July 17 (Bloomberg) — The declining number of people in the U.S. who are part of the labor force is a drag on the economy and the government should enact policies that will boost the number of workers, including reworking immigration laws, a White House report says.
"In the long run, the growth rate of the labor force underpins the growth rate of employment, which, along with productivity growth, is a key determinant of the growth rate" of the economy, according to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, led by Jason Furman.
The report issued today, titled "The Labor Force Participation Rate Since 2007: Causes and Policy Implications," suggests government action is needed because of the large number of people who have dropped out of the workforce.
That so-called labor force participation rate, the percentage of people employed or looking for a job, has fallen and is hovering around an almost four-decade low. The reasons include the retirement of "baby boomers" and the large number of workers whose skills are outdated or who dropped out of the work force after the worst recession since the Great Depression.
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