As the labor numbers came in strong this past week, the following graph shows the percentage of people who are back in the labor force is rising.
The percentage of people working or looking for jobs reached its largest point since before the pandemic, Nathan writes.
And it turns out it was better than we thought last year too after census adjustments.
Why it matters: The closely watched labor force participation rate has been a point of concern this past year, as economists have struggled to understand why so many fewer people were wanting to work.
What happened: The official labor force participation rate was 62.2% in January and was higher than previously thought in December.
That means fewer adults remain outside the workforce than seemed the case last year.
By the numbers: Overall, the economy added 467,000 jobs in January, far exceeding expectations, as the job market appeared to shrug off the effects of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Axios Closer
By Hope King and Nathan Bomey ·Feb 04, 2022