Gen Z is facing the worst youth unemployment rate in decades. Here is how it’s different [Video]

Graduation cap in hand, Sarah Chung is posing for photos in school regalia ahead of her convocation ceremony. The campus atmosphere is joyful, but what comes next is sobering: this honours student is graduating into one of the worst youth labour markets seen in decades.

“It’s bleak,” said the 23-year-old graduate of the University of Calgary’s media and communications program. She hasn’t been able to find a job in her field and said she intends to pursue a master’s degree.

“I believe that it’s tough just because of everything that’s happening with the economy, with our society and with politics,” she said. “There’s a whole [lot] of talk about ‘there’s a recession coming.’ I’m not an economist, but I can also see it as well.”

Chung is part of a generation facing Canada’s highest youth unemployment rate in about a quarter-century. 

Apart from the pandemic, Canadians between the ages of …