The majority of Americans left the workforce after the coronavirus pandemic and are not returning, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data analyzed by The Daily. If the workforce were to return to its previous size, the unemployment rate would almost double. Caller News Foundation.
The official unemployment rate in December was 3.7%, accounting for approximately 6.268 million Americans without a job and looking for work, and 105.4 million unemployed people who are not counted in the labor force and therefore unable to find work. They are not counted as unemployed even though they are not. according to To data from BLS. By comparison, the number of people not counted in the labor force in February 2020 was only Approximately 5 million of the 95 million people have left the labor force permanently following the COVID-19 pandemic, and if you include those counted as unemployed, the unemployment rate is approximately 6.7%. (Related: Biden administration announces new labor rules to crack down on independent contractors)
“More accurate estimates of the true unemployment rate reflect weakness in the economy as a whole and in the labor market in particular,” E. J. Antoni, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Grover M. Herman Center on the Federal Budget, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. It shows,” he said. “These coincide with a mild recession. The number of people with disabilities has exploded in the last three years, rapidly increasing by millions. This indicates that the majority of people simply moved from unemployment to welfare.
The official unemployment rate has been at historic lows in recent years, dropping below 4% for the first time since 2000 under the Trump administration. according to to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). The rate briefly spiked during the coronavirus pandemic, but returned to less than 4% by early 2022.
Labor force participation has also taken a hit in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with 63.3% of Americans employed or looking for work in February 2020, but 62.5% in December 2023. became. according to To Fred. The labor force participation rate has steadily declined from a peak of more than 67% in 2000, stabilized and rose slightly under the Trump administration before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Depending on your preferred estimation method, there are not 6.3 million unemployed people at a 3.7% unemployment rate, but 11.1 million and 13.1 million people at 6.4% and 7.5% unemployment rates… pic.twitter.com/MyGC8pgEm5
— Dr. EJ Antoni (@RealEJAntoni) January 5, 2024
“When someone leaves the workforce, they are not considered unemployed,” Michael Faulkender, chief economist and senior advisor at the Center for American Prosperity, told DCNF. “According to a study released last Friday, about 700,000 people left their jobs last month. Yes, that means unless people are working and looking for work, the unemployment rate doesn't capture that.”
According to the BLS, there were 167,451,000 Americans in the labor force in December, down from 168,127,000 in November. This difference is equivalent to a decline of 676,000 people in the labor force in the same month.
The government also significantly overreported employment numbers for 2023 in its monthly employment report, and later revised the numbers downward. In total, the number of jobs existing in the country in 2023 was 749,000 fewer than the original number.
“The expansion of many welfare programs beyond disability under the Biden administration means that more people will be able to live off benefits without having to go back to work,” Antoni told DCNF. “That expansion has happened both in terms of who is eligible and the gratuity of the benefits that people are eligible for.”
BLS directed DCNF on the methodology used to calculate the number of non-labor force members. It contains “Retired people, students, people caring for children and family members, and others who are not working or looking for work.”
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