@not_a_charm61.4% Of working-age Americans are participating in the labor force, a number that hits the lowest point since May 2020 and marks the worst rate outside the pandemic since March 1976. Participation has dropped for seven of the last eight months with a cumulative fall of 1.1 percentage points. Workers aren't being fired; they're vanishing from the count entirely. A shrinking labor force makes unemployment stats look better than reality actually is. The chart tracks Labor Force Participation Rate and Unemployment Rate from 1945 to 2025, showing vertical gray bars for recessions and a sharp dip around April 2020. Source: KobeissiLetter / Writer: Oliver. Visual context provided by VettaFi Advisor Perspectives as of July 2026

@not_a_charm61.4% Of working-age Americans are participating in the labor force, a number that hits the lowest point since May 2020 and marks the worst rate outside the pandemic since March 1976. Participation has dropped for seven of the last eight months with a cumulative fall of 1.1 percentage points. Workers aren't being fired; they're vanishing from the count entirely. A shrinking labor force makes unemployment stats look better than reality actually is. The chart tracks Labor Force Participation Rate and Unemployment Rate from 1945 to 2025, showing vertical gray bars for recessions and a sharp dip around April 2020. Source: KobeissiLetter / Writer: Oliver. Visual context provided by VettaFi Advisor Perspectives as of July 2026