Figure 8. People not in the labor force, quarterly averages, 1994–2019 (levels in thousands)
Quarter People who currently want a job Marginally attached to the labor force Discouraged workers

Q1 1994

6,475 1,855 523

Q2 1994

6,360 1,800 499

Q3 1994

6,104 1,829 520

Q4 1994

5,898 1,739 457

Q1 1995

5,791 1,647 430

Q2 1995

5,602 1,543 390

Q3 1995

5,573 1,574 402

Q4 1995

5,714 1,607 418

Q1 1996

5,608 1,620 424

Q2 1996

5,495 1,608 396

Q3 1996

5,404 1,502 411

Q4 1996

5,277 1,496 356

Q1 1997

5,089 1,456 360

Q2 1997

4,988 1,491 363

Q3 1997

4,862 1,332 319

Q4 1997

4,810 1,383 330

Q1 1998

4,880 1,380 348

Q2 1998

4,792 1,272 312

Q3 1998

4,906 1,333 325

Q4 1998

4,660 1,252 338

Q1 1999

4,658 1,224 292

Q2 1999

4,737 1,246 245

Q3 1999

4,466 1,156 283

Q4 1999

4,377 1,177 273

Q1 2000

4,483 1,172 246

Q2 2000

4,375 1,191 311

Q3 2000

4,370 1,150 242

Q4 2000

4,426 1,115 249

Q1 2001

4,423 1,182 303

Q2 2001

4,554 1,188 329

Q3 2001

4,656 1,313 313

Q4 2001

4,726 1,384 340

Q1 2002

4,653 1,367 334

Q2 2002

4,733 1,460 365

Q3 2002

4,720 1,488 395

Q4 2002

4,576 1,450 387

Q1 2003

4,716 1,513 444

Q2 2003

4,667 1,476 473

Q3 2003

4,839 1,589 456

Q4 2003

4,663 1,549 457

Q1 2004

4,779 1,591 462

Q2 2004

4,693 1,564 489

Q3 2004

4,841 1,567 486

Q4 2004

5,113 1,576 426

Q1 2005

4,992 1,610 478

Q2 2005

5,036 1,550 426

Q3 2005

4,917 1,511 416

Q4 2005

4,998 1,504 420

Q1 2006

4,928 1,462 399

Q2 2006

4,693 1,464 400

Q3 2006

4,826 1,469 402

Q4 2006

4,692 1,391 322

Q1 2007

4,592 1,412 387

Q2 2007

4,873 1,454 395

Q3 2007

4,771 1,335 346

Q4 2007

4,553 1,380 347

Q1 2008

4,768 1,494 409

Q2 2008

4,838 1,500 418

Q3 2008

5,033 1,604 440

Q4 2008

5,315 1,855 581

Q1 2009

5,711 2,031 697

Q2 2009

5,940 2,220 790

Q3 2009

5,867 2,252 758

Q4 2009

6,062 2,412 869

Q1 2010

6,011 2,367 1,060

Q2 2010

5,882 2,485 1,184

Q3 2010

6,067 2,505 1,176

Q4 2010

6,301 2,590 1,275

Q1 2011

6,463 2,578 954

Q2 2011

6,448 2,526 949

Q3 2011

6,413 2,611 1,048

Q4 2011

6,415 2,565 1,002

Q1 2012

6,327 2,518 953

Q2 2012

6,433 2,506 893

Q3 2012

6,781 2,525 836

Q4 2012

6,704 2,514 950

Q1 2013

6,693 2,392 813

Q2 2013

6,589 2,445 900

Q3 2013

6,310 2,342 903

Q4 2013

5,968 2,261 829

Q1 2014

6,181 2,292 747

Q2 2014

6,323 2,187 737

Q3 2014

6,322 2,173 740

Q4 2014

6,465 2,176 733

Q1 2015

6,386 2,102 715

Q2 2015

6,134 2,030 680

Q3 2015

5,952 1,871 635

Q4 2015

5,852 1,822 631

Q1 2016

5,873 1,829 600

Q2 2016

5,825 1,794 560

Q3 2016

5,889 1,816 564

Q4 2016

5,804 1,771 493

Q1 2017

5,719 1,659 503

Q2 2017

5,514 1,582 458

Q3 2017

5,591 1,564 458

Q4 2017

5,240 1,544 481

Q1 2018

5,136 1,543 424

Q2 2018

5,215 1,466 400

Q3 2018

5,280 1,487 432

Q4 2018

5,358 1,575 437

Q1 2019

5,214 1,441 422

Q2 2019

5,152 1,505 421

Q3 2019

4,998 1,426 374

Q4 2019

4,807 1,243 310

Note: Q1 = first quarter, Q2 = second quarter, Q3 = third quarter, and Q4 = fourth quarter.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.