Effective Jobless Rate For Youth At 15.5%

Generation Opportunity, a national, non-partisan youth advocacy organization, is announcing its Millennial Jobs Report for April 2014. The data is non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) and is specific to 18-29 year olds:

• The (U-3) unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds is 9.1 percent (NSA).

• The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds, which adjusts for labor force participation by including those who have given up looking for work, is 15.5 percent (NSA). 

• The declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.932 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.

• The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans is 23.3 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 16.6 percent (NSA).

• The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics is 16.1 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 9.5 percent (NSA).

• The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old women is 13.1 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 8.3 percent (NSA).

Patrice Lee, Director of Outreach at Generation Opportunity, issued the following statement:

"False promises mean very little when we are faced with unemployment numbers in the double digits and crippling student debt. We don't want slogans, we want jobs."

"Only 37 percent of young people approve of the president's handling of the economy. Thirty-one percent approve of his handling of the federal budget deficit. We recognize that our unsustainable deficits and skyrocketing national debt hurt our ability to grow the economy and create opportunity."

On Tuesday, Harvard's Institute of Politics released a new poll of 18-29 year olds:

• Just 47% of 18-29 year olds approve of President Obama's job performance, the lowest approval rating recorded during his entire presidency

• Only 39% approve of the president's job performance on healthcare

• More than twice as many young people believe that, generally speaking, the nation is on the wrong track rather than the right direction

• Self-identified conservatives are 10 points more likely to vote in the 2014 midterm elections than self-identified liberals

Generation Opportunity is also issuing a revision for March's Millennial Jobs Report. The overall U-3 unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds for March 2014 was 10.9%, two points higher than previously reported.

Generation Opportunity is a national, non-partisan organization advocating for economic opportunity for young people through less government and more freedom.