When is the best time to get a pension?
- August 11, 2021
On top of the rising costs of living, pensioners in the United States are facing a new wave of job losses.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate among workers aged 16 to 64 rose to 8.6% in May, from 8.3% in April, the highest level since September 2016.
The jobless rate for workers aged 65 and over increased to 9.9%, the highest since September 2017.
That’s the biggest jump since June 2017, when the jobless rates for all age groups fell below 8%.
The data, which came in at a time when Americans are celebrating the holidays, is one of many that shows the effects of a sluggish economy on the retirement prospects of the middle class.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on May 5 that the average annual wages of workers aged 18 to 64 fell 3.1% over the past year, the steepest decline since the recession ended in late 2009.
Those wages are down slightly from the prior year, but they are still well above the levels reached in the recession, when annual wages were at least 4% lower.
The BLS also reported that in 2017, there were nearly 13 million fewer people with a bachelor’s degree or higher than in 2016, meaning those without a high school diploma or less were losing ground.
That means those without college degrees, who made up nearly one-fifth of the U.N. Population of Persons with Disabilities, are also seeing their wages fall, and are now expected to lose the majority of their income over the next two decades.
That is the same trend seen among Americans overall, where median annual wages are expected to drop by 0.4% from this year to 2022.
That’s down from a 3.9% drop in 2021, the year before.
The outlook for workers’ compensation benefits is less dire.
The BLS reported that health care premiums are expected in 2018 to rise 5% on average, a larger percentage than other health care costs, which are expected only to rise 1.5%.
The CBO has forecast a 2.9-percent increase in health care spending in 2022, the first year in which it expects to be able to measure health care inflation.
The CBO also reported on Monday that workers’ comp costs, including Social Security, will increase 3.6%, the largest increase since the Great Recession.
That increase comes as workers’ paychecks have slowed.
Average weekly earnings in 2018 were $1,904.55, down 1.9 percent from 2017, according to the BLS.
The median weekly earnings were $942.59 in 2018, down $3.3 from 2017.
Average earnings have increased more for people in their 40s and 50s than those in their 30s, as well as for those in the middle of their careers, compared to those who started their jobs in their 20s.
