Youth Summer Employment Hits New Low

According to an economic release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), youth summer employment continued its descent, dropping to its lowest rate since the BLS started the series in 1948. Only 48.8 percent--or 18.6 million--of youth aged 16 to 24 were employed in July, and the labor force participation rate for the age group was 59.5 percent, also a new low.

July usually signals the "summertime peak in youth employment...[as] large numbers of high school and college students search for or take summer jobs, and many graduates enter the labor market to look for or begin permanent employment." From April to July 2011 the number of employed youths increased 1.7 million, a similar increase as last summer (1.8 million) but not large enough to prevent the downward momentum in the youth employment rate.
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