[pinqy27]

And if the participation rate was the same as it was under Eisenhower, the unemployment rate would be negative.

All you’re saying is the if there were more unemployed, then the unemployment rate would be higher. But the fact is that fewer people want to work, and that’s why participaton is down.

[Bon mots]

And if the participation rate was the same as it was under Eisenhower, the unemployment rate would be negative.

All you’re saying is the if there were more unemployed, then the unemployment rate would be higher. But the fact is that fewer people want to work, and that’s why participaton is down.

No. I don't think you understand.

Under Eisenhower, the Labor Force Participation rate was actually much lower than now. That was before the mass influx of women into the American labor force which began around the tail end of the Eisenhower administration.

The Labor Force participation rate simply takes the size of the labor force and tells us how many of those people are actually participating (working).

SO...
our current labor force is about 157 million people.
62.7% of them are working.

[Bon mots]

Sorry, that was supposed to read 62.4%

Labor Force Participation Rate - PERCENT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2005	65.8	65.9	65.9	66.1	66.1	66.1	66.1	66.2	66.1	66.1	66.0	66.0
2006	66.0	66.1	66.2	66.1	66.1	66.2	66.1	66.2	66.1	66.2	66.3	66.4
2007	66.4	66.3	66.2	65.9	66.0	66.0	66.0	65.8	66.0	65.8	66.0	66.0
2008	66.2	66.0	66.1	65.9	66.1	66.1	66.1	66.1	66.0	66.0	65.9	65.8
2009	65.7	65.8	65.6	65.7	65.7	65.7	65.5	65.4	65.1	65.0	65.0	64.6
2010	64.8	64.9	64.9	65.2	64.9	64.6	64.6	64.7	64.6	64.4	64.6	64.3
2011	64.2	64.2	64.2	64.2	64.1	64.0	64.0	64.1	64.2	64.1	64.1	64.0
2012	63.7	63.8	63.8	63.7	63.8	63.8	63.7	63.5	63.6	63.7	63.6	63.7
2013	63.7	63.5	63.3	63.4	63.4	63.4	63.3	63.2	63.2	62.8	63.0	62.8
2014	63.0	63.0	63.2	62.8	62.8	62.8	62.9	62.9	62.7	62.8	62.9	62.7
2015	62.9	62.8	62.7	62.8	62.9	62.6	62.6	62.6	62.4	62.4