Counter to perceptions, vast majority leaving the workforce are older

"I think a lot of the narratives imagine prime-age workers as being missing [from the labor force], but it actually skews much older," Aaron Sojourner, a labor economist and professor at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management told CNN. In fact, 9 out of ten workers who have decided to leave the workforce last month are 55 years of age or older. Economists say many Americans in the last two years are taking early retirement, encouraged by a buoyant stock market and rising home prices. "They're in a better position now" to retire, said DP Chief Economist Nela Richards.