Chicago youth will rally at noon Monday at the Federal Plaza, 230 S. Dearborn, calling on Congress to pass the Youth Jobs Act of 2010, which was introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in December.

The bill would provide $1.5 billion to expand the youth employment component of last year’s recovery act and create 450,000 temporary jobs and training opportunities for young people aged 14 to 24.

At 27 percent, the national youth employment rate is the highest on record; in the black community, the official youth unemployment rate is 50 percent, and leaves uncounted millions of people who have given up looking for work.

Following the rally, demonstrators will march on bailed-out banks demanding that they invest in businesses that employ young people.

“The federal government spent billions of dollars bailing out banks and large financial institutions, but they have not created a recovery plan for the millions of young people in need of a job,” said Miriam Martinez of the Mikva Challenge, a youth leadership project, which is organizing the rally.

She said the federal government’s investment in youth has decreased continuously since the early 1980s.