France's young jobseekers are particularly affected by the economic downturn, a study showed today, as European governments prepare for a wave of school leavers hitting the depressed job market, according to Reuters. From Budapest to Paris, governments are pumping money into job schemes for the young, while relatively stable institutions such as the military are recording a jump in applicants as factories close and banks fail. But the report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said such short-term measures needed to be accompanied by deeper structural reforms, especially in France with its rigid labour market and educational system. "We have to act now because if we don't, the young people who will debut on the job market in 2009, who form the Generation 2009, run a great risk of becoming a lost generation," OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria told a news conference. French young people are among the most pessimistic about their career prospects and face an unemployment rate that in 2007 was seven percentage points above the OECD average, the report said. The unemployment rate for 15-24-year olds in France rose to 21 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 -- three times the unemployment rate for older workers -- from 19 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, the report said, citing French data. For 25 to 54-year-olds, the rate was 7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. "The crisis makes everything worse, but we mustn't lose sight of structural issues that were there before the crisis," Gurria said.
