Should the Federal gov't also report the % of the population working when it reports the unemployment rate?

Question

If the unemployment rate is low (right now 4.5%) but the % of the population in the labor force is decreasing (right now ~49%), shouldn't the second number be a worry?

The CIA's World Factbook states that the US's population is 298,444,215 (July 2006 est.)
It also states that the labor force is 149.3 million (includes unemployed) (2005 est.)
equals ~50%.

Answer 1

They do. The Bureau of Labor Statistic's monthly Employment Situation Summary (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm) includes many different employment statistics, including the Labor Force Participation Rate (the percentage of people employed or looking for work) and the Employment-population ratio (percentage of people employed). There's also a table showing various alternatives to the unemployment rate (Alternative measures of labor underutilization, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm). For a discussion of trends in the labor force participation rate, see this brief: Additional Slack in the Economy:
The Poor Recovery in Labor Force Participation
During This Business Cycle (http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/ppb/2005/ppb052.pdf).

Answer 2

Click on "Employment Situation Summary"
It is under 'Economic News Releases'

http://www.bls.gov/ces/home.htm

More info than you would ever wanted to know. Statistics can be manipulated in all kinds of ways for all kinds of purposes. To pick one number out of page after page after page is ridiculous.
(Like that ridiculous 49% number)

For the record, unemployment is NOT derived from new claims filed.
.

Answer 3

How convenient that the unemployment rate has almost nothing to do with the amount of people who are unemployed

Answer 4

unemployment rate is a poor statistic. it is derived by the amount of new claims filed, not any type of realistic figure.
example: it could be that low, because the other 10% ran out of benefits.