A research report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) released on May 17 analyzes the labor force in the United States from 2019-2022. The report found that while labor force participation rates and employment-population ratios have been returning to pre-pandemic levels, certain groups of workers are still falling short. Both male and female White Americans and male Hispanic Americans have been slow to return to the labor force. The director of Wealth Benefits Research, EBRI, Craig Copeland, explained how Americans respond as the pandemic recedes will significantly affect workers’ retirements.
The EBRI research study used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. It explored the trends in labor force participation rates of those ages 55 or older by age and gender. It also analyzed the changes in the labor force and employment from 2019 to 2022 for individuals of various ages, genders, races, and ethnicities.
Key findings in the study include:
- In 2021 and 2020, among males, the labor force participation rates of those ages 55–69 increased, but it declined for those ages 70 or older. Increases in the labor force participation rates of females ages 55–59 and 60–64 also resulted in 2021 and 2022, but the labor force participation rates decreased for females ages 65–69 and increased for those ages 70–74 in 2022.
- In 2022, the male share of the labor force (highest since 2001) aged 55 or older increased. Despite the falling share of the labor force since 2010, females age 55 or older are still a significantly higher share of the labor force than they were in as late as the 1990s.
- In 2021 and 2022, the labor force participation rates of those ages 25–54 trended toward their 2019 levels but did not quite reach them. The labor force participation rates of those ages 16–19 and ages 55–64 reached or surpassed their 2019 levels. In contrast, the labor force participation rate of those ages 65 or older in 2021 and 2022 stayed at its 2020 level, below its 2019 level, while the labor force participation rate of those ages 20–24 decreased in 2022, below its 2021 and 2019 levels.
- The male employment rate dropped by 3.8 percentage points in 2020, while the female rate declined by 3.5 percentage points. By 2022, the difference in the employment rates of males and females from 2019 had nearly recovered to only 1 percentage point below their 2019 levels.
- By 2022, Black Americans had made the biggest recovery, as their 2022 labor force participation rate was only 0.8 percentage points below its 2019 level, while the other two race/ethnicity categories studied had differences of at least 0.9 percentage points between their 2019 and 2022 levels.
“A continued strong labor market will likely lead to the labor force participation rates and employment-population rates of 2019 being reached. However, a downturn in the economy would likely halt the movement back to 2019 levels, and who is out of the labor force after any downturn could significantly alter what companies’ workforces look like and what Americans have saved for retirement,” said Copeland.
If you’re interested in reading a summary of the “Trends in Labor Force Participation and Employment” Issue Brief, which is 30 pages long, you can click on the provided link. The Employee Benefit Research Institute is a non-profit organization that offers impartial and reliable information on employee benefit programs in the United States. You can find out more by visiting their website at ebri.org.
