In a prior blog post called "Unemployment, Employment and the Participation Rate," I explored several different metrics used to evaluate the health of the economy. One of those is the participation rate, which measures the percentage of the labor force (those aged 16 and older) that are working or actively seeking work. This metric has been declining over time, which could signal weakness in the economy.
Yesterday's post on Seeking Alpha "Declining Participation Rate a Function of a Weak Labor Market" discusses this a but more and points out that some economists attribute the decline to an increase in the retirement of baby boomers. The article compares our economy to that of the United Kingdom, which also has baby boomers, and concludes that the decline in the participation rate is not due to an increase in the retirement of baby boomers. It's an interesting article and worth a read.
Link to my prior post on Unemployment, Employment and the Participation Rate:
http://www.allenlatta.com/allens-blog/unemployment-employment-and-participation-rate
Link to Seeking Alpha article: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2715165-declining-participation-rate-a-function-of-a-weak-labor-market?ifp=1
Yesterday's post on Seeking Alpha "Declining Participation Rate a Function of a Weak Labor Market" discusses this a but more and points out that some economists attribute the decline to an increase in the retirement of baby boomers. The article compares our economy to that of the United Kingdom, which also has baby boomers, and concludes that the decline in the participation rate is not due to an increase in the retirement of baby boomers. It's an interesting article and worth a read.
Link to my prior post on Unemployment, Employment and the Participation Rate:
http://www.allenlatta.com/allens-blog/unemployment-employment-and-participation-rate
Link to Seeking Alpha article: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2715165-declining-participation-rate-a-function-of-a-weak-labor-market?ifp=1
