https://pjmedia.com/spengler/2012/05/06/labor-force-disappears-in-obamas-depression/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 08:26:43 -0400<![CDATA[The big news in Friday&#8217;s employment report was not the miserable 115,000 jobs the economy added in April, but the disappearance of 340,000 workers from the labor force. We haven&#8217;t seen unemployment on this scale since the Great Depression. Indeed, since Obama took office, the labor force participation rate has fallen from 66% to 63% as almost 5 million American adults stopped looking for work. About a fifth of working-age Americans aren&#8217;t working &#8212; and a fifth of all personal income is transfer payments. These numbers are astonishing and without precedent. If they continue, America will go bankrupt. Obama&#8217;s hope for re-election lies in dependency. No one could run for re-election as dogcatcher with this record &#8212; except for the cynical presumption that Americans have become so dependent on the state that they have lost hope of working again, and will vote for more state dependency.]]>Sun, 06 May 2012 11:49:44 -0400<![CDATA[David P. Goldman]]>https://pjmedia.com/david-p-goldman/2012/05/06/labor-force-disappears-in-obamas-depression-n130821