Only 45.4% of Americans had jobs in 2010, the lowest rate since 1983

In 2010, just 66.8% of men had jobs, the lowest on record. Since 2000, the population of non-working adults has grown by 27 million. In addition, a quarter of teenagers were jobless in March 2011. Twelve states, including Illinois and Pennsylvania, are considering a hike in the minimum wage. While this has been the subject of a long-running debate, many economists and analysts say raising this pay bar may cause more teen layoffs. Teens typically are the first to be fired and the last to be hired back in a normal economic cycle, so this rate can be considered as a kind of leading indicator of employment. Consider that the teen unemployment rate surged to 19% in May 2008, even as the overall unemployment rate ticked only slightly higher to 5.4%. If the teen rate continues to diverge from the overall rate, then it could represent an early sign of stagnation in the overall economic recovery.