美国年轻人为什么不找工作

    对于美国无业青年状况的报道经常见诸报端，但7月份关于就业市场健康状况的报告，却让我们对这个问题的规模有了新的认识。

    有经济学家认为，年轻人失业状况并没有人们描写的那么糟糕，因为许多在校生要么是自谋职业，要么就是还没有开始求职，因此不能算入劳动力当中。今年7月份的一份报告让我们更清晰地了解到如今年轻人所面临的问题——大多数年轻人都临时离开学校，开始求职。

    经济大萧条期间，16至24岁既未上学、也没有全职工作的年轻人比例有所减少。与其他年龄段不同，这种减少的趋势并未加强：7月，36%的年轻人拥有全职工作，相比经济危机之前2007年同期减少了10%。当然，在七月份，年轻人纷纷开始暑期实习，因此统计数据中反映了从事带薪实习的年轻人，和从事无薪实习但有兼职工作的年轻人。

    进步政策研究所（Progressive Policy Institute）研究年轻人失业问题的经济学家戴安娜•卡鲁说：“他们没有上学，那他们到底在干什么？”她指出，7月份的就业报告显示，16至24岁未上学的无业者比例为17.1%，而六年前仅有11%。而且，个别年龄段的工人因为即将退休而不再被计入劳动力当中，而大量年轻人此时放弃求职的状况尤为令人不安：7月份，840万名16至24岁的年轻人停止求职，而一年前的这一数字只有680万。

    不论经济创造就业岗位的速度有多缓慢，这么多年轻人，尤其是没有上学的年轻人，生活依然如此艰难，这确实令人非常吃惊。7月份新增就业岗位主要集中在零售、酒店和酒吧。而这些自然不是薪酬最高的岗位，但它们所需要的技能更低，肯定能吸引那些受教育水平较低的年轻人。原因或许在于卡鲁所谓的“大挤压”，即由于缺乏要求中等技术水平的岗位，迫使许多工人接受薪酬更少、技术要求更低的工作，结果把教育水平和经验更少的年轻人挤出了就业市场。

    这种趋势产生了连锁效应。任何人失业都会非常困难，但对于刚刚起步的年轻人，一旦失业，他们的状况将格外艰难；无论从哪个方面来说，他们的状况或许最为严峻。调查显示，由于年轻人之前的经历，再加上错过了发展技能的机会，因此失业的年轻人在失业之后的许多年里，他们的收入也会相对较低。据美国进步中心（ Center for American Progress）四月份的一份报告估计，在经济衰退最严重的时期经历过长期失业的年轻人，未来十年的收入会减少超过200亿美元，相当于人均22,000美元。

    而这种情况会对美国经济造成深远的影响，我们在从住房到汽车销售的各行各业都看到过这一点。如果有人质疑经济增长速度为何跟不上就业增长速度，认真研究一下美国年轻人或许会有所帮助。（财富中文网）

    译者: 刘进龙/汪皓

    What it is to be young and unemployed in America has been widely reported, but July's report on the health of the jobs market offers a new snapshot of the scale of the problem.

    Some economists have argued youth unemployment isn't as bad as it's made out to be, since many enrolled in school or college are neither employed nor looking for a job and therefore aren't counted as part of the workforce. Of all other months, July provides one of the more accurate pictures of what young people face today -- it's a time when most are taking a break from school and looking for work.

    During the Great Recession, the share of 16- to 24-year-olds who were neither enrolled in school nor working full-time fell. Unlike the rest of the population, the decline hasn't improved much: In July, 36% of young people worked full-time, 10% less than the same month in 2007 before the economic downturn. To be sure, July is a time when young people have taken on summer internships, and so the statistics reflect those with paid internships, as well as those with unpaid internship but have taken part-time jobs.

    "They're not in school, so what are they doing?" says Diana Carew, economist at Progressive Policy Institute, who studies youth unemployment. She points out that July's jobs report shows that the share of unemployed 16- to 24-year-olds not in school stood at 17.1%, compared with 11% six years ago. And while workers in general have been leaving the labor force, partly because they're aging into retirement, it's especially worrisome when young people drop out: In July, 8.4 million 16- to 24-year-olds stopped looking for work altogether, a rise from 6.8 million a year earlier.

    However slowly the economy has been creating jobs, it's still surprising why so many young people, particularly those who aren't in school, are still having a tough time. The bulk of jobs created in July were in retail, restaurants, and bars. These certainly aren't the highest-paying gigs, but they demand fewer skills and would naturally attract those with less education. What's played out is what Carew calls "The Great Squeeze," where the dearth of middle-skilled jobs have forced many workers to settle for whatever they can get, taking lower-skilled jobs for less pay and therefore squeezing those with less education and experience out of the workforce.

    The trend has ripple effects. It's hard for most anyone to be out of work, but it's particularly harsh for young people trying to get their start; in many ways, they will likely suffer the most. Factoring in foregone experience and missed opportunities to develop skills, research shows that workers unemployed as young adults earn lower wages for many years following joblessness. It has been estimated that those who experience long-term unemployment during the worst of the recession will lose more than $20 billion in earnings over the next decade, which translates to $22,000 per person, according to an April report by the Center for American Progress.

    And all this has wide-ranging implications for the economy, as we've seen in everything from home to car sales. If anyone wonders why the economy isn't growing as fast as the pace of jobs growth, it might help to give America's young people a closer look.