There has been a fall of 9,000 in the number of people in employment between the ages of 50 and 65, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

One thousand men and 8,000 women over 50 have left employment in the three months prior to June 2008. No other age group over 25 experienced a fall in numbers.
 
Chris Ball, chief executive of TAEN, The Age and Employment Network, said: "Even though the age regulations mean using an individual's age as the basis for selection for redundancy is likely to be unlawful, it is the way many employers have traditionally tackled the task when they have needed to cut staff numbers."

This comes only weeks after a Vodafone survey found 70% of job workers over 50 felt fulfilled in their jobs compared to only half of employees aged between 25 and 31.

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