Trends: Workforce soars but participation rate drops

There’s a contradiction in this week’s report from Benton-Franklin Trends: A record number of people are working in the region but the labor force participation rate is at an all-time low.

The civilian labor force in Benton and Franklin counties hit 128,280 in 2014, according to Trends, a project of the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis at Eastern Washington University. That’s a 35 percent increase since 1995.

At the same time, just 63.1 percent of residents 16 and older have jobs, a decline of more than 16 percent over the same period. Benton County’s rate was 63.3 percent and Franklin County’s rate was 62.6 percent.

The state average was 62.8 percent.

The declining labor force participation rate isn’t unique to Benton and Franklin counties. It has declined nationally as well thanks, in part, to a growing population of retirees.

Trends is a free service offering hundreds of statistics measuring economic, civic and educational life of Benton and Franklin counties.

Check it out at bit.ly/BFTrends.

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Trends: Workforce soars but participation rate drops."