Unemployment Down but Overall Job Growth Remains Anemic

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The AARP Public Policy Institute has released a new report on unemployment. Some of the findings are:

About 66,000 fewer persons aged 55 and over were unemployed in January than in December, as the unemployment rate for this age group fell from 6.9 percent to 6.7 percent.

The improvement in the unemployment rate was concentrated among older men; both the number unemployed and the unemployment rate increased among older women.

After falling in December, average duration of unemployment for older jobseekers rose in January to 44.4 weeks. Half (50.5 percent) had been out of work for 27 or more weeks, somewhat fewer than in December.

The number of older involuntary part-time workers barely changed in January. However, considerably fewer older persons wanted a job but were not looking for one because they were discouraged about their job prospects.
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