WASHINGTON — The U.S. labor force participation rate fell further in July, extending a decline that has lowered the share of working-age Americans either employed or actively seeking work, even as the unemployment rate edged down, the Labor Department said on Friday.
The participation rate, which measures the share of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over in the labor force, fell to 61.4% in July from 61.5% in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate has declined by 0.7 percentage point since January.
The decline came as the civilian labor force contracted by about 264,000 people to 169.1 million. The number of people outside the labor force rose by about 381,000 to 106.2 million, while employment fell by 87,000 to 162.2 million.
The employment-population ratio, another measure of labor market engagement, also fell by 0.1 percentage point in July to 58.9%. It has declined by 0.5 percentage point since January, the BLS said.
At the same time, the unemployment rate slipped to 4.1% from 4.2% in June, while the number of unemployed people declined by about 178,000 to 6.9 million. The BLS said unemployment measures changed little over the year.
The number of people outside the labor force who said they currently wanted a job was little changed at 5.9 million in July. Among them, about 1.8 million were classified as marginally attached to the labor force because they wanted and were available for work but had not searched for a job in the four weeks preceding the survey. Discouraged workers, a subset of that group, were essentially unchanged at 476,000.
The broader employment report showed a weak labor market in July. Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 23,000, following an average monthly gain of 34,000 over the previous 12 months. Employment declined in local government education and retail trade, while health-care employment continued to increase.
The BLS also revised down payroll gains for May and June by a combined 103,000 jobs. May's increase was revised to 63,000 from 129,000, while June's gain was revised to 20,000 from 57,000.
The next monthly employment report, covering August, is scheduled for release on Sept. 4.
