Employment Data Show Shades Of Gray

“谁人”(The Who)乐队广为人知地唱着他们希望在衰老之前死去。显然，他们不想要一份合适的工作。经季节性因素调整，此次经济衰退以来，美国已经减少了660万个工作岗位。这已经导致上一次不同寻常地伴随着失业的经济上扬时期创造出来的工作岗位减少了六成。每个年龄段的劳动力都在失业。唯一的例外是55岁以上年龄段，这一群体的就业人数增加了将近100万。此外，55以上年龄群还占据了经济回升过程中新增工作岗位的三分之二。这种状况和雇主青睐经验丰富人员没有太大关系，倒是与统计学错误有更大的关系。二战后婴儿潮的首批人群将于2011年达到官方退休年龄。这一人口统计学上的突出部分的年龄在不断老化，在这个十年逐渐接近退休年龄。据美国人口普查局(Census Bureau)估计，55岁至64岁之间的美国总人口在2001年7月至2008年7月间增加了940万人。2001年11月至今，美国年龄超过55岁的就业人口增加了800万人，两个现象之间是有联系的。不过，数据反应的并不只是简单的人口统计学变化。在同一时期，55岁以上人群占总就业人口的比重上升了5个百分点，可能是因为这部分人群在互联网泡沫和住房泡沫破灭导致他们资产净值缩水之后，选择再次进入就业市场打拼。与此同时，每个年龄层的劳动参与率都在下降。16-24岁的年龄层中，尽管这部分人口规模不断扩大，但其劳动参与率却下降了将近10个百分点，降到了50%以下。老年劳动力专注于积攒养老金，年轻人则努力寻找工作机会，这种状况对依赖于强劲消费的美国经济来说并不是什么好兆头。Liam Denning相关阅读美国就业状况有望好转 2009-08-10美国就业市场即将出现改善 2009-08-07


The Who famously sang they hoped they'd die before they got old. Clearly, they didn't want a proper job.So far in this recession, 6.6 million jobs have been lost on a seasonally adjusted basis. That wipes out six of 10 jobs created in the last, unusually jobless, economic upswing. Every age group has lost jobs.Except, that is, the cohort aged 55 and over, which has gained nearly one million positions. What's more, over-55s accounted for two-thirds of net jobs created in the upswing.This has less to do with gray flair and more with a statistical wrinkle. The first of the postwar baby boomers hit official retirement age in 2011. That demographic bulge has been rolling through the age structure -- in and out of the workplace -- through this decade. According to Census Bureau estimates, the overall population age 55 to 64 grew by 9.4 million between July 2001 and July 2008. That isn't dissimilar to the roughly eight million increase in the ranks of employed over-55s between November 2001 and now.But the figures point to more than just a demographic chnage. Over the same time period, the proportion of over-55s in employment rose five percentage points, possibly reflecting a need to re-enter the job market after the bursting of a tech bubble and a housing bubble damaged their net worth.Meanwhile, labor participation fell for every other age group. For those age 16 to 24, for example, the rate fell almost 10 percentage points, to under half, even as that population group expanded. A graying work force focusing on rebuilding its nest egg while the young struggle for entry doesn't bode well for an economy dependent on sprightly consumers.Liam Denning