Pandemic Forces Many Older Americans to Retire Early

WRAL TechWire reports that many Americans are being forced to take early retirement because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Young workers' participation in the labor force has nearly fully recovered — likely reflecting both lower health risks from the virus and a decline in college enrollment — while the participation of older workers and women has recovered more slowly," wrote Goldman Sachs economist Joseph Briggs in a note to clients. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that the labor force participation rate stood at 61.5 percent in November, a 1.9 percent decline from the February rate. Briggs said there were roughly 830,000 "excess retirees" in October, representing about 25 percent of the difference between the pre-pandemic workforce and the current workforce. Workers who retire are highly unlikely to return to work and would be categorized as permanent job losses. Briggs also noted that the Census Pulse Households Survey indicates that more workers applied for early Social Security benefits this year due to the pandemic. Although he suggested the early retirement trend should peter out with the increased number of retirees eventually offset by fewer retirees in coming years, this does little to console those forced to terminate their careers.