Between 1950 and 2001, the civilian labor force in the United States grew by over 79 million people, or around 127 percent. Most of this growth took place between 1950 and 1980, with the decade of the seventies seeing the biggest increase. This was due to the entry of the "baby boom generation" (persons born between 1946 and 1964) into the labor force. In the early 80s, the rapid growth in the labor force slowed as nearly all of the baby-boom generation who were going to enter the work force had already done so. Women also began entering the labor force in increasing numbers between 1950 and 1980. During this time, their participation in the labor force increased from around 30 percent to close to 43 percent. By 2001, 74.4 percent of men held jobs as did 60.1 percent of women. The minority share of the workforce also has increased over the past five decades. In 1980 (the first year statistics on Hispanics are available), blacks and Hispanics made up 18.1 percent of the labor force. By 2001, that figure had grown to 23 percent.