Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov:80/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6378 USDL 97-296 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 606-5902 Thursday, August 28, 1997 EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG YOUTH--SUMMER 1997 The number of employed youth increased by 2.8 million from April to July, the traditional summertime peak for youth employment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This year’s seasonal expansion in employment of 16- to 24-year-olds was slightly larger than the 2.6 million increase in 1996. The number of unemployed young people, which also grows at this time every year, rose by 448,000, somewhat fewer than a year earlier (603,000). (Because the focus of this analysis is the seasonal changes in youth employment and unemployment that occur every spring and summer, the data are not adjusted for seasonal variations.) Labor Force The 16- to 24-year old labor force--those working or actively looking for work--grows sharply between April and July of each year, as large numbers of high school and college students search for summer jobs and recent graduates look for permanent employment. This summer, the youth labor force rose by 3.2 million, to a total of 23.9 million in July. This was in line with the increase that occurred over the same period in 1996. (See table 1.) The labor force participation rate for youth in July--the proportion of their population in the labor force--was 73.0 percent, little different from last year. The participation rate for men (76.5 percent) was somewhat lower than in 1996, while the rate for women (69.4 percent) was a bit higher than a year earlier. Participation rates for white and black youth were little different from last year. (See table 2.) Employment A total of 21.2 million youth were employed this July. The proportion of young people in the civilian population who were employed in July--64.6 percent--has remained within a fairly narrow range during the 1990s. The employment-to-population ratio for young men was slightly below that of a year earlier, while it was a bit higher for women. (See table 2.) In July, about 72 percent of youth worked in the retail, services, and manufacturing industries; retail trade alone accounted for 35 percent of youth employment. About 11 percent of black youth and 6 percent of white youth worked in local, state, or federal government. (See table 3.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- | NOTE: This release provides data on the influx of youth into the | |labor market during the spring and summer (table 1). The April-July | |period is used as the most representative time frame to measure the | |full summertime transition from school to work. July is preferable | |for analytical purposes since it is traditionally the peak month of | |youth employment. | | Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population | |controls used in the household survey. For additional information, | |see "Revisions in the Current Population Survey Effective January | |1997" in the February 1997 issue of Employment and Earnings. | | | Information in this release will be made available to sensory | |impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-606-STAT; TDD | |phone: 202-606-5897; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-326-2577. | --------------------------------------------------------------------- - 2 - Unemployment In line with the decline in overall unemployment over the last year, the number of unemployed youth in July (2.7 million) and the youth unemployment rate (11.4 percent) were lower than a year earlier. Unemployment rates for young men (11.4 percent), women (11.4 percent), whites (9.6 percent), and blacks (22.6 percent) were all below those in July 1996. (See table 2.) Table 1. Employment status of the civilian population 16 to 24 years of age by sex, and race, April-July 1997 (Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | | | | | | | April-July changes ___________________ Employment status, sex, and race | April | May | June | July | | | | | | | | | | | | Number | Percent ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | | | TOTAL Civilian noninstitutional population................. 32722 32685 32731 32803 81 .2 Civilian labor force............................... 20726 21397 23119 23931 3205 15.5 Participation rate........................... 63.3 65.5 70.6 73.0 9.6 15.2 Employed......................................... 18440 18962 20203 21197 2756 14.9 Employment-population ratio (1).............. 56.4 58.0 61.7 64.6 8.3 14.7 Unemployed....................................... 2286 2435 2916 2734 448 19.6 Looking for full-time work..................... 1391 1686 2202 2005 614 44.1 Looking for part-time work..................... 894 749 714 729 -165 -18.5 Unemployment rate.............................. 11.0 11.4 12.6 11.4 .4 3.6 Not in labor force................................. 11996 11289 9612 8872 -3124 -26.0 Men Civilian noninstitutional population................. 16445 16466 16494 16548 102 .6 Civilian labor force............................... 10849 11278 12254 12653 1804 16.6 Participation rate........................... 66.0 68.5 74.3 76.5 10.5 15.9 Employed......................................... 9577 10074 10700 11207 1630 17.0 Employment-population ratio (1).............. 58.2 61.2 64.9 67.7 9.5 16.3 Unemployed....................................... 1272 1205 1555 1446 174 13.7 Looking for full-time work..................... 794 876 1227 1094 300 37.8 Looking for part-time work..................... 478 329 328 352 -126 -26.3 Unemployment rate.............................. 11.7 10.7 12.7 11.4 -.3 -2.5 Not in labor force................................. 5596 5187 4240 3894 -1702 -30.4 Women Civilian noninstitutional population................. 16277 16220 16237 16256 -21 -.1 Civilian labor force............................... 9877 10119 10865 11278 1401 14.2 Participation rate........................... 60.7 62.4 66.9 69.4 8.7 14.3 Employed......................................... 8863 8889 9504 9990 1126 12.7 Employment-population ratio (1).............. 54.5 54.8 58.5 61.5 7.0 12.9 Unemployed....................................... 1014 1230 1361 1289 275 27.1 Looking for full-time work..................... 598 810 975 912 314 52.5 Looking for part-time work..................... 416 420 386 377 -39 -9.5 Unemployment rate.............................. 10.3 12.2 12.5 11.4 1.2 11.3 Not in labor force................................. 6400 6101 5372 4977 -1422 -22.2 White Civilian noninstitutional population................. 26080 26106 26131 26159 79 .3 Civilian labor force............................... 17234 17772 19279 19901 2667 15.5 Participation rate........................... 66.1 68.1 73.8 76.1 10.0 15.1 Employed......................................... 15663 16147 17299 17992 2329 14.9 Employment-population ratio (1).............. 60.1 61.9 66.2 68.8 8.7 14.5 Unemployed....................................... 1571 1625 1981 1909 338 21.5 Looking for full-time work..................... 893 1080 1464 1412 520 58.2 Looking for part-time work..................... 679 545 516 497 -182 -26.7 Unemployment rate.............................. 9.1 9.1 10.3 9.6 .5 5.2 Not in labor force................................. 8845 8334 6851 6258 -2588 -29.3 Black Civilian noninstitutional population................. 4909 4914 4918 4958 49 1.0 Civilian labor force............................... 2633 2705 2897 3030 398 15.1 Participation rate........................... 53.6 55.1 58.9 61.1 7.5 14.0 Employed......................................... 2053 2030 2093 2347 294 14.3 Employment-population ratio (1).............. 41.8 41.3 42.6 47.3 5.5 13.2 Unemployed....................................... 580 675 803 684 104 17.9 Looking for full-time work..................... 401 519 642 500 100 24.8 Looking for part-time work..................... 179 156 162 183 4 2.5 Unemployment rate.............................. 22.0 25.0 27.7 22.6 .5 2.5 Not in labor force................................. 2276 2208 2021 1927 -349 -15.3 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population. NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey. Table 2. Employment status of the civilian population 16 to 24 years of age by sex, and race, July 1994-97 (Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | Employment status, sex, and race | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | TOTAL Civilian noninstitutional population........................... 32,579 32,436 32,310 32,803 Civilian labor force......................................... 24,132 24,102 23,677 23,931 Participation rate..................................... 74.1 74.3 73.3 73.0 Employed................................................... 21,068 21,041 20,702 21,197 Employment-population ratio (1)........................ 64.7 64.9 64.1 64.6 Unemployed................................................. 3,064 3,062 2,975 2,734 Looking for full-time work............................... 2,339 2,273 2,136 2,005 Looking for part-time work............................... 725 789 839 729 Unemployment rate........................................ 12.7 12.7 12.6 11.4 Not in labor force........................................... 8,447 8,334 8,633 8,872 Men Civilian noninstitutional population........................... 16,292 16,246 16,179 16,548 Civilian labor force......................................... 12,836 12,884 12,667 12,653 Participation rate..................................... 78.8 79.3 78.3 76.5 Employed................................................... 11,159 11,311 11,023 11,207 Employment-population ratio (1)........................ 68.5 69.6 68.1 67.7 Unemployed................................................. 1,676 1,573 1,644 1,446 Looking for full-time work............................... 1,320 1,219 1,182 1,094 Looking for part-time work............................... 356 354 462 352 Unemployment rate........................................ 13.1 12.2 13.0 11.4 Not in labor force........................................... 3,456 3,363 3,512 3,894 Women Civilian noninstitutional population........................... 16,287 16,190 16,131 16,256 Civilian labor force......................................... 11,297 11,219 11,010 11,278 Participation rate..................................... 69.4 69.3 68.3 69.4 Employed................................................... 9,909 9,730 9,678 9,990 Employment-population ratio (1)........................ 60.8 60.1 60.0 61.5 Unemployed................................................. 1,388 1,489 1,331 1,289 Looking for full-time work............................... 1,019 1,054 954 912 Looking for part-time work............................... 368 435 377 377 Unemployment rate........................................ 12.3 13.3 12.1 11.4 Not in labor force........................................... 4,990 4,971 5,121 4,977 White Civilian noninstitutional population........................... 25,963 25,777 25,729 26,159 Civilian labor force......................................... 20,048 19,890 19,644 19,901 Participation rate..................................... 77.2 77.2 76.4 76.1 Employed................................................... 17,928 17,876 17,584 17,992 Employment-population ratio (1)........................ 69.1 69.3 68.3 68.8 Unemployed................................................. 2,120 2,014 2,060 1,909 Looking for full-time work............................... 1,596 1,454 1,428 1,412 Looking for part-time work............................... 524 559 632 497 Unemployment rate........................................ 10.6 10.1 10.5 9.6 Not in labor force........................................... 5,915 5,887 6,085 6,258 Black Civilian noninstitutional population........................... 4,826 4,834 4,883 4,958 Civilian labor force......................................... 3,073 3,083 3,026 3,030 Participation rate..................................... 63.7 63.8 62.0 61.1 Employed................................................... 2,309 2,230 2,258 2,347 Employment-population ratio (1)........................ 47.8 46.1 46.2 47.3 Unemployed................................................. 764 852 768 684 Looking for full-time work............................... 634 667 617 500 Looking for part-time work............................... 130 186 151 183 Unemployment rate........................................ 24.9 27.7 25.4 22.6 Not in labor force........................................... 1,753 1,751 1,858 1,927 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population. NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey. Table 3. Employed persons 16 to 24 years of age by industry, class of worker, and race, July 1996-97 (Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | Total | White | Black ___________________________________________________________ Industry and class of worker | | | | | | | | | | 1996 | 1997 | 1996 | 1997 | 1996 | 1997 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | | | Total employed................................... 20702 21197 17584 17992 2258 2347 Agriculture ......................................... 805 763 774 726 17 17 Nonagricultural industries........................... 19897 20434 16810 17266 2241 2330 Private wage and salary workers.................... 18111 18627 15402 15838 1971 2049 Mining........................................... 59 60 50 58 9 0 Construction..................................... 1105 1153 1041 1080 51 42 Manufacturing.................................... 2174 2258 1808 1925 279 222 Transportation and public utilities.............. 707 734 542 602 136 103 Wholesale trade.................................. 584 546 514 482 51 41 Retail trade..................................... 7428 7458 6309 6353 806 832 Finance, insurance, and real estate.............. 786 924 654 771 81 119 Services......................................... 5268 5493 4483 4568 558 691 Government......................................... 1396 1445 1074 1118 239 248 Federal.......................................... 158 176 106 116 26 39 State............................................ 475 462 368 370 80 77 Local............................................ 763 806 600 631 134 132 Self-employed and unpaid family workers............ 390 362 333 310 31 33 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.