Newswise — “While sluggish aggregate demand is certainly a continuing problem, the latest long-term employment outlook by the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests structural shifts are underway that should not be ignored.
“Technology is continuing to boost productivity in way likely to continue contributing to declining employment in manufacturing over time. Manufacturing makes up three-quarters of the 20 sub-industry sectors projected to experience the largest employment declines. These manufacturing sub-sectors include: apparel knitting, leather tanning, communications equipment manufacturing, computer manufacturing, pesticide and fertilizer, miscellaneous, chemical production, metalworking machinery, glass products, basic chemical manufacturing, pulp and paperboard mills, fiber and yarn, iron and steel mills.
“Another really important consideration is the forecast shift in the age distribution of the labor force. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics projections, those aged 55 and over will compose more than 25 percent of the labor force in 2020. In the fallout of this recession, those over 55 years old are experiencing the longest average duration of unemployment — over 50 weeks.
“For unemployed Americans over the age of 55, the recession has not ended, and given the growing share of the labor force made up by this age group, we’ve got to pay attention to why so many older workers are not getting re-employed.” --Linda Barrington, labor economist and managing director of the Institute for Compensation Studies at Cornell’s ILR School
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