Falling Labor Force Participation: Demographics or Lack of Jobs?

Flavia Dantas and L. Randall Wray

Economics One-Pager Archive from Levy Economics Institute

Abstract: Aging demographics, "social shifts," and other supply-side and institutional factors have commonly been blamed for the fall in the US labor force participation rate. However, depressed labor force participation for prime-age workers is likely due to a combination of insufficient aggregate demand, weak job creation, and stagnant wages--all of which have been persistent problems over the past three or four decades. Although insufficient aggregate demand is the main problem, general "Keynesian" pump priming is not the answer. Stimulus needs to take the form of targeted job creation to tighten labor markets for less-skilled workers.

Date: 2017-02
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