92.4 Million Americans Not In The Labor Force

The continuing trend of one-third of Americans supporting the other two-thirds.

 

92.4 million Americans are considered to be “not in the labor force” officially.  This number is incredibly high and is a large factor for the drop in the employment participation rate.  While many older Americans are winging it when it comes to retirement, one-third of the private workforce is supporting two-thirds of the population.  Part of the reason we have so many Americans in the not in the labor force category is partly due to the aging of the country but that only accounts for one portion of the change.  A large portion also comes from the unusual jumps in the disability category, a large number going back to high cost college, and many simply dropping out of the market completely.
The rate of increase in each of these categories is growing much faster than the rate of growth in the population suggesting something else is going on.  The unemployment rate on the surface looks to be much healthier than it is because you are removing millions of Americans from being counted.


This isn’t a political statement but a simple math issue.  You have one-third of Americans supporting the other two-thirds.  This is the highest percentage we have seen in this country.  It would have seemed impossible to see 100 million Americans being part of the not in the labor force category but the trend is heading there.  Back in 2009 alone we had 82 million Americans not in the labor force.  In the span of five years we have added 10 million.  So should the trend continue, we will hit 100 million by 2020.

Take a look at the numbers:
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