For Immediate Release
October 5, 2012
Contact
Rae Roca
Rae.Roca@younginvincibles.org
202-378-3526
Job Market Jumps for Young Americans
The Labor Department announced today that the economy added 114,000 jobs in September while the unemployment rate fell from 8.1% to 7.8%. Unlike previous months, young Americans benefited substantially from the improving job market. Young adults ages 18 to 29 saw their unemployment rate fall nearly a full percentage point from 12.7% in August to 11.8% in September (figures not seasonally adjusted).
Rory O’Sullivan, Policy Director at Young Invincibles, said “This is great news for young Americans across the country and we hope it continues. Our generation’s number one issue is job creation. We’re more than ready to get back to work, knowing that we have a long road to climb.”
Young Invincibles recently released a report estimating that the economy is missing 2.7 million youth jobs that would have existed had the recession never occurred. Even under optimistic assumptions, young Americans will not make up the lost ground before 2021 and there is a real chance the youth labor market will never recover.
The unemployment rate for young adults ages 16 to 24 also fell over a full percentage point from 16.8% in August to 15.5% in September. Young African Americans of similar ages noted a three percentage point drop over the past month from 28.5% to 25.1%. Similarly the unemployment rate for young Latinos fell from 18.3% to 15.4%.
For more information visiting Young Invincibles at www.younginvincibles.org. For the Young Invincibles report on the young jobs gap, visit https://younginvincibles.org/
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Young Invincibles is a national organization committed to mobilizing and expanding opportunities for all young Americans between 18 and 34 years of age.