WALL STREET JOURNAL: Labor Market Mystery: Where Are the Older Gen Z Workers?

Nov. 13, 2022

By Bryan Mena

Economists search for theories on why fewer people ages 20 to 24 are working or seeking a job

The exodus from the labor force in the pandemic’s early months has mostly reversed, but one group remains oddly absent: people in their early 20s.

For people over age 15, the labor-force participation rate—the share of people employed or actively seeking a job—dropped from an average of 63.1% in 2019 to 61.7% in 2021, and recovered to 62.2% in October. But for people ages 20 to 24, participation that averaged 72.1% in 2019 stood at just 70.8% in October.

That equals a shortfall of about half a million workers in their early 20s when comparing the current size of that workforce with 2019 levels..…

https://www.wsj.com/articles/labor-market-mystery-where-are-the-older-gen-z-workers-11668278379