Unemployment Rate For Young Americans Has Exploded To 52.2 Percent.

[IPSecure]

The unemployment rate for young Americans has exploded to 52.2 percent -- a post-World War II high, according to the Labor Dept. -- meaning millions of Americans are staring at the likelihood that their lifetime earning potential will be diminished and, combined with the predicted slow economic recovery, their transition into productive members of society could be put on hold for an extended period of time.

And worse, without a clear economic recovery plan aimed at creating entry-level jobs, the odds of many of these young adults -- aged 16 to 24, excluding students -- getting a job and moving out of their parents' houses are long. Young workers have been among the hardest hit during the current recession -- in which a total of 9.5 million jobs have been lost.Link (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/the_dead_end_kids_AnwaWNOGqsXMuIlGONNX1K)

[erowe1]

Strange that the article doesn't mention one obvious factor, which is the raise in the minimum wage that took effect this summer at the height of the recession.

[awake]

When the only gainful employment is the military, war must follow.

[squarepusher]

Strange that the article doesn't mention one obvious factor, which is the raise in the minimum wage that took effect this Summer at the height of the recession.

lol so true

[angelatc]

Economost John Lott thinks this number seems suspiciously high. (http://johnrlott.blogspot.com/2009/09/this-unemployment-number-seems-much-too_27.html)

His book, Freedomnomics, (http://www.amazon.com/Freedomnomics-Market-Works-Half-Baked-Theories/dp/B001NXDRKS/ref=tmm_hrd_title_1) is now out in paperback btw.

[awake]

"The unemployed individual wants work. He wants to earn because he
considers the opportunities which wages afford higher than the doubt full
value of permanent leisure in poverty. He despairs because he is
unable to find work. From among the unemployed, the adventurers
and the aspiring dictators select their storm troopers." Mises

[TGGRV]

In Europe high unemployment rates for young people are normal because due to taxation and the minimum wage, they're inefficient to hire.

[Lovecraftian4Paul]

It's also a sign that the college bubble has burst, we just haven't recognized it yet. If you aren't learning a trade, getting a hard science/engineering/mathematics degree in a field that hasn't been outsourced overseas, or studying for a PhD in liberal arts on an Ivy League track, then college isn't going to help you much in securing a job. It's going to be a very long time before we as a people get over the idea that absolutely everyone should go to college.

It's gotten to the point where the average Bachelor's Degree is a very expensive equivalent to the High School diploma about twenty years ago. The terrible economy and amount of debt you'll be saddled with going to the average university makes it not worth it, unless you're realistic about your career prospects and really have a game plan for life.

I apologize if this is a little off topic for the numbers that exclude students, but I think it ties in. The poor boys and girls who aren't college bound are really getting hosed right now unless they've got a family business they can work in, or connections to get their foot in the door at any other company. Meanwhile, the retail, customer service, and data entry jobs they could've been doing are taken up by debt saddled graduates who are lucky enough to get these jobs and capable of swallowing the bitter pill: low paid positions that likely have nothing to do with their college studies and pay just barely well enough to cover student loan payments.

[sevin]

When the only gainful employment is the military, war must follow.

I'm beginning to think that's been the plan all along. Before you start or expand a war, you need plenty of out-of-work 18 to 25-year-olds who are tired of living at home.


"The unemployed individual wants work. He wants to earn because he
considers the opportunities which wages afford higher than the doubt full
value of permanent leisure in poverty. He despairs because he is
unable to find work. From among the unemployed, the adventurers
and the aspiring dictators select their storm troopers." Mises

Exactly.

[erowe1]

Economost John Lott thinks this number seems suspiciously high. (http://johnrlott.blogspot.com/2009/09/this-unemployment-number-seems-much-too_27.html)

His book, Freedomnomics, (http://www.amazon.com/Freedomnomics-Market-Works-Half-Baked-Theories/dp/B001NXDRKS/ref=tmm_hrd_title_1) is now out in paperback btw.

Thanks for the link to John Lott's blog. Ive enjoyed reading things from him before but didn't know about his blog.

His post is interesting. So not only are taxpayers being forced to fund two or more different federal agencies to track the same statistics independently of one another. But the results of one or both of them are so unreliable that they differ from each other in how many young people are unemployed by a margin roughly equal to 100% of the smaller of the two.

[MsDoodahs]

When the only gainful employment is the military, war must follow.

This is true. Sad, and true.

[2young2vote]

I go to a state run school and I have a job in the cafeteria. Yay for government jobs? I can tell you that it is very inefficient. The employees walk slowly like they are out of breath and I often see them just standing around. What really gets me angry is when I have been working on refilling the beverages for 2 hours then I ask the fat girl at the cash register to switch and we do and the next thing I know she is on break sitting with her friends at a table and the beverages AREN'T BEING FILLED! The kids just vacuum around the chairs and don't pull them out which leaves lots of crumbs under the table. We never got any real training, we were just put on the job and instructed by the kids who were already working (which can lead to misinformation). Can you believe that I work at the Hamburger Grill for 1 HOUR on monday with 2 other people? WTH was the point of that? Instead of assigning us to 1 specific job for all of your shifts you are spread across the entire cafeteria. One day i am in the dishroom and another i am cleaning the dining room/cash register/beverages, then for 1 hour a week i am making hamburgers. I would rather just do one of those and become an expert at it.

So, i have a job and i am 18.

[heavenlyboy34]

I go to a state run school and I have a job in the cafeteria. Yay for government jobs? I can tell you that it is very inefficient. The employees walk slowly like they are out of breath and I often see them just standing around. What really gets me angry is when I have been working on refilling the beverages for 2 hours then I ask the fat girl at the cash register to switch and we do and the next thing I know she is on break sitting with her friends at a table and the beverages AREN'T BEING FILLED! The kids just vacuum around the chairs and don't pull them out which leaves lots of crumbs under the table. We never got any real training, we were just put on the job and instructed by the kids who were already working (which can lead to misinformation). Can you believe that I work at the Hamburger Grill for 1 HOUR on monday with 2 other people? WTH was the point of that? Instead of assigning us to 1 specific job for all of your shifts you are spread across the entire cafeteria. One day i am in the dishroom and another i am cleaning the dining room/cash register/beverages, then for 1 hour a week i am making hamburgers. I would rather just do one of those and become an expert at it.

So, i have a job and i am 18.

and your boss is the government...congrats! ;)

[BlackTerrel]

It's also a sign that the college bubble has burst, we just haven't recognized it yet. If you aren't learning a trade, getting a hard science/engineering/mathematics degree in a field that hasn't been outsourced overseas, or studying for a PhD in liberal arts on an Ivy League track, then college isn't going to help you much in securing a job. It's going to be a very long time before we as a people get over the idea that absolutely everyone should go to college.

I agree. Here in California we have these community colleges that are state funded and flush with cash, even though the quality of education is worthless and most grads become Subway sandwich artists (after loading up on student debt that will take them 20 years to pay off). The benefit of college for a lot of people is questionable at best...

[Endgame]

I agree. Here in California we have these community colleges that are state funded and flush with cash, even though the quality of education is worthless and most grads become Subway sandwich artists (after loading up on student debt that will take them 20 years to pay off). The benefit of college for a lot of people is questionable at best...

I don't even know where to begin. I feel like I could write a book on this. I've been in college 4 years and I'd say its one of the most destructive institutions that exists in our society, second only to the Federal Reserve. Its a scam, its propaganda, its a government-created market distortion, its ridiculous to expect everyone to go, its usually worthless even if you happen to be one of the few people who are good at it... it has destroyed a generation financially and mentally.

[Endgame]

I agree. Here in California we have these community colleges that are state funded and flush with cash, even though the quality of education is worthless and most grads become Subway sandwich artists (after loading up on student debt that will take them 20 years to pay off). The benefit of college for a lot of people is questionable at best...

I don't even know where to begin. I feel like I could write a book on this. I've been in college 4 years and I'd say its one of the most destructive institutions that exists in our society, second only to the Federal Reserve. Its a scam, its propaganda, its usually worthless even if you happen to be one of the few people who are good at it... it has destroyed a generation. This is coming from someone who is good at it, and hopefully one of the even fewer that will get a job out of it. I haven't gotten the short end of it, but I've seen hundreds of others that have.