Rick Santelli writing about yesterday's jobs numbers at the CNBC website: Upon closer scrutiny though, there is another factor contributing to the drop that is not necessarily good news: The official size of the U.S. labor force is shrinking.The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the "Labor Force Participation Rate" each month, along with a litany of other metrics that are used to give us the headline jobs number and the unemployment rate. The government's definition of the labor force is all individuals 16 years of age and older, who are employed or seeking employment. It does not include students; retirees; anyone with unreported income, or "discouraged" workers.The participation rate is the comparison of the "labor force," those looking for work or employed, and everyone else. That ratio is currently 64.2 percent seasonally adjusted, and 63.9 percent non-seasonally adjusted, the same level as last month. Both of those percentages are currently...(Read Full Post)