FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 10, 2014

Contact: Colin Seeberger, colin.seeberger@younginvincibles.org, 214.223.2913

Young Invincibles’ Statement On December Jobs Report

Youth Unemployment Numbers Come On the Heels of New Report Quantifying the Cost of the Crisis

[WASHINGTON]— As the national unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent and the economy added 74,000 jobs in December, the unemployment rate for 18 to 29 year-olds dropped to 9.5 percent from 10 percent in November (not seasonably adjusted). For younger workers, ages 16 to 24, the unemployment rate declined to 13.5 percent from 14.1 percent in November (seasonally adjusted). However, these rates—while lower—do not tell the full story, because 139,000 18- to 29-year-olds left the workforce (not seasonably adjusted).

Rory O’Sullivan, Policy and Research Director at Young Invincibles, released the following statement on this month’s jobs report:

“The shrinking youth labor force and high young adult unemployment rates are costing taxpayers more than $25 billion a year. When we ignore the youth unemployment crisis, it risks our shared economic prosperity now and decades into the future. We cannot continue to sit idly and think that this problem is just going to fix itself. For all Americans, it is time we take bold action to put young people back to work.”

This week, Young Invincibles released In This Together, a new report quantifying the cost of youth unemployment, putting a value to the losses realized by federal and state governments and their taxpayers for the first time.

Here is more information on how different populations of young people fared in December 2013:

• The unemployment rate for Black young adults ages 16 to 24 in December is 20.7 percent compared to 23.1 percent last month (not seasonally adjusted).
• The unemployment rate for young Latinos ages 16 to 24 remained at 14.4 percent in December (not seasonally adjusted).
• The unemployment rate for young men ages 16 to 24 in December is 13.2 percent compared to 15.1 percent last month (seasonally adjusted).
• The unemployment rate for young women ages 16 to 24 in December is 12.8 percent, compared to 13.0 percent last month (seasonally adjusted).

###

Young Invincibles is a national organization committed to amplifying the voices of young adults, ages 18 to 34, and expanding economic opportunity for our generation. Young Invincibles ensures that young adults are represented in today’s most pressing societal debates through cutting-edge policy research and analysis, and innovative campaigns designed to educate, inform and mobilize our generation to change the status quo. Follow us on Twitter at @YI_Care.