The U.S. labor force participation rate fell to 61.4% in July, down one percentage point since December and the lowest level outside the pandemic since 1976, as hundreds of thousands of Americans left the labor force in June and July. A Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis analysis found that much of the decline through June was not simply workers giving up on job searches: more than half came from a January population revision and the gradual effect of an aging population, while changes in participation across age groups accounted for the rest. The report said an unusually large annual revision by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. labor market agency), including a higher estimated share of people age 65 and older and lower immigration estimates, explained about 43% of the drop through June. Participation changes by age group made up 41%, with most of that concentrated in June, when prime-age workers posted a 0.6 percentage point decline, the largest one-month fall outside the pandemic since January 1968. Economist Alexander Bick described that move as genuinely concerning, but said it largely reversed gains since late summer 2025 and returned prime-age participation to familiar territory. Prime-age participation edged up in July and matched its level from a year earlier, suggesting June may have been a correction rather than a lasting shift. Longer term, the report and Bureau of Labor Statistics projections point to demographics as a persistent drag, with aging expected to keep pushing participation lower and potentially weighing on economic growth while increasing pressure on Social Security and Medicare.