0.07) 8.2 (0.07) 2,768 (24.3)
Less than high school completion 69.9 (0.22) 68.1 (0.23) 68.5 (0.29) 3,534 (28.2) 59.7 (0.24) 57.1 (0.30) 58.2 (0.29) 3,001 (25.0) 14.6 (0.25) 16.1 (0.29) 15.1 (0.27) 533 (10.6)
High school completion4 80.9 (0.15) 79.7 (0.16) 79.3 (0.18) 8,225 (41.7) 72.2 (0.18) 70.2 (0.17) 70.4 (0.20) 7,306 (38.5) 10.7 (0.16) 12.0 (0.15) 11.2 (0.15) 919 (13.4)
Some college, no degree 84.5 (0.15) 84.1 (0.15) 83.6 (0.15) 7,256 (33.1) 77.2 (0.18) 75.9 (0.17) 76.0 (0.19) 6,591 (32.5) 8.6 (0.13) 9.7 (0.13) 9.2 (0.15) 665 (11.3)
Associate's degree 87.6 (0.21) 87.0 (0.22) 86.9 (0.23) 3,101 (23.9) 82.1 (0.27) 80.7 (0.24) 81.1 (0.27) 2,893 (22.5) 6.3 (0.20) 7.3 (0.18) 6.7 (0.19) 208 (6.2)
Bachelor's or higher degree 89.0 (0.10) 88.9 (0.09) 88.7 (0.10) 11,531 (42.6) 85.3 (0.12) 85.0 (0.12) 85.3 (0.12) 11,089 (44.0) 4.1 (0.07) 4.4 (0.08) 3.8 (0.08) 442 (8.9)
                                                 
45 to 54, all education levels 81.3 (0.06) 80.9 (0.07) 80.4 (0.07) 35,850 (42.6) 75.1 (0.06) 74.0 (0.08) 74.0 (0.08) 33,016 (46.1) 7.7 (0.04) 8.5 (0.05) 7.9 (0.06) 2,834 (23.1)
Less than high school completion 63.4 (0.26) 62.8 (0.25) 62.1 (0.26) 3,417 (22.4) 54.3 (0.26) 53.1 (0.27) 53.2 (0.29) 2,926 (21.9) 14.3 (0.20) 15.5 (0.25) 14.4 (0.25) 491 (8.9)
High school completion4 78.4 (0.14) 78.1 (0.14) 77.4 (0.14) 10,204 (35.1) 71.2 (0.14) 70.1 (0.14) 69.9 (0.15) 9,211 (33.6) 9.2 (0.11) 10.2 (0.12) 9.7 (0.13) 993 (14.3)
Some college, no degree 82.7 (0.13) 81.9 (0.15) 81.4 (0.17) 7,784 (36.6) 76.0 (0.15) 74.5 (0.17) 74.6 (0.18) 7,134 (34.1) 8.1 (0.10) 9.0 (0.13) 8.4 (0.11) 650 (9.6)
Associate's degree 86.1 (0.21) 85.7 (0.21) 85.4 (0.21) 3,368 (19.5) 80.6 (0.22) 79.6 (0.23) 79.9 (0.26) 3,152 (19.3) 6.3 (0.16) 7.1 (0.15) 6.4 (0.16) 216 (5.3)
Bachelor's or higher degree 89.7 (0.07) 89.6 (0.11) 89.3 (0.10) 11,078 (46.4) 85.8 (0.09) 85.2 (0.12) 85.4 (0.11) 10,594 (45.7) 4.4 (0.07) 4.8 (0.07) 4.4 (0.07) 484 (8.3)
                                                 
55 to 64, all education levels 64.6 (0.09) 64.3 (0.09) 64.0 (0.09) 24,366 (35.0) 60.1 (0.10) 59.1 (0.08) 59.3 (0.09) 22,545 (34.1) 7.1 (0.06) 8.2 (0.07) 7.5 (0.06) 1,821 (15.6)
Less than high school completion 46.1 (0.28) 45.1 (0.25) 45.4 (0.28) 2,067 (18.3) 40.9 (0.30) 39.1 (0.26) 39.7 (0.29) 1,805 (16.9) 11.3 (0.25) 13.3 (0.31) 12.7 (0.30) 262 (6.7)
High school completion4 59.5 (0.19) 59.2 (0.16) 59.2 (0.16) 6,418 (27.7) 54.8 (0.18) 53.7 (0.16) 54.3 (0.16) 5,891 (26.0) 7.9 (0.12) 9.2 (0.13) 8.2 (0.14) 527 (9.8)
Some college, no degree 66.0 (0.20) 65.0 (0.18) 64.7 (0.23) 5,393 (27.7) 60.8 (0.21) 59.1 (0.18) 59.2 (0.22) 4,939 (26.1) 7.8 (0.13) 9.1 (0.13) 8.4 (0.14) 453 (8.3)
Associate's degree 70.7 (0.29) 70.2 (0.28) 69.1 (0.29) 2,134 (18.9) 65.9 (0.31) 64.7 (0.27) 64.4 (0.32) 1,991 (18.5) 6.7 (0.18) 7.8 (0.19) 6.7 (0.20) 143 (4.3)
Bachelor's or higher degree 74.8 (0.16) 74.9 (0.14) 74.4 (0.14) 8,354 (30.3) 71.0 (0.17) 70.7 (0.13) 70.5 (0.15) 7,918 (31.3) 5.0 (0.08) 5.7 (0.10) 5.2 (0.08) 436 (6.7)
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 The percentage of persons in the civilian labor force who are not working and who made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the prior 4 weeks.
4 Includes equivalency credentials, such as the General Educational Development (GED) credential.
NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Totals include racial/ethnic groups not separately shown. Standard errors were computed using replicate weights.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2009, 2010, and 2011, unpublished tabulations. (This table was prepared November 2012.)