Teen Summer Jobs Market is Worst Since World War II

7/9/2003

From: Clifford Johnson, 202-626-3013, or Michael Reinemer, 202-626-3003, both of the National League of Cities

WASHINGTON, July 9 -- New data on employment rates show the proportion of teenagers who have summer jobs has fallen so dramatically it is now lower than any year since the end of World War II, making the summer of 2003 the worst in nearly 60 years, according to Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies and the National League of Cities.

The employment figures, just released by the U.S. Department of Labor, confirm predictions made in a report published a month ago by Northeastern's Center for Labor Market Studies and the National League of Cities.

Only 36.4 percent of all young people between the ages of 16 and 19 were employed in June 2003. This seasonally adjusted U.S. teen employment rate, the lowest since 1948, has plunged by more than nine percentage points over the past three years. The comparable rate for teens in June 2000, at the peak of the labor market boom, was 45.8 percent.

"At a time when the wealthiest Americans are enjoying unprecedented prosperity, how can we allow the job market for our young adults to unravel before our eyes?" said Charlie Lyons, National League of Cities first vice president and selectman of Arlington, Massachusetts. "If we allow such inequalities to persist and continue to grow, we almost certainly are endangering America's future."

The jobs picture for youth during the entire second quarter of 2003 was equally grim. For the months from April through June, the teen employment rate fell to 36.7 percent, setting a new all-time low since the federal government began collecting these data on a regular basis in the late 1940s.

"It took eight years with strong economic growth during the 1990s to raise the summer teen employment rate by five percentage points," said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies. "Those gains have all been lost in three short years, and we now face a tougher job market for our young people than any in two generations."

While the bleak summer job market affects all groups of teenagers, young people of color are particularly devastated by these employment declines. Only one in five (21 percent) of all black teenagers had paid employment during the second quarter of 2003, an employment rate only half as high as that of white teens. Low-income youth and teenagers in the nation's largest central cities are also likely to have great difficulty in finding work this summer.

Given the current weakness in labor demand and the absence of any federal summer job stimulus for teens, the employment data for July and August of this year are quite likely to be equally disappointing, the researchers say. Recent trends underscore the need for Congress and the Administration to develop a federal job creation program targeted to young adults, including separate funding for a summer youth employment program as well as a modest year-round jobs program that allows more of the nation's youth a chance to learn and earn during the coming year.

"It is stunning that we are not having a vigorous national debate about these employment losses and their implications for America's youth," said Clifford Johnson, executive director the NLC Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, which commissioned the Northeastern University research.

"Record low employment rates for teens will make it harder for them to gain a foothold in the job market as adults, while also depriving low-income families of much-needed earnings and creating new challenges for cities and towns that are already struggling to cope with fiscal crises and new demands related to homeland security."

The National League of Cities is the largest national organization for American cities. NLC serves as a resource and advocate for 18,000 cities, towns and villages of all sizes, from New York City to Bee Cave, Texas, which collectively serve 225 million people. Visit http://www.nlc.org.

Northeastern University, a private research institution located in Boston, MA, is a world leader in practice-oriented education. U.S. News & World Report, in its annual guide America's Best Colleges, 2003, ranked Northeastern number one in the country among programs that "require or encourage students to apply what they're learning in the classroom out in the real world." For more information, visit http://www.northeastern.edu.