The global recessionhas caused unemployment rates to rise almost everywhere, and for almost every group. But it was particularly hard on young people, whose unemploymentrates rose much faster than those of adults.
全球經濟衰退導致失業率上升，幾乎所有地區和羣體都不例外。但年輕人受到的打擊尤爲沉重，其失業率上升速度遠遠快於年紀較大的成年人。
Just how badly young people were affected appears to have depended partly on how severe the local downturn was and partly on local laborpractices and laws. Some of the hardest-hit young people were in countries with the most protections for older workers.
年輕人會受到多大影響，部分取決於當地經濟衰退的嚴重程度，部分取決於當地的勞動法規和相關習俗。一部分受到最嚴重打擊的年輕人身處那些爲年紀較大的就業者提供最多保護的國家。
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes 29 mostly rich countries, released a study this week of youth unemployment in advanceof a meeting of labor ministers from the Group of 20 countries, scheduled for Monday in Washington. "There are currently nearly 15 million youth unemployed in the O.E.C.D. area, about four million more than at the end of 2007," stated the study.
包括29個最富裕國家在內的經濟合作與發展組織(經合組織)上週發表了一份研究年輕人失業狀況的報告。而本週一，二十國集團的勞工部長們將在華盛頓召開會議。這份研究報告稱：“目前經合組織國家中有將近1500萬年輕人失業，比2007年底大約多了400萬。”
The largest unemployment rate for young people — defined as ages 15 to 24 in most countries and 16 to 24 in others — was in Spain, where in the final quarter of last year the unemploymentrate was 39.6 percent, more than double the 19.1 percent of two years earlier. For adults, the rate rose to 16.9 percent from 7.4 percent. Spain, like many European countries, provides protection for those with permanentjobs, a fact that led some employers to expand the use of temporary jobs, which provide fewer benefits. "Most of the job losses were recorded among workers on temporaryjobs, many of whom are youth," the study stated.
年輕人--在大多數國家，是指15歲到24歲，在另一些國家，是指16歲到24歲--失業率最高的是西班牙，去年最後一個季度爲39.6%，比兩年前的19.1%翻了一番還不止。年齡較長成年人的失業率從7.4%上升到16.9%。與很多歐洲國家一樣，西班牙爲擁有固定工作的人提供保護，這一事實導致了一些僱主增加了福利較少的臨時工作的數量。研究報告稱：“失業的`大多數是臨時工，其中很多是年輕人。”
The exception to the trend was in Germany, where unemployment among young people actually declined, to 10.3 percent, over the two-year period. The study attributed that in part to "a rather successfulapprenticeship system that ensures a relatively smooth transitionfrom school to work for most youth."
與趨勢相反的是德國。在德國，年輕人失業率有所下降，兩年來已經降至10.3%。研究報告認爲，這一現象部分歸功於“一個相當成功的學徒制度，去報了大多數年輕人相對平穩得從學校過渡到工作”。
"For disadvantaged youth lacking basic education, a failure in their first experienceon the labor market is often difficult to make up and may exposethem to long-lasting scarring effects."
報告稱，“對於受教育不夠的年輕人，或者缺乏工作經驗的年輕人，可能不太容易在短期內找到工作，而因失業而受到負面影響的時間也會因此被延長。”