by Calculated Risk August 13, 2024 3:52 PM
Now let’s look at how teen employment has changed over time.
The graph below shows the employment rate for teenagers (ages 16-19) since 1948.
This graph is not seasonally adjusted (NSA) and shows seasonal employment for teens during the summer.
A few observations:
1) Although teen employment has recovered somewhat since the Great Recession, overall teen employment has been declining, likely because more people are staying in school (a long-term positive for the economy).
2) In 2020, teen employment was significantly affected by the pandemic.
Click on the graph to enlarge the image.
3) Fewer teenagers are taking summer jobs. Seasonal surges are smaller than in previous decades.
The proportion of teenagers in the working population is expected to be 37.9% in July 2024, down from 38.0% in July 2023. The teen participation rate is expected to be 43.6% in July 2024, up from 43.1% in July of the previous year.
This caused the teen unemployment rate (NSA) to rise to 13.2% from 12.0% in July 2023.
Declining participation among teenagers is one reason why overall participation has fallen (of course, the retirement of the Baby Boomer generation is the main reason why overall participation has fallen over the past 20-plus years).
