Seeds of Change: Unemployment in 15 – 24 year olds

A good leading indicator of change is unemployment.  In earlier posts I have referred to Spain’s unemployment rate – projected to peak at around 20% – as “socially destructive”.  This situation becomes even more alarming if we look at unemployment rates for the young (here defined as 15 – 24 year-olds) – which could produce, in the words of an OECD report [1] “a lost generation”.

Here is the picture:

Source: [1]

The most telling is the ratio between total unemployment (the light blue bars) and 15 – 24 year old unemployment (the dark blue bars). Of those shown, France, Poland and UK have the highest ratio.

Food for thought.

Reference
[1] Cukier, J Tough times for the young. OECD Factblog Apl. 14, 2010