Public concerns about the “jobless” recovery following the 2001 recession have centered on whether enough jobs will be created for those who want to work. A more pressing question, however, may be how many jobs are needed to sustain desired growth in overall economic output. ; This article...

The information technology (IT) boom dramatically boosted the rapid growth of the U.S. economy during the 1990s, contributing 1.4 percentage points of the 4.6 percent national average real gross domestic product growth from 1996 to 2000. As the IT boom went bust in 2001, however, the IT...

Even though part-time jobs offer lower pay, fewer benefits, and less stability, voluntary part-time employment among disabled workers has increased over the past twenty years even as part-time work has declined among nondisabled workers. Does this trend signal that part-time work has become more...

Cigarette smoking is costly in terms of not only its effects on smokers' health but also the direct and indirect financial costs it imposes on smokers and their families. For instance, premature death caused by smoking may redistribute Social Security income in unexpected ways that affect...

As the cost of health care increases rapidly, the health care industry has turned its attention to methods of cost containment. However, concern exists that the drive to contain costs could lead to compromises in the quality of medical care. One practice that may slow the growth rate of health...

Human capital is a vital component in the production process, so the size of the labor force can profoundly affect the potential for economic growth. In the United States, the overall labor force participation rate (LFPR)the percent of the population supplying labor to the marketbegan to grow in...

For policymakers, identifying the factors contributing to changes in labor force participation over time is important for setting appropriate policy regarding the nation’s productivity. Although the factors contributing to such changes over the past six decades have been well documented, more...

This paper presents a simple methodology for decomposing changes in the aggregate labor force participation rate (LFPR) into demographic group changes in both participation behavior and population shares. Changes in population shares dominated behavioral changes in the historical evolution of...