The FRED Blog has discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the participation of different groups of workers in the US labor force. Many workers in the later stages of their careers left the labor force, taking early retirement. This phenomenon was so pronounced it became known as “excess retirements.” Today we tap into recent research from the St. Louis Fed to discuss this wave of early retirements.

Our FRED graph above shows the COVID-19-induced recession (shaded area in the center of the graph) and labor force participation data for two population groups between June 2015 and June 2025:

• People aged 25 to 54 (solid blue line, plotted on the left axis).
• People aged 55 and over (dashed green line, plotted on the right axis).

Both younger and older workers withdrew from the labor force in large numbers during the pandemic: In fact, their participation rates plummeted. Yet, within two years, the younger workers had bounced back to their pre-pandemic participation rates. But the older workers have not.

Recent research by Serdar Birinci, Miguel Faria e Castro, and Kurt See finds that workforce retirements substantially exceeded pre-pandemic trends between 2020 and 2024. Their analysis of broader demographic trends also shows an overall rising share of retirements from the labor force. This trend, by itself, will continue to depress the labor force participation rate of workers aged 55 and older for the foreseeable future.

For more about this and other research, visit the publications page of the St. Louis Fed’s website, which offers an array of economic analysis and expertise provided by our staff.

How this graph was created: Search FRED for and select “Labor Force Participation Rate – 25-54 Yrs.” Click “Edit Graph” and use the “Add Line” tab to search for and add “Labor Force Participation Rate – 55 Yrs. & Over.” Use the “Format” tab to customize Line 2 by selecting “Y-Axis position: Right.”

Suggested by Daniel Bell and Diego Mendez-Carbajo.