Youth Unemployment Continues to Rise – Don’t Forget It

Beware of reports that unemployment is getting better. Because for our nation’s future, it isn’t.

The LA Times reports:

For 20- to 24-year-olds, the jobless rate rose four-tenths of a percent to 16% in November, even as unemployment nationally slipped to 10% from 10.2%.

And data from the Labor Department show that the unemployment figure for college graduates in that age group was 10.6% in the third quarter — the highest since early 1983 and more than double the rate for older college-educated workers.

What’s scary is how long this could linger with our generation, even after this recession passes and unemployment begins recovery.

Eventually, things will probably get better for Daley and for classmates he said were having similar problems. After all, job and pay prospects for college graduates are generally stronger than for workers with less education. But studies also suggest that graduates entering the workforce in a recession see negative effects not only in the short term but for years into the future in terms of pay and career mobility.

Entry-level salaries are usually lower in tough times, and for most workers, where they start is one of the biggest factors in how much they’re earning a decade later. The slower start can also influence family formation and consumer spending on such things as cars and houses.

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