This Friday, as it does every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the unemployment rate for September 2019. Likely, it will remain close to its current 3.7 percent, and a mix of analysts, talking heads, and politicians, will discuss the still tight labor market and look for clues about what that number means for the economy as it approaches the last quarter of the year.
Overlooked by many of the analysts, talking heads, and politicians, however, are other data in the monthly BLS report that should be raising questions. Among these: Why should it take older workers longer to find jobs than younger ones, and why should their odds of being out of work six months or more — often the kiss of death for a job seeker — be so much higher?
The Hill, Opinion by Maria Heidkamp, Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, October 3, 2019