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BPEA Paper Finds U.S. Labor Force Participation Decline Is Mostly Structural, Not Cyclical

At the upcoming Brookings Panel on Economic Activity, September 11-12, one of the papers to be presented and that leading economists and policymakers will discuss finds that the decline in the labor force participation rate—the number of Americans either working or looking for work as a percentage of the population—is primarily due to the aging population and other structural factors, rather than cyclical weaknesses, and is expected to continue.

You can access the paper here (PDF). The authors are:

  • Stephanie Aaronson, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
  • Tomaz Cajner, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
  • Bruce Fallick, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland 
  • Felix Galbis-Reig, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
  • Christopher Smith, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
  • William Wascher – Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

You can read media coverage of the paper in the 

Wall Street Journal



Bloomberg Business Week

, and 

FXStreet