For the Young: It's Still a Jobless Recovery

With the release of new economic data Friday, there's hope the jobless rate is finally falling. But for recent grads: there's been little progress.

Today’s big news is that the unemployment rate is trending in a positive direction with the average rate having fallen below 9%. For recent graduates, its not clear that progress is being made.

According to information provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rates are either flatlining or increasing for the youngest members of the labor market.

For those aged 20-24:

January Unemployment Rate: 15.2%

February Unemployment Rate: 15.4%

For those aged 25-34:

January Unemployment Rate: 9.3%

February Unemployment Rate: 9.4%

It's true that a higher unemployment rate could be a sign of recovery since it would show that people who were previously discouraged are now at least looking for work. The data is inconclusive. For the country as a whole the labor force participation rate remains as low as it was in January at 64.2%.

For the age groups of 20-24 and 25-34, there is some movement, but not much:

For those aged 20-24:

January Participation Rate: 71.5%

February Participation Rate: 71.7% (in this case, a slight increase)

For those aged 25-34:

January Participation Rate: 81.7%

February Participation Rate: 81.6% (in this case, a slight decrease)

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