Overview
- The share of people working or looking for work fell to 61.9% in March 2026, down from 62.5% in March 2025.
- The civilian labor force shrank year over year, dropping from 128.69 million in March 2025 to 123.84 million in March 2026.
- Economists point to retirements and tighter immigration as key drivers, while prime‑age participation stayed near multidecade highs.
- Participation slipped most for people under 25 and those 55 or older, with men seeing a larger decline than women over the past year.
- Some analysts warn the rate may be distorted because the BLS divides a survey count of workers by Census population estimates that have lagged big migration shifts.