NC labor force participation rate plummets 5 percent from May 2008 to November 2014, Unemployment rate same, Baby boomers retiring not cause of labor force drop, Lack of jobs causes younger people to remain or return to school

“For now, the absence of young adults from the housing market continues to put a dent in the homeownership rate, which dropped to 64.8% in the first quarter, compared with 65.2% in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to U.S. Census statistics. The rate was as high as 69.2% in the fourth quarter of 2004. For those younger than 35, the rate has fallen noticeably faster. It slipped to 36.2% in the first quarter, from 36.8% in the fourth. The homeownership rate for this group was as high as 43.6% in the second quarter of 2004.”…Market Watch May 12, 2014

“The share of families with an employed member was unchanged at 80.0 percent in 2013. The likelihood of having an employed family member rose in 2013 for Asian families (to 88.8 percent) and for Hispanic families (to 85.1 percent). The likelihood for white and black families showed little or no change (80.1 percent and 75.7 percent, respectively).”…BLS report, April 25, 2014

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

Despite what you may have read from the low information mainstream media, baby boomers retiring are not the cause of the drop in the labor force in NC or US.

Do the math or read prior articles at Citizen Wells.

Lack of jobs is the problem.

From May of 2008 to November of 2014, the  labor force participation rate plummeted 5 percent in NC. The unemployment rate is the same.

From NC Spin December 20, 2014.

“North Carolina’s jobless rate fell to 5.8 percent in November, the lowest since May 2008, as the state’s economy gains force in the second half of the year.

The state’s jobless rate fell from 6.3 percent in October and has dropped from 7.4 percent one year ago, even though today’s wages have not caught up to pre-recession pay levels.

North Carolina’s unemployment rate, which has lagged the national average, matched the U.S. rate in November, but the nation as a whole dropped below 6 percent two months ahead of North Carolina.

The job market data was issued Friday by the Labor & Economic Analysis Division within the N.C. Department of Commerce.

North Carolina gained 16,400 jobs in November and 110,700 in the first 11 months of the year. The last time the state gained jobs at this rate was in 2006, when 129,500 jobs were added.”

“The state’s labor force shrunk 0.2 percent in November, losing 13,534 people. Over the past year, the labor force has shrunk 0.7 percent, for a reduction of 31,665 people.

A shrinking labor force will drive down the unemployment rate because fewer people are looking for work.

N.C. State University economist Michael Walden said the labor force shrinkage is a national issue caused by a trifecta of factors. Baby boomers are retiring. Students are staying in college longer before entering the workforce.”

“Additionally, private sector earnings and household income in the state, adjusted for inflation, are down since 2008.

“People are poorer today than they were on average before the recession,” Walden said.”

Read more:

http://www.ncspin.com/nc-unemployment-rate-at-5-8-lowest-since-may-2008/

I hope that N.C. State University economist Michael Walden was misquoted about baby boomers.