Women Not in Labor Force Hits Record High

(CNSNews.com) - The number of women 16 and older not in the labor force climbed to a record high of 55,116,000 in April, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

This means that there were 55,116,000 women 16 and older who were in the civilian nonsinstitutional population who not only did not have a job, they did not actively seek one in the last four weeks. That is up 428,000 from the 54,688,000 women who were not in the labor force in March.

In April, according to BLS, the labor force participation rate for women was 56.9 percent, down from 57.2 percent in March. The labor force participation rate, as calculated by the BLS, is based on the civilian non-institutional population, which is the number of people in the country 16 or older who are not in the military or an institution.

The labor force participation rate is the percentage of this population that either has a job or actively sought one in the last four weeks.

Since I'm not an employer, none, directly.

However, I did buy an American made care from an American manufacturer. Although I had to hold my nose over the UAW label (and I won't fault anyone for refusing to do likewise), that helped save a few jobs.

I've also managed to find made in USA clothes during that time span. What else? Tires made in USA. Software manufactured in the USA. I can't put a jobs created number on that, but it all helps to keep jobs in the US. And I don't see my personal finances as being any worse off because of it.

That's kind of my point. It's nothing personal, but I've found over the years that the strongest "bring American jobs back" arguments on threads like this come from people who don't run a business, who don't employ anyone, and who aren't subject to the competing pressures of paying employees well and meeting pricing demands of customers/clients that make it difficult to pay those employees well.

Like I said ... it's a very difficult issue, and it isn't going to be "fixed" anytime soon.

All good points, but your reference to the 1960s points to part of the problem. The 1960s wasn't a "normal" period in history by any stretch. In fact, it was very much an anomaly in which the U.S. standard of living was much higher than the rest of the world because we were the only major industrial power to emerge from World War II with our infrastructure and industrial capacity unharmed.

The next few decades really just saw the rest of the world catching up, that's all.

That’s the story, anyway. Respectfully, I really think it is more than that. What we had was “sustainable” (I hate that word, but it applies). What we’re doing now is not (obviously).

Where we went off the rails was all this globalization stuff. There were plenty of imports & they were cheap. Many were quite dependable- German/ Scandinavian furniture, Toyota to name two. That was fine.
The problem was when American companies began contracting & literally moving their production overseas. I was in my early 20s when either Levis or Farah moved their manufacturing to the Caribbean. I was apolitical & didn’t have a brain in my head, but even I knew it wasn’t a good thing. I felt betrayed. Then, the price went up & the quality went down. I haven’t bought Levis in years.
Here’s the rub: those other countries now have the income to purchase/ support the things *they* produce. We have high unemployment, so we do not.
The whole US is becoming Detroit. I don’t think that’s hyperbole. It’s simple logic.

Now, I have to search- hard, to even get produce grown in the US. Last week, I gave up on getting onions. Onions. In Texas (& I am Really. Ticked.) I get mad every time “Bob” or “Susie” answer the customer service phone & it’s clear they don’t understand a word I’m saying. And I often give it up & muddle through on my own (if I can).
But this is wrong. Our country is collapsing around our ears & we’re getting ripped off. I can’t just say “Oh well. This s just the way it is”. It didn’t happen “naturally”. There was/ is a concerted effort to *invest* in these *other countries” & throw our own away.

I may do without, but I am not going along.

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