September 03, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Youth unemployment this summer

Three million youths 16 to 24 years old were unemployed—not working but actively looking for work and available to take a job—in July 2002.

Unemployment rate of 16- to 24-year-olds, July 1999-2002 (not seasonally adjusted)
[Chart data—TXT]

The youth unemployment rate was 12.4 percent in July, up from 10.4 percent in July 2001 and the recent low of 9.6 percent in July 2000. This July, the unemployment rate for young men (12.6 percent), young women (12.2 percent), and young whites (10.7 percent) was higher than in July 2001. The July 2002 rate for young blacks (22.5 percent) was little changed from July 2001. 

These data are from the Current Population Survey. The data are not seasonally adjusted. Find out more in "Employment and Unemployment Among Youth -- Summer 2002," news release USDL 02-478.

Happy 10th Birthday, TED!

The very first issue of The Editor's Desk (TED) was posted on September 28, 1998. TED was the first online-only publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For 10 years, BLS has been committed to posting a new TED article each business day, for a total of over 2,400 articles so far.

Find out more about the story of TED