The government says the labor market for the nation’s young workers has remained tight since December 2004.

According to the National Statistical Office, the number of young employees dwindled for the 56th straight month as of July.

In December 2004, there were approximately four-point-five million youths employed. As of last July, the number had dropped by 440-thousand to just over four million.

The number of economically inactive people grew 240-thousand from nearly five-point-one million to five-point-three million during the same period.

The employment rate for young people dropped from 45-point-one percent in late 2004 to 41-point-eight percent in July of this year.

The tightening labor market for the nation’s youth is attributable to the nation’s vulnerability to global economic turbulence.

Unrealistic wage expectations and the contraction in the population of young people are also expected to have played a role in the dipping employment figures.

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