(KERO) — Americans are getting older and that may be a big reason behind the labor shortage in the United States according to a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The study claims that the current labor force participation rate stands at 62.5 percent, which is below pre-COVID-19 levels.
The New York bank says that researchers analyzed a monthly survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and found nearly all of the gap could be explained by the U.S. population aging. They say Americans getting older has caused a rise in the number of retirements.
According to the study, the share of retired workers in the U.S. has gone up. Individuals aged 60 and older account for more than 90 percent of all retirees in the U.S.
