2003 Summer Employment and Unemployment Among Youth — 2003-08-08

The number of employed youth 16 to 24 years old increased by 2.1 million from April to July, the traditional summertime peak for youth employment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This year's summertime expansion in youth employment was somewhat smaller than last year's 2.4 million increase. Unemployment among youth increased by 628,000 between April and July, the largest seasonal increase since 1998. (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 as large numbers of high school and college students take or search for summer employment and many graduates enter the labor market to begin or seek permanent jobs.