In keeping with
Jobs in America Vol. I - Unemployment and
Bonddad's Topic of the day, (but a day late and lots of IQ points short) I humbly introduce Jobs In America Vol.II a look at Employment by Age Groups for your consideration.
The impact of the economy over the past 5 years of the Reign of King Georgie II - Holy Emperor of Bribealot has dimmed the prospects of those young whippersnappers we are all counting on to support us in our old age, or maybe they are just lazy which is forcing us old farts to work as greeters at Wal-Mart far into our "Golden Years". (No offense to the young or to the AARP)
More below the fold....
Yes, Virgina, the population of the US is getting older. The boomers are approaching their Golden Years when they will drain the Social Security system and live off of their gains in the stock market. That's the story as told by King George and his minions and why they claim we must shift to a private Social Security System. So it would seem that it would behoove us to encourage the younger generations to learn how to dedicate themselves to a job early in life in training to become good cubicle slaves and Wal-Mart greeters.
The "Official" unemployment stats only consider the portion of the population which is "actively seeking" employment. So looking at the data we see who is actually seeking employment (at least according to the gov't). It's interesting to see that there have been declines in Labor Force Participation in all age groups younger than 55, and increases in all age groups above 55. For the older workers, a large part of this is probably due to collapse of the stock market bubble, increasing medical costs, and hopefully improved health of older workers. Why aren't more younger workers seeking employment?
This could be a very good reason why the younger folks are not jumping into the labor force. Perhaps the jump from 13% of those in the workforce being unemployed to 16.6% has a little to do with it. No age group (except the 75+ workers, all ten of 'em) has escaped the effects of the Bushco economic miracle, but the young have been hit the hardest.
When loooking at the employed/population ratio for all age groups, it becomes even more obvious how the young are getting screwed (wait, in the spirit of truthiness, that should read "personally empowered"). For folks appraching the middle of our lives like myself, the picture is pretty depressing as well. It seems more older folks are working longer. Great, thats what I want to do with the rest of my life. Actually I like my job, I get to screw with the potential careers of those snot nosed young whippersnappers every day (productivity growth).
When we look at the change from the 2000 data, prior to the rise of the King and the full supremacy of the Kingdom of Bribealot. We see clearly the extent of changes to the job market. Every age group under 55 has a smaller portion of the population working, while there have been significant increases in the age groups over 55. Especially 75+, must just be workaholics.
How many jobs have been lost/gained for each age group? See above.
What is causing these shifts? I suggest the minimum wage has a lot to do with the the decline in Labor force participation for the those under 24. College ed is increasingly being finainced through debt, as a college student in the midst of the Reign of King Ronny, I was able to "work" my way through college at a state school without taking on debt and with minimal cash infusions from the Parental Units (mostly due to party expenses). It took 5+ years, but it was doable. At today's tuition and wage rates, I doubt this is possible. So students may be focusing on getting through college as fast as possible and cannot find work until they have the parchment. Ok, so that along with low home equity rates explains the massive changes in the sub 20 yr olds and a large part of the 20-24 yr olds. The rest of us in the middle are just screwed since the older folks keep on working, bastards.
Wait, wait, don't tell me, I must be wrong, King George II along with the Royal Treasure Disperser, Prince John Snow (the Toad), claim this is a booming economy.