First Yearly Labor Force Decline Since The 1960's: EconomPicData

Thanks to Jake at EconompicData for noticing that this is the first year over year decline in the labor force since the early 1960's. See his excellent charts and blog here.

Also, Jake's astute observation by quoting Alan Greenspan:

People who are out of work for very protracted periods of time lose their skills eventually. What makes an economy great is a combination of the capital assets of the economy and the people who run it. And if you erode the human skills that are involved there, there is a real and, in one sense, an irretrievable loss.

Some skills become obsolete or in much lower demand and their loss is inevitable, e.g blacksmiths, steelworkers, icemen, etc. Unfortunately, the transition for those workers whose skills are no longer in demand is difficult and uncertain. Too often, the entering younger workers have the new needed skills and the older, experienced workers might never reached the same level of income again.