The Legislative Oversight Commission on Workforce Development and Labor Issues Co-Chair Roland Roberts believes that the way the federal labor force participation rate is calculated is inaccurate. (Photo Courtesy of W.Va. Legislative Photography)

CHARLESTON — What’s in a number?

West Virginia has been haunted for years with one of the lowest labor force participation rates in the nation, but what if one could recalculate the number to find what the state’s true rate was?

That is what members of the Legislative Oversight Commission on Workforce Development and Labor Issues discussed Tuesday afternoon on the final day of September interim meetings at the Capitol.

According to monthly numbers released by the St. Louis Federal Reserve, West Virginia’s labor force participation rate was 54.7% in July, remaining one the lowest rates in the nation, second only to Mississippi with 54.4% But West Virginia has usually been at the bottom of all 50 states for its labor force participation rate.

“When we look at the labor force participation rate, we could not figure out, I think, as a state for years, maybe decades, how come we’re at the bottom? This looks awful and sounds awful,” said Commission Co-Chair Roland Roberts, R-Raleigh.

The labor force participation rate is a separate measurement from the unemployment rate, which measures the number of people searching for work. The labor force participation rate measures the number of people in a workforce capable of working or searching for work.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it measures the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and older.

However, Roberts and WorkForce West Virginia approached the Bureau for Business and Economic Research at West Virginia University to look at the state’s labor force participation and find the true rate excluding those unable to work due to age or disability.

“We found out that everyone in the state of West Virginia who can walk is counted no matter what their age, their mental capacity or their physical ability,” Roberts said. “When you start thinking about that in the mix of West Virginia, we have a lot of people who can walk, but there is no way they’re going to be able to work.”

According to Roberts and WorkForce West Virginia Director Scott Adkins, removing residents over 75 and residents who are disabled and unable to work, West Virginia’s labor force participation rate would be nearly 75%.

“Unfortunately, we always get saddled with the lowest workforce participation rate in the country. That’s a little disingenuous,” Adkins said. “We have an older population. We have the largest disability rate per capita in the country. When you take out the folks who are older than 75 and you take out the folks who are disabled and couldn’t work, it took our labor force participation rate to almost 75%, which is huge.

“That’s pretty impressive. That puts us at the top of the states with the participation rate,” Roberts said.

Adkins said the labor force participation rate doesn’t include gig economy workers who are paid on a contract basis, making up around 5% of the state’s workforce who go uncounted. Another 13% of uncounted workers are not included in West Virginia’s labor force participation rate because they work in other states.

“We need to figure out a way to repatriate those folks back into West Virginia,” Adkins said. “We have a lot of folks who could be working who are not working. It’s difficult to gauge that number, but it is pretty high.”

State Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, questioned the appropriateness of trying to calculate a new labor force participation rate given the very specific federal criteria used by all 50 states.

“If we go off standard rules I guess, isn’t that kind of deceiving? Every other state is comparing it this way, but we’re comparing it this way,” Caputo said. “I’m just trying to figure in my head why we’re calculating it one way versus the other way.”

Roberts said the re-calculated labor force participation rate should be used as a motivation tool to encourage older residents who are able to return to part-time work and work with residents between 16 and 24 to ensure they have a career plan upon graduating high school.

“I think this is a major, major shift in our thinking that we as legislators need to impose some things so we can get state agencies to communicate and give access and help these seniors and juniors,” Roberts said. “As far as workforce participation, I’m concerned we’re going to educate these kids to go work in other states. I think we need to stop that flow.”