According to a Congressional Research Service report, in 2003, 4.8% of prime-age (35-54 years of age) workers were unemployed on average. Older workers continued to have a lower rate of unemployment: 3.9% for those aged 55-64 and 3.6% for those 65 and older." (p.4)                                                

 "This study defines unemployment as 'the ratio of those workers who did not have a job but had searched for a job in the previous four weeks to all workers in the labor market (either searching or employed)."(p.4)

U.S. Congressional Research Service. The Library of Congress: Issues in Aging: Unemployment and Older Workers (RL32757; Jan. 31, 2005), by Julie Whittaker. Text in CRS Web. Retrieved September 10, 2006, from http://www.opencrs.com/rpts/RL32757_20050131.pdf

"This report examines how unemployment has a different impact on the older worker. As workers age, negative--but previously temporary--events such as unemployment may push otherwise firmly entrenched workers out of the labor force. While older workers are less likely than others to experience a spell of unemployment, those older workers who do experience unemployment have a higher incidence incidence of withdrawing from the labor market."