Seniors Scrambling for Work

Uncertainty is the 'new normal' in America

(NEWSER) - For many Americans, "recovery" feels a lot like recession—and it may take a decade for that to change, finds the New York Times . At the current rate of job creation, for instance, it would take nine years to recapture jobs lost thus far. Home prices, meanwhile, are down 20% since 2005; even assuming 2% inflation, it would take 13 years for the market to reach pre-crisis levels. Everywhere, offices sit empty. More»

(NEWSER) - If you’re the glass-half-full type, recent economic indicators look good: Unemployment fell last month, the savings rate is up, and productivity hit a 6-year high. But that same data proves that ordinary people aren’t likely to feel the good vibrations anytime soon, the Washington Post reports. “It's going to be a recovery only a statistician can love,” said a Wells Fargo economist. More»

Middle-aged workers hurt as unemployment hits 70-year high

(NEWSER) - Typically it’s the young who lose their jobs in a recession, but not in the current slowdown. Aging white workers at the theoretical peak of their earning power are losing their jobs this time around—and they can’t find new ones, USA Today reports. The jobless rate for white men over age 55 is at its highest level since the Great Depression, hitting a record 6.5% in the second quarter. More»

$10M government program trains new agricultural force

(NEWSER) - As their country struggles with its worst recession since World War II, many Japanese city slickers stymied by the job market are trying out the farming life, the Wall Street Journal reports. Aiming to rejuvenate an industry in which two-thirds of full-time workers are 65 and older, the government has initiated a $10 million program to train 900 people in farming, forestry, and fishing. More»

Economy shedding jobs at fastest rate in 50 years

(NEWSER) - The February job numbers released today bring the country close to the employment nadir it reached in 1982, David Leonhardt writes for the New York Times. The 651,000 lost jobs, along with 161,000 added in revisions to previous months, still bring a depressing milestone: Since the start of 2008, the US has shed jobs at a faster rate than at any other time in the past 50 years. More»