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55.3 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds employed in July 2022, up from 54.4 percent in July 2021

August 24, 2022

Youth employment grows sharply between April and July each year. During these months, many high school and college students take summer jobs, and graduates enter the labor market for permanent employment.

In July 2022, there were 21.0 million employed 16- to 24-year-olds. Between April and July, the number of employed youths rose by 2.1 million, or 11.4 percent. The employment–population ratio for youth—the proportion of the 16- to 24-year-old population with a job—was 55.3 percent in July 2022, an increase of 0.9 percentage point from the prior year. However, the July 2022 ratio was lower than the July 2019 ratio of 56.2 percent.

Employment–population ratios of 16- to 24-year-olds in July, 2003–22, not seasonally adjusted
Year Total Men Women White Black or African American Asian Hispanic or Latino

2003

58.3% 60.1% 56.6% 62.6% 41.7% 43.8% 53.4%

2004

58.9 62.0 55.8 62.8 42.4 47.8 54.6

2005

59.3 61.6 57.0 62.8 44.7 46.7 54.1

2006

59.2 61.9 56.5 63.3 43.5 42.8 55.2

2007

58.0 60.3 55.6 61.7 43.0 45.6 52.5

2008

56.0 57.9 54.2 59.7 41.2 46.4 50.5

2009

51.4 52.2 50.5 55.2 36.4 41.3 46.5

2010

48.9 49.9 48.0 53.0 34.4 37.9 43.6

2011

48.8 50.2 47.3 52.3 34.6 40.5 42.9

2012

50.2 51.9 48.4 53.5 38.9 37.4 46.5

2013

50.7 51.7 49.6 54.3 38.6 39.2 47.4

2014

51.9 53.6 50.1 55.4 39.8 40.8 47.0

2015

52.7 53.9 51.4 55.8 44.7 39.8 49.1

2016

53.2 54.9 51.5 56.5 42.7 38.8 49.8

2017

54.8 56.1 53.4 57.2 46.9 42.7 50.9

2018

55.0 55.2 54.8 58.0 47.2 39.7 51.7

2019

56.2 57.3 55.1 58.9 49.8 41.0 51.3

2020

46.7 47.7 45.8 49.5 39.2 32.0 42.6

2021

54.4 55.1 53.7 57.2 47.6 39.1 50.2

2022

55.3 56.3 54.3 58.3 46.4 44.1 50.1

Employment–population ratios were higher in July 2022 than they were a year earlier for young men (56.3 percent), Whites (58.3 percent), and Asians (44.1 percent). The ratios for young women (54.3 percent), Blacks (46.4 percent), and Hispanics (50.1 percent) were little changed. The employment–population ratios in July 2022 for men, women, Whites, Asians, and Hispanics were little different than in July 2019, while the ratio for Blacks was 3.4 percentage points lower than in July 2019.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see “Employment and Unemployment among Youth — Summer 2022.” People whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 55.3 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds employed in July 2022, up from 54.4 percent in July 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/55-3-percent-of-16-to-24-year-olds-employed-in-july-2022-up-from-54-4-percent-in-july-2021.htm (visited October 12, 2024).

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