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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Jeff Sessions stated on July 18, 2016 in a speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland: \"We have the lowest percentage of Americans actually holding a job in 40 years.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" mostly-true/4ac7c61540eff5211f6a04d98a6bc93a.jpg.\\") ![\\"mostly- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * National * Economy * Jobs * Jeff Sessions ![\\"Sen.](\\" Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., talks to reporters after a sound check before the opening session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Monday, July 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) ![\\"Louis](\\" By Louis Jacobson July 19, 2016 # Jeff Sessions says lowest percentage of Americans are working in 40 years In his Republican National Convention speech in Cleveland, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., tied his signature issue -- curbing illegal immigration -- to the national employment picture. \"The fact is, we don’t have enough jobs for the people who are here,\" Sessions said. \"Doesn’t this help to explain why our wages have fallen and why we have the lowest percentage of Americans actually holding a job in 40 years? Our duty as elected officials is to get our people jobs first.\" We wondered whether he was right that \"we have the lowest percentage of Americans actually holding a job in 40 years.\" Taken literally, the correct economic statistic to use for answering this question is the employment-to-population ratio, or EPOP for short. This divides the number of employed Americans by the total civilian noninstitutional population at least 16 years of age. By this measurement, Sessions isn’t correct. Here’s a chart of the statistic going back to 1948, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: ![](\\" JJMS4szTJSpXR_Qf-iq0PVfK5VG5dREWNedsiWSJVY4tQ8XnISasFHJwXrBuQBN9_lwWZ\\"/) As you can see, the statistic was higher than its current rate through much of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. However, the chart shows a few other things worth noting. First, it indicates that since the end of the Great Recession, the employment- to-population ratio has been climbing, slowly but fairly steadily. After bottoming out at 58.2 percent in 2010 and 2011, the trend line has zigzagged upward. It currently stands at 59.6 percent, or 1.4 percentage points above its low point about five years ago. Second, Sessions has exaggerated the length of time since the previous low point. It was last as low as 58.2 percent in August 1983, which was 33 years ago. And the last time it was as low as its current level -- 59.6 percent -- in August 1984, or about 32 years ago. Both are shorter periods than the 40 years Sessions cited. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" JD Vance stated on August 25, 2024 in an interview on NBC\'s \"Meet the Press\" “Anything that you lose on the tariff from the perspective of the consumer, you gain in higher wages, so you\'re ultimately much better off.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 29, 2024 We expect that Sessions was instead referring to a different statistic -- the labor force participation rate -- since that is a common talking point for Republicans. This takes the number of people either working or trying to work and divides it by the total civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and up. Currently, this number is 62.7 percent. It was last that low in February 1978, which is a bit over 38 years -- close to the 40 years Sessions referred to. Here’s the chart for that statistic: ![](\\" jzBCK4nk8ck17P6YKFCrxMQcASJeLqOiTKMdcyhbW2PcG20x4tO1lEciul8jiWk_NO_Q_1DwXK- BAIYuVTeeNt3G1hW9lce\\"/) Economists say this measurement captures important aspects of the job market. When the civilian labor force participation rate is low, it’s a concern, because it means there are fewer working Americans to support non-working Americans. But it’s worth adding some context as well. As we’ve noted before, a notable factor in the decline of the labor-force participation rate is the aging of the Baby Boom generation. As more adults begin moving into retirement age, the percentage of Americans who work is bound to decline. When we last looked at this question in 2013, Gary Burtless, a Brookings Institution economist, told us he had estimated that the labor-force participation rate would have fallen in recent years on the basis of aging alone. Still, the recession undoubtedly exacerbated that decline. In a weak job market, some people who might otherwise want a job may return to school, become full-time parents or retire early. Our ruling Sessions said, \"We have the lowest percentage of Americans actually holding a job in 40 years.\" Sessions has worded his statement inartfully. If you use the correct statistic for the way he phrased it, the length of time is somewhat exaggerated and it ignores a recent improvement over the past five years or so. But if you can look past his looseness with economic terminology, Sessions has a point. Using a related statistic, he’s on target, and the larger issue he’s addressing -- declining rates of work in the population -- is something economists worry about, though much of it has to do with the graying of America. We rate his statement Mostly True. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Jeff Sessions, remarks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, July 18, 2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics, \"Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey,\" accessed July 18, 2016 PolitiFact, \"Ted Cruz says U.S. has \'lowest percentage of Americans working today of any year since 1977,\' \" Jan. 14, 2016 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Louis Jacobson slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 6, 2024 in un mitin de campaña en Filadelfia: \"El crimen violento aumentó bajo Donald Trump\". ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 6, 2024 in a rally in Philadelphia: “Violent crime was up under Donald Trump.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 30, 2024 in a rally in Atlanta: Donald Trump “intends to cut” Medicare. ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on September 12, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Former President Donald Trump “started out with $400 million on a silver platter and then filed for bankruptcy six times.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jon Tester stated on September 6, 2024 in a Facebook ad: “Tim Sheehy told us his health care plan: ‘We need to return health care to pure privatization.’ That would eliminate Medicare.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 13, 2024 in a rally in Las Vegas: Vice President Kamala Harris is 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![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 8, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on August 22, 2024 in su discurso de aceptación en la Convención Nacional Demócrata: El expresidente Donald Trump “tiene la intención de promulgar lo que, en efecto, es un impuesto nacional sobre las ventas…que elevaría los precios para las familias de clase media a casi $4,000 al año”. ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Marta Campabadal Graus • September 5, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 23, 2024 in a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz.: “There’s been a 43% increase in violent crimes since I left office.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on August 22, 2024 in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention: Former President Donald Trump \"intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax ... that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" JD Vance stated on August 25, 2024 in an interview on NBC\'s \"Meet the Press\": “Anything that you lose on the tariff from the perspective of the consumer, you gain in higher wages, so you\'re ultimately much better off.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 21, 2024 in a Truth Social post: “The Harris-Biden Administration has been caught fraudulently manipulating Job Statistics.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 8, 2024 in a press conference: Says his Jan. 6, 2021, speech on the White House Ellipse drew the “same number of people,” as the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 6, 2024 in un mitin de campaña en Filadelfia: \"El crimen violento aumentó bajo Donald Trump\". ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 6, 2024 in a rally in Philadelphia: “Violent crime was up under Donald Trump.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 30, 2024 in a rally in Atlanta: Donald Trump “intends to cut” Medicare. ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on September 12, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Former President Donald Trump “started out with 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We have the lowest percentage of Americans actually holding a job in 40 years