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Benefits September 12, 2007
Census: Higher Number of Older Employees Staying in the Workforce Past 65
September 12, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Nearly one in
four (23.2%) people between the ages of 65 and 74 were in the
labor force in 2006, the highest number in three years and an
indication that fewer people are retiring when they hit the
traditional retirement age, according to the U.S. Census
Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS).
Reported by Adrien Martin
According to Census Bureau data, the number of workers between the ages of 65 and 74 still in the workforce in 2004 was 22%, compared to 22.5% in 2005 and 23.2% in 2006.
The number of workers between the ages of 55 and 65 also inched up in 2006 to 62.1%, from 61.7% in 2005 and 61.1% in 2004. In the 75 years or older age range, 5.7% were still working in 2004, compared to 6% in 2005 and 5.5% in 2006.
States with some of the lowest rates of older workers in the labor force include West Virginia (15.7%), Michigan (18.8%) and Arizona (19.4%); however, Michigan and Arizona were not statistically different.Some of the highest rates of older workers were found in South Dakota, Nebraska and Washington, D.C., all with about one-third of people in this age group in the labor force.
Among the 20 largest metro areas, Washington, D.C., had the highest percentage of people in the labor force in this age group (31.8%). Others with high percentages include Boston (28.1%), Dallas-Fort Worth (27.9%), Minneapolis-St. Paul (27.4%) and Houston (26.5%), none of which were statistically different from the other.
For more information visit http://www.census.gov/acs/www/index.html .