The slow recovery by young adults from the recession is bringing urgency to financial literacy efforts, Treasury Department Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin said Thursday.

Raskin pointed out the unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds is double the national average. The national unemployment rate in August was 6.3 percent, not seasonally adjusted, down from 7.3 percent a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Labor reported yesterday.

“To say they are having a difficult time entering the job market is an understatement,” the official told the second meeting of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans.

Raskin said the fallout from the recession still plaguing this age group ranges from a lack of part-time, after-school jobs for high school students to recent college graduates who are being forced to take low-pay, low-skilled positions.

Raskin said far few too children receive financial education in classrooms and at home. She claimed classroom education on the topic is a proven aid. She noted young adults in states where financial education is mandatory have shown higher credit scores and lower credit-card debt.

During the meeting, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said financial education should be as fundamental in schools as reading, writing and arithmetic.