The NYT has an interesting article on declining employment rates among teenagers over the last two decades, but it also intertwines discussion of this long-term trend with comments about the difficulties that teens will face finding jobs this summer. While this may prove to be the case given the weakness of the economy, the most recent data suggest otherwise. The biggest surprise in the April employment report was a 1.2 percentage point jump in the employment rate for people between the ages of 16-19. As was noted in the CEPR Jobs Byte, this jump may prove to be an aberration (these numbers are erratic and the seasonal adjustments are always problematic), but it should have been noted in this discussion.
--Dean Baker
