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The Class of 2014
Report

The Class of 2014

The Weak Economy Is Idling Too Many Young Graduates

EPI, 2014

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Visionary
  • Background

Recommendation

Despite an improving economy, the Economic Policy Institute’s report card on America’s Class of 2014 marks its prospects as dismal: The US unemployment rate for people younger than 25 is twice as high as it is for the rest of the population, and that has been the case for years. Many university graduates are taking lower-level jobs that don’t require a college degree, while others work part-time without health insurance or pension coverage. And inflation-adjusted wages have shriveled since 2007. getAbstract suggests this sobering report to anyone interested in learning about job prospects for those under age 25 and what the economic future may hold for them.

Take-Aways

  • The US unemployment rate has historically been about twice as high for young people (younger than 25) than for the rest of the population. But the sluggish pace of economic recovery has meant fewer jobs for successive waves of new graduates each year.
  • Among high school graduates between 17 and 20 who are not in classes, the unemployment rate was 22.9% in March 2014; for college grads, it was 8.5%.
  • The “underemployment rate” – which includes active job seekers, those working part-time because they can’t find full-time jobs and those who have abandoned looking for employment – is 41.5% for high school graduates and 16.8% for college graduates.

About the Authors

Heidi Shierholz is an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, where Alyssa Davis and Will Kimball are research assistants.