Why people are dropping out of the workforce and not looking for new jobs: 'The market wore me down'
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- U.S. labor force participation saw its biggest one-month prime-age (25-54) drop since June 1976 in June 2025, with roughly 720,000 people leaving the workforce or job search between May and June, per the St. Louis Fed.
- January 2025 announced layoffs hit levels not seen since the 2009 Great Recession, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas data.
- Long-term unemployment affected more than 1.9 million Americans in June — roughly 1 in 4 unemployed people — according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
- Dan Coda, a 40-year-old from Durham, NC, spent over 300 hours applying to dozens of jobs after a December 2025 layoff before stopping his search in June, telling CNBC Make It: 'The market wore me down.'
- Haina, a 33-year-old marketer on an H-1B visa, ended her U.S. job search in May and returned to Inner Mongolia, citing difficulty finding employers willing to absorb her visa transfer costs.
- Mental health strain affects about half of active U.S. job seekers, according to an April Resume Genius survey of 1,000 people, with rejection and lack of responses cited as top stressors.
- Celine Wang, 26, enrolled in a New York City dental hygiene program in May after being passed over in an eighth-round design job interview, planning to earn her associate of applied science by end of 2027.
Why it matters: For the 1.9 million Americans jobless over six months and the roughly 720,000 who stopped looking for work in June alone, the article warns that prolonged workforce exits carry lasting consequences — stunting career trajectories, squeezing everyday budgets, and eroding long-term retirement savings.
