Hofstra prof: Young people hit hard by unemployment

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-liyout0723,0,4370061.story

BY OLIVIA WINSLOW | [e-mail]
7:33 PM EDT, July 22, 2008

Young people are suffering a "surprising decline" in their economic status, says a Hofstra University economics professor.

Hofstra professor Gregory DeFreitas edited and contributed two chapters to a book out this month: "Young Workers in the Global Economy: Job Challenges in North America, Europe and Japan." It gathers analysis by several economists, examining such issues as employment abuse among young workers, inequality of earnings among young workers, trends for health insurance and job fatalities.

"The main focus of the book is on the U.S., and in the U.S. we found that the employment rate among youth has fallen to its lowest on record," said DeFreitas, also director of the university's Center for the Study of Labor and Democracy, citing a figure of 32 percent.

Actually, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the "seasonally adjusted" employment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds was 33.1 percent in June 2008, said Martin Kohli, regional economist in the department's New York office.

DeFreitas noted that in the 1950s, around 50 percent of teenagers were employed. Kohli, in a separate interview, said Labor Department statistics show that in the 1950s, the percentage of employed teenagers hovered in the high-40s, and that as recently as 1998, 45 percent of teenagers had jobs.

The national unemployment rate among 16- to 19-year-olds was 18.1 percent in June 2008, DeFreitas said, 2 percentage points higher than a year ago, citing current Labor Department statistics. (Young people not looking for work are not included in the unemployment rate). For all workers aged 16 to 24, the unemployment rate was 12.6 percent this past June, up from 10.6 percent from a year ago.

FULL story at link.

[MichiganVote]

1. It sucks. And that the whole truth.

[bluerum]

2. It's the economy. Stupid.