Since the beginning of the post-crisis recovery, stagnant wage growth has been one of the most frustrating labor-market mysteries bedeviling the policy makers at the Fed. With the unemployment rate at 3.8%, the Phillips Curve dictates that wage growth should be accelerating as employers battle for the few remaining unoccupied workers in a "tight" labor market.
One reason for this phenomenon as we have posited in the past, could be the record number of elderly Americans who have lingered in - or returned to - the workforce, unable to retire due to myriad factors, including high health-care costs and inadequate retirement savings. And of course, the advent of the financial crisis ten years ago, which robbed many older Americans of much of their life savings, didn't help.
According to Bloomberg, citing a new report from money manager United Income, the labor force participation rate of retirement-age workers has cracked 20% for the first time in 57 years. Going solely by numbers, this means more seniors are working than ever before. Meanwhile, the share of working age Americans in the work force has fallen to its lowest level since the 1970s, before a large number of women entered the professional workforce. Though higher-education elderly Americans have made strong gains in income compared with people in a similar position decades ago, the buffer they've created for hiring managers could be one reason why many companies haven't needed to raise wages to attract more workers.
One reason for this phenomenon as we have posited in the past, could be the record number of elderly Americans who have lingered in - or returned to - the workforce, unable to retire due to myriad factors, including high health-care costs and inadequate retirement savings. And of course, the advent of the financial crisis ten years ago, which robbed many older Americans of much of their life savings, didn't help.
According to Bloomberg, citing a new report from money manager United Income, the labor force participation rate of retirement-age workers has cracked 20% for the first time in 57 years. Going solely by numbers, this means more seniors are working than ever before. Meanwhile, the share of working age Americans in the work force has fallen to its lowest level since the 1970s, before a large number of women entered the professional workforce. Though higher-education elderly Americans have made strong gains in income compared with people in a similar position decades ago, the buffer they've created for hiring managers could be one reason why many companies haven't needed to raise wages to attract more workers.