According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the labor force participation rate among seniors has nearly doubled, from 4.3 percent in 1990 to 7.5 percent in 2011. Meanwhile, the unemployed rate in that group has also increased, from 2.3 percent in 1990 to 5.6 percent in 2011. That may sound like a contradiction, but it actually isn't. It means more seniors are looking for work, and while some are succeeding, more and more are not.
Here's the BLS's projections from the same survey. The trend in senior workforce participation is up, not down.
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
Kevin Graham wrote:This must really be upsetting to Republicans everywhere.
not really, everyone knows that when a person gets approved for disability they are no longer considered "unemployed" and still accentuates the snail-paced recovery that Obama has done little to encourage. "the chances are 90 out of 100 that the monthly estimate of unemployment from the sample is within about 290,000" - so the reported number of 418,000 jobs added in September (despite the 368,000 lost in August) could be off by more than 50% either direction. Obama may get mileage from this number, but the hard reality in the streets Trump's the politics of a monthly report - real economy relies on a much broader view and the American public relies on more as well. So, while the dog may have been thrown a bone, he will still get put out.
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires...seek discipline and find your liberty I can tell if a person is judgmental just by looking at them what is chaos to the fly is normal to the spider - morticia addams If you're not upsetting idiots, you might be an idiot. - Ted Nugent
While the rate of senior participation in the workforce might be up relative to previous iterations of that demographic, there are more and more seniors as a overall % of the population. This can drive down the overall rate even if the senior participation rate is up. All it takes is for the senior rate, increased or no, to be beneath that of younger demographics. According to the numbers you cite, it is drastically lower than the general pop, so more of them should sink the overall rate.
This is depressing, from USA Today: "And about two-thirds of the 873,000 increase in household-survey employment was in part-time jobs."
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
Jason Bourne wrote:It is not at all upsetting to me (I am still a registered Republican).
Why would you think that? I wish it were 3% or lower and that Obama's policies had been much more successful than they seem to have been.
That's how I feel. I was quite hopeful when Obama was elected because I thought maybe he would make a difference and heal some of the wounds of the Bush years. And I hoped his policies would help us out of a deep recession. Neither has happened, but I wish they had.
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
Brackite wrote:During this time in the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, the Unemployment rate dropped down to 7.3%.
But it was 7.2% and on its way down when he first came in. It was Reagan's policies that made it all worse whereas Obama's policies have been chipping away at the employment problem since his first year. The comparison is absurd. The unemployment average over the 40 months under Obama is lower than it was for Reagan's first 40 months.
Jason Bourne wrote:It is not at all upsetting to me (I am still a registered Republican).
Why would you think that? I wish it were 3% or lower and that Obama's policies had been much more successful than they seem to have been.
That's how I feel. I was quite hopeful when Obama was elected because I thought maybe he would make a difference and heal some of the wounds of the Bush years. And I hoped his policies would help us out of a deep recession. Neither has happened, but I wish they had.