As I wrote the title to this post, I started wondering how many people would just skip it. After all, the Labor Participation Rate is not the topic of greatest interest to many people. It is, however, a key statistic in modern America. It represents the part of the adult population that actually either has a job or is actively looking for work. Those who have retired or who have just given up looking for work are not counted as participants in the work force.
Since the recession of 2008 to 2009, the participation rate has been falling. This drop makes the unemployment numbers look better. After all, each time a person just gives up looking for work, the government removes him or her from the ranks of the unemployed. For years now, we have been told that most of the decline in the participation rate has come from the increasing numbers of baby boomers who are retiring. Sure, some of the reduction in participation has come from folks giving up in the search for work, but the Democrats and their friends in the media downplay those people and keep talking about all those retirements among baby boomers.
Today, we learned that it just ain't so. The reduction in the participation rate does not come from baby boomer retirements. In fact, the participation level of those over 55 has increased since the start of the recession. The biggest drop in participation has been among those under 30. That's right, the portion of the American population that ought to be strongest in working and growing the economy is instead dropping out of the workforce. It is a monumental disaster.
The full details of this mess are set forth in an article over at PowerLine. If you really want to be depressed, take a look at the chart in that article.
President Obama spoke of engineering the fundamental transformation of America. So far, he has managed to move us toward a country of dependent and lazy people who no longer strive to achieve personal independence.
Since the recession of 2008 to 2009, the participation rate has been falling. This drop makes the unemployment numbers look better. After all, each time a person just gives up looking for work, the government removes him or her from the ranks of the unemployed. For years now, we have been told that most of the decline in the participation rate has come from the increasing numbers of baby boomers who are retiring. Sure, some of the reduction in participation has come from folks giving up in the search for work, but the Democrats and their friends in the media downplay those people and keep talking about all those retirements among baby boomers.
Today, we learned that it just ain't so. The reduction in the participation rate does not come from baby boomer retirements. In fact, the participation level of those over 55 has increased since the start of the recession. The biggest drop in participation has been among those under 30. That's right, the portion of the American population that ought to be strongest in working and growing the economy is instead dropping out of the workforce. It is a monumental disaster.
The full details of this mess are set forth in an article over at PowerLine. If you really want to be depressed, take a look at the chart in that article.
President Obama spoke of engineering the fundamental transformation of America. So far, he has managed to move us toward a country of dependent and lazy people who no longer strive to achieve personal independence.
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