(CNSNews.com) – In its final report before next week’s presidential election, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday that 94,609,000 Americans are not in the labor force, 425,000 more than last month’s 94,184,000, and the second highest number on record.
The labor force participation rate dropped a tenth of a point to 62.8 percent. In other words, 62.8 percent of the non-institutionalized, civilian population over the age of 16 is either employed or are actively looking for work, while the other 37.2 percent is not working or even looking.
The number of people employed dropped 43,000, declining from 151,968,000 in September to 151,925,000 in October; and the number of unemployed people dropped by an even greater amount, 152,000 –falling from 7,939,000 in September to 7,787,000 in October.
The October unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, down a tenth of a point from September.
When George W. Bush took office in January 2000, 69,142,000 people were not in the labor force, and when his two terms ended, the number had grown to 80,380,000. full story
