The Aftermath of the Pandemic Retirement Boom
By Lei Fang, Paul Mohnen & David Lee
The labor force participation rate experienced a sharp drop during the pandemic, from which it has yet to fully recover. This shortfall can be attributed to a persistent decline in labor force participation among people aged 55 and older. In this blog post, we show that excess retirements relative to prepandemic and higher population shares of retirement-age individuals have both contributed to the decline in the labor force participation rate of older Americans. Looking ahead, we project that labor force participation among older Americans will likely keep declining in the coming years, primarily driven by an aging population.
Source Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
