For workers ages 18-29, the unemployment rate hit 10.9 percent in November 2012, according to the Millennial Jobs Report by Generation Opportunity, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for millennials.

Among African-American workers ages 18-29, the unemployment rate is 18.5 percent while the unemployment rate is 12.5 percent for Hispanic workers ages 18-29, the report reveals. Female workers ages 18-29 are facing an unemployment rate of 10.5 percent.

As the work force’s participation rate has dropped, an additional 1.7 million millennials are not included in the unemployment figure by the U.S. Department of Labor, which means those workers are no longer looking for employment because of the few available jobs.

The report finds that if the labor force participation rate were measured into the unemployment calculations for millennials, the true unemployment rate would jump to 16.4 percent.

"Today's unemployment picture for millennials offers little in the way of promise for a generation in which genuine opportunities continue to be few and far between,” says Matthew Faraci, senior vice president for communications at Generation Opportunity and a former U.S. Labor Department spokesman. “Expected temporary seasonal hiring brought the overall 18-29 year old unemployment rate to 10.9 percent. However, more than 1.7 million young adults are still not counted by the Department of Labor as unemployed because they have given up looking for work due to the lack of available jobs.

"If you factor in those young adults, the millennial unemployment rate rises to 16.4 percent, which is virtually identical to last month. Millennials have high expectations of those who were elected in November and are eager for the kind of real job growth that would finally, after years of stagnation, afford them a chance to put their substantial skills to work."

Instant Insights /

Millennial unemployment hits 10.9%

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