FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

November 7, 2014

Contact: Sarah Lovenheim, sarah.lovenheim@younginvincibles.org, 585.746.8281

[WASHINGTON]— As the national unemployment rate fell slightly to 5.8 percent and the economy added 214,000 jobs in October, the unemployment rate for 18 to 34 year-olds dipped slightly to 8.2 percent from 8.6 percent in September (seasonably adjusted). However, the gap between the unemployment rate for white young adults and black young adults widened.

Black young adults face an unemployment rate that’s more than twice as high as their white peers, 15.8 percent compared to 6.5 percent, respectively. We’d like to see the next Congress pass policies that could change this. As our recent report – Closing the Race Gap – showed, there are several policies that could help narrow these disparities.

For older Millennial workers, aged 25 to 34, the employment-population ratio — or the percent of the age group with jobs — increased to 76.2 percent, its highest level since December 2008.

Here is more information on how different populations of young adults fared relative to the overall workforce in October 2014.

• The unemployment rate for Black/African American young adults ages 18 to 34 in October is 15.8 percent (not seasonally adjusted), down from 16.2 percent in September.

• The unemployment rate for Hispanic/Latino young adults ages 18 to 34 in September is 8.0 percent (not seasonally adjusted), down from 8.8 percent in September.

• The unemployment rate for white young adults ages 18 to 34 in September is 6.5 percent (not seasonally adjusted), up from 7.2 percent in September.

Please be in touch if you would like to speak with one of our Millennial policy experts.

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