Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced a “significant decline” in the national unemployment rate for 18-24 year-olds, which has fallen to one percent over the last year, to 17.1 percent.

“The youth unemployment rate showed a significant decline, falling to 17.1 percent — down a percentage point from last year and two points from 2010,” Solis said in a statement yesterday. “[T]he numbers show that, while there’s still work to be done, opportunities are growing for young people around the country,” she also said.

Eighty-nine  percent of 18-29 year olds “say the current state of the economy is impacting their day-to-day lives,” according to a Generation Opportunity survey of 1,003 young people released this week. That includes 32 percent who said they were looking for a another job.

“These numbers should put elected leaders on notice,” said Paul Conway, president of Generation Opportunity and former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Labor. “What you see is a very pointed story of the impact the failed policies coming out of the White House over the course of the last three years are having on the daily lives and the long-term plans of young Americans.”

Solis maintains that things are looking up for millenials. “It’s no secret that the effects of the 2007 recession had a significant impact on job prospects for youth, but today’s report showed positive signs that job prospects for young people picked up pace in 2012,” she said yesterday.