In this online article, the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics shares key findings from conducting face-to-face interviews with a national sample of persons in state and federal prisons to generate statistics on specific topics, including employment prior to incarceration. The most recent Survey of Prison Inmates was fielded in 2016 and is a key source of national data on prisoner characteristics.

Some of the key findings in the report include:

• More than 6 in 10 state (61%) and federal (63%) prisoners were employed in the 30 days prior to arrest for the offense for which they were incarcerated, with about half (49% state and 54% federal) having a full-time job while about a quarter of persons in state (24%) and federal (25%) prison were unemployed and not looking for work in the 30 days prior to arrest.
• Females in state (47%) and federal (55%) prison were less likely to be employed than males in state (62%) and federal (64%) prison.
• Among state prisoners, whites and Hispanics (66% each) were more likely than blacks (54%) to be employed in the 30 days prior to arrest. Among persons sentenced to serve time in federal prison, whites (64%) were more likely than blacks (54%) and American Indians or Alaska Natives (52%) and less likely than Hispanics (71%) and Asians, Native Hawaiians, or other Pacific Islanders (77%) to be employed in the 30 days prior to arrest.

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