Persons outside the labor force who want a job (ABSTRACT), Monthly Labor Review Online, July 1998

Persons outside the labor force who want a job

Monica D. Castillo
Economist, formerly with the Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Persons enter or leave the labor force in response to a myriad of changing personal or economic conditions. Their decisions often do not seem to be closely linked to their stated desire or availability for work a year earlier. This article discusses the development of not-in-the-labor-force concepts used in the Current Population Survey, illustrating how the definitions have changed over time to reflect evolving notions about persons outside the labor force and their relationship to the labor force.

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