The Decline in Summer Teen Employment

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by Calculated Risk on 8/13/2025 01:19:00 PM

Here is a look at the change in teen employment over time.

The graph below shows the employment-population ratio for teens (16 to 19 years old) since 1948.

The graph is Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA), to show the seasonal hiring of teenagers during the summer.

A few observations:
1) Although teen employment has recovered some since the great recession, overall teen employment had been trending down. This is probably because more people are staying in school (a long term positive for the economy).

2) Teen employment was significantly impacted in 2020 by the pandemic.

Click on graph for larger image.

3) A smaller percentage of teenagers are obtaining summer employment. The seasonal spikes are smaller than in previous decades.

The teen employment-population ratio was 35.2% in July 2025, down from 37.9% in July 2024. Excluding 2020 due to the pandemic, this is the lowest ratio since 2015 following the financial crisis.

The teen participation rate was 42.0% in July 2025, down from 43.6% the previous July.

This has pushed the teen unemployment rate (NSA) up to 16.1% from 13.2% in July 2024.

So, a smaller percentage of teenagers are joining the labor force during the summer as compared to previous years. This could be because of fewer employment opportunities, or because teenagers are pursuing other activities during the summer.

The decline in teenager participation is one of the reasons the overall participation rate has declined (of course, the retiring baby boomers is the main reason the overall participation rate has declined over the last 20+ years).