The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
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Older workers: Labor force trends and
career options
Mitra Toossi and Elka Torpey | May 2017
You enter the labor force, you work until a certain age, and you retire. Or maybe you don’t. More and more people
are working into their later years, a trend that is expected to continue.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), about 40 percent of people ages 55 and older were
working or actively looking for work in 2014. That number, known as a labor force participation rate, is expected to
increase fastest for the oldest segments of the population—most notably, people ages 65 to 74 and 75 and older—
through 2024. In contrast, participation rates for most other age groups in the labor force aren’t projected to
change much over the 2014–24 decade.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
Career Outlook
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Keep reading to learn more about the changing age composition of the labor force. You’ll find BLS data on older
workers, including occupations in which they’re concentrated and career options such as self-employment and
part-time jobs. If you’re considering something different for a later-in-life career, this information might give you
some ideas.
A changing labor force
The labor force is people ages 16 and older who are either working or actively looking for work. It excludes active-
duty military personnel and the institutionalized population, such as prison inmates.
BLS data reveal how the age makeup of the U.S. labor force is changing. (See chart 1.) From 1970 until the end of
the 20th century, older workers—which BLS defines as those ages 55 and older—made up the smallest segment
of the labor force. In the 1990s, however, these older workers began to increase their share of the labor force,
while workers in younger age groups started to have declines in their labor force shares. And by 2003, the older
age group no longer had the smallest share.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
Career Outlook
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By 2024, BLS projects that the labor force will grow to about 164 million people. That number inc