Labor force participation rate under Ronald Reagan

The share of the adult population that is either working or looking for work — how many people are in the job market at all.

Over 1981-01-20 to 1989-01-19, measured in Percent:

Term average

64.75 Percent

At the start

64.07 Percent

At the end

66.27 Percent

Change

+2.2 Percent

Low

63.5 Percent (1981-09-01)

High

66.5 Percent (1989-01-01)

Coverage

100% (96 observations)

Reading this series over a presidential term

It moves slowly and trends for decades at a time: up through the 1970s and 1980s as women entered paid work, down since the mid-2000s as the baby boom retires. Over a single term the change is usually small, and a lot of it was already in motion.

It has no upper age limit, so an ageing population pushes it down no matter what the job market does. It counts participation, not hours, pay, or whether the work is wanted.

These are the observed values over the window above, and nothing more. This site does not say which direction is better, and none of this is a claim that Ronald Reagan caused the number to move.

What Labor force participation rate measures · Ronald Reagan: the whole record · Chart it · Compare with another president · The source at FRED