More Americans close to or beyond retirement age are staying in the work force. The so-called labor-force participation rate reached 40.2% for older workers in 2010, the highest level over the 1975–2010 period, according to new data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The data finds for those at or over age 55, a higher percentage of men are in the labor force (46.4%) than women (36.4%). While this is a slight reduction for men since 1975 (when almost half—49.4%—were in the work force), it is a record high for women.

The labor force participation rate is defined as the percentage of working-age people who are either employed or unemployed but looking for a job.

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