Labor Force Participation Is High If You Measure It Right

Labor force participation in the US, when adjusted for the age structure of the population, has never been higher than over the past two years. So why all the concern lately about how low it is? The simple answer is that age-adjusted labor force participation is not a statistic on offer from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the unadjusted rate is currently the lowest it has been — Covid-19 pandemic excluded — in 50 years.