The Occupy Wall Street protest has struck during an economically tumultuous time for many Americans.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that 25 million Americans are either unemployed or underemployed.
The BLS reports an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent, up from 6.2 percent in September 2008 and 5 percent in September 2001.
OWS, so far, has been characterized in media reports as a movement comprised of people under the age of 30 struggling with mountains of student loan debt as they see very few job prospects.
According to the BLS, unemployment for those between 16 to 24 rose to 19.1 percent, the highest rate since the federal agency started reporting this statistic in 1948.
Among major demographic groups, the BLS's data showed unemployment rates for young men (20.5 percent) continued upwards. Of unemployed young men, blacks showed a rate of 33.4 percent and Asians at 21.6 percent.
The jobless rates for young women (17.5 percent) remained “virtually unchanged,” the BLS reported, with whites at 16.2 percent and Hispanics at 22.1 percent.
The number of college students taking on student loan debt has also increased, according to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS).
NPSAS reported that according to the most recent figures based on the 2007-08 academic year, 1.4 million students, about 67 percent, who had graduated from a four-year college or university carried student loan debt.
The average debt increased 24 percent to $23,200 in 2008 from $18,650 in 2004. Vermont graduates carry an average of $27,786, according to NPSAS.
In Zuccotti Park, protestors reported that their wages couldn't cover their basic living expenses, let alone student loan debt.