The youth labor force grows sharply between April and July each year. During these months, 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. This summer, the labor force participation rate for all youth—the proportion of the population 16 to 24 years old working or looking for work—was 60.5 percent in July, the same as a year earlier.
The July 2013 labor force participation rate for 16- to 24-year-old men was 62.7 percent, and the rate for young women was 58.2 percent; both rates were about the same as a year earlier.
Taking a longer-term perspective, the July 2013 participation rate for all 16- to 24-year-olds was 17 percentage points below the peak rate for that month in 1989.
For several decades prior to 1989, the July labor force participation rate for young men showed no clear trend, ranging from 81 to 86 percent. Since 1989, however, their July participation rate has declined, falling by about 20 percentage points. The July labor force participation rate for young women peaked in 1989 at 72.4 percent, following a long-term upward trend; their rate has since fallen by about 14 percentage points.
The youth labor force participation rate was highest for Whites, at 63.1 percent in July 2013. The rates were 53.8 percent for Blacks, 46.1 percent for Asians, and 57.8 percent for Hispanics or Latinos. For all four groups, labor force participation rates were little different from a year earlier.
These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see "Employment and Unemployment among Youth — Summer 2013" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL‑13‑1698. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.
United States Department of Labor
