2009 Summer Employment and Unemployment Among Youth — 2009-08-27

From April to July 2009, the number of employed youth 16 to 24 years old increased by 1.6 million to 19.3 million, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This year, however, the pro- portion of young people who were employed in July was 51.4 percent, the lowest July rate on record for the series, which began in 1948. (July is the traditional summertime peak for youth employment.) Unemployment among youth increased by 1.1 million between April and July 2009, about the same as in the summer of 2008. (Because this analysis focuses on the seasonal changes in youth employment and unemployment that occur every 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.