Drop in U.S. Labor Force Hard to Pin on Discouraged Workers

It’s getting increasingly difficult to blame the incredibly shrinking U.S. workforce on bummed-out Americans.

The pool of discouraged workers, those who are no longer hunting for a job because they believe none is available, shrank to 698,000 in September from 775,000 the prior month, according to Labor Department figures. The participation rate, which measures the number of Americans employed or looking for a job as a share of the working-age population, decreased to 62.7 percent, the lowest since February 1978.