What Are the Nearly 40 Percent of Unemployed Americans Doing?

John Krautzel
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According to recent employment statistics, nearly 60 percent of Americans are working, which leaves over 40 percent without a job. Employment statistics also suggest that not all these unemployed people actually want to find a job. In fact, the labor force participation rate — the percentage of people who are employed or seeking work — is at its lowest rate since 1977.

There could be many reasons behind the low labor force participation rate. For example, people may be taking time off work to care for children or older relatives, or they may be dropping out of the labor market due to their own ill health. Other possible reasons for this trend include people choosing to spend time going back to school, which could be a sign that they need to reskill to find work in the new economy.

Digging down into the employment statistics reveals some interesting trends. Labor force participation is falling faster among the 16- to 24-year-old age group than among older generations. This is matched by a rise in young people who are studying, suggesting that millennials are choosing to spend more time developing their skills before looking for their first full-time jobs.

Experts are not sure whether young people are trying to wait out the recession by spending more years in college or if today's high-tech economy means that young people need advanced qualifications to find jobs. If the latter is the case, then the employment statistics could signal a positive future for the labor market, with a new generation of highly skilled and ambitious workers due to graduate in the next few years.

Among people aged 25 to 54, some people took time out of the workforce to care for children, while others became disabled. In addition, employment statistics show that a large number of people in this age group went back to school to gain new skills and qualifications, which can be an essential first step in making a midlife career change. This could signify that people are making the most of the economic disruption of the past few years to pursue new goals and ambitions.

Labor force participation actually increased among people aged 55 to 64. Since 2000, the number of people in this age group taking early retirement has fallen by 6.5 percent. Instead, more people are working longer. Three percent more older people are claiming disability, compared to data from 2000.

Employment statistics show that fewer people have jobs in 2015 than at the turn of the 21st century, but that doesn't mean that everyone taking time out of the workplace has given up on finding a job. Many people are studying to gain new qualifications and skills, while others are taking care of children or other relatives.


Image courtesy of Pong at FreeDigitalPhotos.Net

 
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  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    @Shirley it is true that it can be very frustrating to try to find a job when you have been out taking care of the kiddos. But it's not impossible. Simply include the work you had done prior to having children and then include any volunteering you did as the kids were growing up: volunteering as a room Mom, or on the PTA, or helping out during sporting events, etc. What about at church? Did you volunteer for any positions there? Include them. In your cover letter simply state that you were out of the workforce for XX number of years while raising your family. You may want to consider taking a refresher course at the local community college or taking an online course to receive a certificate - anything to bring your past skills up to date. @Anne without knowing what you did for the government it's hard to try to answer. But take a step back and list all of your skills down. By doing this, you may find that you are qualified for a lot more than you think you are. For example, were you in charge of writing up reports or other correspondence? Try taking on a writing assignment. Were you in charge of others? Try looking for a management position. There are so many things that you can do with the skills and knowledge you gained from your government position. Best of luck to both of you.

  • Annne A.
    Annne A. •

    Finding a job when your security clearance has expired is impossible in the govt contracting world. I've been unemployed for over 2 1/2 yrs and since I haven't worked in the retail, customer service or fields that do not require a clearance, I can't find a job.

  • shirley m. h.
    shirley m. h. •

    finding a job on line is next to impossible when you have been out of the workforce taking care of children, you have no resume to give and over 55

  • James Hose
    James Hose •

    Expierence has nothing do with getting a job I have yrs of it in many different fields and still can't find a decent job

  • James Hose
    James Hose •

    It's hard to get a job at all unless you got a degree in something I have more skills then people that have been in school trading for years people don't wanna give you a chance to prove your skills anymore it's crazy

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    Thanks everyone for the great comments. As much as you may hate job boards, they are here to stay. More and more companies are using job boards to post their job openings. In the past you used to be able to open up the Sunday paper and find a whole huge section dedicated to job openings. Last Sunday I took a quick look and couldn't believe that I only saw one IT job, no accounting jobs and just a spattering of healthcare jobs. That's because people don't want to look for jobs in the paper anymore; most don't even want to receive a newspaper when they can read the news online. So where else do you think jobs are going to be posted? On a job board. Is it still a case of who you know and not what you know? Maybe. But if that's the case, why wouldn't you take the time to network; to reach out to former coworkers and supervisors? All we can do is take a deep breath and begin again. Best of luck to all of you.

  • Rebecca P.
    Rebecca P. •

    I am in agreement with Steve, Pooja, Helen. Job boards are useless, they scan other site's, post outdated, expired opportunities, there are stat's available on this that needs to be factored in this ongoing question. IMHO, as an active member of LinkedIn, it's still who you know; majority of positions are already filled internally. That's HR standards, must post opening for their set period of time, candidate ie. Us..receive the robotic no reply rejection email, if we are lucky to even receive a reply.Getting past antiquated ATS systems is a waste of time, if it takes longer than 5 minutes to populate an application, I move on to next search. I will not comment on Beyond, just thank you for being part of the stat's on commentary. Have a Gr8t day.

  • Janice Hobbs
    Janice Hobbs •

    I had to get a job as an assembler until I can get back into the IT field. It's been a frustrating year trying to find a job and competing with other candidates that are just as good as you are.

  • steve t.
    steve t. •

    Before the internet came into play it was much easier to find work. I am tired of wasting time on the computer, I have many skills but employers don't seem to care or think I'm too old at 53. Oh well that's my take on it all.

  • Pooja Sharma
    Pooja Sharma •

    Helen B. I agree

  • Helen B.
    Helen B. •

    Whoever wrote this could have made it much shorter by not being so repetitive and redundant. They also should have added some reasons behind some of the stats. Example: The increase in the 55 - 64 age group may be due to people living longer, or the baby boomer generation. Also, in order to qualify for a good job these days, employers demand experience; and that is not common among younger employee hopefuls out of college. Personally I fall into that age group, but due to a disability, prevented me from getting the needed experience needed; which is making it nearly impossible to find a job. I am RMA certified, and did very well in school since my disability is no longer an issue. Without experience in a facility, the certification is not worth the paper its printed on. After searching for a job in the medical field for the past 10 months, I've come to the conclusion that I have wasted not only my time but a great deal of money going back to school to upgrade my labor status.

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