Unemployment Rate for Older Workers Dips Slightly in March

MAY 9, 2010 While the employment situation for older workers appeared somewhat brighter in March 2010 than it had in February, the average duration of unemployment for older jobseekers was nearly 3 weeks longer in March than in February—38.4 weeks compared to 35.6 weeks.  Half of these older job seekers had been out of work for six months or more, more than double the 23 percent at the start of the recession in December 2007, according to a AARP Public Policy fact sheet. 

Just over 2 million people aged 55 and over were without jobs and looking for work in March, 68,000 fewer than in February.  This brought the unemployment rate for this age group down to 6.9 percent from 7.1 percent the month before.

In March, nearly 1.3 million older persons reported that they would like to be working but were not in the labor force, that is, they were neither working nor looking for work; 260,000 were discouraged workers.  

Discouraged workers have given a job-market related reason for not looking currently for a job. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule. For more information, see "BLS introduces new range of alternative unemployment measures," in the October 1995 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. 

At the start of the recession in December 2007, 53,000 older persons were classified as discouraged.

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