Employment rates, by age

Employment rates for older workers are on the rise

• Until recently, workers were retiring earlier than in the past, leading to concerns about labour shortages as the oldest baby boomers began entering their late fifties. As a result of those early retirement trends, the employment rates of people aged 55 and over were on a downward course, hitting a low of 22.0% in 1996. The trend, however, has reversed and in 2003, 28.1% of the population aged 55 and over had jobs.
• On average in 2003, nearly three out of four workers were adults aged 25 to 54. Youth (aged 15 to 24) held approximately 15% of all jobs, while people 55 and over held 12%. Three decades ago, when the baby boomers were teenagers and young adults, youth held a greater share of all jobs. In 1976, a quarter of all jobs were occupied by youth and about two-thirds of total jobs were held by adults aged 25 to 54.
• The employment rate for men is generally higher than for women. However, young women aged 15 to 24 have completely eliminated the employment rate gap between themselves and young men. In 2003, the proportion of young women who were employed averaged 58.2% versus 57.4% for young men.

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