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Summer youth employment in July 2015

August 20, 2015

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.

Civilian labor force and employment of 16- to 24-year-olds, not seasonally adjusted, January 2010–July 2015
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.

Labor force participation rates of 16- to 24-year-olds, not seasonally adjusted, July 1989–2015
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.

SUGGESTED CITATION

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).

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