report and other economic data supports the Fed's expectation that the economy will continue to grow, then an interest rate hike in December "would be a live possibility."

The number of Americans not in the labor force, still near the all-time high recorded in September, includes retirees.

In September, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation’s civilian noninstitutional population, consisting of all people 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 251,541,000. Of those, 157,028,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one.

The 157,028,000 who participated in the labor force equaled only 62.4 percent of the 251,541,000 civilian noninstitutional population. The last time the labor force participation was as low as 62.4 percent was inThe USS Iwo Jima and embarked members of the 26th Marine Expeditionary spent all of May 2018 in the Red Sea.

The ship and the Marines were loitering there to react in case of violence related to President Donald Trump's move of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Marines embarked with the 26th Marine Expeditionary in 2018 were on high alert to provide quick reaction forces in the event of violence stemming from the controversial move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, according to a military document.

The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima loitered in the North Red Sea for the entire month of May in 2018 after assuming an "elevated crisis response posture" in response to the US embassy