Editing Workforce (section)

{{short description|Labour pool in employment}}
{{Redirect-several|Workforce|Worker|Working Man}}
{{Distinguish|Forced labour|Labour power}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}
[[File:OECD Labour force participation rate.svg|thumb|350px|The labour force participation rates of developed nations as of 2021]]

In macroeconomics, the '''workforce''' or '''labour force''' is the sum of people either working (i.e., the employed) or looking for work (i.e., the unemployed):

<math>\text{Labour force} = \text{Employed} + \text{Unemployed}</math>

Those neither working in the marketplace nor looking for work are '''out of the labour force'''.<ref>Blanchard, O., 2020. Macroeconomics, Global Edition, 8th ed., pag. 154.</ref>

The sum of the labour force and out of the labour force results in the '''noninstitutional civilian population''', that is, the number of people who (1) work (i.e., the employed), (2) can work but don't, although they are looking for a job (i.e., the unemployed), or (3) can work but don't, and are not looking for a job (i.e., out of the labour force). Stated otherwise, the noninstitutional [[civilian]] population is the total population minus people who cannot or choose not to work (children, retirees, soldiers, and incarcerated people). The noninstitutional civilian population is the number of people potentially available for civilian employment.

<math>
\begin{align}
\text{Noninstitutional civilian population} &= \text{Labour force} + \text{Out of the labour force} \\
                                            &= \text{Employed} + \text{Unemployed} + \text{Out of the labour force}  \\
                                            &= \text{Total Population} - \text{People who can not work}
\end{align}
</math>

The '''labour force participation rate''' is defined as the ratio of the civilian labour force to the noninstitutional civilian population.

<math>\text{Labour force participation rate} = \dfrac{\text{Labour force}}{\text{Noninstitutional civilian population}}</math>