Signs Of Improvement In Prime-Age Labor Force Participation

from the Atlanta Fed

February’s job report provided further evidence of a stabilizing labor force participation (LFP) rate. After falling over 3 percentage points since 2008, LFP has been close to 62.9 percent of the population for the past seven months. Although demographics and behavioral trends explain much of the overall decline (our web page on LFP dynamics gives a full account), there is a cyclical component at work as well. In particular, the labor force attachment of “prime-age” (25 to 54 year olds) individuals to the labor force is something we’re watching closely.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart noted as much in a February 6 speech:

Over the last few years, there has been a worrisome outflow of prime-age workers – especially men – from the labor force. I believe some of these people will be enticed back into formal work arrangements if the economy improves further.

There are signs that some of the prime-age individuals who had retreated to the margins of the labor market have been flowing back into the formal labor market.

For one thing, LFP among prime-age individuals stopped declining 16 months ago for women and nine months ago for men. By our estimates, declining LFP in this age category accounts for about one-third of the overall decline in LFP since 2007, so 25- to 54-year-olds’ decision to engage in the labor market has a big effect on the overall rate (see the chart). Even with an improving economy, however, a turnaround in LFP among prime-age individuals might not occur.

The reason an improving economy might not reverse the LFP trends is that LFP for both prime-age men and women had been on a longer-term downward trend even before the recession began, suggesting that factors other than the recession-induced decline in labor demand have been important. But the decline in the “shadow labor force” – the share of the prime-age population who say they want a job but are not technically counted as unemployed – demonstrates the cyclical nature of the labor market. For the last year and half, the share of these individuals in the labor force has been generally declining (see the chart).

Moreover, the job-finding success of the shadow labor force has improved. Although the 12-month flow into the official labor force has remained reasonably close to 50 percent, the likelihood of flowing into unemployment (as opposed to employment) rose during the recession. But during the past two years, that trend appears to be reversing (see the chart).

The ability of the prime-age shadow labor force to find work is improving at the same time that the LFP rate of the prime-age population is stabilizing. Taken together, this trend is consistent with improving job market opportunities and further absorption of the nation’s slack labor resources.

For a more complete analysis of long-term behavioral and demographic effects on LFP for the prime-age and non-prime-age populations, see our Labor Force Participation Dynamics web page, which now includes 2014 data.

By Ellyn Terry, an economic policy analysis specialist, and

John Robertson, vice president and senior economist, both of the Atlanta Fed’s research department