Labor Force
The youth labor force-16- to 24-year-olds working or actively looking for work-grows sharply between April and July each year. During these months, large numbers of high school and college students take or search for summer jobs, and many graduates enter the labor market to look for or begin permanent employment. This summer, the youth labor force grew by 3.1 million to a total of 24.4 million in July.
The labor force participation rate for youth-the proportion of their population working or looking for work-was 65.1 percent in July 2008, essentially the same as in July 2007 and about 12 percentage points below its peak for that month in 1989 (77.5 percent). Over the 1989-2008 period, the proportion of youth enrolled in school in July trended up; youth enrolled in school are much less likely than those not in school to be in the labor force.
The July 2008 labor force participation rate for 16- to 24-year-old men (68.1 percent) was about the same as a year earlier, and the rate for women (62.1 percent) was unchanged over the year. For several decades prior to 1989, young men's July labor force participation rate showed no clear trend, ranging from 81 to 86 percent. Since July 1989, however, their participation rate has trended down by about 15 percentage points. Young women's July labor force participation rate peaked in 1989 after a long-term upward trend; their rate has trended down by about 10 percentage points since then.
The July 2008 participation rates for whites (68.1 percent), blacks (54.7 percent), and Hispanics (60.1 percent) were little changed from a year earlier. For all three groups, labor force participation rates were more than 10 percentage points lower than their peak levels reached in July 1989. The participation rate for Asian youth in July 2008 (50.6 percent) also was little different from July 2007.
Employment
In July 2008, 21.0 million 16- to 24-year-olds were employed. The employment-population ratio for youth - the proportion of the 16- to 24-year-old civilian noninstitutional population that was employed — was 56.0 percent, down 2.0 percentage points from July 2007. The ratio has fallen by about 13 percentage points since its peak in July 1989; the steep decline from July 2007 to July 2008 may reflect, in part, weaker labor market conditions during the summer of 2008.
The July employment-population ratio for young men was 57.9 percent in July 2008, down from 60.3 percent in July 2007. The employment-population ratios for women (54.2 percent) and whites (59.7 percent) in July 2008 also were lower than a year earlier. The ratios for blacks (41.2 percent), Asians (46.4 percent), and Hispanics (50.5 per- cent) were about unchanged.
In July 2008, 23 percent of employed youth worked in the leisure and hospitality industry (which includes food services) and 18 percent worked in retail trade. In addition, nearly two-fifths of employed youth worked in education and health services, professional and business services, government, manufacturing, and construction combined.
Unemployment
In July 2008, 3.4 million youth were unemployed and the youth unemployment rate was 14.0 percent, the highest rate for July since 1992. As with the decline in employment, the increase in youth unemployment in the summer of 2008 partly reflected a weaker job market. The July 2008 unemployment rates for young men (15.0 percent), women (12.8 percent), whites (12.3 percent), blacks (24.8 percent), and Hispanics (16.0 percent) increased from a year earlier. The jobless rate for Asians (8.4 percent) was about unchanged from July 2007.
