In the United States, the public and private sectors joined together to create a fund for the purchase of nonperforming assets in an attempt to take them off balance sheets. It remains to be seen whether this system will function as intended. As the real economy worsens, the scope of nonperforming assets is moving from securitized products to commercial and other loans.
The youth unemployment rate has declined to a level below that of the bubble period, and labor market conditions for new graduates have created more of a seller's market than ever before.