In Georgia in 2013, 1 out of 4 workers between ages 35 and
54 were not employed.
This failure is causing continued drag on the State of Georgia's economy and should concern everyone, including policymakers.
It reverses the trend seen before the recession, when a greater proportion of people in
their prime working years (ages 35-54) were employed in Georgia than for the
United States as a whole.
The lines cross in 2009, and as the recovery has continued
nationwide, those prime earning-years workers have failed to recover in
Georgia. They are being left behind in Georgia, and they lack the income to
boost economic activity in the state.
That failure has potential long-term implications for
lifetime earnings for these workers carrying into their retirement years, which
they will enter poorer than previous generations.
Meantime, older workers (ages 55-64 and 65+) are
increasingly working, while their younger counterparts are having a harder time
finding their place in today’s workforce.