The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in June, and the "official" unemployment rate dropped from 5.5% to 5.3%. 

But the labor force participation rate dropped to a 38-year low, and there were 60,000 fewer jobs created in April and May after adjustments.  It's absolutely amazing that four years after the supposed "recovery" began, more people have stopped looking for work than ever.

The Hill:

The number of people in the labor force fell by 432,000, a reason for the lower jobless rate, while 56,000 fewer people were employed, sending the participation rate down to 62.6 percent, the lowest level since 1977.

But Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economics professor and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, reminded on Twitter that with baby boomers hitting retiring age, it is expected that the labor force participation rate will keep hitting record lows for the next 12 years, at least.

Meanwhile, the number of unemployed fell by 375,000.

Jobs growth was centered in the service sector — retailers added 33,000 jobs, the healthcare sector tacked on 40,000 while leisure and hospitality jobs increased by 22,000.

Manufacturing only added 4,000 while construction employment was unchanged in June.

Wages, another closely watched indication of the economy’s growth, were flat last month.

We are becoming a nation of sales clerks, waitresses, maids, and bellboys.  Real job growth is being strangled by government red tape and regulations.  And the assault continues on the coal industry.

We are trading high-wage industrial jobs for low-wage services employment, which is hollowing out the middle class and putting downward pressure on wages in other sectors.  It is the absolute worst of all possible worlds. 

And no one in government appears to care very much.