Labor Force Atrophy Driver: Unemployment Benefits Shrinking

``When benefits expire, unemployed workers frequently face two likely outcomes: They accept lower-paying work or they drop out of the labor force. Both choices were common among those who lost benefits in North Carolina in 2013. Those who drop out might have found that it makes financial sense to retire, return to school, stay at home to care for children or older adults, or seek out other forms of government assistance. Each of those choices could remove a person from the labor force. The labor-force participation rate has been trending at the lowest levels since the 1970s.''