Americans’ Participation in Labor Force Hits 35-Year Low

(CNSNews.com)  The percentage of American civilians 16 or older who have a job or are actively seeking one dropped to a 35-year low in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In September, the labor force participation rate was 63.2 percent, but in October it dropped to 62.8 percent—the lowest it has been since February 1978, when Jimmy Carter was president.

The labor force, according to BLS, is that part of the civilian noninstitutional population that either has a job or has actively sought one in the last four weeks. The civilian noninstitutional population consists of people 16 or older, who are not on active-duty in the military or in an institution.

At no time during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush, did such a small percentage of the civilian non-institutional population either hold a job or at least actively seek one.

Via: CNS News

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Almost ONE MILLION drop out of labor force, unemployment rises to 7.3%

Not a good month at all when you look at the big picture, according to Zero Hedge:

But more importantly, the number of people not in the labor force exploded by nearly 1 million, or 932,000 to be exact, in just the month of October, to a record 91.5 million Americans! This was the third highest monthly increase in people falling out of the labor force in US history.

That’s nearly 1/3rd of the entire American population. Talk about fundamental transformation:

WASHINGTON TIMES – The federal shutdown last month caused a small rise in the unemployment rate to 7.3 percent but it was a surprisingly good month to find jobs in the private sector, the Labor Department reported Friday morning.

Businesses created more than 204,000 jobs in areas from retail and manufacturing to offices, hotels and restaurants. The department also detected 60,000 more jobs that were created in September and August in revisions to its previous employment reports — a sign that the job market has been healthier than previously assumed.

The burst of job creation last month — nearly twice as much as what economists had expected — more than offset an estimated 12,000 in job losses in the federal government, which brought the total number of federal job eliminations due to budget cuts to 94,000 in the last year.

Don’t worry…nothing to see here. Everything is swell. It’s the Winter of Recovery!

Via: The Right Scoop

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357,000 Fewer Women Held Jobs in October; Female Participation Rate Hits New Low

(CNSNews.com) -- American women participating in the nation’s labor force hit a new low at a rate of 56.9 percent in October, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Additionally, the number of women holding jobs declined by 357,000 from September to October, and the unemployment rate increased for women from 6.7 percent to 6.9 percent.

In October, according to the BLS, the labor force participation rate for women was 56.9 percent, down from 57.1 percent in September and 57.3 percent in August.

As calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a person participates in the labor force if they are 16 or older, not institutionalized, and either have a job or have actively sought a job in the last four weeks. The labor force participation rate is the percentage of people over 16 in the non-institutionalized population who either have a job or actively sought one in the last four weeks.

In September, according to the BLS, the female civilian labor force was 72,705,000. In October it dropped to 72,492,000—a decline of 213,000.

Similarly, the number of women working in America dropped from 67,851,000 in September to 67,494,000 in October—a decline of 357,000.

Via: CNS News

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The depressing reality of ‘the recovery’: Americans aren’t getting jobs. They’re retiring.

For most of his presidency, President Obama has been focused on the economic short run — which makes sense, given that he took office in the midst of the biggest recession since the 1930s. With his big economic speech today, he’s shifting to the long-run, talking about the structural changes he thinks the economy needs to see for the U.S. to prosper going forward.

But anyone who thinks that the short-run battle is over should take a look at a new report by Daniel Alpert over at the Century Foundation. Alpert notes that while the headline unemployment number is well below its recession-era peak, that’s almost 100 percent due to declines in the labor force participation rate — that is, the share of the population that’s either employed or actively looking for work. Don’t believe him? Take a look at this chart:

Via: Washington Post
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