Older Workers Doing Better Than Younger Americans
as Unemployment Skyrockets
Men and women age 55 and older have lowest
unemployment; women doing better than men
April 3, 2009 – Unemployment continues to grow,
according to the latest statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
but older Americans appear to be doing much better at holding on to their
jobs than are younger workers.
The unemployment rate for all Americans age 55 and
older was 6.2% last month – lower than any of the age groups for younger
workers. The rate for all workers age 20 and older was 8.0%,
considerably higher that for the oldest age group on the chart.
The change in unemployment for older workers,
however, has been devastating – an increase of 89.2% since last March.
The unemployment gain for all workers age 20 and up was less – 74.2%.
Older women, interestingly, are fairing much better
than their male contemporizes. Unemployment since last March jumped
98.1% for older men, but only 80.1% for women.
This difference is also reflected in the
unemployment rates for older men and women. In March of last year, the
rate of unemployed older women was 3.4%, slightly higher than the 3.3%
for men.
In this year of rapid job losses, however, that
rate advantage has swung heavily to favor women. Last month the
unemployment rate for men age 55 and older was 6.3%, while for women it
was only 5.8%.
Unemployment Trends Among Older Workers
Number
Unemployed (in thousands)
%
Unemployed
Age
Mar 2009
Mar 2008
Diff
% Ch
Mar-09
Mar-08
20 & up
11,751
6,745
5,006
74.2%
8.0%
4.6%
55 & up
1,784
943
841
89.2%
6.2%
3.4%
Men
55 & up
959
484
475
98.1%
6.3%
3.3%
Women
55 & up
789
438
351
80.1%
5.8%
3.4%
Note: Compared to civilian labor force.
In March, for the total U.S. economy, the number of
unemployed persons increased by 694,000 to 13.2 million, and the
unemployment rate rose to 8.5 percent. Over the past 12 months, the
number of unemployed persons has grown by about 5.3 million, and the
unemployment rate has risen by 3.4 percentage points. Half of the
increase in both the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate
occurred in the last 4 months.
The unemployment rates continued to trend upward in
March for adult men (8.8 percent), adult women (7.0 percent), whites
(7.9 percent), and Hispanics (11.4 percent). The jobless rates for
blacks (13.3 percent) and teenagers (21.7 percent) were little changed
over the month.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
April 3, 2009 – Unemployment continues to grow,
according to the latest statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
but older Americans appear to be doing much better at holding on to their
jobs than are younger workers.