Stop using the silly assertion that the labor participation rate indicates unemployment
The Facts
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, relying on a monthly survey known as the Current Population Survey (CPS), shows that, as of August 2016, 94.4 million Americans 16 years and older were “not in labor force.”
How is this number developed? Well, there is a civilian noninstitutional population of 253.9 million people, and 159.5 million are in the labor force. The difference yields the 94.4 million figure.
But the unemployment rate is only 4.9 percent because just 7.8 million people actively are looking for a job and cannot find one. They are considered part of the overall labor force. In other words, you have to be seeking a job to be counted in the labor force.
Who are the 94 million not in the labor force? The BLS has data for the year 2015.
It turns out that 87.5 million — 93 percent — do not want a job at all.
Only 6 million people (6.3 percent) who in 2015 were deemed not in the labor force said they wanted a job, though 3.5 million had not searched for one in the previous year. About 1.3 million who said they want a job actually had family responsibilities, were on disability or were in school — factors that were holding them back from a job hunt at the time. Only 664,000 — less than 1 percent of the 94 million — said they were discouraged about their job prospects.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...s-americans/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.d3deb5847d53
40% retirement age like me.
33% students
14% with children at home (traditional mothers)
The Facts
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, relying on a monthly survey known as the Current Population Survey (CPS), shows that, as of August 2016, 94.4 million Americans 16 years and older were “not in labor force.”
How is this number developed? Well, there is a civilian noninstitutional population of 253.9 million people, and 159.5 million are in the labor force. The difference yields the 94.4 million figure.
But the unemployment rate is only 4.9 percent because just 7.8 million people actively are looking for a job and cannot find one. They are considered part of the overall labor force. In other words, you have to be seeking a job to be counted in the labor force.
Who are the 94 million not in the labor force? The BLS has data for the year 2015.
It turns out that 87.5 million — 93 percent — do not want a job at all.
Only 6 million people (6.3 percent) who in 2015 were deemed not in the labor force said they wanted a job, though 3.5 million had not searched for one in the previous year. About 1.3 million who said they want a job actually had family responsibilities, were on disability or were in school — factors that were holding them back from a job hunt at the time. Only 664,000 — less than 1 percent of the 94 million — said they were discouraged about their job prospects.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...s-americans/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.d3deb5847d53
40% retirement age like me.
33% students
14% with children at home (traditional mothers)
