The number of Americans not in the workforce during the month of April increased substantially compared to the previous month — again tipping over the 94 million mark — according to the latest Labor Department data.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports Friday that 94,044,000 Americans were neither employed nor made an effort to find employment — due to discouragement, retirement, schooling or otherwise — in April.
Last month’s numbers represented an increase of 562,000 over the month of March, when 93,482,000 Americans were out of the workforce.
April’s comparatively high non-participation level halted an earlier trend of decline that followed after the number of people out of the workforce hit a record high of 94,610,000 last October.
The labor force participation rate also took a slight hit, declining from 63.0 percent in March to 62.8 percent in April. Though lower than the month prior, April’s participation rate was slightly higher than it was a year ago.
Additionally the civilian labor force declined by 362,000 people compared to March, hitting 158,924,000.
In total 151,320,000 Americans had a job last month and another 7,920,000 Americans were unemployed.
Overall the economy added 160,000 confirm payroll jobs in April and the unemployment rate remained at 5.0 percent.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.