Bloomberg Surveillance · Thursday, July 2, 2026
Claudia Sam expressed concern over the labor force participation rate declining by three-tenths of a percent, even as the unemployment rate dropped. She stated that while people can retire or leave the workforce for other reasons, this decline raises questions about the underlying structure of the labor force.
“But I think the one place that I find somewhat disconcerting is you know, the unplanted rate did tick down to four point two percent, but it came with a three tenths decline in the labor force participation rate.”
“And so that's you know, people can retire, people can like go, and you know the changes that's not a thing that FED gets involved with, but that that does give me a little bit of concern just about the again, the structure of LaForce.”