North America

Americans Out of Workforce at the Highest Rate Since 1978

Americans Out of Workforce at the Highest Rate Since 1978

The number of Americans aged 16 and older not participating in the labor force hit 92,898,000 in February, tying December’s record, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Over the longer trend, the labor force participation rate was between 62.9 percent and 62.7 percent from April 2014 through February, and has been hovering around 62.9 percent or lower in 13 of the 17 months since October 2013, the BLS data revealed.
The number of Americans out of the workforce jumped by 354,000 last month.
The last time the labor participation rate dropped below 63 percent was 37 years ago, in March 1978 when it was 62.8 percent.
The labor participation rate of the next age group, those who are 55 years and older, was just 32.4 percent, a difference of some 52 percentage points between the groups, report said.

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