Minnesota: A Look at Unemployment Among the 55 Plus

Writing for Minnesota Public Radio's Minnesota Economy blog, Paul Tosto has published charts from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) showing that Minnesotans 55 and older have seen unemployment among their peers double since 2007. In addition to the raw numbers doubling, Tosto notes that unemployment rates that were averaging just 1.8% in 2005 for those 55 to 64 rose to 6.1% in 2010.

Separately, Tosto has published a table from DEED showing the industries with the most 55+ workers, with mining leading the way with 27.4% of the workforce 55 and older, followed by educational services with 26.2%. Of workers 65 and over, "other services" led with 5.9% of its workforce of that age, followed by the transportation and warehousing industry and the real estate industry at 5.7% each.

Sources: MinnEcon "55+ unemployment doubled since Great Recession" (May 2, 2011); "Where do age 55+ Minnesotans work?" (May 3, 2011)

Minnesota: Census Bureau Issues Profile of the Older Worker

In a continuation of its partnership with 31 states on a series of reports on workers 55 and older, the Census Bureau has released its report on Minnesota, the 21st state to be released in the series. Among the highlights of the report--"The Geographic Distribution and Characteristics of Older Workers in Minnesota: 2004":

• 13.5% of workers were 55 and older, while 3.0% were 65 and older;
• statewide, the transportation and warehousing industry had the highest proportion of or workers 55 and older, but no individual sectors employed more than 20% of its workers in that age group; and
• the state's health care and social assistance industry employed the greatest number of older workers, with about 15.4% of the workers 55 and older being in that sector.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics What's New (November 6, 2008)