Few Jobs for Young Workers Part of a Long-Term Trend
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| Algernon Austin, Economic Policy Institute |
If you’re under age 25 and looking for a job, you’re going to have a much tougher time than your older brother or sister did in 1999. Then, 60 percent of 16-24-year-olds had a job. Today, just 48 percent do, the lowest rate of young worker employment since World War II.
Young workers are twice as likely to be unemployed as the overall population—18 percent, compared with the overall unemployment rate of 9.7 percent. The jobless rate soars to 27.3 percent for young African American workers and 21.3 percent for Hispanic workers.
(For more on the economic struggles of a broader group of young workers—under age 35, see our AFL-CIO report, “Young Workers a Lost Decade).”
This morning at a House Education and Labor Committee hearing examining job and economic problems of 20-something workers, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) warned:
It is clear that the drop in employment is not just the result of a sudden shock to the system, but is part of a larger trend. You cannot ignore the fact that 20 percent fewer young workers are participating in the labor market.
The consequences of reduced work opportunities among young Americans mean fewer long-term employment prospects, less earnings and decreased productivity….If these dramatic trends are not reversed, our nation faces the potential of a generation of youth disconnected from the job market.
AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Partners with American Indian Councils
American Indians have new opportunities to learn the skills needed for long-term careers in the construction industry with a new training partnership announced today by labor and American Indian leaders.
The AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) and a coalition of Native American Indian Tribal Councils have created the Native Construction Careers Institute (NCCI). Mark Ayers, BCTD president and NCCI co-chairman, says the BCTD’s unions are
immensely proud to be a part of the NCCI and to work with tribal leaders to provide the much-needed training and expertise that will enable thousands of young Native Americans to secure careers as skilled craft professionals. We are confident that this project will foster a deeper level of understanding, respect and admiration among and between the organizations and people involved in this important endeavor.
News Nuggets from AFSCME and Sheet Metal Workers
Here’s a trio of union news nuggets from AFSCME locals in Kansas and Connecticut and Sheet Metal Workers in Pennsylvania.
Some 7,000 licensed and registered home child care providers won their first contract with the state last month. The workers mobilized in 2007 to form the Child Care Providers Together Kansas (CCPT)/AFSCME.
The contract establishes the framework for strengthening ties between the providers, two state agencies and the legislature. Specifically, it adopts a list of provider rights and sets guidelines for licensing, professional development and the payment process.
600,000 Jobs Lost: How Bad Does It Have to Get for Republicans to Act?
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With today’s unemployment report showing nearly 600,000 jobs lost in January—worsening the U.S. unemployment rate from 7.2 percent to 7.6 percent—will obstructionist Republicans in Congress finally move the economic recovery bill?
From Bloomberg:
“Last month’s losses mark the first time since records began in 1939 that job cuts exceeded half a million in three consecutive months.”
While the official unemployment rate of 7.6 percent is really bad, the unofficial rate—which includes underemployed workers and those who have become too discouraged to look for work—is 13.8 percent. Some 21.5 million workers are either unemployed, working part time for economic reasons or dropping out of the labor force because they can’t find work.
BushWatch: First MBA President Leaves Behind an Economic Wasteland
Eight years of President Bush’s economic tax cuts for the rich and job-killing actions have devastated working families. Just look at the smoking crater of the economy he’s leaving behind—7.2 percent unemployment, 2.6 million jobs lost last year alone, home foreclosures up by 81 percent in 2008, a plunging stock market, failing banks. Heck of a job, Bushie!
Our BushWatch retrospective today looks at a few of his more notable moves—mostly aimed at helping the wealthy and corporate world, with little regard for the rest us. For a complete listing, go to BushWatch and click on “Jobs and the Economy” and “Tax Cuts for the Wealthy” in the top box.
In early 2001, the man who molded Bush’s economic brain set the tone for the next eight years. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill said U.S. corporations should pay no income tax. Further, he said the capital gains taxes for businesses should be abolished and “able-bodied” adults should take care of their own retirement needs and medical expenses.
