Labor force participation rate falls for normal working age population and rises for those who normally would have been retired

Political Math reconfirms what I have pointed to previously.  It is pretty hard to look at this change in participation rates from January 2008 to April 2012 and say that the drop in the labor force is simply due to people voluntarily retiring early.  Also note how it is the younger people who are being hammered the hardest.  The BLS data is available here.



The trend continues.  Note that the WSJ has this for the latest monthly change.