Spot the bloke at work – not many of them around

It seems like blokes are having a hard time competing in the job market.

This was the theme of the article in BusinessWeek; however, there was also some commentary about the job prospects of older workers. The chart paints an unhappy picture for men and young people.

A Bureau of Labour Statistics study found that many older workers who lose jobs never go back to work again. Americans aged 55-64 who were displaced (I think that means sacked) from 2007 through 2009, 21% were out of the labor force as of January 2010.

 "I have heard some people say, 'It's not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe people are just making voluntary decisions about work-life balance,'" says the chief U.S. economist for J.P. Morgan Securities. "In principle that's possible, but all of a sudden people wanted more work-life balance? I don't think so."

I don’t think so either. Dick Stroud