US – Just 63 percent of 20-24 years old were employed as of September 2014

Opportunity matters. But for many young Americans, opportunity is hard to come by.

Young Americans have faced bleak job prospects for years, but the recession hit millennials particularly hard. Just 63 percent of Americans age 20-24 were employed as of September 2014, according to calculations based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data. In September 2000, 73 percent of this population had work.

All this is in addition to the massive burden of student-loan debt. (Seven in 10 college seniors who graduated in 2012 had student-loan debt, and those with loans had an average debt of $29,400, according to The Project on Student Debt.)

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  How the Recession Is Still Hurting Millennials | Hilary Gowins.