Bureau of Labor Statistics Labor Force Participation Reports May 2014: Don’t Believe the “Spin”

This will be of interest to the curious, especially those who seek and search for the truth.

Asserting to cite data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), CNS News recently reported that the Labor Force participation rate was at a 36-year low.
The headline to that story reads:
37.2%: Percentage Not in Labor Force Remains at 36-Year High
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/372-percentage-not-labor-force-remains-36-year-high

Chart #1: From CNS News (Cybercast News Service) http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/372-percentage-not-labor-force-remains-36-year-high referencing data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics – (Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate)

Upon examination of the BLS website, the data was found to be honest and accurate.
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000

Information on the data set presented is:
Data extracted on: June 8, 2014 (4:07:31 PM)
Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey
Series ID: LNS11300000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Labor Force Participation Rate
Labor force status: Civilian labor force participation rate
Type of data: Percent or rate
Age: 16 years and over

Following is the chart as shown on the BLS website:

Chart #2: From the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Labor Force Participation, Seasonally adjusted http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000 Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate, age 16+

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the information is accurate – that is, if it accurately represents the thing it purports to represent – then there is a genuine cause for concern, perhaps even alarm. But first, sometimes, information has to pass the “smell test.” If it just doesn’t sound right, dig a little deeper.

However, there is a DEFINITE skew which, when considered, renders the interpretation of the findings questionable, at best.

Since there are TWO separate entities reporting the SAME information, how could it possibly be inaccurate, or incorrect?

Let’s consider further, to determine if such alarm might be genuinely warranted.

Searching for Labor Force Participation Rate datasets from

Rising Job Numbers: Will they Buoy the President’s re-election Chances?

Recently, the Obama administration has justifiably trumpeted news from the Department of Labor Statistics that hiring hiring by the private sector has increased significantly, and added 227,000 jobs in February while the national unemployment rate remained at 8.3 percent.

With 233,000 jobs added by private businesses, this marks the 24th consecutive month of private sector job growth. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

This is good news for everyone, especially individuals, private households, the economy at large, small businesses, including