Labor force participation rate

Different religious beliefs and education levels mean many more Utahans participate in the labor force than Mississippians.

That's a big reason why so many women remain on the sidelines of the labor market.

The data isn't perfect, advocates say, but it's likely to prove useful to government agencies and employers.

Employers added 312,000 jobs in December, according to the Labor Department. That’s far more jobs than expected. And yet, the unemployment rate rose from 3.7 to 3.9 percent. More jobs, higher unemployment. How’s that work? It has something to do with the labor force participation rate. Click the audio player above to hear the full […]

The Labor Department’s jobs report for December was unequivocally strong, but it can be hard to square a good month of hiring with predictions of an economic slowdown and the market turbulence as of late. But when it comes to economic data, there’s a difference between learning how the economy’s been doing and how the […]