Young Adult Unemployment is 12.8 Percent in June, Signaling More Delayed Dreams and Stalled Careers for Millennials

Generation Opportunity encourages young Americans to call White House and demand an end to policies that stifle job creation, hiring, and opportunity

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Generation Opportunity, one of the largest grassroots organizations connecting with young Americans through advanced social media outreach and traditional, boots-on-the-ground organizing, is releasing today the non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) 18-29 unemployment rate data for June:

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• The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds specifically (NSA) for June 2012 is 12.8 percent.
• The declining labor participation rate has created an additional 1.735 million young adults that are not counted as "unemployed" by BLS because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
• If the labor force participation rate were factored into the overall 18-29 youth unemployment calculation, the actual 18-29-unemployment rate would rise to 16.8 percent (NSA).

Generation Opportunity President Paul T. Conway, former Chief of Staff for the United States Department of Labor and the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM), responds to the June 2012 jobs numbers:

"For young Americans, through no fault of their own, their story is one of few opportunities, delayed dreams, and stalled careers. Today's unemployment numbers tell the story of millions of young Americans who are paying the price for the failed policies coming out of Washington that have inhibited economic opportunity and job creation. 

"Despite the challenges they face, this generation is not asking what their country can do for them. Instead, they stand ready to do more for their county, to continue their service beyond the contributions they have already made as brave defenders of freedom across the globe, as selfless rebuilders of disaster-torn communities here at home, and as confident advocates for greater opportunity for all Americans.

"While leaders in Washington travel to communities to make campaign promises and seek to place blame for the results of their failed policies, young Americans are looking for more than rhetoric.

"In 2012, their message to candidates is clear – we want to build our careers, get on with our lives, and fulfill our dreams. If the only solutions you offer mean less jobs and more debt for the country, the stakes are too high to risk our vote on a bad bet."

Generation Opportunity is encouraging its Facebook fans, as well as its thousands of grassroots supporters across the nation, to call the White House today at (202) 456-1414 and demand that the policies of the last three and a half years, which have stifled job creation, be reversed in favor of policies that free up Americans to create jobs, to hire, and to restore the American tradition of access to opportunity for all.

To see our Facebook call to action, go to: https://www.facebook.com/BeingAmericanByGO

ABOUT GENERATION OPPORTUNITY

Generation Opportunity is a non-profit, non-partisan 501 (c)(4) organization that seeks to engage everyone from young adults, to early career professionals, college students, young mothers and fathers, construction workers, current service men and women, veterans, entrepreneurs, and all Americans who find themselves dissatisfied with the status quo and willing to create a better tomorrow.

Generation Opportunity operates on a strategy that combines advanced social media tactics with proven field tactics to reach Americans 18-29. The organization's social media platforms – "Being American by GO," "The Constitution by GO," "Gas Prices Are Too Damn High," and "Keep Texas Awesome" on Facebook – have amassed a total fan base of more than 3.4 million. All four pages post links to relevant articles and reports from sources ranging from the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO), to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Brookings Institution, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and The Heritage Foundation.

Read about Generation Opportunity here; visit "Being American by GO" on Facebook here, "The Constitution by GO" on Facebook here,  "Gas Prices Are Too Damn High" on Facebook here and "Keep Texas Awesome" on Facebook here.

For our Spanish-language page – Generacion Oportunidad – click here.

CONTACT:
Matthew Faraci
202-997-1636
EMAIL

SOURCE Generation Opportunity