Americans not in the labor force could exceed number of people working by 2017

The labor market in the United States can be called a crisis. Despite the federal government and the Federal Reserve spending tens of billions of dollars each month to stimulate the economy, people are not working and if they are working then it’s a part-time, low-wage position.

In order to highlight the dire employment situation, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that a record high of 91,541,000 Americans did not take part in the labor force last month. In October, 932,000 people dropped out of the workforce from a total of 90,609,000.

Furthermore, the labor force participation rate also hit a record low of 62.8 percent. When President Obama took office in 2009, the labor force participation rate was at 65.7 percent. Between Jan. 2009 and last month, more than 11 million Americans have dropped out of the labor market entirely (80,507,000 to 91,541,000).

The definition of an individual not involved in the labor force is 16 years of age and older, unemployed and not believed to be employed since they have not looked for work prior to the BLS study.

It is estimated that within approximately four years, the number of Americans not in the labor force could exceed the number of people actually working. This is most definitely a troubling statistic for the nation.

Despite the partial government shutdown last month, the U.S. added more than 200,000 jobs. Perhaps this is just another finding to show that the nation doesn’t need the vast federal government to solve all of our problems and to be involved in each facet of our personal and economic lives.

What exactly is preventing a full economic recovery? According to Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, it’s the Federal Reserve, quantitative easing, Ben Bernanke and his soon-to-be successor Janet Yellen.

“I believe that all the signs of economic recovery are just QE symptoms in disguise,” wrote Schiff. “Take away the QE and the economy will tilt back into a recession even more severe than the one experienced before QE1 was launched. But as long as the QE persists, the economy will never truly recover. Instead, QE infinity will insure the development of dangerous asset bubbles in stocks and real estate.”

Is there a solution? Yes. Cut taxes, decrease the size and scope of the government, reduce the burdensome red tape, tackle the budget deficit and national debt, end subsidies in exchange for political favors, produce sound money and end the Fed.