Hello. I'd like to obtain the labor force participation rate for those persons 55 years and older. I think the ACS table I need is S2301, however, the percentages are for 5-year age groupings (e.g., 55-59 years, etc.). Are there other ACS tables with COUNTS so I can estimate rates for 55 years and older? I suppose I could simply use the percentages from the 5-year age groupings to estimate COUNTS and then sum the counts for the 5 year age groupings for 55 years and older. But this seems like a lot of extra work. Thanks!
You're correct that the ACS table S2301 provides labor force participation rates by 5-year age groupings, including the 55-59 years group. However, there are other ACS tables that provide detailed age data that can be used to estimate rates for the 55 years and older population.
One option would be to use the ACS table B23001, which provides data on the civilian labor force status by age. This table has detailed age data for people aged 16 years and older and includes counts for people who are employed, unemployed, and not in the labor force. You can use this table to calculate labor force participation rates for those 55 years and older by summing the counts for the employed and unemployed in the 55 years and older population, and then dividing that sum by the total population in that age range