The U.S. labor force participation rate has dropped to its lowest level since 1977, excluding the pandemic, The Wall Street Journal reported April 7.
The portion of working-age Americans participating in the labor market declined to 61.9% in March, down from 62% in February and 62.5% in March 2025, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The rate has hovered around 62% since January 2022, up from a low of 60.1% in April 2020. It has been trending downward since the early 2000s — from 67.3% in February 2000 — largely because of the aging U.S. population. The participation rate among Americans ages 55 and older also declined to 37.2% in March from 40.2% in January 2020 — the lowest level in more than two decades, according to the Journal.
Economists pointed to multiple factors behind the more recent decline, including continued retirements among baby boomers and tighter immigration flows, according to the Journal. Reduced immigration has also limited the number of younger workers entering the labor market.
“With immigration declining and fewer people entering, we have aged our workforce in a more rapid way,” Laura Ullrich, PhD, director of economic research for Indeed, told the newspaper.
Visa processing delays have already been felt at hospitals and health systems. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ended automatic extensions of employment authorizations for visas in October. A visa renewal and update pause affecting people from dozens of countries, implemented in December, has also affected thousands of physicians, nurses, lab technicians and other healthcare workers.
At the same time, participation among those ages 25-54, often referred to as “prime-age” workers, has remained near multidecade highs, reinforcing economists’ view that the overall decline is driven more by demographic shifts and immigration trends than by difficulty finding jobs.
“The bigger issue is about aging. It’s not about discouraged workers,” Gerald Cohen, PhD, a finance professor and economist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told the Journal.
Health systems have also started planning for the dual challenge an older population presents: increased demand for complex care and exacerbated workforce shortages amid retirements. On the patient care side, leaders have pointed to care redesign focused more on home and ambulatory care, while others have emphasized the need for stronger talent pipelines, recruitment and retention.
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