Labor force and employment for your working-age population at other participation rates, holding your unemployment rate.
Participation rate
Labor force
Employed
Unemployed
58.0%
159,741
153,126
6,615
60.0%
165,249
158,406
6,843
61.6%
169,656
162,630
7,025
◀ yours
62.0%
170,757
163,686
7,071
64.0%
176,266
168,966
7,299
66.0%
181,774
174,247
7,527
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What it calculates: Labor force, Unemployment rate, Labor force participation rate, Employment–population ratio.
Updated 22 September 2026 · Transparent assumptions
In August 2026 the US labor force was 169.8 million: 162.7 million employed and 7.0 million unemployed
The labor force is everyone who is working or actively looking for work. In the US it is measured every month by the Current Population Survey, a household survey run by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In August 2026 it counted 162,746 thousand employed and 7,031 thousand unemployed — a labor force of 169,777 thousand.
LF = employed + unemployed
Everything else follows from that total: the unemployment rate is 7,031 ÷ 169,777 = 4.1%, and the participation rate, measured against the working-age population of 275,415 thousand, is 61.6%.
Worked example
E = 162,746 and U = 7,031 (thousands)
LF = 162,746 + 7,031
LF = 169,777 thousand
Unemployed means jobless, available for work and looking within the past four weeks
BLS counts a person as unemployed only if all three hold: they had no job during the survey week, they were available to work, and they actively looked for work at some point in the previous four weeks — contacting employers, sending applications, answering job advertisements. People on temporary layoff expecting recall are counted as unemployed whether or not they looked.
Anyone who worked even one hour for pay in the survey week is employed, including part-time workers who would like more hours. That is why the headline unemployment rate can understate slack, and why BLS publishes broader measures alongside it.
105.6 million adults were neither working nor looking: retirees, students, carers and the discouraged
The working-age population minus the labor force is the group “not in the labor force”: 275,415 − 169,777 = 105,638 thousand in August 2026. Most are retired, in education, or caring for family. A smaller group want a job but have stopped looking — discouraged workers — and are not counted as unemployed because they are not searching.
not in LF = population − LF
Movements across this boundary change the unemployment rate without anyone finding or losing a job. When discouraged workers give up, unemployment falls; when an improving market draws them back to search, it can rise.
Participation was 61.6% in August 2026, down from a peak of 67.3% in early 2000
The labor force participation rate rose for decades as women entered paid work in growing numbers, peaking at 67.3% in early 2000. It has drifted down since, mainly because the population is ageing: the baby-boom generation has been moving into retirement, and older people participate less. It was 62.6% in January 2025 and 61.6% in August 2026.
Because ageing drags the aggregate rate down, economists often watch the participation of people aged 25 to 54 — prime age — to judge the labor market without the demographic trend.
An employment–population ratio of 59.1% cross-checks the unemployment rate
The employment–population ratio divides the employed by the whole working-age population: 162,746 ÷ 275,415 = 59.1%. Unlike the unemployment rate, it does not depend on whether jobless people are searching, so it cannot fall because people stop looking.
E/Pop = employed ÷ population
When the unemployment rate falls while the employment–population ratio also falls, the drop in unemployment is coming from people leaving the labor force rather than finding jobs. Reading the two together is the simplest guard against that trap. BLS’s broadest official measure, U-6, which adds the marginally attached and involuntary part-timers, was 7.7% in August 2026.
Rebuilt from the rounded 61.6% rate, the labor force comes to 169,656 thousand — 121 thousand short
The labor force can be computed from any two of the related figures: employed plus unemployed; participation rate times population; or unemployed divided by the unemployment rate. All three are identities, but published rates are rounded to one decimal place, so the routes disagree slightly: 0.616 × 275,415 = 169,656 thousand against the published 169,777 thousand.
For reporting, use the levels; for back-of-envelope work, the rates are close enough. Choose a method on this page to match the figures you have.
From the participation rate
0.616 × 275,415 = 169,656
published level: 169,777
(difference: rounding of the rate)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you calculate the labor force?
Add the number employed and the number unemployed. Equivalently, multiply the participation rate by the working-age population, or divide the number unemployed by the unemployment rate.
Who is not in the labor force?
People of working age who are neither employed nor looking for work: most retirees, full-time students and people caring for family, plus discouraged workers who have stopped searching.
What is the difference between the labor force and the population?
The working-age population includes everyone 16 and over outside institutions and the military. The labor force is the part of it that is working or looking for work.
Why can unemployment fall while jobs do not grow?
If jobless people stop looking, they leave the labor force and are no longer counted as unemployed. The employment–population ratio shows whether jobs actually grew.
Sources & References
Figures on this page are checked against primary, authoritative sources. Links open in a new tab.
Results are estimates for planning and analysis based on the figures you enter. They are not accounting, tax, or financial advice — verify with your own records and a qualified professional before making decisions.