U.S. job seekers are giving up: excluding the pandemic period, labor force participation rate has dropped to its lowest level in 50 years.

The decline in the unemployment rate is due to a large number of workers leaving the labor market. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the labor force participation rate—which measures the proportion of the working-age population that is employed or actively seeking work—fell to 61.5%, the lowest level since March 2021. Excluding employment data from the COVID-19 pandemic period, this is the lowest participation rate since June 1976. In June, the labor force shrank by 720,000 people.