A ProPublica/Urban Institute analysis of Health and Retirement Study data found that among older workers who were pushed out of jobs they had held for years, only about one in ten subsequently earned as much as they had before the employmen
Among all workers displaced during 2023–2025, regardless of how long they had held the lost job, 19.3% were unemployed in January 2026. That was up from 16.4% in the prior displacement survey.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics historical data show that the labor-force participation rate for women ages 25–54 rose from 47.9% in 1968 to 64.0% in 1980.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that among workers ages 55–64 who had been displaced from jobs they had held for at least three years between 2021 and 2023, 55.3% were reemployed in January 2024.
Bureau of Labor Statistics annual averages for 2025 show that unemployed people ages 55–64 had been unemployed for an average of 26.7 weeks.
In a 2025 Clarify Capital survey of 1,000 U.S. employers, 1 in 5 reported intentionally leaving roles unfilled to reduce costs while appearing active in hiring.
A 2023 study using data from 27 countries found that people working from home saved an average of 72 minutes per work-from-home day in commuting time. Workers allocated about 40% of that saved time to their jobs and about 11% to caregiving.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that among long-tenured displaced workers ages 25–54, 74.5% were reemployed in January 2024, compared with 55.3% among ages 55–64.
In 2025 annual-average BLS data, about one-quarter of unemployed workers ages 55–64 had been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer—the standard statistical definition of long-term unemployment.
In July 2023, 11.9 million U.S. workers were independent contractors on their sole or main job, representing 7.4% of total employment. BLS includes independent consultants and freelance workers in this category.
