August 22, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Youth labor force participation in Summer 2005

The labor force participation rate for youth—the proportion of the population age 16 to 24 working or looking for work—was 66.6 percent in July 2005. The July participation rate for youth has been trending down since the early 1990s. The 2005 rate was the lowest for July since 1965.

[Chart data—TXT]

The proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds enrolled in school in July has grown over the last decade from 16.6 percent in July 1995 to 27.8 percent in July 2005. Only about half of the youth enrolled in school were in the labor force in July, compared with about three-fourths of those not in school.

The labor force participation rate for young men in July 2005, 69.6 percent, edged lower from a year earlier when it was 70.4 percent. This July's labor force participation rate for young women (63.6 percent) was little changed over the year.

These data are a product of the Current Population Survey. The data are not seasonally adjusted. Find out more in "Employment and Unemployment Among Youth—Summer 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-1565.