2021 Summer Employment and Unemployment Among Youth — 2021-08-18

In July 2021, 54.4 percent of young people (persons ages 16 to 24) were employed, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was up from 46.7 percent in July 2020-- when youth employment was unusually low due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic--but down from 56.2 percent in July 2019, before the pandemic. (The month of July typically is the summertime peak in youth employment.) The unemployment rate for youth was 10.0 percent in July 2021, down considerably from the rate in July 2020 (18.5 percent) but up from July 2019 (9.1 percent). (Because this analysis focuses on the seasonal changes in youth employment and unemployment that occur each spring and summer, the data are not seasonally adjusted.) The youth labor force--16- to 24-year-olds working or actively looking for work--grows sharply between April and July each year.