Will jobs be the focus of next year’s presidential election? U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, says economic recovery isn't as it seems, at least when it comes to labor participation. Graham claimed:
"The labor participation rate is at an all-time low."
PolitiFact rated the claim for its truthfulness. Writer Joshua Gillin said it rates MOSTLY FALSE. According to Gillin, it’s not all in the numbers.
“Now, the phenomenon that we’re seeing, the reason that the participation rate is declining is because so many people are retiring,” Gillin said.
As of February, the labor participation rate is 62.8 percent. That is the lowest it’s been since 1978. And since President Barack Obama took office, the rate has dropped 2.9 percentage points.
The problem is the workforce looks different than it did back in 1948, which is where available data goes back to.
According to experts, there are more women looking for jobs in the workforce and baby boomers are starting to retire, which doesn’t make it an apples to apples comparison. Because of those facts, PolitiFact rated the claim MOSTLY FALSE.
SOURCES: LABOR PARTICIPATION RATE
- PolitiFact's rating
- NBC, Meet the Press transcript, March 8, 2015
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey," accessed March 8, 2015
- White House, "The labor force participation rate since 2007: Causes and policy implications," July 2014
- Quartz, "The chart Obama-haters love most—and the truth behind it," Nov. 4, 2014
- New York Times, "After a Bounce, Wage Growth Slumps to 0.1%," March 6, 2015
- Federal Reserve, "Will Labor Force Participation Bounce Back?" May 13, 2013
- PolitiFact, "Labor force participation is at lowest point since 1978, says Texas Sen. Ted Cruz," Jan. 26, 2014
- PolitiFact, "Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers says fewer now working than any point since 1979," April 12, 2013
- Email interview, David Autor, economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology