期刊名称：Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis - Regional Economist
出版年度：2015
出版社：Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
摘要：T he agg regate labor force part icipat ion (LFP) rate measures the share of the civilian, noninst itutionalized popu lation (16 years and older) that is either employed or nonemployed but looking for work. The LFP rate reached it s peak of 67.1 percent in 2000 and has been declining since, accelerating during t he Great Recession. Workers between 16 and 24 years of age constitute t he demograph ic group t hat has exper ienced one of the most substantial declines in labor force part icipat ion. Figure 1 shows participation rates for these youth since 1955. The LFP rate for this group increased more or less steadily until 1979, reaching 68.8 percent in September 1979, then remained above 65 until 2000 before star ting its shar p decline. 1 The rate was dow n to 54.9 percent in September 2014. Was the decline homogeneous across different subsets of youth. The question is important: If a larger fract ion of young people are attending school today tha n in the 1980s or 1990s, t hen the currently low labor force par ticipat ion rate of youth might signal good news, imply- ing a more-skilled prime-working-age labor force and possibly higher aggregate LFP rates in t he future. On the other hand, if young potent ial workers are neither in the labor force nor in school, incorporating them into the labor force in t he future might not be an easy task
