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From April to July 2015, the youth labor force grew by 2.7 million, or 13.5 percent, to a total of 23.2 million in July. 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.
Over the same period, the number of employed 16- to 24-year-olds increased by 2.1 million to 20.3 million. This increase is in line with the increase for the prior 3 summers. The month of July typically is the summertime peak in youth employment.
Month | Employment level | Labor force level |
---|---|---|
Jan 2010 |
16,166,000 | 20,149,000 |
Feb 2010 |
16,412,000 | 20,300,000 |
Mar 2010 |
16,587,000 | 20,335,000 |
Apr 2010 |
16,764,000 | 20,567,000 |
May 2010 |
17,039,000 | 20,894,000 |
Jun 2010 |
17,920,000 | 22,401,000 |
Jul 2010 |
18,564,000 | 22,938,000 |
Aug 2010 |
18,061,000 | 21,964,000 |
Sep 2010 |
16,874,000 | 20,478,000 |
Oct 2010 |
16,867,000 | 20,598,000 |
Nov 2010 |
16,946,000 | 20,507,000 |
Dec 2010 |
16,727,000 | 20,079,000 |
Jan 2011 |
16,512,000 | 20,363,000 |
Feb 2011 |
16,638,000 | 20,335,000 |
Mar 2011 |
16,898,000 | 20,418,000 |
Apr 2011 |
16,970,000 | 20,335,000 |
May 2011 |
17,045,000 | 20,673,000 |
Jun 2011 |
18,180,000 | 22,428,000 |
Jul 2011 |
18,632,000 | 22,742,000 |
Aug 2011 |
18,067,000 | 21,887,000 |
Sep 2011 |
17,238,000 | 20,779,000 |
Oct 2011 |
17,532,000 | 20,918,000 |
Nov 2011 |
17,402,000 | 20,689,000 |
Dec 2011 |
17,234,000 | 20,395,000 |
Jan 2012 |
16,944,000 | 20,360,000 |
Feb 2012 |
17,150,000 | 20,658,000 |
Mar 2012 |
17,301,000 | 20,594,000 |
Apr 2012 |
17,387,000 | 20,562,000 |
May 2012 |
17,681,000 | 21,118,000 |
Jun 2012 |
18,907,000 | 23,086,000 |
Jul 2012 |
19,461,000 | 23,472,000 |
Aug 2012 |
18,171,000 | 21,842,000 |
Sep 2012 |
17,687,000 | 20,861,000 |
Oct 2012 |
17,842,000 | 21,127,000 |
Nov 2012 |
17,877,000 | 20,979,000 |
Dec 2012 |
17,604,000 | 20,757,000 |
Jan 2013 |
17,183,000 | 20,857,000 |
Feb 2013 |
17,257,000 | 20,707,000 |
Mar 2013 |
17,271,000 | 20,532,000 |
Apr 2013 |
17,593,000 | 20,721,000 |
May 2013 |
17,704,000 | 21,181,000 |
Jun 2013 |
19,125,000 | 23,322,000 |
Jul 2013 |
19,684,000 | 23,506,000 |
Aug 2013 |
18,636,000 | 22,089,000 |
Sep 2013 |
18,043,000 | 21,183,000 |
Oct 2013 |
17,976,000 | 21,003,000 |
Nov 2013 |
18,104,000 | 20,825,000 |
Dec 2013 |
18,106,000 | 20,642,000 |
Jan 2014 |
17,372,000 | 20,423,000 |
Feb 2014 |
17,357,000 | 20,390,000 |
Mar 2014 |
17,939,000 | 20,941,000 |
Apr 2014 |
18,021,000 | 20,461,000 |
May 2014 |
18,329,000 | 21,160,000 |
Jun 2014 |
19,421,000 | 22,851,000 |
Jul 2014 |
20,085,000 | 23,437,000 |
Aug 2014 |
18,972,000 | 21,816,000 |
Sep 2014 |
18,104,000 | 20,959,000 |
Oct 2014 |
18,781,000 | 21,403,000 |
Nov 2014 |
18,576,000 | 21,034,000 |
Dec 2014 |
18,347,000 | 20,664,000 |
Jan 2015 |
17,912,000 | 20,555,000 |
Feb 2015 |
18,222,000 | 20,751,000 |
Mar 2015 |
18,076,000 | 20,600,000 |
Apr 2015 |
18,241,000 | 20,416,000 |
May 2015 |
18,709,000 | 21,342,000 |
Jun 2015 |
19,789,000 | 22,926,000 |
Jul 2015 |
20,333,000 | 23,162,000 |
The labor force participation rate for all youth was 60.0 percent in July 2015, little changed from a year earlier. The summer labor force participation rate of youth has held fairly steady since July 2010, after generally trending downward for many years. The summer youth labor force participation rate peaked at 77.5 percent in July 1989.
Month | Rate |
---|---|
Jul 1989 |
77.5 |
Jul 1990 |
75.1 |
Jul 1991 |
73.6 |
Jul 1992 |
74.6 |
Jul 1993 |
74.5 |
Jul 1994 |
74.1 |
Jul 1995 |
74.3 |
Jul 1996 |
73.3 |
Jul 1997 |
73.0 |
Jul 1998 |
72.8 |
Jul 1999 |
72.6 |
Jul 2000 |
71.6 |
Jul 2001 |
70.7 |
Jul 2002 |
69.5 |
Jul 2003 |
67.3 |
Jul 2004 |
67.2 |
Jul 2005 |
66.6 |
Jul 2006 |
66.7 |
Jul 2007 |
65.0 |
Jul 2008 |
65.1 |
Jul 2009 |
63.0 |
Jul 2010 |
60.5 |
Jul 2011 |
59.5 |
Jul 2012 |
60.5 |
Jul 2013 |
60.5 |
Jul 2014 |
60.5 |
Jul 2015 |
60.0 |
These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see "Employment and Unemployment among Youth — Summer 2015" (HTML) (PDF)". 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. The labor force participation rate is the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population that is working or looking and available for work.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Summer youth employment in July 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/summer-youth-employment-in-july-2015.htm (visited October 31, 2024).