Bob Herbert writes that despite the better than expected April job creation report, teens and young workers are facing a tough job market. The teen employment rate in 2004 fell to 36.3%, the lowest since 1948, and 20-24 year olds fell from 72.2% in 2000 to 67.9% last year. The Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston states that "Two-thirds of this generation are not living up to their parents' standard of living".
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/12/opinion/12herbert.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dE
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Jobwatch adds that even recent college graduates have faced real hourly wage declines for three years in a row. "Though overall employment finally seems to be turning around, this moderate employment growth has done little to compensate for the losses during the recession and jobless recovery." In other words, we have a ways to go.
http://www.jobwatch.org/