One of the jarring — and until recently underreported — aspects of those seemingly-positive recent US jobs reports is the increasing skew towards older workers. Most new jobs have gone to people who in better times would be leaving to live off their savings. Now they’re coming back, frequently taking jobs they wouldn’t consider if money wasn’t so tight.

And it’s apparently a lot worse for older women: (Wall Street Journal): 

More female workers delay retirement, a shift that’s helping to transform America’s economy

Connie Blanchette, age 72, is a relative newcomer at the county social-services agency where she works part time, so her retirement plans differ from most longtime government workers. “I will work as long as I can,” she said.

Ms. Blanchette, who lost her job, home and savings after the financial crisis, is among a wave of older American women who are working or seeking work longer than any previous generation as they look ahead to more years of life than men their age and with less accumulated wealth.

Since the start of the most recent recession in December 2007, the share of older working women has grown while the percentage of every other category of U.S. worker—by gender and age—has declined or is flat.

In 1992, one in 12 women worked past age 65. That number is now around one in seven. By 2024, it will grow to almost one in five, or about 6.3 million workers, according to Labor Department projections.

“It’s really one of the most stunning developments that we’ve seen in the labor market over the last 50 years,” said Richard Johnson, director of the Urban Institute’s program on retirement policy.

While many Americans continue working late in life because they find their jobs rewarding, others, including Ms. Blanchette, find themselves approaching old age with more debt, less savings and with fewer of them receiving pensions than workers of previous generations.