Quote:
Originally Posted by opendoor
Participation rates are only really going down because they have an aging population who are more likely to be retired than before. For 25-65 year olds the rate has remained steady for the last 20 years.
As for the types of jobs, they've definitely lost some middle class jobs in manufacturing and whatnot, but they've also gained a ton in technical and health fields and the median wage has gone up quite a big in recent years so the average person is better off. There are also fewer part time and minimum wage workers than there were 6-7 years ago.
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The US working age population is still growing.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LFWA64TTUSM647S
Clearly the new jobs haven't been able to replace the previous manufacturing jobs. In many areas, the average person hasn't become better off. That's why you see the shocking flip of normally secure Democratic states.