On Friday the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its monthly employment report. The nationwide unemployment rate fell from 9.1% in September to 8.6% as the economy created 200,000 jobs. Similar to previous installments, however, young adults showed small steps forward, but not enough to demonstrate serious progress.

The unemployment rate for people ages 18 to 34 fell to 11.7% in December, down from 12.2% in September. Overall, 430,000 more young adults held jobs than did in August.

Nevertheless, the youngest young adults continue to struggle. The unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds remained steady at 16.7% – unchanged since November.  Young people of color also saw little improvement. More than 1 in 4 Latino teens are unemployed (not seasonally adjusted). African American teens saw their already sky-high unemployment rate climb to 42.1 percent over the last two months.

Young workers are slowly starting to make gains, but face a long road to economic security. They need more action from their representatives in Washington. The new Summer Jobs+ initiative to bring together businesses and nonprofits to create youth jobs is one example of ways that our leaders can help put young Americans back to work.