I had an illustrative experience recently. In a busy checkout line at the local Barnes & Noble, an elderly gentleman rang up my rather complex combination of books, gift cards, and electronic transfers. He proceeded flawlessly and efficiently.

I finally had the temerity to ask, “How old are you?”

“Eighty-four,” came back the answer; “I like to stay active, and I get to meet a lot of interesting people here.” We had a quick conversation about how much more common people like him are today, and I moved on.

I had the definite impression that this gentleman didn’t need the income but simply preferred working.

This situation perfectly illustrates the October jobs report, which made an already-confusing employment environment look even more complicated.

Employers Want Gray Hair

I’ve mentioned how employers seem reluctant to hire older workers. Reader Steve Lange from Denver, however, pointed me to a ZeroHedge article that questions this premise.

If you look at the table below, which shows Bureau of Labor Statistics age breakdown for new jobs you’ll see that workers aged 55 and over accounted for virtually all of October’s strong gains—378,000 new jobs last month.

 

 

Meanwhile, the number of workers aged 25–54 actually fell 35,000. That’s supposed to be “prime working age,” so any decline should ring alarm bells.

The numbers are even more alarming if you are male. Men aged 25–54 lost 119,000 jobs in October.

 

This pattern isn’t new, either. Since December 2007, workers aged 55 and older gained over 7.5 million jobs, while those under 55 lost a cumulative 4.6 million jobs. Older workers are simply taking employment market share from younger workers.

Why So Many Boomers Are Still Working

What is behind this trend? It’s partly demographic. The US population is aging as the Baby Boomer bulge grows older and Millennials postpone parenthood. Nevertheless, it does look as though Baby Boomers are staying in the labor force longer than expected.

Some Boomers may be delaying retirement simply because they enjoy working. They are healthier than previous generations were in their late 60s. I’m in that category myself.

More ominously, though, millions of Boomers are reaching retirement age without much in the way of retirement assets. They aren’t retiring because they can’t afford it.

Tyler Durden, the pseudonymous ZeroHedge writer, connects this pattern to the recovery’s unimpressive wage growth: “Little wonder then why there is no wage growth as employers continue hiring mostly those toward the twilight of their careers: the workers who have little leverage to demand wage hikes now and in the future, something employers are well aware of.”

Do older workers really have “little leverage to demand wage hikes?” I think it probably depends on the worker and the job.

For relatively unskilled, repetitive work, employers will hire whoever is most productive and reliable. They’ll pay what it takes to keep those workers aboard and still make a profit. No offense to the younger generation, but the older generation doesn’t stay out and party and shows up ready to work.

Older people may simply be willing to work for less money, although I don’t think Barnes & Noble pays high salaries to any of its retail clerks. Some probably have other income sources like Social Security. Those aged 65+ have Medicare, which reduces the employer’s benefit headache. Younger workers have neither advantage.

Nonetheless, I’m still surprised to see younger workers losing so much ground. I hope it’s because they’re busy learning new skills. That’s what we really need.

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Read the original article The Gig Economy Is the New Normal on Mauldin Economics. Copyright 2015. Follow John Mauldin on Twitter.