U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate

A U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate is a national labor force participation rate that is a national economic measure (for a U.S. labor force in a U.S. economy).

• Context:
  • It is expected to drop to ~62% by 2020. http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_303.htm
  • It is dropping - especially among Low-Skilled Males.
  • It can range from typically being a U.S. Working-Age Labor Force Participation Rate to being a U.S. Non-Working-Age Labor Force Participation Rate.
  • It can be affected by the high proportion of U.S. workers with a Criminal Record (which rose from 13% in 1991 to 22% in 2012).
  • It can range from being a Male U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate to being a Female U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate.
  • It can be related to a U.S. State Labor Force Participation Rate, such as a California labor participation rate, South Carolina labor participation rate, ...
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • It was ~62.4% in June 1977.
  • It was ~63.2% in August 1978.
  • It was ~67.3 in March 2000 (its peak)[1]
  • It was ~63.2% in August 2013.
  • It was ~62.4% in Sept. 2015.
  • It was ~61.9 in Dec. 2021.
  • It was, for 25-to-54 U.S. Workers, ~71.4% in 1992, ~70.2% in 2002, and ~65.3% in 2012 (Toossi, 2013).
  • It can, for 25-to-54 U.S. Workers, be predicted to be ~63.1% (Toossi, 2013).
  • U.S. Older Worker Labor Participation Rate.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • a Canada Labor Participation Rate, or a China Labor Participation Rate.
  • a U.S. Unemployment Rate or U.S. Underemployment Rate.
  • a U.S. Labor Productivity Measure.
  • a U.S. Debt to GDP Ratio.
• See: The Great Recession.

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References

• http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000
• http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_303.htm (projections)
• http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_pub_labor_force.htm
• http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/labor-participation-rate
• http://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART
  
• 

2015

• http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-adds-252-000-jobs-unemployment-falls-to-5-6-1420810489
  • QUOTE: One reason for the slow pickup: A wide swath of Americans are underemployed or on the sidelines of the labor market, serving as a large pool of available labor. The share of Americans working or looking for work in December fell to 62.7%, matching the lowest level since 1978. The latest figure shows more Americans dropped out of the workforce.

2014

• (Aaronson et al., 2014) ⇒ Stephanie Aaronson, Tomaz Cajner, Bruce Fallick, Felix Galbis-Reig, Christopher L Smith, and William Wascher. (2014). “Labor Force Participation: Recent Developments and Future Prospects." FRB of Cleveland Working Paper.
  • QUOTE: Since 2007, the labor force participation rate has fallen from about 66 percent to about 63 percent. ... our overall assessment is that much - but not all - of the decline in the labor force participation rate since 2007 is structural in nature.

2013

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment#Labor_force_participation_rate
  • … In the United States, there were three significant stages of women's increased participation in the labor force. During the late 19th century through the 1920s, very few women worked. They were young single women who typically withdrew from labor force at marriage unless family needed two incomes. These women worked primarily in the textile manufacturing industry or as domestic workers. This profession empowered women and allowed them to earn a living wage. At times, they were a financial help to their families.

• (Toossi, 2013) ⇒ Mitra Toossi. (2013). “Labor Force Projections to 2022: The labor force participation rate continues to fall.” In: BLS, Monthly Labor Review, December 2013.
  • QUOTE: Because of the decreasing labor force participation rate of youths and the prime age group, the overall labor force participation rate is expected to decline. The participation rates of older workers are projected to increase, but remain significantly lower than those of the prime age group. A combination of a slower growth of the civilian noninstitutional population and falling participation rates will lower labor force growth to a projected 0.5 percent annually. ... The U.S. labor force is projected to reach 163.5 million in 2022.1 (See table 1.) The labor force is anticipated to grow by 8.5 million, an annual growth rate of 0.5 percent, over the 2012–2022 period. The growth in the labor force during 2012–2022 is projected to be smaller than in the previous 10-year period, 2002–2012, when the labor force grew by 10.1 million, a 0.7-percent annual growth rate.

• http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2013/10/22-america-one-time-home-employment-miracle-burtless
  • Chart 1. Changes in the Labor Force Participation Rate of 25-53 Year-Old Adults in 17 OECD Countries, 1989-2013 [2]

• (Erceg & Levin, 2013) ⇒ Christopher J Erceg, and Andrew T Levin. (2013). “Labor Force Participation and Monetary Policy in the Wake of the Great Recession.” In: Manuscript, International Monetary Fund, April Journal, 9.

• http://www.bls.gov/fls/flscomparelf/lfcompendium.xls

Year	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995	1994	1993	1992	1991	1990	1989	1988	1987	1986	1985	1984	1983	1982	1981	1980	1979	1978	1977	1976	1975	1974	1973	1972	1971	1970
United States	63.7	64.1	64.7	65.4	66.0	66.0	66.2	66.0	66.0	66.2	66.6	66.8	67.1	67.1	67.1	67.1	66.8	66.6	66.6	66.3	66.4	66.2	66.5	66.5	65.9	65.6	65.3	64.8	64.4	64.0	64.0	63.9	63.8	63.7	63.2	62.3	61.6	61.2	61.3	60.8	60.4	60.2	60.4
Canada	66.7	66.8	67.0	67.2	67.7	67.5	67.2	67.3	67.6	67.7	67.1	66.1	66.0	65.8	65.4	65.1	64.8	64.9	65.2	65.5	65.9	66.8	67.4	67.5	67.1	66.8	66.4	66.0	65.5	65.2	64.9	65.7	65.0	64.5	63.7	62.8	62.5	61.1	60.5	59.7	58.6	58.1	57.8
Germany	59.2	59.2	58.6	58.5	58.4	58.3	58.1	57.5	56.4	56.0	56.4	56.7	56.7	56.9	57.7	57.3	57.1	57.1	57.4	57.8	58.1	58.8	55.0	55.2	55.1	55.0	54.9	54.7	54.4	54.3	54.6	54.7	54.7	54.5	54.4	54.4	54.6	55.0	55.7	56.3	56.2	56.5	56.9
Japan	58.4	58.7	59.1	59.3	59.6	59.8	59.6	59.5	59.6	59.9	60.4	61.2	61.7	62.0	62.6	63.0	62.8	62.8	62.9	63.2	63.3	63.1	62.6	62.1	61.8	61.8	62.1	62.2	62.7	63.1	62.7	62.6	62.6	62.7	62.8	62.5	62.4	62.4	63.1	64.0	63.8	64.2	64.5

• http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/130906122738-labor-participation-rate-historical-620xa.png

2012

• (Toossi, 2012) ⇒ Mitra Toossi. (2012). “Projections for the labor force to 2050: a visual essay.” In: Monthly Labor Review, October 2012.

2002

• Robert F. Szafran. (2002). “Age-adjusted labor force participation rates, 1960–2045.” In: Monthly Labor Review
  • ABSTRACT: A proposed new age-adjusted labor force participation rate eliminates the effect of changes in the age distribution; according to the new criterion, increases in women’s labor force participation from 1960–2000 would have been even greater if shifts in the age distribution had not occurred

1973

• (Ben-Porath, 1973) ⇒ Yoram Ben-Porath. (1973). “Labor-Force Participation Rates and the Supply of Labor.” In: Journal of Political Economy, 81(3). http://www.jstor.org/stable/1831032

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