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ROME, March 4-- There is one macroeconomic category where Italy is emerging as one of the leaders among European Union member states, but it is not a positive one -- Italy this month surpassed Spain to have the second highest level of youth unemployment in the 28-nation bloc. According to the latest data from Italy's National Statistics Institute, or ISTAT, Italy's overall employment rates improved very slightly in January, climbing 0.1 percent compared to December. But that modest improvement took place despite a 0.3-percent increase in the number of unemployed youths -- defined as workers under the age of 25 -- driving the overall unemployment rate for the country's youngest workers to 33 percent. The new figure was enough for Italy to surpass Spain as the European Union member state for second on the list of those where it is difficult for young workers to find a job. Only Greece has a bigger problem related to youth unemployment than Italy. The problem is a long-standing one in Italy, according to Marco Leonardi, an economist in the Department for the study of Labor and Welfare at the State University of Milan. "After World War II and through the 1970s young people in Italy had an easy time finding work in the manufacturing sector," Leonardi told Xinhua. "But starting in the 1980s when the number of people going to university began to dramatically increase, youth unemployment levels started to climb. They've remained high ever since." | 
