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Unemployment a longer ride for Baby Boomers
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About 10,000 people -- more than could be accommodated -- at a job
fair held recently in Manchester, N.H./AP photo
For older Baby Boomers, as we examined recently, the rate of unemployment is growing at a faster rate than other age groups.
That was one shoe to drop. Here's the other:
Baby Boomers are staying unemployed longer.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows among all age groups in March an unemployed individual was out of work for an average of 13.1 weeks.
The average was 11.7 weeks in February; it was 9.4 weeks in March 2008.
A deeper analysis by the New York Times, however, shows that for individuals 45 and older the average leaps to 22.2 weeks.
Unemployment for Baby Boomers can definitely be cast in a good news/bad news format.
The good news is that the overall rate of Baby Boomer unemployment of 6.2 percent was below the national average of 8.5 percent as of March.
But the unemployment rate for older Boomers (55 and older) rose at a slightly quicker pace -- 0.6 percent -- than any other group from February. And now the further bad news is that Boomers are staying unemployed longer than other age groups.
To quote the Times analysis: "They have a much harder time finding work again than younger job-seekers do, and statistics appear to show that it is harder for them in this recession than in previous ones. During downturns in 1982 and 2001, workers ages 45 and over were unemployed an average of 19 weeks and just under 17 weeks, respectively."
The fact that Baby Boomers are staying unemployed longer draws the conclusion that as a group they're having a more difficult time finding work. And that raises the specter of age discrimination in the hiring process.
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