Workforce participation drops to lowest point since December 1981. Obama claims it is good news.

Workforce participation drops to lowest point (63.6%) since December 1981. Obama claims it is good news.

(Politico) — The unemployment rate fell slightly to 8.1 percent, but there were signs of the recovery stalling with more Americans dropping out of the workforce and the economy adding a disappointing 115,000 jobs in April, the government reported Friday.

As has been the case for the past two years, a surge in hiring at the start of the year has slowed to a trickle. The drop in unemployment from 8.2 percent is not much of a victory for President Barack Obama, even though it’s the best jobless rate since his inauguration at the start of 2009. That’s because the decline is largely explained by people giving up on their job hunts and the participation rate dipping to 63.6 percent last month — its lowest point since December 1981.

Speaking at a high school in Arlington, Va., Obama called the report “good news,” yet stuck to his long-time argument that more federal help is needed to fully recover from the financial meltdown that happened almost four years ago. He criticized House Republicans for not reaching an agreement with Democrats on stopping interest rates on government subsidized student loans from doubling.