What We Know About the 92 Million Americans Who Aren’t in the Labor Force
11th July 2016
The Labor Department only classifies people as unemployed if they are actively looking for work. All those who don’t have a job and aren’t looking are lumped together under the fishy-sounding classification “not in the labor force.” The share of Americans not in the labor force has been climbing for nearly 15 years, a development that even many economists and demographers failed to anticipate.
It may sound like a giant mystery: What are these 92 million Americans doing? Actually, we do have some idea.
I notice that there’s a large contingent in the 16-20 year-old range who want work and can’t find it. Thank you, minimum wage.