The nation’s young people are facing bleak job prospects, regardless of how current unemployment numbers are interpreted, according to a former U.S. Labor Department chief.

Paul Conway, former chief of staff of both the Department of Labor and the Office of Personnel Management, said the jobless rate among those aged 18 to 29 is devastating and “the promise of America is slipping past an entire generation.”

“11.8 percent of young Americans are now unemployed through no fault of their own and more still are falling out of the workforce due to an historic lack of opportunity,” he said.

Editor's Note: Economist Warns: 50% Unemployment, 100% Inflation Possible

Conway is currently president of Generation Opportunity, a nonprofit, non-partisan group in Washington, D.C., that seeks to educate and engage young people on the challenges facing the country. The group’s analysis of non-seasonally adjusted September unemployment among 18 to 29 years olds concluded:

• Unemployment among the age group for the month was 21.0 percent among African American individuals and 12.1 percent among Hispanic individuals.

• The declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.7 million young people who are not counted as unemployed because they have given up looking for work.

• If those who have given up looking for work were counted, the actual unemployment rate for those aged 18 to 29 would increase to 16.6 percent.

Conway criticized the Obama administration for pursuing policies that he said have not worked. “While today’s unemployment numbers stir controversy nationwide, one fact remains – young Americans are getting the short end of the stick,” he said following the release of September unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that showed the national unemployment rate dipping to 7.8 percent, the first time it has come in under 8 percent in 43 months.

CNNMoney reported there were 453,000 fewer young people with jobs in August than in July, but the government only counted 27,000 more young people looking for jobs because the rest apparently left the labor force or went back to school.

As a result, CNNMoney said the percentage of young people who are counted in the labor force fell to its lowest level since 1955.

PolicyMic, a social media news site for the millennial generation, noted that the unemployment rate in September for 18 and 19 year olds was 22.8 percent, for 20 to 24 year olds the rate was 12.4 percent and for 25 to 34 year olds the rate was 8.1 percent.

Editor's Note: Economist Warns: 50% Unemployment, 100% Inflation Possible