Janet Yellen Blames the Opioid Crisis, Insufficient Education for Poor Labor Force Participation

‘This is a very serious matter’

RUSH EXCERPT:

YELLEN: "We've had many decades of declining labor force participation by prime age men and I think this reflects a whole variety of adverse trends related particularly to technological change that's eliminated many middle income jobs, those that can be replaced by technology, combined with global outsourcing and production. And the individuals that have lost those jobs have found it difficult to acquire the skills necessary to be reintegrated into the labor market. Many individuals with less education are finding it difficult to be placed in jobs that are middle income jobs. And so this perhaps intensified during the recession. But it is a much longer lasting trend. We've seen now unfortunately this is likely tied to the opioid crisis. It's tied to the problems that many communities have, you know -- we've even seen an increase in death rates due to deaths of despair, suicides, drugs. This is a very serious matter."

 

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