Stockholm rioting continues for fifth night

Police in Stockholm are to seek reinforcements after youths set cars ablaze and threw stones at police for a fifth night running, officials said.

About 30 cars were set on fire in poorer districts in north-western and south-western parts of the Swedish capital on Thursday night, with rioters causing widespread damage to property, including schools. However, a police spokesman said the overnight violence was less intense than in previous nights.

Despite Sweden's reputation for equality, the rioting has exposed a faultline between a well-off majority and a minority, often young people with immigrant backgrounds, who cannot find work, lack education and feel marginalised.

The violence appears to have been prompted by the death of a 69-year-old man shot by police this month in Husby, now the centre of the rioting. Read more >>

Spain Unemployment Hits New High

Spanish unemployment rate has hit record levels, with nearly one quarter of the labour force unable to find work and young people fearing the worst. The unemployment rate rose in the second quarter to 24.63 per cent and a huge 53 per cent among the young, despite the start of the tourist season, official figures showed on Friday.

The unemployment rate rose from 24.4 per cent recorded in the first quarter - already the highest in the industrial world - as Spain entered its third straight quarter of economic contraction. Among those aged 16 to 24, the rate rose to a huge 53.27 per cent from 52.01 per cent the previous quarter, reflecting the ongoing impact of Spain's double-dip recession following the collapse of a construction boom in 2008.

The number of households in which all eligible members are unemployed rose by 9,300, reaching more than 1.73 million overall. The country is in its second recession in four years, hit hard by the bursting of the property bubble that threw millions out of work and badly affected the country's banks. Read more >>

Youth Joblessness: No End in Sight, Says Report

An analysis by the nonprofit, nonpartisan group YoungInvincibles asks what kind of employment prospects young Americans can look forward to over the next decade. Its conclusion: Bleak.

The report, “No End in Sight? The Long-Term Youth Jobs Gap and What It Means for America,” says that though the present looks bad for young job-seekers, the future could be worse. Further, it questions whether employment for the young will ever return to what it was before the recession. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2010 expressed a similarly gloomy view.)

Study co-author Rory O’Sullivan says that today’s unemployment numbers understate the problem. The unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds now stands at 16.5 percent, more than double the rate for the population at large (8.2 percent). For Latino youth, the rate is 20.5 percent, and for African-American youth, 30.2 percent.  Fewer than half of all young Americans hold any kind of job at all, says the report.

These numbers, while daunting, fail to include young people who have given up looking for work and dropped out of the labor force altogether. The report identifies what it calls a “jobs gap” of some 2.7 million, meaning that there are that many fewer jobs for youth today than would have existed without the recession. Read more >>

Young motorists driving far less than even 10 years ago

A new study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group indicates Americans are driving less than they were a few years ago. That drop is largely thanks to young people. Those between the ages of 16 and 34 drove 23 percent fewer miles in 2009 than they did in 2001. While it's tempting to attribute the decline to the recession, the study suggests the decline may continue even after the economy picks up pace.

Factors like steeper fuel prices, more readily available public transportation and a shift in priorities are likely to continue to allow young drivers to cut down on their time behind the wheel.

The study cites one poll that found a full 45 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 34 have moved to replace driving with other modes of transportation. By comparison, only 32 percent of older drivers have done the same. Read more >>

25% In Spain Live Below Poverty Line

A recent report released by a Spanish institution says 25 percent of Spain’s population live below poverty line, 2 percent higher than last year, as the country grapples with the highest rate of impoverishment among European states.

According to an annual report issued by the Spanish Economic and Social Council (CES), lack of jobs for young people is expected to increase poverty and social inequality for several years to come, warning that further welfare and education cuts could have dire consequences for future generations.

“We know that there are countries where two or three young generations have been failed by their education system and there are countries too where young people have never been given a chance to get into the workforce,” said Fernando Valdes of the CES. The reports also added that the index of deprivation from social services is high among the Spanish population. Read more >>

20% British youth unemployed

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeBritain is heading for another decade of youth unemployment with the related rate rising to over 20% to be unemployed, according to the ONS. Details given out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested the number of young people who are long-term unemployed is likely to increase by 50% in 2011.

A prospectus issued by the Department for Work and Pensions predicted that between 140,000 and 200,000 young people aged from 18 to 24 will be registered as having been unemployed for at least nine months or more between 2011-12.

The statistics would simply mean that one out of five young people in Britain will have no job prospects next year. Figures also reveal that in some areas, every third young person will be without a job or the chance of a skill. More...