Employment and Unemployment Among Youth Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, August 20, 2026                                  USDL-26-1411

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                    EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG YOUTH - SUMMER 2026


In July 2026, 53.8 percent of young people (those ages 16 to 24) were employed, the U.S. Bureau of 
Labor Statistics reported today. This measure was little changed from 53.1 percent in July 2025. 
(The month of July typically is the summertime peak in youth employment.) The youth unemployment 
rate was 9.1 percent in July 2026, lower than the rate in July 2025 (10.8 percent). (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.)

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 search for or take summer jobs, and many graduates enter the labor market to look for or 
begin permanent employment. In 2026, the youth labor force grew by 2.1 million, or 9.8 percent, 
from April (21.4 million) to July (23.5 million). (See table 1.)

The labor force participation rate for all youth was 59.1 percent in July 2026, little different 
from a year earlier (59.5 percent). (The labor force participation rate is the proportion of the 
civilian noninstitutional population that is working or actively looking for work.) (See table 2.)

The July 2026 labor force participation rates for 16- to 24-year-old men (61.1 percent) and women 
(57.2 percent) were little changed over the year. Continuing a long-standing pattern among the 
major groups, White youth (61.5 percent) had the highest labor force participation rate, and Asian
youth had the lowest (47.4 percent) in July 2026. The participation rates for White (61.5 percent),
Black (53.3 percent), Asian (47.4 percent), and Hispanic (56.2 percent) youth were little changed
over the year.

Employment

There were 21.3 million employed 16- to 24-year-olds in July 2026. Between April and July, the 
number of employed youth rose by 1.8 million, or 9.1 percent. The employment-population ratio for 
youth--the proportion of the 16- to 24-year-old civilian noninstitutional population with a job--
was 53.8 percent in July 2026, little different than the ratio of 53.1 percent from a year 
earlier. (See tables 1 and 2.)

In July 2026, the employment-population ratio for young men (55.7 percent) remained higher than the
ratio for young women (51.8 percent). White youth were more likely to be employed (56.4 percent) 
than were Black (46.9 percent), Asian (42.2 percent), or Hispanic (51.2 percent) youth. The 
employment-population ratios for all these groups were little changed from a year earlier.

In July 2026, the largest share of employed 16- to 24-year-olds worked in the leisure and 
hospitality industry (25 percent, or 5.3 million). An additional 18 percent of employed youth 
worked in the retail trade industry, and 14 percent worked in education and health services. (See 
table 3.)

Youth employment across industries varied slightly by race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. In 
July 2026, leisure and hospitality represented the largest industry for young workers who are White
(25 percent), Black (23 percent), or Hispanic (25 percent); while retail trade represented the 
second-largest share for all these groups. By contrast, the shares of Asian youth employment were
highest in education and health services (22 percent) and in leisure and hospitality (20 percent).

Unemployment

Typically, the number of unemployed young people increases with the onset of summer, as people who 
were not in the labor force while attending school begin seeking employment. To be classified as 
unemployed, a person must be available for work and either looking for work or on temporary layoff.
From April to July 2026, the number of unemployed youth rose by 322,000 to 2.1 million. About 7 in 
10 of the unemployed youth were looking for full-time work in July 2026. (See tables 1 and 2.) 

The youth unemployment rate, at 9.1 percent in July 2026, was 1.7 percentage points lower than the 
rate in July 2025 (10.8 percent). The July 2026 unemployment rates for young men (8.8 percent), 
White youth (8.3 percent), and Hispanic youth (8.9 percent) were lower than in the prior summer,
while the rates for young women (9.4 percent), Black youth (12.0 percent), and Asian youth
(11.0 percent) showed little change.