The 350, 000 decline in the labor force brought the labor force participation rate in November to 63.6 percent, down slightly from 63.8 percent in October.
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One bright spot in the Labor Department jobs release, at least, was the slight rise in both the labor force participation rate and employment-to-population ratio, the first increases since February.
The current situation is far different, with unemployment falling because of a declining labor force participation rate and a decline in the size of that labor force.
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The labor force rose by 578, 000 people in October, and the labor force participation rate increased by 0.2 percentage point.
The size of the labor force grew by 578, 000 workers in October, with the labor force participation rate moving higher by two-tenths of a percentage point to 63.8%.
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The economic consequence will be either higher unemployment, a further decline in the labor force participation rate, or a combination of the two.
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This means a low 7%ish headline unemployment rate, a stabilization in the labor force participation rate (which may have already begun in April) and accelerating GDP growth.
It was also the second consecutive month in which the work-force grew, and the second month since last July in which the civilian labor force participation rate increased.
Note that each percentage point decrease in labor force participation rate is equivalent to 3 million people leaving the labor force.
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If the rate of labor force participation in June 2011 were the same as it was in June 2009 (65.7%), the reported unemployment rate would be 11.2% rather than 9.1%.
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However, I was struck by the fairly sharp decline in the labor force participation rate, which has shrunk about three percentage points from around 66 percent before the recession to 63 percent currently.
The variable Stock and Watson ultimately cite is the decline in labor force participation, and they argue it is driven by the aging of the workforce and the overall distribution of workers by age.
Millions more have dropped out of the work force, with the lowest labor participation rate in over 30 years.
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Egypt has one of the lowest rates of female labor-force participation (20%) in the world and perhaps the lowest rate of female representation in parliament (2%).
The main conclusion from this demographic work is that, barring a new increase in female labor force participation or a significant increase in the growth rate of the population, these demographic factors point towards a further decline in trend growth of employment and hours in the coming decades.
The decline came because of a 20 basis point drop in the labor-force participation rate.
In fact, if you ask me what the level of employment will be five or 10 years from now, I would probably ignore demand factors and focus on supply factors such as the expected growth in the labor force due to demographics and factors affecting the labor force participation rate.
In August, the labor force participation rate for men was the lowest on record, which goes all the way back to 1948.
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According to the report, just a third of the drop in labor force participation came from those who still wanted a job and only 15% of those folks are of prime working age, 25 to 54.
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Moreover, the labor force participation rate, which is a measure of the percentage of people working in the entire population, is falling precipitously.
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If labor force participation in June 2011 were the same as June 2009 (65.7%), the reported unemployment rate would be 11.2% rather than 9.1%.
The labor force participation rate, which peaked in 2000, has been trending lower ever since.
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With the same labor force participation as on Inauguration Day in January, 2009 (which would be closer to a real recovery), that would require 5.5 million new jobs just to keep up with the aforementioned population growth.
Of those in the 18-54 age bracket, labor force participation rates of veterans and nonveterans were both about 88%.
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The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 63.6 percent in January.
The labor force participation rate was also unchanged at 63.6 percent in December.
It is not the case that the reason the unemployment rate fell sharply was because of reductions in labor force participation.
In addition, the US labor force has flattened out as female labor force participation has stopped rising and the population ages.
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Those skeptics say the dropping unemployment rate mostly is from a drop in able-bodied people quitting the job search (and lowering labor force participation).
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported unemployment fell to 7.7% from 7.9%, but the drop was at least partially attributable to a decline in labor force participation, Baker says.
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