September 11, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Farmers have highest percentage of older workers

Farmers had the highest percentage of workers aged 45 and older among all occupations in 1998.

Occupations in 1998 with the highest percentage of workers aged 45 years and older.
[Chart data—TXT]

At 68.5 percent, farmers easily had the highest percentage of workers aged 45 and older, more than double the average for all employees. This is probably because farming is an occupation declining in employment - which often means fewer younger workers coming into the occupation.

Other occupations with higher concentrations of older workers included construction inspectors—60.6 percent were age 45 or older—followed by real estate occupations at 59.8 percent. The large number of older workers in the real estate occupations is due to the fact that many older workers take part-time real estate jobs to supplement their retirement earnings.

These data are a product of the Current Population Survey . Additional information is available in the article "Gauging the labor force effects of retiring baby-boomers" in the July 2000 Monthly Labor Review.

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