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Unemployment worsens for Baby Boomers
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Long lines like this one at job fairs are common in this deep recession.
As a whole from May to June, unemployment rose just a tick, from 9.4 to 9.5 percent.
But for Baby Boomers and others age 55 and older unemployment is occurring at a faster rate. It went from 6.7 percent in May to 7.0 in June, according to details from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And it's worse for Baby Boomer men.
Their unemployment rate was 7.0 percent in May and jumped to 7.7 percent in June. For Baby Boomer women, the 5.8 percent in May and increased to 6.4 percent in June.
And to think: In June 2008, the unemployment rate for these older Americans was 3.4 percent.
As if this news isn't bad enough, the labor statistics also show that it is taking longer for Baby Boomers who are out of work to get back to work.
In June, it took workers 55 to 64 an average of 30.3 weeks to find a new job, which was longer than any other age group.
Sara Rix, a strategic policy adviser for AARP’s Public Policy Institute, told the AARP Bulletin that the employment report has very little positive news for older workers.
“In fact," she said, "older workers took a beating. The unemployment rate for the age 55 and older workforce might have remained lower than that for the total workforce, but it rose more sharply in June. Involuntary unemployment isn’t good for anyone, but it is especially troubling in the case of older workers.”
Unfortunately, for Baby Boomers these trends seem to be holding on as tightly as the recession seems to be holding on. We examined the same labor issues in April as they related to unemployment and how long it took to find a job.
Related story:
Age discrimination a growing Boomer concern
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