July 2015

Once again, much of the focus on today’s employment situation report fell on the participation rate, which tumbled to 62.6 percent, the lowest since the late 1970s. However, a closer look at the numbers reveals that for the two-thirds of the civilian labor force in their prime working years of 25 to 54, the participation rate is only 4.0 percentage points off of historic highs reached in dot.com heydays.