[quote=moneymaker]Good explanation SK in CV, and I thought maybe there were just more hippies around than I thought.[/quote]
SK is incorrect. The labor participation is measured by those working divided by those over 16 and looking for work or working.
If you are 15 you do not factor, if you are 40 and not looking for work (actively) you do not count, if you are retired, you do not count. If you are in school and not working, you do not count.
The LP can fall when people stop looking for work. A falling LP actually pushes the UR down as the looking for work numbers fall. Conversely, a strong economy can have increasing unemployment rate as the LP rises as more people return to work.
Also keep in mind whether or not your look for work also doesn’t count for the unemployment rate if you’ve been unemployed more than 52 weeks. That was the 1994 change.
