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Roosevelt Institute intern Charlie Eisenhood dug up this data on the unemployment rate by age and education from the Current Population Survey (CPS). Here it is in September 2010:

And here it was in December 2007 when the recession started:

Here is the difference between the two, along with the percent increase, so a (100%) is a doubling:

What jumps out for me? College educated 20-24 year olds have the highest percentage increase. This should hit against a structural unemployment story, as college educated people have the ‘freshest’ skills and incredibly high mobility. It’s worth pointing them out in particular because if their careers hit a rough spot hysteresis sets in and they’ll have serious wage losses years down the road.

The other thing that jumps out at me is that everyone 55-64 has more than doubled their unemployment rate. One thing we aren’t talking about enough is that someone who is 60 and has been unemployed for a year isn’t going to find a decent job again. Why don’t we temporarily lower the retirement age, conditional on a bunch of hoops?

Why don’t we do that especially rather than raising the retirement age, as the December debate is likely to be over, when 55-64 year olds have had such a large jump in unemployment?

What jumps out at you when you look at this data?

One thing we aren’t talking about enough is that someone who is 60 and has been unemployed for a year isn’t going to find a decent job again.

That sounds like me! 55 years old, 3 college degrees (BS, MS, PhD) and unemployed for almost 3 years. I can't wait to turn 65!

What jumps out at you when you look at this data?

That the best numbers fall into the unskilled categories, which tells me the jobs being created are not quality jobs. It also tells me that if you crank in the "underemployed" numbers, the story it would tell would be devastating.

What jumps out at you when you look at this data?

What jumps out to me is why are we bringing in so many legal immigrants every year, i.e., 1.2 million? The decade ending 2010 was the highest in our history, yet there was a net loss of jobs during that same period. 25% of the legal adult immigrants who enter the US each year lack even a high school degree. We are importing poverty,

In fact, we are bringing in 125,000 legal foreign workers a month when you count those coming in on temporary work visas and permanent immigrants.

125,000 brand new foreign workers with work permits each month -- HERE'S THE PROOF

And the sad truth is that immigrants, legal and illegal, are using welfare programs to a much greater degree than native born Americans. Milton Friedman said that, “You cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state.” We have both.

“College educated 20-24 year olds have the highest percentage increase. This should hit against a structural unemployment story, as college educated people have the ‘freshest’ skills and incredibly high mobility.”

I'd argue that newly minted graduates don't yet have “skills”, they have knowledge.