Being young and looking for a job in the United States is hard. But it could be worse. You could be Spanish, where the youth unemployment rate is 40%. That's right. Forty. Percent.


If you're wondering why this matters, read Don Peck's Atlantic article about the long-term implications of joblessness on young generations. It's not just the lasting dampening of wages, it's also the various psychological effects of protracted post-graduate years spent idle, angry and frustrated. The OECD projects youth unemployment to stay above 15% for the next two years in the United States, while the Congressional Budget Office expects overall joblessness to fall to about 8%. That would keep the above ratio steady for the next 20 months or so.
But once again, things could be much worse. You could be young and in Spain or Sweden, where youth joblessness is expected to surpass 40% and 30%, respectively, in the next year.
But once again, things could be much worse. You could be young and in Spain or Sweden, where youth joblessness is expected to surpass 40% and 30%, respectively, in the next year.