The "lost generation"

① Finding your first job is scary at the best of times.

② During recessions it can be nightmarish.

③ Between May 2007 and April 2010, as America's economy shrank, the unemployment rate for 20-24-year-olds soared from 7.2% to 17.2%.

④ The young are seen as particularly vulnerable in recessions; as old-timers are booted out of work, newcomers struggle to get their foot in the door.

⑤ Fortunately, since then economic conditions have improved.

⑥ Among 30-34-year-olds today, the unemployment rate is 3.4%.

⑦ But the trauma could be simply buried.

⑧ One study, covering 1976-2015, found that starting work during a recession depresses earnings for at least ten years, with high-school dropouts and non-whites worst affected.

⑨ Another, by economists at the St Louis Fed, found that families headed by someone born in the 1980s have struggled to amass as much wealth in the aftermath of the Great Recession as previous generations.

⑩ Some scars may never heal.