The early bird catches the worm, and so do employers who recognize when the labor market is overlooking talented groups of Americans. Coca-Cola did so in heavily recruiting minorities in the 1980s, IBM did likewise with working moms in the 1990s, and many companies now hope to be seen as the preferred employer of the over-55 crowd. It’s a smart move, considering that age group will grow 50 percent in coming years with the arrival of legions of Baby Boomers. The third in our three-part series on the job market for older workers notes more than a dozen companies that recognize their value. Read it, along with Ray Martin’s advice column on year-end tax planning and a story on the continued sharp rise in mortgage rates this week, in today’s Personal Finance pages.

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