Labor force participation among prime-age workers has climbed over the past few years, reversing from the substantial drop during and after the last recession. These gains might suggest that the strength of the job market is pulling people from the sidelines into the labor force. However, analysis that accounts for underlying flows between labor force states shows that, rather than drawing new people in, the hot labor market has instead reduced the number of individuals who are dropping out.

过去几年，壮年工人的劳动力参与率有所上升，与上一次经济衰退期间和之后的大幅下降相反。这可能表明就业市场正在将人们从观望中拉入劳动力市场。然而，关于劳动力状态之间潜在流动的分析表明，火热的劳动力市场没有吸引新人进入，而是减少了退出劳动力市场的人数。

Historically, the proportion of the working-age population that participates in the labor market has not moved significantly with the ups and downs of the economy. However, this appears to have changed during the current economic expansion for workers ages 25 to 55, the prime-aged population that makes up the bulk of the workforce. Figure 1 shows that, after the sharp decline in labor force participation (LFP) during the Great Recession of 2007–09, the rebound over the past few years has been striking. The rising participation rate has led some observers and policymakers to conclude that some meaningful slack or excess capacity still exists in the labor market, even though the national unemployment rate is close to its lowest levels over the past 50 years.

从历史上看，参与劳动力市场的劳动年龄人口比例并没有随着经济的起伏而显著变化。然而，在目前的经济扩张期间，占劳动力大部分的25至55岁年龄段的人口的参与率已经发生了变化。图1显示，在2007-09年大萧条期间的劳动力参与率（LFP）急剧下降之后，过去几年的反弹势头一直很惊人。参与率上升导致一些观察家和政策制定者得出结论认为，即使全国失业率接近过去50年来的最低水平，劳动力市场仍然存在一些松弛或过剩产能。