South By North Strategies, Ltd.

A research note from the NC Budget & Tax Center analyzes differences in unemployment by age. From the note …

Older workers are less likely to be unemployed than younger workers, but when they do experience unemployment, 56 percent are likely to be without a job for 26 weeks or longer.
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Long-term unemployment continues to be driven by the lack of jobs but is further compounded for older workers by the challenge of finding similar employment despite strong work histories.
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Due to longer periods of unemployment, older workers are more likely to exhaust their unemployment benefits and can be pushed into unplanned retirement.