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In July 2014, 51.9 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds were employed, up from 50.7 percent a year earlier. (The month of July typically is the summertime peak in youth employment.) The labor force participation rate for all youth was 60.5 percent in July, the same as the July value in the prior two summers, but above the July low of 59.5 percent in 2011.
The summer labor force participation rate of youth has been declining for many years. The July 2014 participation rate was 17.0 percentage points below the peak rate for that month in 1989 (77.5 percent).
Labor force participation rates of 16- to 24-year-olds in July, by sex, not seasonally adjusted, 1974–2014
Year
Both sexes
Men
Women
1974
73.2
84.3
62.6
1975
73.0
83.5
63.1
1976
74.1
83.8
64.9
1977
74.7
84.5
65.2
1978
76.5
85.0
68.4
1979
76.6
85.0
68.4
1980
76.3
84.4
68.5
1981
75.3
82.7
68.0
1982
74.7
81.2
68.5
1983
75.6
83.0
68.4
1984
76.3
82.5
70.3
1985
76.5
82.8
70.3
1986
76.7
82.9
70.6
1987
76.3
81.4
71.3
1988
76.9
82.5
71.4
1989
77.5
82.8
72.4
1990
75.1
80.8
69.5
1991
73.6
79.6
67.6
1992
74.6
79.8
69.5
1993
74.5
79.5
69.5
1994
74.1
78.8
69.4
1995
74.3
79.3
69.3
1996
73.3
78.3
68.3
1997
73.0
76.5
69.4
1998
72.8
76.3
69.3
1999
72.6
76.0
69.1
2000
71.6
75.2
68.1
2001
70.7
74.1
67.2
2002
69.5
72.3
66.6
2003
67.3
70.0
64.5
2004
67.2
70.4
63.9
2005
66.6
69.6
63.6
2006
66.7
69.7
63.6
2007
65.0
67.9
62.1
2008
65.1
68.1
62.1
2009
63.0
64.9
61.1
2010
60.5
62.7
58.1
2011
59.5
61.4
57.6
2012
60.5
63.2
57.8
2013
60.5
62.7
58.2
2014
60.5
63.2
57.8
Employment-population ratios of 16- to 24-year-olds in July, by sex, not seasonally adjusted, 1974–2014
Year
Both sexes
Men
Women
1974
64.1
74.9
53.9
1975
61.1
69.7
53.0
1976
63.7
72.1
55.6
1977
64.7
73.7
56.0
1978
66.9
75.3
58.8
1979
67.6
75.6
59.9
1980
65.1
71.7
58.8
1981
64.8
71.5
58.2
1982
61.8
66.8
56.9
1983
63.3
68.9
57.8
1984
66.1
71.3
61.0
1985
65.9
71.2
60.8
1986
66.7
72.0
61.5
1987
67.3
72.0
62.7
1988
68.5
73.5
63.7
1989
69.2
74.4
64.1
1990
67.0
72.2
61.8
1991
63.5
68.5
58.4
1992
63.8
68.2
59.4
1993
64.6
68.6
60.6
1994
64.7
68.5
60.8
1995
64.9
69.6
60.1
1996
64.1
68.1
60.0
1997
64.6
67.7
61.5
1998
64.9
67.8
62.0
1999
65.2
68.2
62.3
2000
64.8
67.9
61.6
2001
63.3
66.3
60.2
2002
60.9
63.2
58.5
2003
58.3
60.1
56.6
2004
58.9
62.0
55.8
2005
59.3
61.6
57.0
2006
59.2
61.9
56.5
2007
58.0
60.3
55.6
2008
56.0
57.9
54.2
2009
51.4
52.2
50.5
2010
48.9
49.9
48.0
2011
48.8
50.2
47.3
2012
50.2
51.9
48.4
2013
50.7
51.7
49.6
2014
51.9
53.6
50.1
Unemployment rates of 16- to 24-year-olds in July, by sex, not seasonally adjusted, 1974–2014
Year
Both sexes
Men
Women
1974
12.4
11.2
14.0
1975
16.3
16.5
16.1
1976
14.1
13.9
14.2
1977
13.3
12.7
14.1
1978
12.6
11.3
14.0
1979
11.7
11.1
12.4
1980
14.7
15.1
14.2
1981
14.0
13.5
14.5
1982
17.3
17.7
16.9
1983
16.2
16.9
15.5
1984
13.4
13.6
13.1
1985
13.7
13.9
13.5
1986
13.0
13.0
12.9
1987
11.7
11.5
12.0
1988
10.9
10.9
10.8
1989
10.7
10.1
11.4
1990
10.9
10.6
11.1
1991
13.7
13.9
13.6
1992
14.5
14.6
14.4
1993
13.3
13.6
12.9
1994
12.7
13.1
12.3
1995
12.7
12.2
13.3
1996
12.6
13.0
12.1
1997
11.4
11.4
11.4
1998
10.8
11.2
10.4
1999
10.1
10.3
9.9
2000
9.6
9.7
9.5
2001
10.5
10.6
10.4
2002
12.4
12.5
12.2
2003
13.3
14.2
12.2
2004
12.3
12.0
12.7
2005
11.0
11.5
10.5
2006
11.2
11.2
11.1
2007
10.8
11.1
10.4
2008
14.0
15.0
12.8
2009
18.5
19.7
17.3
2010
19.1
20.5
17.5
2011
18.1
18.3
17.8
2012
17.1
17.9
16.2
2013
16.3
17.6
14.8
2014
14.3
15.1
13.4
In July 2014, 25 percent of employed youth worked in the leisure and hospitality industry (which includes food services), and 19 percent worked in the retail trade industry. These two industries typically account for large shares of summer youth employment.
The youth unemployment rate was 14.3 percent in July 2014, 2.0 percentage points less than a year before. Among the major demographic groups, July unemployment rates were lower than the prior year for young men (15.1 percent), young women (13.4 percent), whites (12.2 percent), and blacks (24.8 percent), while youth jobless rates changed little for Asians (10.9 percent), and Hispanics (16.5 percent).
These data are from the Current Population Survey. Because this analysis focuses on the seasonal changes in youth employment and unemployment that occur each spring and summer, the data are not seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "Employment and Unemployment among Youth — Summer 2014" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL‑14‑1498. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Youth employment and unemployment, July 2014 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2014/ted_20140819.htm (visited October 08, 2024).
United States Department of Labor
