Friday's jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department brought news that unemployment rates for older workers remain lower than for other age groups.
But the news wasn't all good. Once older workers, especially boomers over 55, lose a job, it takes them longer to find a new one than any other age group.
Despite a brighter overall picture, people ages 45 to 54 continue to be caught in a "perfect storm" of lower-than-expected earnings and retirement savings at the same time family demands and expenses, are rising.
According to the Labor Department, the U.S. economy added 290,000 jobs during April, bringing to nearly 500,000 the number of jobs created since the beginning of 2010--yet another sign a recovery is underway. Better yet, new jobs came in a variety of
Despite the addition of new jobs, the unemployment rate rose slightly, to 9.9 percent from 9.7 percent for the first three months of the year, according to the Labor Department.
That's to be expected, says Dan Finnigan, an online job boards veteran who monitors employment trends as CEO of Jobvite, the Silicon Valley-based recruiting software company. With companies starting to hire again, many people who stopped actively looking for work when the economy was at its bleakest are now entering the workforce. That's increasing the number of active job seekers, which temporarily pushes unemployment numbers up, Finnigan says.
If the economy continues to add several hundred thousand jobs a month, unemployment rates should begin trending down again over the next few months, Finnigan says.
April's labor report should be encouraging to mature workers, with unemployment rates for people 35 and older trailing the national average and substantially under jobless rates for Gen Y. In April, unemployment rates were 8.1 percent for people 35 to 44; 7.7 percent for people 45 to 54; and 7 percent for people 55 and older.
By contrast, the country's highest unemployment rates were among Gen Y workers, with 17.2 percent of 20 to 24 year olds out of a job in April compared with 14.6 percent during the same period a year ago. "They're feeling the pain," Finnigan says.
The news isn't all good for older workers. Fewer may be out of work, but those who are spend more time looking before they land a new job. According to a March Labor Department bulletin, workers ages 55 and over were jobless 35.5 weeks before finding a new position, compared to 23.3 weeks for workers ages 16 to 24 and 30.3 weeks for workers between 25 and 54.
Such difficulties finding a new job could be one reason why boomers are the becoming business owners faster than anyone, with businesses launched by 55 to 64 year olds growing 16 percent between 2007 and 2008, the latest data available from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a nonprofit group that studies U.S. business startups.
Apart from all those new college graduates who can't find jobs, the people having the worst time of it are the so-called "sandwich generation," ages 45 to 54, Finnigan says. At a time in their careers when they're supposed to be making the most money, many lost their jobs--specifically because their salaries were so high--and saw their retirement savings evaporate in the financial industry crisis. On top of that, they may have Gen Y children (who can't find jobs) moving back home and older parents to support. "It's the perfect storm," Finnigan says.
But he holds out hope for 40- and 50-somethings who dealt with one or more financial set back during the recession. If you're out of work, find a job--any job, Finnigan says. The recession killed whatever stigma was attached to taking a job that paid less than what you were used to making. In a potential employer's eyes, it's better to be employed in a less than stellar position and looking for another job than not employed at all, he says.
If you're contemplating a job change, look at industries that have good prospects over the next 20 years. (The SecondAct Career Guide has helpful links and current job trend information.) Says Finnigan: "Use this moment to decide what you want to do with the rest of your life."