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The BLS U.3 unemployment rate fell in February to 5.5% from 5.7% in January.
The Labor Force Participation rate fell to 62.8% from 62.9%.
The Employment/Population Ratio remained unchanged at 59.3%.
The contribution of these two factors to the Unemployment Rate is shown in the chart below.
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The relationship between the three measures is as follows:
UR = (LR – ER) / LR
Where LR is the Labor Force Participation Rate, and ER is the Employment Ratio.
Note how a decrease in the participation rate on its own, reduces the unemployment rate: The number of available workers drops, and thus there are relatively fewer unemployed – even in the absence of job growth. This is what has happened in the recovery since the “Great Recession”.
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More detailed Labor Force Participation Charts and Employment Ratio Charts
| U.S. Unemployment Rate. Seasonally Adjusted. | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Labor Force Mlns | Rate (%) | Monthly Change (%pts) | Year/Year Change (%pts) | ||||||||
| Feb. 2014 | Feb. 2015 | Feb. 2014 | Dec. 2014 | Jan. 2015 | Feb. 2015 | Dec. 2014 | Jan. 2015 | Feb. 2015 | Dec. 2014 | Jan. 2015 | Feb. 2015 | |
| All Ages (16+) | 155.7 | 157.0 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.5 | -0.2 | 0.1 | -0.2 | -1.1 | -0.9 | -1.2 |
| 16 to 19 years | 5.5 | 5.8 | 21.3 | 16.8 | 18.8 | 17.1 | -0.7 | 2.0 | -1.7 | -3.6 | -2.0 | -4.2 |
| 20 to 24 years | 15.6 | 15.7 | 11.9 | 10.8 | 9.8 | 10.0 | -0.1 | -1.0 | 0.2 | -0.3 | -2.1 | -1.9 |
| 25 years and over | 134.6 | 135.5 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.5 | -0.2 | 0.1 | -0.1 | -1.1 | -0.7 | -0.9 |
| 25 to 34 years | 34.3 | 34.6 | 7.0 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.4 | -0.2 | 0.0 | -0.5 | -1.1 | -0.9 | -1.6 |
| 35 to 44 years | 32.7 | 32.5 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -1.1 | -0.6 | -0.6 |
| 45 to 54 years | 34.1 | 34.1 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.8 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.3 | -1.1 | -0.9 | -1.2 |
| 55 years and over | 33.6 | 34.3 | 4.6 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.3 | -0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -1.2 | -0.4 | -0.3 |