Jan 2, 2015 By David Singer 2 min read

Hitting the job market as a young American is tough, as new data show youth employment is at its worst since World War II. According to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 6.5 million people ages 16-24 are unemployed nationwide. Pennsylvania youth fared slightly better than the national average of 40 percent (16-24 age group). Those in the 16-19 Pennsylvania age group sat at 39 percent, while those in the 20-24 age demographic saw a 62 percent rate of employment among peers.

“Young people are competing for jobs with not only other youth, but with adults who are in the workforce who might have been displaced,” said foundation executive vice president Stephanie Gambone.

Many entry-level jobs have disappeared, according to Gambone, who said her network placed 8,000 youth in jobs last summer, but 8,000 remained on a waiting list.

According to the study, one of the best ways to remain a viable employee in a globalized economy is to get a multi-faceted education. That starts with not dropping out of high school, which also places a burden on the economy as a whole.

“One study estimates that for each 16-year-old out of school and out of work, the future lifetime taxpayer burden is $258,040. The same study calculates that the total taxpayer burden for all out-of-school and out-of-work youth ages 16 to 24 is $1.56 trillion,” the policy report said.

And the sad fact is that jobs are available.

“More than three-quarters of job openings in the next decade will require skills obtained beyond high school,” Gambone said. “A recent report from the McKinsey Global Institute found that despite current high levels of unemployment, 30 percent of American companies had positions open for more than six months that they could not fill. McKinsey predicts that by 2020, the United States will fall short of workers with college and graduate degrees by 1.5 million, but will have a surplus of nearly 6 million individuals who have not completed high school.”