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OTTAWA (CUP) —- The 1986

' economic forecast of the Organi- sation for Economic Co-operation and Development says unemploy- ment among Canadian youth will not change much in the coming year.

“Even though the youth popu- lationis down, youth employment will not grow in 1985-86,” reads the OECD’s Economic Outlook released in Paris, Sept. 24.

Employment among Canadians under 25, this year, is slightly higher than last year after four years of decline. In 1980, 86.8 per cent of Canadian youth had jobs.

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employment bleak saysOECD

By 1984 this dropped to 82.1 per cent, currently 82.75 per cent of Canadian youth have jobs. This will rise to 83 per cent next year, the OECD predicts. ‘

The organization, which studies the economies of the seven largest Western nations; also said long- term unemployment (being con- tinuously out of work for a year or more) is now affecting many

young people and prime-age

workers.

The forecast dispells the “long- held view that multiple spells of unemployment among youth are a normal part of the transition from school to work, and hence of little

concern._”

“The study finds youth unem- ployment is as concentrated as adult unemployment, indicating the seriousness of youth unem- ployment, and the fact that some of these youths are likely to be experiencing labour market diffi- culties,” the forecast said.

In addition, ‘service industry work and part-time work, the areas where most young Canadians

find jobs, will continue to grow

faster than industrial and full-time work in Canada, the OECD predicts. '

Last week, Statistic Canada had some qualified good news for

Canadian youth: there are slightly more young Canadian families above the poverty line than there were last year.

“Young families’ incidence of low income, at 31.3 per cent in 1984, is-down from 34.7 per cent in 1983. This appears to break the ' trend of steadily increasing low income rates for this group since 1979, when the figure was 20.5 per cent,” according to a Sept. 30' StatsCan release.

Low-income cut-offs are rela- tive levels based on income and expenditure patterns in 1978 and vary by size of the area of resi- dence and 5 size of the famil .