Johnston Reporter

Look out for a different category of job seeker to compete with recent college graduates for jobs in the coming months.

As inflation continues to be a nationwide problem, retirees are being hit hard, and some of them could be forced back into working life.

"Are the retirees going to unretire?” Rick Santelli of the CNBC Business News network asked rhetorically in a YouTube video. "The answer is yes,” he predicted. 

Senior citizens, who are often on a fixed income, are extremely vulnerable to rising prices in food, gas and utilities, causing them to make daily lifestyle changes to be able to afford the cost of living.

Higher prices put a squeeze on everyone’s budget, but the pressure is more intense on the nation’s 56 million people who are over 65. While rising prices are squeezing Americans' household budgets in every state, an additional strain is being placed on those past retirement age. The Washington Post reported recently that retirees are already cutting corners — eating less meat and taking fewer showers — to cope with the higher utility bills. Many seniors have limited savings to cover monthly costs for prolonged and unpredictable periods. 

The Elder Index, a cost-of-living measure created by the Gerontology Institute at Boston's University of Massachusetts, indicates that about half of older people who live alone are struggling to get by on less than $27,000 a year, the bare minimum for a single renter in good health to be able to cover expenses. 

“Any small change in circumstance — rising prices, a medical emergency — can throw an older person’s budget completely out of whack,” Jan Mutchler, director of the Gerontology Institute, told The Washington Post.

An estimated 15.9% of North Carolina's population is 65 or older, according to Consumer Affairs, and some of that population may be considering going back to work so they can get through their days more comfortably. 

The Washington Post also reports that homelessness among seniors is a real threat, with number rising rapidly and expected to triple within the next decade, according to a recent study led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, food banks are reporting increased demand from retirees, particularly grandparents who are raising grandchildren.

On March 10, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the consumer price index data for the 12 months ending in February 2022. The data showed a 7.9% annual increase, a 40-year high. Prices in the South region, which includes North Carolina, advanced by 1.1% in February, bringing the 12-month rate increase to 8.4%. Food prices increased 7.4% and energy prices jumped 26.2%.