New York Times columnist Bob Herbert writes today that the US Labor Department statistics, which are pretty grim by themselves, fail to count anyone under age 24. Herbert says that 4 million young people between 16 and 24 are looking for work but are not reflected in the official jobless figures. This is bad news for society, Herbert writes.

This is the flip side of the American dream. The United States economy, which has trouble producing enough jobs to keep the middle class intact, has left these youngsters all-but-completely behind....

It’s not as if these kids don’t want to work. Many of them search and search until they finally become discouraged. The summer job market, which has long been an important first step in preparing teenagers for the world of work, is shaping up this year as the weakest in more than half a century, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston....

As the ranks of these youngsters grow, so does their potential to become a destabilizing factor in the society.

I love that he gave a nod to the middle class, which I think is in big trouble of disappearing. He ends up by calling on the presidential candidates to figure out how to create full employment, put America back to work. I wonder when things will get bad enough that someone starts to listen.