(CNSNews.com) - In its final report before next week's presidential election, the Obama administration said on Friday that 94,609,000 Americans are not in the labor force, 425,000 more than last month's 94,184,000, and the second highest number on record. The labor force participation rate dropped a tenth of a point to 62.8 percent. In other words, 62.8 percent of the non-institutionalized, civilian population over the age of 16 is either employed or are actively looking for work, while the other 37.2 percent is not working or even looking.
The number of employed people dropped 43,000 to 151,925,00; and the number of unemployed people dropped by an even greater amount, 152,000 -- to 7,787,000.
The October unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, down a tenth of a point from September.
When George W. Bush took office in January 2000, 69,142,000 people were not in the labor force, and when his two terms ended, the number had grown to 80,380,000.
The recession inherited by President Obama and mounting baby boom retirements are among the factors continuing to push the number up. When President Obama took office in January 2009, 80,529,000 Americans were not in the labor force, and that number has steadily risen during his two terms to its current 94-million level. The number reached a record 94,708, 000 this past May.
In other key indicators, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said the economy added 161,000 jobs in October, compared with a revised 191,000 in September. BLS says over the past 3 months, job gains have averaged 176,000 per month.
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