Labor Dept. Numbers Point to Need for Employees

by

A member of the Carpenters' Union with an inflatable rat are protesting the contractor building a Shake Shack on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. On Friday, Aug. 5, the Labor Department delivers its July jobs report. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Reading Time: < 1 minute

The labor force participation rate, which measures the percentage of Americans age 16 and older who are working or actively seeking work, continues to fall. It dropped to 62.1% in July after reaching 62.4% in March.

So what does that mean? Businesses will continue to struggle to find employees to work for them.

According to the Labor Department, the number of workers in the U.S. fell by 400,000 over the past five months. In all, the labor force is currently 600,000 people smaller than it was in 2020 before COVID restrictions. The country is already battling inflation, and the question now is whether or not these grim numbers will continue to negatively impact the fragile state of the economy.


Click play to listen to the AURN News report from Jamie Jackson:

AURN Podcast Network


advanced divider
advanced divider

NEWS