(AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) - 1,154,000 fewer Americans are working today than six years ago, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In January 2008, 146,378,000 Americans 16 and over were employed, and now in January 2014, 145,224,000 are employed, a difference of 1,154,000.

91,455,000 Americans 16 or older did not participate in the nation’s labor force in January, meaning they neither held a job nor actively sought one. That's a 353,000 decline from December, but 172,000 more than November.

The national labor force participation rate -- the share of Americans who had a job or were actively looking for one -- ticked up to 63 percent in January, from 62.8 percent in December.

In January, according to BLS, the nation’s civilian non-institutional population, consisting of all people 16 or older who were not in the military, a nursing home or other institution, reached 246,915,000 (number not seasonally adjusted). Of those, 155,460,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one.





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The 155,460,000 who participated in the labor force equaled only 63.0 percent of the 246,915,000 civilian non-institutional population.

Another 91,455,000 Americans did not participate in the labor force. These Americans did not have a job and were not actively trying to find one.

Of the 155,460,000 who did participate in the labor force, 145,224,000 had a job, and 10,236,000 did not have a job were actively seeking one—making them the nation’s unemployed.

The 10,236,000 job seekers were 6.6 percent of the 155,460,000 actively participating in the labor force during the month. Thus, the unemployment rate was 6.6 percent.