“At just 63.5 percent, participation in the labor force remains very low by historical standards and below last year’s average of 63.7 percent.”

 

By Keith Hall at Mercatus Center at George Mason University

The U.S. economy added 195,000 jobs in the month of June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a positive sign with monthly job gains for 2013 now averaging approximately 202,000, compared with 183,000 per month in 2012.

However, the job growth hasn’t been fast enough to put a dent in the number of long-term unemployed or the labor force participation rate, said Mercatus Center senior research fellow Keith Hall, a former commissioner of the BLS.

“There has been encouraging job growth in the temporary help service industry. This is often a leading indicator of a strengthening labor market.

“Unfortunately, the job growth that we’ve seen so far this year continues to leave behind the more than 4 million long-term unemployed. This problem may even be worse than the data indicates, as the continued disengagement from the labor force may be leaving millions of long-term jobless uncounted.

“At just 63.5 percent, participation in the labor force remains very low by historical standards and below last year’s average of 63.7 percent.”

Keith Hall is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. His research interests at Mercatus include labor markets, labor market policy, and economic data.

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