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Boomers in the Job Market Do the Hustle

American Public Media, 2/19/09

Abstract:

The unemployment rate for baby boomers has doubled over the past year, and those older workers looking for a job again can find it tough to re-enter the market. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports what could be working against boomers' favor:

Fifty-one-year-old Tom Breunig lost his marketing job in December. He's been networking furiously, but hasn't had a single interview. Now he's starting his own consulting business in Portland, Ore.

Breunig says unemployment is especially tough for boomers. They're used to the go-go 80's. Big hair, big money, lots of jobs.

Frustration caused by these statistics: The unemployment rate for workers aged 55 to 64 has gone from 3 [percent] to 6 percent over the past year, according to the Urban Institute.

The Institute's Sheila Zedlewski says older, male boomers have been hit hardest.

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