To avoid appearing out of touch, others are using their time between jobs to become familiar with the latest technologies and social networking sites. Sharon Armstrong, a career consultant in Washington, D.C., urged one client fearful of seeming too old to discuss her use of Twitter and Facebook during job interviews.

And she endorses the idea of keeping certain dates off resumes.

"I don't think anyone needs to know when you graduated from college," she said. "Don't give people reasons to discriminate against you."

Once at the interview stage, Armstrong urges clients to prepare for questions like, "Aren't you overqualified?" Older job seekers say they hear that frequently. Armstrong suggests they show enthusiasm for the job and make sure not to seem to be applying out of desperation. AARP also urges older job hunters to stress their skills and achievements — not their years of experience.

Experts say some employers may be reluctant to hire people they assume are less flexible, more expensive or less agile with technology. Or they fear these workers wouldn't stay long in jobs that pay less than what they earned before, said Deborah Russell, director of work-force issues at AARP.

Such concerns "suggest age discrimination might be playing a role," said Johnson, the Urban Institute fellow. "There is certainly evidence that suggests that employers are reluctant to hire older workers."

Complaints of age bias to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission jumped 29 percent to 24,852 in the year that ended in September, the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available. That's the highest such total on records dating back 16 years. The number of such complaints has continued at a high pace this year, the EEOC said.

Tina Lurie, 49, a Washington, D.C.-based broadcasting technician who was laid off in January, doesn't respond to job listings that note, "Great for recent college graduate," even if the job sounds like a good fit. Those employers, Lurie said, are unlikely to value her 25 years' experience.

Companies are now more likely to make permanent job cuts than in previous recessions, economists say. Industries from autos to financial services won't soon return to their pre-recession employment levels. That shift hurts older workers more, because skills and experience they amassed over many years in one industry are often not relevant to another.

What's more, the severity of the recession has kept more older Americans working past the age when they hoped to retire — or pulled them back into the labor force after they had left. Their 401(k)s have lost years of accumulated savings. Their home equity has shrunk. So older people are now more likely to want to keep working, even after a layoff.

During the 1981-82 recession, older workers were more likely to have pensions that enabled them to take early retirement if they were laid off, Johnson said.