Inactive labor force U.S. February 2023

In February 2023, the inactive labor force amounted to about 99.86 million people in the United States. Labor force measures are based on the civilian non institutional population 16 years old and over. Excluded are persons under 16 years of age, all persons confined to institutions such as nursing homes and prisons, and persons on active duty in the Armed Forces. The labor force is made up of the employed and the unemployed. The remainder — those who have no job and are not looking for one — are counted as "not in the labor force." Many who are not in the labor force are going to school or are retired. Family responsibilities keep others out of the labor force.

Monthly number of inactive labor force of the United States from February 2021 to February 2023 (in millions, seasonally adjusted)

Characteristic	Number of people in millions
Feb '23	99.86
Jan '23	100.13
Dec '22	99.88
Nov '22	100.18
Oct '22	99.89
Sep '22	99.74
Aug '22	99.47
Jul '22	100.05
Jun '22	99.81
May '22	99.3
Apr '22	99.51
Mar '22	99.04
Feb '22	99.33
Jan '22	99.52
Dec '21	99.73
Nov '21	99.9
Oct '21	100.3
Sep '21	100.29
Aug '21	100.11
Jul '21	100.09
Jun '21	100.22
May '21	100.41
Apr '21	100.13
Mar '21	100.37
Feb '21	100.56

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Release date

March 2023

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

February 2021 to February 2023

Age group

16 years and older

Supplementary notes

Seasonal adjustment is a statistical method for removing the seasonal component of a time series that is used when analyzing non-seasonal trends. It is normal to report un-adjusted data for current unemployment rates, as these reflect the actual current situation. Seasonally adjusted data may be used for the longer term comparison. Unlike the trend and cyclical components, seasonal components, theoretically, happen with similar magnitude during the same time period each year. The seasonal component of a series are often considered to be uninteresting in their own right and to cause the interpretation of a series to be ambiguous. By removing the seasonal component, it is easier to focus on other components.

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