18  - 10 As we consider the long-term health of the U.S. economy, it is important to better understand the decade-long decline in aggregate labor force participation.
It is striking that in larger metro areas, the labor force participation rate for prime-age men has recently retraced much of the decline experienced during the recession, while in smaller metro and rural areas, the labor force participation rate remains well below its prerecession level, with only modest improvements of late.