Although millennials make up a larger portion of the Twin Cities’ workforce, local baby boomers saw much higher job growth in the last five years, according to a new study.
 
According to a recent study focused on the latest economic recovery, the number of jobs held by baby boomers (age 55 to 64) grew 9 percent nationwide from 2007 to 2013. The millennial workforce (age 22 to 34), meanwhile, grew just 0.3 percent.
 
The report was commissioned by recruitment and labor market research firm CareerBuilder.

Of metro areas with 1 million or more residents, the Twin Cities had the ninth-largest share of millennials in its workforce at 28.8 percent. The metros with the highest concentration of millennial workers are Salt Lake City, 34.1 percent; Austin, 31.4 percent; and San Diego, 29.7 percent.

Although nationwide millennials saw barely any job growth in the last five years, they grew 4.3 percent in the Twin Cities, a ratio that fell just short of the top 10 metros in the country. Austin, Houston, and New Orleans saw the highest millennial job growth—which all grew about 10 percent.

Baby boomers make up just 15 percent of the Twin Cities’ workforce but grew 13.3 percent in the last five years, growth which was also just outside the top 10 metros in the country. Houston, Austin, and Salt Lake City saw the highest baby boomer job growth—which grew 23 percent, 22 percent, and 18 percent, respectively.

The report also detailed the job change by occupation for each two generations of job seekers.
 
While baby boomers’ jobs grew across the spectrum nationwide, they increased most heavily in manufacturing, construction, and architecture and engineering. Millennials saw job losses in most occupations, although they did have large increases in food preparation and serving and healthcare practitioners and technical fields. Additionally, computer jobs grew 10 times faster for baby boomers than millennials.

“The recession prompted boomers and millennials to approach the labor market differently. Confronted by weaker entry-level job prospects, young professionals left the workforce in greater numbers or took lower paying jobs that didn’t take immediate advantage of their degrees,” CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson said in a statement. “Older workers, on the other hand, often had to postpone retirement to recoup lost savings.”

The Twin Cities was recently ranked among the top 10 cities for Millennials, as well as was one of the best metros for starting a career.