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1.8 million people marginally attached to the labor force in February 2016

March 08, 2016

In February 2016, 1.8 million people were marginally attached to the labor force; 943,000 or 52.3 percent were men. These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

Men and women marginally attached to the labor force, not seasonally adjusted, February 2006–February 2016
Month Marginally attached to the labor force Discouraged workers Marginally attached to the labor force
for reasons other than discouragement
Men Women Men Women Men Women

Feb 2006

784,000 687,000 237,000 149,000 546,000 538,000

Mar 2006

701,000 767,000 271,000 180,000 430,000 588,000

Apr 2006

658,000 651,000 230,000 151,000 428,000 500,000

May 2006

691,000 697,000 204,000 119,000 487,000 578,000

Jun 2006

812,000 772,000 314,000 167,000 498,000 605,000

Jul 2006

762,000 761,000 263,000 166,000 499,000 595,000

Aug 2006

763,000 829,000 243,000 205,000 520,000 624,000

Sep 2006

602,000 698,000 170,000 154,000 431,000 543,000

Oct 2006

750,000 728,000 203,000 128,000 547,000 600,000

Nov 2006

716,000 649,000 202,000 147,000 515,000 502,000

Dec 2006

699,000 553,000 194,000 81,000 506,000 472,000

Jan 2007

910,000 668,000 277,000 164,000 632,000 503,000

Feb 2007

792,000 659,000 223,000 152,000 569,000 508,000

Mar 2007

743,000 642,000 245,000 136,000 499,000 506,000

Apr 2007

680,000 711,000 235,000 163,000 444,000 548,000

May 2007

693,000 713,000 246,000 122,000 447,000 591,000

Jun 2007

727,000 727,000 256,000 145,000 470,000 582,000

Jul 2007

751,000 624,000 231,000 135,000 520,000 489,000

Aug 2007

686,000 679,000 209,000 184,000 477,000 495,000

Sep 2007

657,000 611,000 168,000 108,000 489,000 503,000

Oct 2007

691,000 673,000 189,000 131,000 502,000 542,000

Nov 2007

631,000 732,000 193,000 156,000 438,000 576,000

Dec 2007

755,000 589,000 238,000 125,000 516,000 464,000

Jan 2008

841,000 888,000 277,000 190,000 564,000 698,000

Feb 2008

775,000 810,000 248,000 148,000 527,000 662,000

Mar 2008

722,000 631,000 245,000 156,000 477,000 474,000

Apr 2008

726,000 688,000 250,000 162,000 476,000 526,000

May 2008

754,000 662,000 260,000 140,000 494,000 522,000

Jun 2008

863,000 695,000 297,000 123,000 565,000 572,000

Jul 2008

810,000 764,000 301,000 160,000 508,000 604,000

Aug 2008

809,000 832,000 237,000 144,000 572,000 688,000

Sep 2008

793,000 811,000 265,000 203,000 529,000 608,000

Oct 2008

872,000 765,000 323,000 161,000 550,000 603,000

Nov 2008

961,000 987,000 315,000 293,000 645,000 694,000

Dec 2008

1,000,000 908,000 367,000 276,000 634,000 632,000

Jan 2009

1,124,000 1,006,000 465,000 269,000 659,000 737,000

Feb 2009

1,051,000 1,000,000 450,000 281,000 601,000 719,000

Mar 2009

1,136,000 970,000 433,000 252,000 703,000 717,000

Apr 2009

1,105,000 984,000 470,000 270,000 635,000 714,000

May 2009

1,165,000 1,046,000 499,000 294,000 666,000 752,000

Jun 2009

1,151,000 1,025,000 466,000 327,000 685,000 698,000

Jul 2009

1,138,000 1,144,000 476,000 320,000 663,000 823,000

Aug 2009

1,197,000 1,072,000 480,000 278,000 717,000 795,000

Sep 2009

1,224,000 995,000 478,000 228,000 746,000 768,000

Oct 2009

1,287,000 1,086,000 500,000 309,000 787,000 778,000

Nov 2009

1,242,000 1,081,000 504,000 357,000 738,000 725,000

Dec 2009

1,384,000 1,102,000 594,000 334,000 790,000 768,000

Jan 2010

1,367,000 1,172,000 663,000 401,000 703,000 771,000

Feb 2010

1,433,000 1,094,000 762,000 442,000 671,000 652,000

Mar 2010

1,263,000 992,000 624,000 370,000 639,000 622,000

Apr 2010

1,294,000 1,138,000 736,000 461,000 557,000 677,000

May 2010

1,177,000 1,046,000 644,000 438,000 533,000 608,000

Jun 2010

1,406,000 1,185,000 793,000 414,000 613,000 771,000

Jul 2010

1,385,000 1,237,000 742,000 443,000 644,000 793,000

Aug 2010

1,292,000 1,078,000 704,000 405,000 587,000 673,000

Sep 2010

1,354,000 1,194,000 730,000 478,000 624,000 716,000

Oct 2010

1,345,000 1,258,000 712,000 507,000 633,000 751,000

Nov 2010

1,399,000 1,131,000 830,000 452,000 570,000 679,000

Dec 2010

1,326,000 1,283,000 829,000 489,000 497,000 794,000

Jan 2011

1,454,000 1,346,000 588,000 406,000 866,000 941,000

Feb 2011

1,447,000 1,283,000 592,000 427,000 854,000 855,000

Mar 2011

1,280,000 1,154,000 569,000 351,000 711,000 802,000

Apr 2011

1,361,000 1,105,000 566,000 423,000 795,000 682,000

May 2011

1,158,000 1,047,000 469,000 353,000 689,000 695,000

Jun 2011

1,391,000 1,289,000 549,000 432,000 841,000 857,000

Jul 2011

1,392,000 1,393,000 639,000 480,000 754,000 913,000

Aug 2011

1,333,000 1,242,000 570,000 407,000 763,000 835,000

Sep 2011

1,319,000 1,192,000 585,000 452,000 734,000 740,000

Oct 2011

1,358,000 1,196,000 575,000 392,000 783,000 805,000

Nov 2011

1,355,000 1,236,000 679,000 416,000 676,000 819,000

Dec 2011

1,304,000 1,237,000 565,000 380,000 738,000 857,000

Jan 2012

1,452,000 1,356,000 638,000 421,000 814,000 936,000

Feb 2012

1,358,000 1,250,000 612,000 394,000 746,000 856,000

Mar 2012

1,226,000 1,126,000 510,000 355,000 717,000 771,000

Apr 2012

1,311,000 1,053,000 611,000 357,000 699,000 696,000

May 2012

1,239,000 1,183,000 469,000 360,000 770,000 823,000

Jun 2012

1,226,000 1,256,000 511,000 310,000 716,000 946,000

Jul 2012

1,328,000 1,200,000 514,000 338,000 815,000 862,000

Aug 2012

1,281,000 1,280,000 489,000 355,000 792,000 925,000

Sep 2012

1,281,000 1,236,000 489,000 313,000 792,000 924,000

Oct 2012

1,144,000 1,289,000 460,000 353,000 684,000 936,000

Nov 2012

1,267,000 1,238,000 556,000 422,000 711,000 816,000

Dec 2012

1,303,000 1,311,000 636,000 433,000 667,000 878,000

Jan 2013

1,323,000 1,120,000 516,000 288,000 806,000 832,000

Feb 2013

1,344,000 1,244,000 527,000 358,000 817,000 886,000

Mar 2013

1,255,000 1,072,000 512,000 291,000 742,000 781,000

Apr 2013

1,220,000 1,127,000 496,000 339,000 724,000 788,000

May 2013

1,081,000 1,083,000 424,000 356,000 657,000 727,000

Jun 2013

1,332,000 1,250,000 595,000 431,000 737,000 818,000

Jul 2013

1,260,000 1,154,000 572,000 416,000 688,000 738,000

Aug 2013

1,168,000 1,174,000 477,000 389,000 692,000 785,000

Sep 2013

1,124,000 1,178,000 462,000 391,000 663,000 787,000

Oct 2013

1,267,000 1,016,000 542,000 273,000 725,000 743,000

Nov 2013

1,080,000 1,016,000 471,000 290,000 609,000 726,000

Dec 2013

1,236,000 1,191,000 524,000 394,000 712,000 798,000

Jan 2014

1,317,000 1,275,000 466,000 370,000 851,000 904,000

Feb 2014

1,295,000 1,008,000 466,000 289,000 829,000 719,000

Mar 2014

1,145,000 1,024,000 430,000 269,000 715,000 755,000

Apr 2014

1,192,000 969,000 488,000 295,000 704,000 674,000

May 2014

1,066,000 1,064,000 422,000 275,000 644,000 789,000

Jun 2014

1,025,000 1,004,000 385,000 291,000 640,000 713,000

Jul 2014

1,069,000 1,108,000 444,000 297,000 626,000 811,000

Aug 2014

984,000 1,157,000 424,000 351,000 560,000 806,000

Sep 2014

1,101,000 1,125,000 438,000 260,000 663,000 864,000

Oct 2014

1,154,000 1,038,000 480,000 290,000 674,000 748,000

Nov 2014

1,153,000 956,000 433,000 265,000 721,000 691,000

Dec 2014

1,169,000 1,091,000 441,000 299,000 727,000 792,000

Jan 2015

1,215,000 1,019,000 463,000 219,000 751,000 800,000

Feb 2015

1,108,000 1,052,000 430,000 302,000 678,000 750,000

Mar 2015

1,083,000 972,000 485,000 254,000 599,000 718,000

Apr 2015

1,096,000 1,019,000 450,000 306,000 646,000 713,000

May 2015

918,000 945,000 327,000 236,000 591,000 709,000

Jun 2015

898,000 1,016,000 384,000 269,000 514,000 747,000

Jul 2015

1,017,000 911,000 377,000 291,000 639,000 620,000

Aug 2015

967,000 846,000 391,000 234,000 576,000 612,000

Sep 2015

982,000 940,000 377,000 258,000 604,000 682,000

Oct 2015

1,017,000 899,000 375,000 290,000 642,000 609,000

Nov 2015

947,000 770,000 389,000 205,000 558,000 565,000

Dec 2015

929,000 904,000 396,000 267,000 533,000 638,000

Jan 2016

1,172,000 917,000 413,000 210,000 759,000 707,000

Feb 2016

943,000 860,000 363,000 236,000 580,000 624,000

Among the marginally attached in February 2016, 599,000 were discouraged workers. Discouraged workers are people not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. Among discouraged workers, 363,000 (60.6 percent) were men.

Among the remaining 1.2 million people marginally attached to the labor force, 624,000 (51.8 percent) were women. This group includes people who did not actively look for work in the prior 4 weeks for such reasons as school or family responsibilities, ill health, transportation problems, and other reasons.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — February 2016" (HTML) (PDF). For more charts featuring Current Population Survey data, see Charts related to the latest "The Employment Situation" news release.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 1.8 million people marginally attached to the labor force in February 2016 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/1-point-8-million-people-marginally-attached-to-the-labor-force-in-february-2016.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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