There was a record high of 38,151,000 men 16 years and older not participating in the labor force in November, while the participation rate for this demographic declined to lowest level ever recorded, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While the employment situation improved for most Americans in November, these metrics worsened for men.
The number of those not in the labor force, which includes individuals who did not have a job or did not search for one in the past four weeks, increased by 178,000 in November.
The participation rate for men, which measures the percentage of those who either had a job or searched for one in the past month, declined to 68.6 percent—the lowest percentage ever recorded. The BLS began recording the participation rate in 1948, and at that time the participation rate for men was much greater at 86.7 percent.
The number of employed men declined by 116,000 and the number of unemployed men increased by 41,000. The unemployment rate for men increased from 5.1 percent in October to 5.2 percent in November.