One out of four workers under 25 years of age is under-employed Los Angeles, Calif. (July 17, 2009) – Job losses from the recession caused under-employment rates in June of 15.9 percent in Los Angeles County and 16.2 percent in California, according to data released today by the Economic Roundtable. Under-employed workers include unemployed workers who are actively looking for a job and also workers who have been involuntarily reduced to part-time employment, discouraged workers who have given up on looking for a job, and conditionally interested workers who would look for a job if they were able, for example if child care or transportation were available. This data includes the total labor force rather than just employed workers and active job seekers shown in official unemployment statistics. Under-employment figures by the Economic Roundtable breakout the labor force data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, using detailed records from the Current Population Survey that are the source data for BLS unemployment statistics. BLS statistics show the June unemployment rate to have increased to 11.6 percent in Under-employment in Young workers, those under 25 years of age, have the highest under-employment rates: 28.9 percent of young workers in Under-employment rates for men are nearly a quarter higher than for women. In Workers without a high school diploma have under-employment rates that are nearly double the overall rate, while workers with degrees from a four-year college have only half the rate of under-employment. In Breaking out workers by race and ethnicity, Latinos have the highest under-employment rates. In Monthly labor force data is attached and can be downloaded from www.economicrt.org. Economic Roundtable
The Economic Roundtable is a non-profit, public benefit research organization formed in 1991 to provide practical knowledge about how communities can become more sustainable.