The Federal Reserve's man in Philadelphia has discovered a hidden and significant job market participation trend.

Either that, or he's found a way to put a positive spin on a negative trend.

In a paper titled, "On the Causes of Declines in the Labor Force Participation Rate," Shigeru Fujita of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia offers the opinion that the drop in the number of people participating in the workforce is due to baby boomers retiring and not, as often conjectured, "discouraged workers" who have given up hope of ever landing work.

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Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.