Chicago Fed Letter
Most Recent Article
March, No. 296
Explaining the Decline in the U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate
Daniel Aaronson Jonathan Davis Luojia Hu
The authors conclude that just under half of the post-1999 decline in the U.S. labor force participation rate, or LFPR (the proportion of the working-age population that is employed or unemployed and seeking work), can be explained by long-running demographic patterns, such as the retirement of baby boomers. These patterns are expected to continue, offsetting LFPR improvements due to economic recovery.
