Yay:

Longer Unemployment for Those 45 and Older
The recession’s onslaught has come [note lack of agency] as Mr. Sims and many others belonging to the post-World War II baby boom generation — the demographic burst from 1946 to 1964 that reshaped the country — remain years from retirement. But unemployed boomers, many of whom believed they were still in the prime of their careers, are confronting the grim reality that they face some of the steepest odds of any job seekers in this dismal market.

Older workers do hold some advantages. Many have avoided layoffs during this recession, and government statistics show that people 45 and older currently have a lower unemployment rate than younger workers.

Alicia H. Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, said companies were often reluctant to lose the experience of older workers, many of whom also have the protections that often come with age and seniority.

Recent data, however, has shown the advantage deteriorating. “If you are old and have a job, you are less likely — albeit less, less likely than in the old days — to be fired,” Dr. Munnell said.

The unemployment rate in March for workers age 45 and over was 6.4 percent, the highest since at least 1948, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking unemployment on a monthly basis.

But once older workers lose their jobs, Dr. Munnell said, “then it’s horrible.” They have a much harder time finding work again than younger job-seekers, and statistics appear to show that it is harder for them in this recession than previous ones.

To the ice floes, useless eaters! Of course, they can always blog.