Economics 101
We get a lot of confusing information from the media. One important figure that consistently gets under-reported is the Labor Force Participation Rate . This is the percentage of working-age persons in an economy who: Are employed, or Are unemployed but looking for a job Typically "working-age persons" is defined as people between the ages of 16-64. People in those age groups who are not counted as participating in the labor force are typically students, homemakers, and persons under the age of 64 who are retired. The Labor Force Participation Rate is currently at a 30 year low. We just had the largest absolute jump in 'Persons Not In Labor Force' on record...and biggest percentage jump in 30 years: When the Labor Force Participation Rate starts going back up, and unemployment rate goes down, then you have a real economic recovery. Right now we aren't even adding enough new jobs each month to keep up with population growth. The numb...