Friday, June 04, 2010

Labor Participation

Last month when the unemployment rate shot up to 9.9% from 9.7% we were told that this was actually good news because it was due to the fact that the labor participation rate was up because people were being enticed back into the labor market because of the awesome economy. Unemployment is back down to 9.7% in part due to a decline in the labor participation rate. I'm sure this is good news too.

Summers last December:


Lawrence H. Summers, President Obama’s top economic advisor, predicted on Sunday that by the spring the ranks of working Americans will start to grow once again.

“Most professional forecasters are looking for a return to job growth by the spring,” he said in an appearance on “ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”


Not so much.