U.S. labor force is finally growing again

As Fivethirtyeight explains, February saw the biggest one-month increase in the size of the labor force in over a year and continues the longest streak of gains in eight years. If this is a trend and not a blip, it's a significant reversal:

Labor force participation has been a dark cloud hanging over the economy in recent years, even as other job-market indicators have shown steady improvement. The share of Americans working or looking for work plunged in the recession as people abandoned job searches in the face of overwhelming odds. The rate kept falling even as employers started hiring again. In September, the participation rate hit 62.4 percent, its lowest level since 1977.

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