By Veronica Dagher
Behind the striking drop in the labor-force participation rate is a longer-term falloff in employment among older Americans. The 55-and-older cohort saw its participation rate plummet to a 21-year low of 37.1% in the latest jobs report.
More people are retiring, likely as the result of the substantial wealth boom that has occurred over the past 18 years, said Troy Ludtka, senior U.S. economist at SMBC Nikko Securities Americas. Some people are opting to retire rather than adjust to the age of artificial intelligence in the workplace, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
Retirement data can be tricky to track. Some people retire and stop working fully, some merely reduce their labor supply to work part time, or take easier jobs, or start other ventures. Some re-enter the labor market.
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