Not in labor force (NILF)

Over 106 million NILFs in the US as of July 2026[1]

Not in labor force (NILF) is a labor economics classification for people who are neither employed nor unemployed. In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) classifies a person as not in the labor force if they are not employed and have not actively sought work during the previous four weeks.[2] People not in the labor force include many retired people, students, people caring for children or other family members, and others who are not seeking employment.[3] The category also includes some people who want employment but are not currently searching for work, including some discouraged workers. People not in the labor force are excluded from the conventional unemployment rate, because that rate measures unemployed people as a percentage of the labor force.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Not in Labor Force". Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED). Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Concepts and Definitions". Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved August 20, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Who's not working in the U.S.? Learn the basics". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Labor Force Characteristics". Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved August 20, 2026.
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