This month, another devastating jobs report was released from the Biden Administration, showing that only 194,000 jobs were added to the economy nationwide during the month of September. The report revealed September was the second straight month in which job growth failed to meet expectations, with fewer jobs being added than anticipated.

Perhaps no one has been hit harder with job stagnation and trying to find work in the first place than America’s young adults and teenagers, who are facing adversity in getting their experience in the workforce started. As we’ve navigated our way through the COVID-19 pandemic, college grads have faced unprecedented difficulty finding work to start their careers.

In 2019, the employment rate of recent grads was as high as 78%, while only one year later, just 68% of college graduates were employed.

Last year, the number of graduates actively working or searching for work dropped from 86% to 79%–a figure even lower than the 88% of graduates seeking employment during the 2008 Recession!

The current job market for recent grads is so bad that teens can’t even find work either! A recent Pew Research poll found that teen summer employment rates are also the lowest they have ever been since the Great Recession. In fact, only 31% of teens were employed last summer.

If we’re serious about coming back from this pandemic and providing the most opportunities possible to young Americans, it’s time to open our economy fully. As we round out another year of disappointing jobs reports and a sluggish return to reality coming out of COVID-19, one thing is clear–the policies of the Left, continued shutdowns, and vaccine mandates are not the solution we need for success.