Number of Americans Not in Labor Force Reaches Record 105.8 Million

The number of Americans age 16 and over not in the labor force reached an estimated 111 million in July, according to a report from ActivistPost.com citing government data, surpassing levels seen during the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. A separate analysis from March 2024 placed the figure at nearly 107 million, indicating a continued upward trajectory.

The category of those ‘not in the labor force’ (NILF) includes retirees, students, and people who are not actively seeking work. The total has climbed by more than 1 million since the pandemic-era low, and the labor force participation rate fell to 59 percent in June, the lowest reading since September 2021, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis data cited in recent news reports.

What is driving the rise in non-workers?

The increase points to a structural shift in the American workforce, with far more working-age adults detached from employment than at any point in modern history. Retirees constitute the largest share of the NILF population, a pattern tied to the aging Baby Boomer generation.

Author Sara E. Rix noted in the book Older workers that early retirement often occurs due to health problems or disability, a trend that has accelerated in recent years. A separate analysis from the book Coping with Methuselah shows that the share of college-educated men over 64 who were out of the labor force doubled between 1940 and 1990, while the share of less-educated men who were retired nearly tripled, indicating long-term shifts in retirement behavior.

The ActivistPost report stated that 55 percent of non-workers are on some form of government transfer, which includes disability, Social Security, and other benefits. About 5.3 million workers have dropped out because they are discouraged or are not looking for work, according to a NaturalNews.com article titled ‘JOBS CRISIS Almost 107 million Americans are not in the labor force.’ The report emphasized that the true unemployment picture is worse than official figures suggest, because many people have stopped seeking employment altogether.

Are prime-age men leaving the workforce voluntarily?

Labor economist Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute, in his 2016 book Men Without Work, documented what he called a ‘flight from work of prime-age men.’ A NaturalNews.com report citing the Atlanta Federal Reserve noted that ‘people in the 25-54 age group are the most likely to participate in the labor market,’ yet labor force participation of prime-age men has declined persistently.

In a 2023 interview, researcher Ed Dowd explained that a shrinking workforce is not due to a tight labor market but rather to ‘death, disability, and injury’ removing millions of workers. Further data from Dowd showed that approximately 5,000 individuals are added to the disabled population each day, and with nearly 2,500 excess deaths daily, about 7,500 people are removed from the potential workforce every day. Dowd noted in a separate interview that about 1.7 million of those removed were employed before their disability or death, representing a large loss to the economy. Mike Adams, in a Brighteon Broadcast News episode, added that the highest rates of excess mortality and disability are found among those who had jobs, leading to shortages in sectors from airlines to banking.

How does the U.S. compare with other aging societies?

Author Stephen Crystal, in America’s old age crisis, discusses how aging populations may shift retirement funds from capital creation to pure transfer mechanisms, a challenge facing many developed nations. However, unlike the United States, other aging societies such as Japan and those in Europe are seeing workforce participation rates rise, according to economists cited in recent reports. The divergence suggests that the American NILF trend is not simply a demographic inevitability but stems from specific policy choices and health crises.

The report The Twin Economic Superstorms warned that artificial intelligence replacing human jobs will worsen the trend, with a tidal wave of layoffs expected. In light of these concerns, some have proposed universal basic income (UBI) as a solution, but Dowd cautioned that a guaranteed income would accelerate dropouts, as many jobless men already spend 2,000 hours a year in front of screens and are disengaged from civil society. Dowd described current practices as ‘a great warm-up act for becoming a statistic in deaths of despair,’ echoing warnings from labor economists. The data indicates that expanding transfer programs without addressing the root causes of disability and death will only deepen the workforce contraction.

FAQ

How many Americans are not in the labor force?

According to a July 2026 report from ActivistPost.com citing government data, the number of Americans age 16 and over not in the labor force reached an estimated 111 million, surpassing levels seen during the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. A separate analysis from March 2024 placed the figure at nearly 107 million.

Who is counted as not in the labor force?

The term ‘not in the labor force’ (NILF) includes retirees, students, and people who are not actively seeking work.

Why is the prime-age male labor force participation rate declining?

Researcher Ed Dowd has argued that the shrinking workforce is not due to a tight labor market but to ‘death, disability, and injury’ removing millions of workers. He has cited figures of roughly 5,000 people added to the disabled population each day and nearly 2,500 excess deaths daily, totaling about 7,500 people removed from the potential workforce every day.

This article summarizes reporting from naturalnews.com.