August 27, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Youth employment up 2.8 million this summer

The number of employed youth increased by 2.8 million from April to July, the traditional summertime peak for youth employment.

[Chart data—TXT]

The number of unemployed young people, which also grows at this time of year, rose by 484,000 between April and July. Because this analysis is of seasonal changes in youth employment and unemployment that occur every spring and summer, the data are not seasonally adjusted.

A total of 22.2 million youth were employed this July, 65.2 percent of the population age 16 to 24. About 7 in 8 employed youth were wage and salary workers in the private sector this July, the same as last year. About 70 percent of these workers were employed in either retail trade (7.6 million) or services (6.1 million).

These data on employment and unemployment among youths are from the Current Population Survey. Find out more in "Employment and Unemployment Among Youth—Summer 1999," news release USDL 99-234.