# America’s workforce is shrinking. What’s going on?

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Podcast: [The Excerpt](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-excerpt-742145)
Published: 2026-07-22T09:00:00+00:00
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Duration seconds: 827

## Resource

The unemployment rate fell in June, but beneath that encouraging headline are signs that the U.S. job market may be losing momentum . Employers added just 57,000 jobs, previous estimates were revised downward and the share of people working or actively looking for work declined. Older workers are leaving at especially high rates, while hiring burnout, return-to-office mandates, caregiving responsibilities, retirement and lower immigration may all be contributing to a shrinking labor force. USA TODAY Money Reporter Rachel Barber joins The Excerpt to explain what the latest numbers really reveal, why fewer available workers could constrain economic growth and how much confidence we should place in a jobs report that may still be revised. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@usatoday.com .  Episode transcript available here .  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

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## Transcript

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