RE:Are men who are retired and receiving a pension or Social Security retirement benefits considered “out of the labor force?”
As I understand it, the answer is “Yes”, and so are kids who are still in college and not working.
That is why the labor force participation rate is for me, also an inaccurate measure of how good or dire the job market it.
Heck if I wanted to increase the labor force participation rate, I would have to tell my uncles and aunt (in their mid 70’s ) to get off their butts and go back to work. How ridiculous is that?
It is very much like our inflation rate (CPI), which does not include the price of real estate, energy, college cost, etc. Taxes are also not included.
See here:
Candy bars are 10 - 20 X what they were when I wuz a kid.
Inflation is not benign, even at 1%.