No Jobs? Employment Is At 40-Year High For Those 55 And Up

IBD ^ | 05/04/2012 | By JED GRAHAM, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

[SeekAndFind]

As the jobs crisis wears on, with payrolls still 5 million below their pre-recession peak, the share of age 55-and-older Americans working has recovered to near a 42-year high.

Workers under 55 have borne the brunt of the jobs recession, which may mean that its economic effects — due to long-term unemployment, underemployment and stretched household balance sheets — may linger.

Before the financial crisis, economists worried that labor shortages would develop in some occupations as baby boomers left the workforce.

But that's moved to the back burner since the recession began in December 2007. Job holders 55 and up have risen by 3.9 million — and fallen by 8.1 million among those under 55, Labor Department data show. It's been 50 months and counting since payrolls peaked, a post-war record. Labor releases the April jobs report on Friday morning.

Some of this shift reflects demographics. Thanks to aging baby boomers, the 55-and-older population has grown by just shy of 10 million since the end of 2007. Meanwhile, those age 35-44 have fallen by 2.5 million.

But that only explains part of the puzzle. Older workers are hanging on to jobs longer, in part because of lost housing wealth and smaller 401(k) balances than they had counted on.

Among those 55-and-up, the employment-to-population ratio barely dipped even in the depth of recession and is now higher than at the end of 2007. The ratio among those 25-54 remains about 4 percentage points lower than before the recession started.

For the 65-69 and 70-74 groups, the employed shares are up 1.1 percentage points and 1.6 percentage points, respectively, over the past four years.

[kabar]

What jumps out at you when you look at this data?

What jumps out to me is why are we bringing in so many legal immigrants every year, i.e., 1.2 million? The decade ending 2010 was the highest in our history, yet there was a net loss of jobs during that same period. 25% of the legal adult immigrants who enter the US each year lack even a high school degree. We are importing poverty,

In fact, we are bringing in 125,000 legal foreign workers a month when you count those coming in on temporary work visas and permanent immigrants.

125,000 brand new foreign workers with work permits each month -- HERE'S THE PROOF

And the sad truth is that immigrants, legal and illegal, are using welfare programs to a much greater degree than native born Americans. Milton Friedman said that, “You cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state.” We have both.

[bitterohiogunclinger]

“College educated 20-24 year olds have the highest percentage increase. This should hit against a structural unemployment story, as college educated people have the ‘freshest’ skills and incredibly high mobility.”

I'd argue that newly minted graduates don't yet have “skills”, they have knowledge.

[SeekAndFind]

[khelus]

Great post! Thanks!

[kabar]

Some other charts you might find interesting:

[jennings2004]

Your educational resume is similar to mine. I retired, ran into some budget challenges. Found a job (no talk in the interview about my being “overqualified” for the job) in a short period of time...started at ~$18,000 per year and after 3 years was up to ~$25,000. Was I happy with the pay rate? No. Was I happy to have a job that got me over the hump? Yes. Was I happy to work for people who respected me and my integrity with no BS even when dealing with the boss’s relatives? Yes. Was I happy to find support for difficult decisions from my supervisors? Yes. Was I happy when I had to resign due to wife’s difficult health that they said, “If you ever need a job, just call us...if we don’t have an opening, we will make one?” No to the first part, yes to the last part.

[tacticalogic]

Boomers may be hanging onto their jobs for dear life but if you are “seasoned” AND unemployed, you are SOL.

Maybe not so much. You at least probably have the advantage of having recieved an education.

[NonValueAdded]

[in before the spelling police] the education I received and $5 will buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Perhaps I can get a job there as a barista.

[tacticalogic]

[in before the spelling police] the education I received and $5 will buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Perhaps I can get a job there as a barista.

Last I heard, there were jobs going unfilled because employers couldn't find people able to comprehend written directions.

[Sequoyah101]

Between women taking over HR and SOX mandating that HR pretty much control the whole process, yes, it is becoming a woman’s world.

I have seen some real lulus take place in the last few years. I’ve also seen some amazing elevations of some very unremarkable people. The ones that slay me are the cases where people with less than 5 years experience are sent off on expat assignments. The rule used to be that you don’t go expat until you have gained relevant experience for about 15 years.

[khelus]

Cool thanks. I'll have to book mark those graphs.

Since you are obviously into research on the negative impact of flooding our country with low wage immigrants and cheap guest workers you might be interested in the Spring Issue of The Social Contract Magazine

I found How Record Immigration Levels Robbed American High-Tech Workers of $10 Trillion of particular interest.

[Huskrrrr]

I wish him luck. Fortunately my daughter found a job that supports her independent living, otherwise she was considering moving in with us.

[Boiling point]

I was laid off two years ago thanks to Hope and Change. I am 52 now. I refuse to keep supporting the socialist direction we are speeding in. Our farm is paid for and my wife still has a good job. I pick up odd jobs off the books to pay for gas and beer.

[kabar]

Thanks for the links. I go to the Writer's Workshop each year. I know Gene Nelson, the author of the article you linked.

Until we start linking immigration to national employment policy and the importation of skills we need to be competitive in the global economy, legal immigration will continue to be a drag on our economy and have electoral consequences that will eventually result in the destruction of the country.

[khelus]

Post:[in before the spelling police] the education I received and $5 will buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Perhaps I can get a job there as a barista.

Response: Last I heard, there were jobs going unfilled because employers couldn't find people able to comprehend written directions.

That's because the PC police and bean counters have instructed HR in the generous use of the circular file, particularly when it comes to "seasoned workers".

There is then an excuse to to bring in CHEAP guest workers or to off-shore work to third world countries where one can live well on $5K to %10K.

For years in NJ, hospital have been firing experienced, proven nurses, crying shortage, and hiring CHEAP nurses from overseas.

As an off shoot of this practice people are going into debt to get a degree in nursing and hospitals refuse to hire them because they are not experienced. What a scam!

[equaviator]

There’s a lot of mutual back-scratching going on between women nowadays...in the boardroom AND in the bedroom!

[DH]

Workers 55 and older have something most young workers don’t: Experience and work ethic.

Times are tough and employers don’t want to burden themselves with the costs of training inexperienced workers. They hire the best ones with experience they can and that is the over 55 crowd.

[wally_bert]

It is the same here in the Carolinas and GA.

[wally_bert]

It is the same here in the Carolinas and GA.

[dfwgator]

This is what I would tell anybody graduating from college....You must begin to prepare now to work for yourself by the age of 40. That means saving money, gaining relevant experience, and networking up the wazoo from Day One. By the time you reach 40, you should be ready financially and experience-wise to make the leap.