The recession officially ended in June 2009, but that hasn't done anything to help many seniors enjoy the retirement they had planned for. On the contrary, many are postponing retirement, and some already retired are brushing the dust off their resumes to find work.

The labor-force participation of senior citizens has been rising and in 2011 persisted high above pre-recession levels, according to a recent report by the Washington, D.C.-based Employee Benefit Research Institute. The organization examined the rate at which older workers participated in the work force before, during and after the recent economic downturn. The proportion of seniors 55 and older in the work force has been 40.2 percent for the past two years, its highest level since 1993, when it was 29.4 percent.

While some of the seniors who remain in the work force do so to stay active, many are staying because of need.

George DeMarco, 88, said he would have lost his house if he hadn't found work 26 years after retirement. His successful years behind him, the World War II veteran has been doing clerical work at the Polk Works office in Winter Haven for the past three years.

"I had to go to work to put food on the table," he said. "I've got a house to pay for."

His monthly income of about $1,200 "just wouldn't cut it."

DeMarco had retired at 62 after a successful career managing an apparel company. Now the Auburndale resident works 25 hours per week for $7.67 per hour. With a 42-year-old, disabled son to take care of, he doesn't know when he'll retire.

"Naturally, I feel terrible," he said. "All I know is the cost of living has gone up, gasoline has gone up."

Victoria Funes, associate state director of AARP Florida, said the economy has particularly affected the 401(k) savings of seniors.

"And so they find it necessary to stay in the workplace not only for financial reasons but also to be able to continue their health care coverage," she said.

She said the economy has hurt seniors with fixed incomes while the prices of everything from rent to groceries continue to rise, and now many of them don't even know when they'll retire.

"It has affected everybody," Funes said. "We see professional people that need to go back to work as much as the unskilled workers."

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the number of employed people 65 and older rose from 4.3 million in 2002 to 7.2 million this year. The number of working seniors 75 and older is now 1.3 million, up 41.2 percent from a decade ago.

Craig Copeland, senior research assistant at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, said that because of the uncertainties brought on by the struggling economy, many seniors are trying to save the money they've put away for a rainy day.

"So those that have a job are staying on the job to make sure they go through this economic downturn," Copeland said. "They don't want to dip into those resources until they have to."

In contrast, younger people are having a harder time getting jobs with 23 percent of teenagers 16 to 19 in the job market unemployed.

Copeland, who authored the EBRI report, said there may be some correlation.

"There are some in the 50s or 60s taking jobs that younger people would have taken in the past," he said.

Candy Brown, employment and training coordinator with Experience Works in Auburndale, said seniors now have to compete for jobs with younger job applicants and fresh college graduates.

The Arlington, Va.,-based organization helps seniors nationwide who have barriers to employment find jobs in their local communities. Many, Brown said, have to do so because they didn't get the retirement they expected.

"We have people that have come back to work that are in their 80s and are finding that Social Security just isn't enough for them," she said.

Because of changes brought on by the economy, including fracturing of families, Brown said, many find themselves in difficult spots in which they have to take care of grandchildren or to make payments on their houses, or simply have exhausted their savings.

"I think I've heard practically every story you can think of," she said. "Now they have to go back to work or work longer because they don't have that nest egg that they had before."

She said the circumstances are causing seniors to take jobs in areas they wouldn't have considered in their earlier years.

"For instance, there are more men willing to go into office reception work," Brown said.

An earlier report by EBRI found that in 2006, just before the economy went south, 11.2 percent of workers 50 or older expected to retire at age 70, but by 2010, that had increased to 14.8 percent. Just 1.7 percent expected to retire at age 80 in 2006. By 2010, that number had tripled to 5.2 percent.

"This upward trend is not surprising and is likely to continue," EBRI's Copeland said. "Many workers continue to need access to employment-based health insurance, as well as more earning years to save for retirement."

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Elvina Nawaguna can be reached at elvina.nawaguna@theledger.com or 802-7515. (c)2012 The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.) Visit The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.) at www.theledger.com

(c) The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla.