Report: Number of Non-Employed Men in Prime Working Years Has Tripled

By Tom Edathikunnel

The number of men in their prime working years who are not non-employed has tripled in the United States since 1968, according to an interactive study by The New York Times.

Nationwide, 16 percent of men ages 25-54 who are without work. That’s either because they’re officially unemployed or outside the labor force, meaning they’re disabled, retired, in school or taking care of a family.

The number is also 16 percent in Gwinnett County, but the rate fluctuates greatly depending on the area inside the geographically large county.

The rate in the Peachtree Corners was generally lower, according to the study, although the margin of error increases as it closes in on local areas. The county figure had a margin of error of plus/minus of 1 percent, but margins in the Peachtree Corners were 6 to 9 percent.

Rates were above the national number in the following metro counties: Clayton (27 percent), DeKalb (21), Fulton (19), Walton (19) and Douglas (17).

The rate isn’t so high everywhere. Employment rates among men in some places — the affluent areas of Manhattan, for example — approach 90 percent, approaching the rates of the worker friendly 1950s and 1960s.

The interactive data found in the Times, collected by the American Community Survey from 2009-2013 estimates, allows readers to examine non-employment rates in every census county across the country.

Click here to see the rates of every county in the country, and search for the area of town near your home.