Analysis and Opinion: January 16, 2022. Comparing Current and Pre-Pandemic Labor Data

Currently

• The Civilian noninstitutional population (the total number of people 16 years old or older who are non-institutionalized, and are not active members of the armed forces) is 262,136,000 people

• The Civilian labor force (the Civilian noninstitutional population minus retirees, disabled and people not seeking for jobs) is 162,294,000

• The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is 61.9%

• 99,842,000 people do not contribute to the LFPR

• Unemployed people are 6,319,000, so the U3 unemployment rate is 3.9%

Before the pandemic (December 2019)

• The Civilian noninstitutional population (the total number of people 16 years old or older who are non-institutionalized, and are not active members of the armed forces) was 260,181,000 people

• The Civilian labor force (the Civilian noninstitutional population minus retirees, disabled and people not seeking for jobs) was 164,579,000

• The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) was 63.3%

• 95,602,000 people did not contribute to the LFPR

• Unemployed people were 5,844,000, so the U3 unemployment rate is 3.6%

After seeing these numbers, we can see that although the U3 unemployment rates are similar, much less people are working in the United States. This is seen in the lower LPFR and the higher number of unemployed people. The conclusion is that more people have opted for retirement and have opted to not seek for work.

This post is intended to only raise awareness. In order to make actual financial decisions please contact your financial advisor and/or tax advisor prior to making the decision.