One in Three Young U.S. Workers Are "Underemployed"

From Gallup.com: 

Gallup's unemployment measures show that April has also brought gloomy job news for young Americans and underscores that this group has been struggling disproportionately for some time. Those aged 18 to 29 are more than twice as likely as those in any other age group to be underemployed.

Additionally, while the unemployment rate among young adults in April is unchanged year over year, the underemployment rate has increased.

A larger percentage of younger American workers are working part time but looking for full-time work today than were doing so in April 2011. That is, employers appear to be hiring younger Americans in greater numbers on a part-time basis this year than last, possibly in response to the current high level of economic uncertainty.

Not surprisingly, given their relative lack of resources and experience, only 3.1% of young adults in April say they are self-employed. This compares with the 7.3% of all Americans in the workforce who report being self-employed. Thus, self-employment is also a job alternative that is less available to younger, less experienced Americans.

Today's slow economic growth is a disaster for those unemployed and underemployed as they look for jobs when so few new jobs are being created. For younger Americans as a group, this is a particularly acute issue.  

Nearly one in three young adults in the workforce are not now able to gain full-time job experience. This not only hurts them temporarily, but deprives them of the experience they need to get a better job in the future. It also deprives U.S. companies of the skilled and experienced workers they will need for their businesses to prosper in the years ahead.

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Link: http://www.gallup.com/poll/154553/One-Three-Young-Underemployed.aspx