Unemployment among those between the ages of 18 and 30 remained stuck at a non-seasonally adjusted 12.7 percent in August, unchanged from July, according to Generation Opportunity.
That number does not include the 1.715 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Generation Opportunity President Paul T. Conway said the fact overall unemployment has consistently about 8 percent for 42 straight months should be a cause for alarm.
“8.1 percent is not better than 8.3 percent if less Americans are looking for work,” Conway said. “Our belief is they (the Obama administration) has the absolute political incentive to get the number below 8.1 percent.
“It is looking more and more like a political survival game.”
But no amount of numerical manipulation can alter the fact less people who are participating in the workforce than when Barack Obama took office.
“Despite the rhetoric, my generation feels forgotten by President Obama. At a point, the promises of ‘hope and change’ just sound like hot air,” Alex Schriver, chairman of the College Republican National Committee, said in a statement.
“My generation has been disproportionately hurt by Obama’s economic policies. It will take more than celebrity endorsements and the same stump speeches to get young people to the polls for him this November,” Schriver added.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a mere 96,000 jobs were created last month, far short of the estimated 300,000 jobs that economists say are needed each month to get the labor market where it was before the recession.
People and young people in particular are putting off their daily lives an pushing back fulfilling their dreams.
A poll conducted by Generation Opportunity found that 26 percent say they plan putting off paying their student loans because of the economy.
But Obama lacks an excuse for being unable to bring the unemployment rate down, according to Conway.
“It can be done, and there is a precedent for it under leadership of both parties,” Conway said. “Examples set before include JFK and Reagan lowering taxes, and Bill Clinton ending entitlements.”
“In the past, we have had leaders who did not the fear taking a principled approach that embraced the free market.”
Reagan, Kennedy and Clinton all understood that a strong private sector is key to success.
Conway said that Clinton showed that a successful economy is a question of principles rather than party, and Obama’s policies have failed because he refuses to look at what has worked in the past.
