The reality is, labor participation—at a historically low rate of 62.7%—remains the gaping hole in the bottom of the jobs data bucket, and the longer we ignore the problem, the worse it is getting.
The decline in labor participation throughout President Obama’s tenure in office is so staggering that it’s difficult to understand how it has escaped the notice of the press. The average person in middle America certainly knows and has felt the impact. Let’s review the facts and then analyze the situation.