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Youth unemployment continues to be vexing problem

Not everyone is benefiting equally from the recovery in the jobs market.

Between 2007 and 2013 the number of jobs held by Baby Boomers (aged 55-64) rose 9 percent while Millennial (aged 22-34) workers saw a 0.3 percent gain during that same time, according to data from CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists Intl (EMSI). The analysis was derived from EMSI's database that has information from 90 national and state employment resources and also includes detailed information on people who are self-employed.

One reason for the disparity between the two demographic groups is that many older workers were forced to delay retirement because their retirement savings were decimated by the Great Recession. Many people still can't afford to quit working even if they wanted to. A recentFederal Reserve study found that roughly half of U.S. families haven't saved a dime for retirement.

"Confronted by weaker entry-level job prospects, young professionals left the workforce in greater numbers or took lower paying jobs that didn't take immediate advantage of their degrees," said Matt Ferguson, CareerBuilder CEO, in a press release. "Older workers, on the other hand, often had to postpone retirement to recoup lost savings. Never in history have workers over the age of 55 had the concentration in the workforce they have today; however, employers will have to plan for vacancies when this group inevitably retires, which could quickly create new skills gaps in trade vocations and STEM fields."

Though the unemployment rate recent hit a nearly 6-year low of 6.3 percent in May, younger workers continue to struggle to find work. Unemployment for workers aged 18 to 29 is about 15.8 percent. The rate for African-Americans (23.8 percent) and Latinos (16.6 percent) is far higher.

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