The number of Americans not in the labor force exceeded 94 million for the second time in a row last month hitting a new record high, according to new government data released Friday morning.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that a record 94,610,000 people (ages 16 and over) were not in the labor force in September. In other words they were neither employed nor had made specific efforts to find work in the prior four weeks.

The number of individuals out of the work force last month — due to discouragement, retirement or otherwise — represented a substantial 579,000 person increase over the most recent record, hit in August, of 94,031,000 people out of the workforce.

While the prior two months saw a labor force participation rate of 62.2 percent, September’s participation rate dropped to 62.4 percent, matching the lowest level seen since October 1977….

More than 56 million women were not of the U.S. labor force last month, according to new government data released Friday. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 56,647,000 women, ages 16 and older during the month of September were neither employed nor had made specific efforts to find work in the past four weeks.

The number of women not participating in the workforce was up 394,000 from August, when 56,253,000 women were out of the workforce.

National numbers of people not participating in the work force experienced a similar trend, increasing in September to a record 94,610,000 Americans — both men and women — out of the labor force.

Additionally the number of women in the civilian labor force declined from August’s level of 73,593,000 women to 73,313,000 women. The labor force participation rate among women in September was 53.6 percent, down 0.2 percent from August….