By last December, 1.4 million of the 11.1 million unemployed Americans were age 55 and older, and 32 percent of those job seekers had been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer. Statistically, though, boomer unemployment is continuing at a lower rate than other age groups. Why?
"The difference may reflect the fact that many older adults want jobs," says Joan Strewler-Carter and Stephen Carter, co-founders of the Life Options Institute. "Today, with their 401(k) plan assets down sharply, the decline in traditional employer-sponsored pension and retiree health plans, the increase in Social Security's retirement age, and housing values not worth what they once were, many baby boomers are either delaying retirement or seeking a return to the workforce."
