Older workers: survivors, not victims, in jobless recovery

New York Times article: “Older Workers Are Thriving Despite Recent Hard Times” says workers age 55 to 64 are “the only group thriving in the jobless recovery.”

Statistical support: “a higher percentage of those aged 55 to 64 hold jobs today than when the economy plunged into hard times in early 2001. . . [and] older people now make up 12 percent of the nation’s workers, up from 10.2 percent in 2000. That was the year the dot-com boom, so favorable to the young, began to collapse.” This age group also enjoyed the best wage gains.

Contrast this to the usual harping about age discrimination and the victimization of older workers, often based on the numbers of discrimination charges filed. See, for example, this Orlando Business Journal piece stating: “With unemployment at its highest level in nine years at 6.4 percent, older workers are increasingly bearing the brunt of layoffs.” (This article otherwise contains some good advice on avoiding age discrimination claims arising from layoffs.)