Journal Article
What Has Driven the Recent Increase in Retirements?
Nie, Jun; Yang, Shu-Kuei X. (2021-08-11)
During the pandemic, the share of retirees in the U.S. population rose much faster than its normal pace. Typically, an increase in this share is driven by more people transitioning from employment to retirement. However, we show that the recent increase was instead driven by fewer people transitioning from retirement back into employment, likely due to pandemic-related health risks. More retirees may rejoin the workforce as these health risks fade, but the retirement share is unlikely to return to a normal level for some time.
Economic Bulletin , Issue August 11, 2021 , Pages 4

Back-of-the-Envelope Estimates of Next Quarter’s Unemployment Rate
Faria-e-Castro, Miguel (2020-03-24)
Layoffs are certainly one of the effects of battling COVID-19. What sort of unemployment rate might we see in the second quarter of 2020?
On the Economy

Journal Article
Women Take a Bigger Hit in the First Wave of Job Losses due to COVID-19
Tuzemen, Didem; Tran, Thao (2020-04-16)
The temporary shutdown orders and social distancing measures taken to fight the COVID-19 outbreak have caused substantial job losses in the United States. Women, especially those without a college degree, have taken a bigger hit in the first wave of job losses. This imbalance could lead to prolonged damage to women’s employment and labor market attachment if job losses deepen and persist in the coming months.
Economic Bulletin , Issue April 16, 2020 , Pages 5

COVID-19: Which Workers Face the Highest Unemployment Risk?
Gascon, Charles S. (2020-03-24)
Some 46% of U.S. workers are employed in occupations at “high risk” of layoff due to COVID-19 measures. How much could it cost to offset their lost income?
On the Economy

Journal Article
Women without a College Degree, Especially Minority Mothers, Face a Steeper Road to Recovery
Tuzemen, Didem (2021-08-12)
Didem Tüzemen documents changes in the labor force participation rates of prime-age individuals across sex, education level, and race and ethnicity during the pandemic-induced downturn and subsequent recovery. Her analysis yields three key findings. First, prime-age women without a bachelor’s degree experienced greater deteriorations in their labor force participation and employment during the recession than all other prime-age individuals, and their labor force participation and employment rates are still well below their pre-pandemic levels. Second, Hispanic prime-age women without a ...
Economic Review , Volume 106 , Issue no.3 , Pages 5-23

Demographic Trends Are Major Factors in Today’s Weak Labor Force Growth
Elvery, Joel; Brizuela, Isabel (2022-04-21)
The size of the US labor force declined by 2.3 million people between December 2019 and December 2021, sparking widespread debate about the underlying factors constraining labor supply. Broadly speaking, changes in the overall size of the labor force come from changes in labor force participation rates (LFPRs), changes in the demographic makeup of the population, and changes in the size of the population. Research has documented the role of changes in LFPRs, especially the jump in the number of retired people (Briggs, 2021; Faria e Castro, 2021; and Kaplan et al., 2021) and the drop in the ...
Cleveland Fed District Data Brief , Paper 20220421

Discussion Paper
Puerto Rico's Shrinking Labor Force Participation
Wheeler, Harry; Bram, Jason (2016-08-10)
A key concern about Puerto Rico?s prospects is that its labor force participation rate, which is the percentage of the adult population either working or looking for work, has fallen sharply. Looking at the data shows that this decline cannot be attributed to any particular demographic segment. Instead, it is the consequence of an aging population, accelerated by a falling birth rate and outmigration of a relatively young cohort. Expected demographic trends will continue to put downward pressure on the participation rate over the medium term, creating a challenging headwind for the economy to ...
Liberty Street Economics , Paper 20160810

Speech
A Shot in the Arm: Stimulating the American Workforce
Harker, Patrick T. (2016-10-13)
New economic policies are needed to combat the nation?s persistently declining labor force participation rate, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick T. Harker said today in a speech to the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. President Harker said the U.S. labor market is strong, but the participation rate is waning.
Speech , Paper 125