Had Labor Participation Held Constant, Unemployment Would Be 11.1 Percent

Discouraged workers skew the numbers

If the labor participation rate had remained where it was in 2008, points out Investors Business Daily, unemployment would have recently risen to 11.1 percent.

Comments

[Lincoln]

It is also worthy to note the the US does not count the incarcerated in it's unemployment figures. One percent of the population is what percent of the workforce?

[Bernieyeball]

Hey! I wasn't even in my teens when I got my first job carrying newspapers. Let's count all the unemployed kids from 12 years old on up and we can really inflate the jobless rate!

[scareduck]

Once more, with feeling: this is interesting to know, but not surprising. Hello, the baby boomers are retiring, in large numbers. In no small part, that is likely a source of persistent unemployment as well, given they are trimming their spending to match their new status.