Interesting stats: About 63% of Americans are looking for work today compared to 67% in 2000

[Quixote1818]

Unemployment was at 3.8% in 2000, very similar to today.


Snip: The difference between the two eras can be viewed through the prism of economic growth. The economy grew 2.3% in 2017 and may approach 3% this year, but that’s with big government tax cuts and increased spending that has swelled the federal deficit. The economy grew a robust 4.1% in 2000, when the government enjoyed a budget surplus.


The labor force participation rate, generally has been falling for years as Baby Boomers retire.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/06/03/unemployment-can-go-lower/664879002/

[SunSeeker]

1. K & R

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Remember when Obama was president and the media were always

saying unemployment was actually higher because so many people had stopped looking for work? I haven't heard anything about workforce participation in 2 years.

[Captain Stern]

3. It wasn't "the media" that was saying that. It was the Republicans.

The unemployment rate has been steadily declining for almost a decade.

The media reported it. A lot of the republicans didn't like the sound of that, so they claimed the the unemployment numbers that were being reported were wrong.

Now, that there is a republican "president', and the unemployment numbers are still trending the same way they were in the previous six years.....the reported unemployment numbers are suddenly 'correct'......even though they are coming from the exact same sources as when Obama was President.

[Cicada]

4. Apparently the decline in labor force participation is not due to aging

Apparently aging is a relatively minor factor