U.S. Labor Force Participation Falls to 61.5% as 720,000 Workers Exit
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Jul 2
U.S. Labor Force Participation Falls to 61.5% as 720,000 Workers Exit
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Jul 2
Summary
June’s 4.2% unemployment rate masked a sharper deterioration: labor force participation fell to 61.5%, the lowest in 50 years excluding the Covid period, after 720,000 people stopped looking for work.
Household-survey data showed the strain more clearly than payrolls, with employment dropping by 507,000 and the number not in the labor force rising by 832,000 even as employers added just 57,000 jobs.
Prime-age participation posted the biggest setback, sliding 0.6 point to 83.3%, its lowest since December 2023, undercutting explanations centered mainly on retirements or lower immigration.
Over the past year, the labor force has shrunk by just over 1 million while employment fell 1.06 million, suggesting a sustained worker pullback that economists say matters more than the headline jobless rate.