GUAM'S economy is not creating enough job opportunities for its young people, and that’s a long-standing problem. Quite apart from our unemployment, which is several points above the U.S. rate, our economy generates mostly entry-level or retail jobs, or jobs with the government.

Nationwide, the economy is struggling with high unemployment and unskilled or poorly trained workers. But for us, with our high birth rate and high levels of immigration from the surrounding island states, we are undoubtedly losing many of our best and brightest to better opportunities elsewhere.

That was apparent in the economic update presented by Bank of Guam’s Joseph Bradley on Thursday. While our island economy is recovering slowly, payroll employment is still a problem. We’ve lost 2,270 jobs in the last two years, he said. Most of the losses were in the private sector – 2,580 – only partially offset by 140 GovGuam jobs and 170 federal government jobs added.

That figure, 2,270, caught our attention because it is pretty close to the number of high school graduates we turn out every year. If Guam is shedding jobs at nearly the same rate as we are turning out graduates, what does that say about the opportunities available here for our young people?

It turns out Bradley doesn’t have statistical information to analyze, but he agreed that our youngsters do not have much to look forward to if they want to remain on Guam after they get their diplomas. Logic suggests that if they can afford it, most high school graduates will leave. Many will leave the island for college and not return. A lot of them will also join the military, which has always been a popular way to get your ticket punched to leave the island.

That’s why so many of us had put our hopes on the erstwhile military buildup. Every post-war period of growth and economic opportunity on Guam has been driven by the construction industry. We need those companies to grow and succeed, because not only will their projects provide skilled employment, but the structures they construct will need to be filled, administered and occupied once they are complete. That creates jobs.

As things now stand, the Marine part of the buildup, if it happens at all, will not begin occurring until around the third quarter of 2015. In the meantime, we have a burgeoning tourism industry that is creating new jobs. They just may not be the kind of jobs that will encourage our young people to stay here on Guam, or return once they complete their college degrees.