Summary 10-04 / March 2010 • U.S. Department of Labor • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Record unemployment among older workers 

does not keep them out of the job market

The unemployment rate for persons aged 55 years and 

older has increased sharply 

since the beginning of the recession in December 2007.1

The jobless rate among older 

workers was 7.1 percent (seasonally adjusted) in February 

2010, just shy of the recordhigh level of 7.2 percent

in December 2009. (See 

chart 1.) At the same time, 

the labor force participation rate—the proportion

of the population that is

either employed or looking for work—for this group 

rose during much of the

recession, before leveling

off in recent months. (See 

chart 2.)

Although the rate of unemployment among older workers is lower than that for their 

younger counterparts, older 

persons who do become unemployed spend more time 

searching for work. In February 2010, workers aged 55 

years and older had an average duration of joblessness 

of 35.5 weeks (not seasonally adjusted), compared with 

23.3 weeks for those aged 16 

to 24 years and 30.3 weeks 

for those aged 25 to 54 years.2

The longer duration of unemployment among older workers also is reflected in a higher 

proportion of the unemployed 

who have been jobless for extended periods. For example, 

nearly half (49.1 percent) of 

older jobseekers had been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer in February 2010, compared 

with 28.5 percent of workers 

aged 16 to 24 years and 41.3 

percent of workers aged 25 to 

54 years. (See table 1.) 

Still, rising unemployment 

rates have not kept older workers from participating in the job 

market. In fact, the labor force 

participation rate for persons 

aged 55 years and older rose 

during much of the recession, 

before flattening out recently. 

This pattern of rising labor 

force participation for older 

workers has occurred for both 

men and women. In contrast, 

labor force participation rates 

for other age groups—especially youths—have declined since 

the recession began. 

Rising labor force participation among older persons 

is likely part of a long-term 

pattern that began in the mid1990s, a change that reversed 

decades of declining labor

force participation among individuals in that age group, 

particularly men.3

 For persons 

aged 55 years and older, the 

labor force participation rate 

increased from a low of 29.2 

percent in 1993 to a peak of 

40.4 percent in May 2009, the 

highest rate since March 1962. 

Since the recent peak in May 

2009, the rate has shown little 

change; it was 40.0 percent in 

February 2010.

Recently, some reports have 

suggested that the increased

labor force participation of

older workers reflects both 

the need of many near retirees

to work after large losses in

their retirement accounts and

the need of older workers in

general to ensure adequate 

postretirement incomes to address increased life spans.4

 The 

fact that the rise in labor force

participation for this group 

began well before the recent financial crisis, plus the

absence of an accelerated

rise in participation rates

during the recession, suggests 

that the collapse in the financial markets and the declines 

in asset values were not

the only factors associated 

with the recent rise in participation rates among older 

workers. 

Indeed, one underlying reason behind the long-term rise 

in participation rates among 

the 55-years-and-older population is the move by employers to replace defined-benefit 

retirement plans with definedcontribution retirement plans, 

allowing employers to shift 

more responsibility for retirement income to the employee. 

This was a change that gained 

momentum in the 1990s, coincident with the rise in older 

workers’ participation rates. 

Although there are undoubtedly other factors that may 

have contributed to the rise 

in older workers’ labor force 

participation rates, many research papers have found a 

connection between these 

changes in retirement funding 

and those workers’ increased 

participation rates.5

Table 1. Selected labor force measures, by age, February 2010, not seasonally adjusted

Characteristic

Total, 16 

years and 

older

16 to 24 

years

25 to 54 

years

55 years 

and older

Total unemployed (in thousands)............................... 15,991 3,888 9,843 2,260

 Percentage unemployed 27 weeks or longer........ 39.3 28.5 41.3 49.1

 Median number of weeks unemployed.................. 19.6 14.4 20.6 26.7

 Average number of weeks unemployed ................ 29.3 23.3 30.3 35.5
2

In sum, the recession that 

began in December 2007 

has affected all demographic 

groups, including older workers. Their unemployment 

rate, although lower than 

that for younger workers, recently reached record-high 

levels. Once unemployed, 

older workers tend to remain jobless for longer periods than younger workers.

Despite the recession—or 

perhaps because of it—older workers continued to increase their participation in 

the job market, at least through

mid-2009. Whether the longterm pattern of growing labor 

force participation rates among 

older workers will continue beyond the recession remains to 

be seen.

All of these data come from 

the Current Population Survey 

(CPS), a monthly survey of 

some 60,000 households that 

is the source of the national 

unemployment rate and many 

other labor market indicators. 

This Issues paper was prepared 

by Emy Sok, an economist in 

the Division of Labor Force

Statistics, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics. E-mail: CPSInfo@bls.

gov; Telephone: (202) 691–

6378.

Information in this summary will be made available 

to sensory-impaired individuals upon request. Voice 

phone: (202) 691–5200. Federal Relay Service: 1–800–

877–8339. This report is

in the public domain and

may be reproduced without 

permission. □

Chart 1. Unemployment rates for all civilian workers, by age, seasonally adjusted, 1948–2010 

NOTE: Shaded areas represent recessions, as determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). NBER has not 

yet determined an end point for the recession that began in December 2007. Beginning in 1994, data reflect the introduction of a 

major redesign of the Current Population Survey. 

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.

55 years and older

25 to 54 years

16 to 24 years

1948 1951 1954 1958 1961 1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1981 1984 1988 1991 1994 1998 2001 2004 2008

20

8

18

16

6

4

14

12

10

2

0

Percent

1The National Bureau of Economic 

Research (NBER), generally recognized as the official arbiter of business cycle turning points, has not 

yet determined an end point for the 

recession that began in December 

2007.

2The duration of joblessness represents the length of time (through 

the current reference week) that individuals classified as unemployed have

been looking for work and refers to

the current spell of unemployment 

rather than the duration of a completed 

spell.

3See Abraham Mosisa and Steven 

Hipple, “Trends in labor force participation in the United States,” Monthly 

Labor Review, October 2006, pp.

35–57, on the Internet at http://www.

bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/10/art3abs.

htm. 4See, for example, Kristie Engemann 

and Howard Wall, “The Effect of Recessions among Demographic Groups,” 

Review (St. Louis, Federal Reserve 

Bank of St. Louis), January/February 2010, pp. 1–26, on the Internet at 

http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/10/01/Engemann.pdf. 5See, for example, Patrick Purcell, 

“Older Workers: Employment and 

Retirement Trends” (Congressional 

Research Service, Sept. 14, 2005), on 

the Internet at http://aging.senate.

gov/crs/pension34.pdf. 

Notes
3

Chart 2. Labor force participation rates for all civilian workers, by age, seasonally adjusted, 1948–2010 

NOTE: Shaded areas represent recessions, as determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). NBER has not 

yet determined an end point for the recession that began in December 2007. Beginning in 1994, data reflect the introduction of a 

major redesign of the Current Population Survey. 

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.

55 years and older

25 to 54 years

16 to 24 years

1948 1951 1954 1958 1961 1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1981 1984 1988 1991 1994 1998 2001 2004 2008

90

30

80

70

20

10

60

50

40

Percent