Ah to be young. But, jobless? Ouch!

For years I have been expressing concern about an issue on which I have always hoped that I am dead wrong.  But, I am yet to come across substantive evidence that will convince me that I am worried for no reason at all.

It is about (un)employment, especially among the youth.  

I am returning to the topic only after a few days because, well, I have come across way too many commentaries related to this and none is encouraging.

First, the numbers:

While the overall unemployment rate stayed at 6.7 percent, the unemployment rate for 20-24 year-olds increased from 11.9 percent to in February to 12.2 percent in March. For workers ages 16 to 24, the unemployment rate rose marginally to from 14.4 percent in February 14.5 percent.

That is bad. Very, very bad.

Of course, even two years ago, I blogged about the jobless youth:

The only consolation is, well, at least we are not Greece!

No work.  Not many are hiring.

One of the commentators I often read, Tyler Cowen, lays out the bottom-line early in his opinion piece:

technologically related unemployment — or, even worse, the phenomenon of people falling out of the labor force altogether because of technology — may prove a tougher problem this time around.

Hey, this is exactly what I have been worried about for some time now. This digital, information, revolution is not like the Industrial Revolution that unleashed plenty of new jobs that never existed before in order to manufacture products that never existed before.  This time it is different. Mighty different.

Cowen adds:

A new paper by Alan B. Krueger, Judd Cramer and David Cho of Princeton has documented that the nation now appears to have a permanent class of long-term unemployed, who probably can’t be helped much by monetary and fiscal policy. It’s not right to describe these people as “thrown out of work by machines,” because the causes involve complex interactions of technology, education and market demand. Still, many people are finding this new world of work harder to navigate.
Sometimes, the problem in labor markets takes the form of underemployment rather than outright joblessness. Many people, especially the young, end up with part-time and temporary service jobs — or perhaps a combination of them.

It is an employment world that is unlike, well, as Cowen puts it: 

what we’re facing isn’t your grandfather’s unemployment problem. It does have something to do with modern technology, and it will be with us for some time.

The technological revolution underway, along with the rapid globalization, will make it harder and harder to generate meaningful jobs that pay the middle class wages we have come to expect in America. 

I worry that the youth are not being told all these.  Instead, they are presented with nothing but rosy scenarios.  Follow your passion, they are advised.  A wonderful advice, yes, but only if the youth are also warned that the route they choose might lead them to an economic dead-end.

When I engage students about the possible economic misfortunes that lie ahead, they readily dismiss my concerns because, after all, they do not hear anything like my warning sirens from others.  Maybe I should start talking with them about the pots of gold where the rainbows end, about unicorns, and, perhaps, about Santa Claus too!

Eat More
by Joe Corrie

’Eat more fruit!’ the slogans say,
’ More fish, more beef, more bread!’
But I’m on Unemployment pay
My third year now, and wed.

And so I wonder when I’ll see
The slogan when I pass,
The only one that would suit me, -
’ Eat More Bloody Grass!’