More Americans are working past age 65.(Senior Trends)

OLDER U.S. RESIDENTS WERE more likely to be working or looking for work in 2003 than they were in 2002.

When Sara Rix, a researcher at the AARP Public Policy Institute, Washington, analyzed new figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, she found that the participation rate for workers who were at least 55 increased to 35.7% in 2003, from 34.5% in 2002.

The growth rate was faster for workers ages 65 and over, Rix writes in a report.

The participation rate increased to 27.4%, from 26.1%, for workers ages 65 to 69; to 14.6%, from 14%, for