| The labor shortage remains a major challenge for employers. The U.S. does not have enough workers to fill open jobs. There are 9.6 million open jobs but only 5.8 million unemployed individuals.
- This is largely driven by the low labor participation rate – the percentage of Americans that are either working or actively looking for work.
- July’s rate was 62.6%. Participation is slowly rebounding to pre-pandemic levels but has been declining since 2001.
Why it matters: As the baby boomers retire, the share of the population working or looking for work will continue to decline.
- The non-partisan Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that labor force participation will fall to 60.1% by 2031.
- In other words, we will have more consumers for goods and services, but a smaller relative number of workers to provide them.
What needs to change? Policymakers can ease the labor shortage by:
- Fixing the benefits cliff that deters individuals from entering the workforce.
Learn more:
- The LIBERTY Campaign advocates for stronger border security and fixing our broken legal immigration system.
|
