It will take years for the labor market to recover from the damage induced by the recent recession. While monthly job losses almost surely peaked in 2009, the unemployment rate will likely peak in 2010 (CBO 2010a). In April, the unemployment rate reached 9.9% and the overall economic cause is simple: firms are not hiring quickly enough, as indicated by the 5.6 job seekers per current job opening. The 290,000 jobs gained in April, the largest monthly job gain in three years, represent a baby step in climbing out of the jobs hole of 10.7 million that remains in the recession's wake. For the class of 2010, it will be one of the worst years to graduate high school or college since at least 1983 and possibly the worst since the end of World War II. This paper documents several aspects of the grim labor market situation facing young graduates. It also discusses ways that government policy both helps and ways that it fails to help young workers damaged by the recession. The class of 2010 is graduating at a particularly bad time, and their poor job prospects are manifestly not their fault. They need a response from policy makers that appreciates these facts. (Contains 9 figures, 1 table, and 6 endnotes.)