LaborStats

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell to the lowest point in almost four years last week, the latest signal that the job market is steadily improving. Weekly applications for unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Any way you slice it, the job market is in rough shape these days. But there's one group of Americans who are bearing a disproportionate amount of the burden, and this could spell trouble even after the economy bounces back. Young workers are taking it on the chin, and experts are increasingly...