Oct 12, 2020 Guest(s): Lyn Alden Founder, Lyn Alden Investment Strategy
While the the unemployment rate has skyrocketed in the wake of this year's recession, equally concerning for economic growth is the long-term trend of the declining labor force participation rate, or the percentage of people able to work that is in the workforce or looking for employment, said Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy.
The labor force participation rate in the U.S. increased after World War 2 as a result of more women entering the work force but peaked in 2000.
"Since 2000, we've seen a reduction. Part of that is from ageing. But we've also seen, concerningly, that young people are less likely to have jobs," she said, "partly due to trade deficits, because we've reduced our manufacturing base. We've also had more automation that rule out certain types of jobs."