GMJ's post about people "participating in the labor force" included everyone age 16 and older. That definition, AFAIK, has no exclusion for people under 16 but also over any other age. Those 65 year olds are included in the data. Not everyone at that age is retired. The part time greeters at Wal Mart who need more quarters to qualify for social security are included.
Also, I'm not "ignoring the data". I'm ignoring this fabricated reality you want to live in where the missing 4 million people in the labor force all decided to be Reaganesque welfare queens who just are too lazy to work so you can bitch about them. The "why's" and "where did they go once the money ran out" are fundamental to the discussion.
As it is, there are apparently 4 million people who were working before covid that aren't now. Some of them are, in no particular order:
- dead from covid
- in the hospital due to covid
- on disability due to covid
- said 'screw it' and retired
- suddenly became Dave Ramsey devotees who are stretching their $1200/mo federal benefits in an act of fiscal responsibility hitherto unexercised by the average American
- suckling at the teat of unemployment benefits that ran out
- Something Else (tm)
Since UI is a state-by-state thing, maybe some states are still extending UI benefits. Though it seems like California, where the shipping container backup is, ended the extended UI benefits on Sep 11. Which appears to be data that you're ignoring: there's no more teat to suckle at.
edit: I'd love to see the breakdown of exactly where those people went, but I doubt it exists. Maybe there are still state-level benefits being paid out in some places. But it's an act of unproven wishful thinking to assume people sitting at home who could work but just aren't comprise the majority.