Define jobless growth. How to calculate rate of participation?
Answers
Answer:
The labor force participation rate is an estimate of an economy’s active workforce. The formula is the number of people ages 16 and older who are employed or actively seeking employment, divided by the total non-institutionalized, civilian working-age population.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What Is the Labor Force Participation Rate?
The labor force participation rate is an estimate of an economy’s active workforce. The formula is the number of people ages 16 and older who are employed or actively seeking employment, divided by the total non-institutionalized, civilian working-age population.
In the 12 months ending Dec. 2021, the U.S. labor force participation rate ranged between a low of 61.4% and a high of 61.9% (which was the figure for both Nov. and Dec. 2021), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which publishes the figures monthly.1
From 2013 on, the monthly figures held steady in the vicinity of 63%, after a sharp decline in the wake of the Great Recession. However, in early 2020, the labor force participation rate fell markedly, dropping from 63.4% to 61.4% in the first half of the year, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its low point was reached in April 2020, when the rate sank to 60.2%.2