>drop is almost entirely due to the 16-24 age group. Participation for people 25+ is stable since 1998 This is simply not true at all. FRED specifically tracks

>drop is almost entirely due to the 16-24 age group. Participation for people 25+ is stable since 1998 This is simply not true at all. FRED specifically tracks prime-age labor participation rate. Gallons of ink/pixels have been written by academics about how the prime-age rate is lower since the early 2000s, it's a well-understood phenomena: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300060 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300060 Here's a few academic pieces on the issue, including 3 by regional Fed branches: https://www.piie.com/system/files/documents/wp19-1.pdf https://www.piie.com/system/files/documents/wp19-1.pdf https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2018/september/prime-age-workforce-and-labor-market-polarization/ https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economi... https://www.kansascityfed.org/en/publications/research/er/articles/2019/3q19tuzementhao-uneven-recovery-prime-age-labor-force-participation https://www.kansascityfed.org/en/publications/research/er/ar... https://www.dallasfed.org/research/economics/2019/0219 https://www.dallasfed.org/research/economics/2019/0219 And here's a piece by the Brookings Institute on it too https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/08/02/the-recent-rebound-in-prime-age-labor-force-participation/ https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/08/02/the-recen...