Millennial employers faced an unemployment rate of 11.5 percent in December, according to the Millennial Jobs Report by Generation Opportunity, a national, nonpartisan organization advocating for millennials.

They research also shows that the unemployment rate for African-American millennials in December was 22.1 percent while the unemployment rate for Hispanic millennials was 12.2 percent. Among female millennials, the unemployment rate was 10.4 percent in December.

With the declining labor force participation rate, there are now 1.7 million millennial left uncounted as unemployed by the U.S. Department of Labor, the research finds. In these cases, millennials have stopped looking for work because too few jobs are available. If the research considered the labor force participation rate, unemployment would jump to 16.3 percent.

"Expected seasonal hiring is likely keeping youth unemployment artificially low, and young people know all too well that a temporary job over the holidays is not a long-term solution,” says Matthew Faraci, senior vice president for communications at Generation Opportunity and a former U.S. Labor Department spokesman. “The fact is that 2012 marked yet another year in which millennials were unable to find real opportunities in the vocations for which they trained and are qualified.

"This meant another year just scraping by, falling further behind on student loan payments, living at home with mom and dad, sending out hundreds of resumes, and filling out numerous job applications, all with little or no result. This was another year without hope for a generation eager to apply their skills and get in the game. As Washington argues over short-term fixes, millennials are wondering why their elected leaders continue to ignore critical issues such as unprecedented youth unemployment as well as the larger challenge of addressing the nation's underlying fiscal challenges."

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Millennial unemployment rate hits 11.5%

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