46% of people aged 16-24 had jobs in September, the lowest since the government began counting

[G_j]

http://consumerist.com/5384439/being-unemployed-in-a-downturn-will-damage-your-career-forever?skyline=true&s=x

Being Unemployed In A Downturn Will Damage Your Career Forever
By Laura Northrup, 6:00 PM on Sun Oct 18 2009, 16,285 views

If you're just starting out in your career, BusinessWeek has some sobering news for you. Statistics show that people who come of age and spend the early years of their careers un- or underemployed will fall behind their always-employed peers in both earnings and career status, and most will never recover the lost ground.

In an economic downturn, after all, companies cut back first on new hiring, meaning fewer entry-level jobs for recent high school and college graduates.

When today's unemployed finally do get jobs in the recovery, many may be dissatisfied to be slotted below people who worked all along-especially if the newcomers spent their downtime getting more education, says Richard Thompson, vice-president for talent development at Adecco Group North America, which employs more than 300,000 people in temporary positions. Says Thompson: "You're going to have multiple generations fighting for the jobs that are going to come back in the recovery."

Only 46% of people aged 16-24 had jobs in September, the lowest since the government began counting in 1948. The crisis is even hitting recent college graduates. "I've applied for a whole lot of restaurant jobs, but even those, nobody calls me back," says Dan Schmitz, 25, a University of Wisconsin graduate with a bachelor's degree in English who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. "Every morning I wake up thinking today's going to be the day I get a job. I've not had a job for months, and it's getting really frustrating."
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[madrchsod]

1. that is high in my daughter`s circle of 15-20 friends

only three or four have full time jobs and she`s the only one with insurance. the rest either do`t work or work off the radar.

[G_j]

2. I would hate to be newly saddled w/ college loans

also, as many are. Not a good time.

[KharmaTrain]

3. Many Are Hiding In School...

...if they can afford it. My eldest graduated in 2007 and is working full time and also in grad school...despite the poor pay and working conditions, teachers are very much in demand, especially in small communities. Her husband also teaches and both are stable in their positions. Once my daughter gets her Masters, then my son-in-law will go for his...they hope those degrees will solidify their careers and are fortunate to have jobs and live within their means...no debts...so they can move up the ladder.

My other child is in his Senior year in college and we're already looking at grad school for him...primarily based on the dismall prospects in his chosen field in finding a job upon graduation. He's was planning on a career in music and music administration, but now is looking at a Masters program that could use his many skills and talents at the college level...hopefully safe from the worst of what's happening.

I came out of college during the start of Raygunomics and saw too many in my class never apply their degrees...floundering throughout the 80s to find their place and way. It's a shame to see my kid's generation facing a similar situation...with far less options that I had.

[annabanana]

4. This is still preferable to someone

being in their 40's & 50's, with fully engaged bills & responsibilities, being laid off in this climate. Their fall is much more precipitous.

Both my boys are in their 20's, the eldest newly graduated and "looking", the younger still at college. Whatever kind of recovery shows up eventually, they will be in a better position to adapt to the new "growth industries".

[JDPriestly]

5. You are so right.

Normally, the parents of children work to support their kids through college and finally finish their parental duties when they get in their 40s or even 50s. Only then can they seriously save for retirement. Of course, their home is probably a cornerstone of their retirement dreams. Either they hope to entirely have their house paid off by the time they retire or they hope the house will have increased in value so that they can sell it and fully pay off a smaller home in a cheaper community for retirement.

This economy pretty much foils the retirement hopes of many, many Americans who have raised children and are now in their 50s.

People in their 20s will suffer damage to their careers if they don't have jobs now, but will be able to adjust hopefully provided that the economy improves within the next 10 years. They will have to economize the rest of their lives for sure. But people in their 40s, 50s and 60s will never get that chance to adjust. They are losing some of the most important earning years of their lives. This is really a much more serious situation than the Obama administration seems to realize.