Workforce Participation is up for those over 60 years old, down for every other age group, There has been some discussion regarding the drop in the workforce participation rate being attributed the the Baby Boomers retiring. This does not appear to be true. Take a look at the participation rate for those between 20 and 54 years of age. Participation rates over 79%. You would think that this would mean that we are approaching full employment. The problem is that the participation rate was over 80% for those 25-54. The participation rate for this age range was nearing 84% during October 2007. This October that rate is close to 82%. The workforce participation rate has improved for those 55 and older.

Every Age group under the age of 50 lost jobs during the Great Recession.The important thing to notice in the above table also displays the truth that we have fewer people working during October 2016 than we had working during October 2007 for those 35-49 years of age. This is not the first time that this has been observed. It is equally as important to note that every age group over the age 60 has expanded since the recession. If you examine the real numbers, the surge in workers over the age of 55 is considerable since October 2007. We have seen the number of people working jobs increase by nearly 9 million  workers. The percentage growth is phenomenal.

The Unemployment rate has risen for almost every age group over the 25. This column has published many articles regarding the decreasing participation rate coinciding with the decreasing unemployment rate. Unemployment is a factor of participation. Even if you are unemployed you are participating in the economy. If you are not employed and you are not unemployed what are you? The number of unemployed workers between the ages of 20-24 and 25-29 is skewing the data higher.

It's a new economy. People are having a hard time finding work when younger and working longer as they get older. Men are working more part-time jobs now than July 2007. Entire sectors are still in recovery.

If you are over 65 and working you aren't alone. If you are working a part-time job and want a full-time job, you are not alone. If you want to retire and can't, you're not alone. If you are graduating from high school or college and are unemployed, you are not alone. Me, if your spouse is working and you are not, you are not alone.

It''s the Economy.

Vote.

The Number of Unemployed Workers has risen, or remain almost unchanged, for those over the age of 25. The largest surge in unemployed workers has been between the ages of 25 and 39. We have seen a huge spike in the number of workers who are unemployed over the age of 55. This is critical to understand. There are people who are in their "Golden Years" who might consider retiring who are unemployed. Examine the number of people over he age of 65 who are calling themselves unemployed.

The Jobs Report provides information regarding how the workforce is doing by jobs, unemployment, population, and participants. It also provides information on full-time jobs versus part-time jobs and how various demographics are doing. What has been observed lately is that there is a worker hole for those 35-49 years of age and a surge of those working past 60, 65, 70, and 75 years of age. We have seen a surge in part-time jobs, with more part-time having been created since July 2007 than full-time jobs. We have seen some sectors fail to recover all the jobs lost during the Great Recession. Men are working fewer full-time jobs and more part-time jobs than prior to the recession. We are seeing more people working two part-time jobs. July 2007 was the peak month for employment prior to the recession so 2007 is a pivotal year.

The Workforce Population for those between the ages of 35 and 49 have dropped since the recession. Some of this change is due to aging out between the brackets over the past nine years. If you were 40-44 years old nine years ago, you may be 50-54 years old today. Fine. The people 40-44 have dropped by 2.2 million while those 50-54 have increased 530,000. Those 45-49 years old have dropped by 1.9 million while those 55-59 years old have spiked by 3.6 million. We have more people 65-69 in the workforce population than we have 16-19 years old. This was not true during October of 2007.