Almost one in four of the 125 million Americans in prime working years between the ages of 25-54 are unemployed, according to a new chart released from the minority side of the Senate Budget Committee.
Created by the staff of Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the chart is based on data from the nonpartisan Bureau of Labor Statistics, reported the Weekly Standard.
"There are 124.5 million Americans in their prime working years (ages 25-54). Nearly one-quarter of this group - 28.9 million people, or 23.2 percent of the total - is not currently employed," wrote the Republican side of the budget committee regarding the Bureau of Labor Statistics data they examined. "They either became so discouraged that they left the labor force entirely, or they are in the labor force but unemployed. This group of non-employed individuals is more than 3.5 million larger than before the recession began in 2007."
And for those who attempt to reduce the significance of the figures by claiming an aging population is to blame, Sessions' staff says that while the overall workforce has shrunk nearly 10 million since 2009, "the cohort of workings in the labor force between ages 55 to 64 has actually increased over that same period, with many delaying retirement due to poor economic conditions."
"In fact, over two-thirds of all labor force dropouts since that time have been under the age of 55. These statistics illustrate that the problems in the American economy are deep, profound, and pervasive, afflicting the sector of the labor force that should be among the most productive," reported the Weekly Standard.
Back in October 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported an even more shocking number: 90.6 million men and woman over the age of 16 are not working. "That's 10 million above the 80.5 million when President Obama took office."
Taking the full U6 unemployment data into account, unemployment comes in at 18 percent at the very least, according to the Hill.
