But these demographic forces are still not large enough to account for most of the decline in 6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  the employment-to-population ratio that I’ve described. One way to see this – but not the only way – is to focus on people who are outside the normal retirement age.
Here, I’ve plotted the fraction of the population aged 25 to 54 who have a job. This ratio has improved from its low point, but also remains lower than at any time between 1986 and 2007. Even among those who have a job, there are signs that the economy is significantly underemploying our human resources.