# Labor force non-participation in USA

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/labor-force-non-participation-in-usa/765133>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 5, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/labor-force-non-participation-in-usa/765133 "2016-09-05T21:44:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 6

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**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/labor-force-non-participation-in-usa/765133/6 "2016-09-06T10:45:11Z")

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I posted this recently in another thread.

> [@Is indexing minimum wage to inflation a good or bad idea?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-indexing-minimum-wage-to-inflation-a-good-or-bad-idea/764565/24):
>
> Juicy BLS datas:  
> Civilian labor force participation, percent: [http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep\_table\_303.htm](http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_303.htm)  
> Civilian labor force, number: [http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep\_table\_304.htm](http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_304.htm)
> 
> I prefer to look at the 25-64 population as a core group. That helps avoid affects from students and retirees. BLS doesn’t call that out separately, but some quick arithmetic gives us the following participation rates (2024 is a projection):
> 
> 1994: 79.3  
> 2004: 78.9  
> 2014: 76.9  
> 2024: 77.6
> 
> Sample calculation for 1994:
> 
> ## 131,056 16+ labor population 3,140 65-74 labor population 694 75+ labor population 21,612 16-24 labor population
> 
> 105,610 25-64 labor population
> 
> Out of a 25-64 civilian noninstitutional population of 133,253 gives us 79%.

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