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With the nation's unemployment rate continually increasing and more people switching career paths, taking on second jobs or going back to work, people of all ages are searching for jobs online.

While recent graduates are used to using the Internet as a resource for a variety of tasks, the older generation is beginning to use online job searching to its advantage. According to an article by The Wall Street Journal, about 3.6 million people 65-years and older visited career-development Web sites during January, as reported by Nielsen Online.

While the majority of online job seekers, or 18.7 million, are between the ages of 35 and 49, those 65-years and older were the fastest-growing group, up 41 percent from January 2008.

"(The figures represent) a desire to stay employed longer in order to sock away more retirement savings," Chuck Schilling, Nielsen Online research director, said in the article.

Workers who are 65-years and older made up about 17 percent of the total workforce at the end of 2008, an increase of 12 percent from 1998. The unemployment rate among the same age group is 5.7 percent.

Pew recently reported that those 64 to 72-years old make up 7 percent of the population that uses the Internet. About 45 percent of people aged 70 to 75 used the Internet during 2008, up from 25 percent during 2005, while 56 percent of people aged 65 to 69 used the Internet.

Of those 65 to 69-years old, two out of five have broadband Internet access in their home, four times as many compared to 2005. Of those 70 to 75-years old, one in three have broadband Internet access in their home, three times as many compared to 2005.

While nine out of 10 seniors use the Internet for e-mail, the second-most popular activity is search and research, while seven out of 10 seniors use the Internet to find health information.

Labels: Jobs online