Describing the Dimensions of the Current Labor Market Crisis in the U.S., Center for Labor Market Studies-1/19/2010

Most national macroeconomic models project little to no net employment growth through the middle of next year. Overall unemployment, as even indicated by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, is likely to rise through the fall of the coming year, 2010. Joblessness and labor underutilization problems will worsen over this time period. The country must act now to help put America's youth and adults back to work in a cost effective and transparent manner.

Dire Straits for Many American Workers: The Economic Case for New Job Creation Strategies in 2010 for the Nation's Teens and Young Adults (20-24), Center for Labor Market Studies, January 2010

The nation's teen (16-19) and young adult (20-24 year old) job markets have continued to collapse during the past year, dropping all of these young groups' employment rates to new post- World War II lows. Over the October-November 2007 to November-December 2009 period, the number of employed teens in the U.S. declined by nearly 25% while the number of employed 20-24 year olds fell by nearly 11%. As noted in the bar graph on the cover page, the job loss in relative terms (-25%) among the nation's teens in the Great Recession is greater than it was for all workers (16+) in the Great Depression of the 1930's (1929-1933).3 The employment losses for young workers far exceeded those of all other age groups. Among older persons (55+), however, total employment at the end of this period was actually higher than it was prior to the beginning of the recession.

The Collapse of the Nation's Male Teen and Young Adult Labor Market, 2000-2009: The Lost Generation of Young Male Workers, Andrew Sum, Joseph McLaughlin, Sheila Palma, Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University.

The nationâ??s male teens (16-19) have experienced a massive depression in their labor market conditions since 2000. In the June 2009 Employment Situation, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the employment rate of the nationâ??s male teens had fallen to 27.6%, the lowest employment rate by far in the month of June at any time since 1948 (Chart 2). At no time in the countryâ??s post-World War II history had the June employment rate of male teens ever fallen below 30% and at no time prior to June 2002 had the June employment rate of male teens fallen below 40%. In June of 2000, 46% of the nationâ??s male teens were employed as were 50% of those near the peak of the cyclical boom in June 1989 and 54% of those in June 1978 when federal job creation programs for teens under the CETA legislation, the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act of 1977, and CETA public service employment programs were at their peak enrollment levels.6 The employment rate of male teens in June 2009 was barely one half as high as it was in June 1978 and close to 20 percentage points below its value in June 2000. This truly constitutes a labor market depression for male teens in the U.S.