Labor Force Participation Rates

Rates Vary Among Subregions

Why is it important?

Labor force participation rates show what percent of the population is employed or actively looking for work. These rates tend to increase during expansions because non-workers enter the job market and decline during recessions when discouraged workers leave. During the past few decades, more women have entered the national workforce than men have left, which has caused participation rates to rise.

How are we doing?

In the Sierra Nevada, labor force participation rates average 73 percent, several points lower than in California. The North Sierra rates come closest to California’s, though they declined over the past decade. The low participation rates in South Central are because one-third of its population is 55 or older. In the East, the population is much younger so the low rates probably have more to do with lifestyle preferences and family responsibilities.

Once again, North Central has a different trend than the rest of the Sierra. Its participation rates averaged higher than California and, as we’d expect, they increased in response to strong job growth during the 1990s. The exception was that, even though the economy was growing, participation rates declined between 2000 and 2002, which suggests that a high percent of new residents were not in the work force because of age, family duties, or wealth.

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