The rise and fall of labor force participation in the United States

Abstract

Monetary policy choices going forward are explicitly tied to labor market performance. Hence, the sharp decline in the labor force participation rate following the 2007-09 recession has become a salient topic. Presented here are a summary of labor force participation rate data and projections, a survey of the literature that studies the recent decline in the participation rate, and a view toward fruitful paths for future research. © 2014, The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.