Unemployment Among Young Adults Is 12.1 Percent in May, Signals More Bad News for a Generation Whose Careers and Dreams Are Delayed Due to the Lack of Jobs and Economic Opportunity

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Jun 01, 2012, 02:09 ET

Generation Opportunity Issues Call to Action for Young Adults Ages 18-29 to Call the White House and Demand More Economic Opportunity

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Generation Opportunity, one of America's largest organizations connecting with young adults through a strategy of social media outreach coupled with on-the-ground grassroots organizing, is today releasing the non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) 18-29 unemployment rate data for May:

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110805/DC48058LOGO)

The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds specifically (NSA) for May 2012 is 12.1 percent.
The declining labor participation rate has created an additional 1.7 million young adults that are not counted as "unemployed" by BLS because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
If the labor force participation rate were factored into the overall 18-29 youth unemployment calculation, the actual 18-29 unemployment rate would rise to 16.9 percent (NSA).

Generation Opportunity President Paul T. Conway, former Chief of Staff of the United States Department of Labor, where the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is housed, and the former Chief of Staff of the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) responds to the May 2012 jobs numbers:

"The young adult unemployment rate, now at 12.1 percent for those 18-29 years old, represents yet another chapter in the indefensible saga of how a great generation is being denied economic opportunity, jobs, critical skills, and the ability to pursue their dreams.

"As summer begins, the ranks of all those frustrated by the lack of opportunities are joined by recent high school and college graduates whose enthusiasm to join the work force has been slammed by the same harsh economic status quo their brothers and sisters have been experiencing for the past few years – one marked by record high unemployment, a patchwork of part-time jobs, or jobs outside their chosen profession.

"Through no fault of their own, an increasing number of young Americans have begun to lose hope and have dropped out of the work force entirely, disillusioned by the lack of jobs and dismayed at a White House that attacks America's job creators and employers, while simultaneously putting Americans and their futures into deeper debt.

"Today, we are calling on young Americans across the nation – all those who are unemployed, those who are working multiple part-time jobs, and those concerned about friends and family members who are themselves in this situation – to call the White House in the coming days and tell President Obama the time is now for real change. America can do better."

Generation Opportunity is today encouraging its Facebook fans, as well as its thousands of grassroots supporters across the nation, to call the White House at (202) 456-1414 and demand that the policies of the last three and a half years, which have stifled job creation, be reversed in favor of policies that free up Americans to create jobs, to hire, and to restore the American tradition of access to opportunity for all.

To see our Facebook call to action, go to: https://www.facebook.com/BeingAmericanByGO

ABOUT GENERATION OPPORTUNITY

Generation Opportunity is a non-profit, non-partisan 501 (c)(4) organization that seeks to engage everyone from young adults, to early career professionals, college students, young mothers and fathers, construction workers, current service men and women, veterans, entrepreneurs, and all Americans who find themselves dissatisfied with the status quo and willing to create a better tomorrow.

Generation Opportunity operates on a strategy that combines advanced social media tactics with proven field tactics to reach Americans 18-29. The organization's social media platforms – "Being American by GO," "The Constitution by GO," "Gas Prices Are Too Damn High," and "Keep Texas Awesome" on Facebook – have amassed a total fan base of more than 3.4 million. All four pages post links to relevant articles and reports from sources ranging from the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO), to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Brookings Institution, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and The Heritage Foundation.

Read about Generation Opportunity here; visit "Being American by GO" on Facebook here, "The Constitution by GO" on Facebook here, "Gas Prices Are Too Damn High" on Facebook here and "Keep Texas Awesome" on Facebook here.

For our Spanish-language page – Generacion Oportunidad – click here.

CONTACT:
Matthew Faraci
202-997-1636
EMAIL

SOURCE Generation Opportunity