Isn’t it true that people who are not working and not looking for work are not considered part of the workforce? It might be that more basement-dwellers are climbing up into the sunlight to get a job.
>> Isn’t it true that people who are not working and not looking for work are not considered part of the workforce? <<
Yes... to a degree. The U3 unemployment rate measures anyone actively seeking a job. U4 unemployment rate includes those who are discouraged from looking for a job. U5 unemployment includes people who have been in the workforce in the past 12 months. And U6 unemployment includes people who are underemployed, working temporary assignments and part-time jobs while seeking stable work.
Those who are simply uninterested in working are very difficult to count, and whether they might take a good job if one appeared is a matter of pure speculation. Clearly, millions surprised economists by entering the workforce during Trump’s first term. It turned out if wages were high and jobs plentiful, suddenly it was worth putting off retiring or getting out of the house while the kids were at school... or maybe even that disability didn’t prevent someone from being able to work at any job at all. Or maybe people could afford someone checking up on Grandpa once in a while, rather than staying home themselves around the clock. And maybe some people could work while getting a degree... or who needs a degree when you can get a decent paying job without one?
If you mean to ask “maybe people are simply joining the workforce?” The answer is absolutely yes. But the BLS data doesn’t show any collapse in people outside the workforce, nor any surge in the number of employees. This suggests that people joining the workforce are replacing people exiting the workforce, which is what the Department of Homeland Security is seeing happening. So the question is why doesn’t BLS see this?