Jobless Rate for Youths Is Increasing - washingtonpost.com: ... Young adults seeking low-skill service jobs for the summer must contend with older, laid-off workers, illegal immigrants and college graduates who cannot find work in their fields, as well as with cuts in federal summer jobs programs.
As a result, the national youth jobless rate for June was at its highest in six decades, with 37 percent of teenagers ages 16 to 19 employed, compared with 51 percent in June 2000, according to Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies, which analyzed Labor Department data.
'They say they don't want to hire teenagers -- they think we aren't as responsible,' Macias said. He wants to work so he can help his mother, who cleans office buildings at night.
The center's earlier study of 10 major cities showed that the District had the highest youth joblessness rate, 86 percent, followed by Chicago, with 85 percent, and Detroit and New York at 82 percent.
The study did not use the usual definition of "unemployment," meaning people actively looking for work. Instead, it measured the proportion of youth who are working.
