Workers Are Simply "Giving Up"

This article from Washington's Blog lists a number of reasons for the massive drop in labor "participation rate" which I pointed out in my last post.  It's not JUST the aging baby boomers, or the significant drop in the number of women participating in the work force (male AND female ages 25-54 also fell sharply).  It all points to a significantly weaker economy in the future for the US.  ...Dennis

What Caused the Crash In the Labor Participation Rate?

Posted on January 11, 2014 by WashingtonsBlog

Workers May Simply Be Giving Up

Zero Hedge notes that the number of Americans in the labor force has dropped to 1978 levels:

The civilian labor force … dropped from 155.3 million to 154.9 million, which means the labor participation rate just dropped to a fresh 35 year low, hitting levels not seen since 1978, at 62.8% down from 63.0%.

And the piece de resistance: Americans not in the labor force exploded higher by 535,000 to a new all time high 91.8 million.

What’s causing the crash in labor participation?

Initially, the number of women not in the labor force climbed to a new high.  This is significant because the labor force skyrocketed in the 1960s when feminism encouraged women to work outside of the home:

FULL ARTICLE: