Job market is booming for teens and young adults

The reopening economy — coupled with the reluctance of some older workers to go back to lower-wage positions during a pandemic — has brought a shower of jobs to young people, economists say.

A report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said that more than 5.4 million U.S. teenagers between 16 and 19 years old had jobs in May, an increase of 400,000 over May 2019 and 1.5 million over the same month in 2020. The unemployment rate for the age group fell to 9.6% last month.

"It's something we have not seen for decades," said Lisa Lynch, a former U.S. Department of Labor chief economist who now teaches at Brandeis University.

BLS numbers say the last time teenagers hit a single unemployment digit rate was 1956.

Even among Black youths, who are more likely to be jobless than their white counterparts, unemployment was at a 31-year low of 12.1%, according to the BLS.

It's a far cry from last year, when the coronavirus pandemic closed businesses and hit young people particularly hard. While unemployment peaked at 14.8% for the general U.S. population in April 2020, it was 32.1% among all 16- to 19-year-olds.

Of course, the summer influx of workers doesn't just help those who land jobs. It helps businesses, too, particularly this year.

Companies across the country from restaurants to chicken processors have reported problems staffing up.

Jaime Hoefling, who co-owns several fast-food restaurants, said he's having trouble finding workers. His Moe's Southwest Grill in Newnan, Ga., which should have 25 workers, is down to nine. He's relying on paying overtime to keep the restaurant staffed.

The businesses typically hire some teenagers during the summer months. This year, he had so few applicants that he asked his teenage employees to talk their friends into applying. "But it's still far short of where we need to be," Hoefling said.

Alexandra Edwards, a 20-year-old Georgia Tech student interning at an Amazon fulfillment center, said that, because of the pandemic, she and many of her friends had more time to commit to looking for jobs.

Ashley Lansdale, an Amazon spokeswoman, said the company has more interns than ever — nearly 1,300 students.