If Prime Age Employment Rates are the Same in August as February, Has the Economy Hit Its Limits?

In a NYT piece assessing the state of the labor market after Friday jobs report, Neil Irwin notes that the employment rate for prime age workers (ages 25 to 54) stood at 79.3 percent in August. That is the same as the 79.3 percent rate in February, indicating that there had been no increase over a six-month period.

However, this may be less compelling as an argument that the labor force is hitting its limits than it initially seems. In August of 2017 the employment rate (EPOP) for prime age w...