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Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov:80/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6378 USDL 97-296 Media contact: 606-5902 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Thursday, August 28, 1997 EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG YOUTH--SUMMER 1997 The number of employed youth increased by 2.8 million from April to July, the traditional summertime peak for youth employment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This year’s seasonal expansion in employment of 16- to 24-year-olds was slightly larger than the 2.6 million increase in 1996. The number of unemployed young people, which also grows at this time every year, rose by 448,000, somewhat fewer than a year earlier (603,000). (Because the focus of this analysis is the seasonal changes in youth employment and unemployment that occur every spring and summer, the data are not adjusted for seasonal variations.) Labor Force The 16- to 24-year old labor force--those working or actively looking for work--grows sharply between April and July of each year, as large numbers of high school and college students search for summer jobs and recent graduates look for permanent employment. This summer, the youth labor force rose by 3.2 million, to a total of 23.9 million in July. This was in line with the increase that occurred over the same period in 1996. (See table 1.) The labor force participation rate for youth in July--the proportion of their population in the labor force--was 73.0 percent, little different from last year. The participation rate for men (76.5 percent) was somewhat lower than in 1996, while the rate for women (69.4 percent) was a bit higher than a year earlier. Participation rates for white and black youth were little different from last year. (See table 2.) Employment A total of 21.2 million youth were employed this July. The proportion of young people in the civilian population who were employed in July--64.6 percent--has remained within a fairly narrow range during the 1990s. The employment-to-population ratio for young men was slightly below that of a year earlier, while it was a bit higher for women. (See table 2.) In July, about 72 percent of youth worked in the retail, services, and manufacturing industries; retail trade alone accounted for 35 percent of youth employment. About 11 percent of black youth and 6 percent of white youth worked in local, state, or federal government. (See table 3.) --------------------------------------------------------------------| NOTE: This release provides data on the influx of youth into the | |labor market during the spring and summer (table 1). The April-July | |period is used as the most representative time frame to measure the | |full summertime transition from school to work. July is preferable | |for analytical purposes since it is traditionally the peak month of | |youth employment. | | Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population | |controls used in the household survey. For additional information, | |see "Revisions in the Current Population Survey Effective January | |1997" in the February 1997 issue of Employment and Earnings. | | Information in this release will be made available to sensory | |impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-606-STAT; TDD | |phone: 202-606-5897; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-326-2577. | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | - 2 Unemployment In line with the decline in overall unemployment over the last year, the number of unemployed youth in July (2.7 million) and the youth unemployment rate (11.4 percent) were lower than a year earlier. Unemployment rates for young men (11.4 percent), women (11.4 percent), whites (9.6 percent), and blacks (22.6 percent) were all below those in July 1996. (See table 2.) Table 1. Employment status of the civilian population 16 to 24 years of age by sex, and race, April-July 1997 (Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | | | | | | | April-July changes ___________________ Employment status, sex, and race | April | May | June | July | | | | | | | | | | | | Number | Percent ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | | | TOTAL Civilian noninstitutional population................. Civilian labor force............................... Participation rate........................... Employed......................................... Employment-population ratio (1).............. Unemployed....................................... Looking for full-time work..................... Looking for part-time work..................... Unemployment rate.............................. Not in labor force................................. 32722 20726 63.3 18440 56.4 2286 1391 894 11.0 11996 32685 21397 65.5 18962 58.0 2435 1686 749 11.4 11289 32731 23119 70.6 20203 61.7 2916 2202 714 12.6 9612 32803 23931 73.0 21197 64.6 2734 2005 729 11.4 8872 81 3205 9.6 2756 8.3 448 614 -165 .4 -3124 .2 15.5 15.2 14.9 14.7 19.6 44.1 -18.5 3.6 -26.0 16445 10849 66.0 9577 58.2 1272 794 478 11.7 5596 16466 11278 68.5 10074 61.2 1205 876 329 10.7 5187 16494 12254 74.3 10700 64.9 1555 1227 328 12.7 4240 16548 12653 76.5 11207 67.7 1446 1094 352 11.4 3894 102 1804 10.5 1630 9.5 174 300 -126 -.3 -1702 .6 16.6 15.9 17.0 16.3 13.7 37.8 -26.3 -2.5 -30.4 16277 9877 60.7 8863 54.5 1014 598 416 10.3 6400 16220 10119 62.4 8889 54.8 1230 810 420 12.2 6101 16237 10865 66.9 9504 58.5 1361 975 386 12.5 5372 16256 11278 69.4 9990 61.5 1289 912 377 11.4 4977 -21 1401 8.7 1126 7.0 275 314 -39 1.2 -1422 -.1 14.2 14.3 12.7 12.9 27.1 52.5 -9.5 11.3 -22.2 26080 17234 66.1 15663 60.1 1571 893 26106 17772 68.1 16147 61.9 1625 1080 26131 19279 73.8 17299 66.2 1981 1464 26159 19901 76.1 17992 68.8 1909 1412 79 2667 10.0 2329 8.7 338 520 .3 15.5 15.1 14.9 14.5 21.5 58.2 Men Civilian noninstitutional population................. Civilian labor force............................... Participation rate........................... Employed......................................... Employment-population ratio (1).............. Unemployed....................................... Looking for full-time work..................... Looking for part-time work..................... Unemployment rate.............................. Not in labor force................................. Women Civilian noninstitutional population................. Civilian labor force............................... Participation rate........................... Employed......................................... Employment-population ratio (1).............. Unemployed....................................... Looking for full-time work..................... Looking for part-time work..................... Unemployment rate.............................. Not in labor force................................. White Civilian noninstitutional population................. Civilian labor force............................... Participation rate........................... Employed......................................... Employment-population ratio (1).............. Unemployed....................................... Looking for full-time work..................... Looking for part-time work..................... Unemployment rate.............................. Not in labor force................................. 679 9.1 8845 545 9.1 8334 516 10.3 6851 497 9.6 6258 -182 .5 -2588 -26.7 5.2 -29.3 Black Civilian noninstitutional population................. 4909 4914 4918 4958 49 1.0 Civilian labor force............................... 2633 2705 2897 3030 398 15.1 Participation rate........................... 53.6 55.1 58.9 61.1 7.5 14.0 Employed......................................... 2053 2030 2093 2347 294 14.3 Employment-population ratio (1).............. 41.8 41.3 42.6 47.3 5.5 13.2 Unemployed....................................... 580 675 803 684 104 17.9 Looking for full-time work..................... 401 519 642 500 100 24.8 Looking for part-time work..................... 179 156 162 183 4 2.5 Unemployment rate.............................. 22.0 25.0 27.7 22.6 .5 2.5 Not in labor force................................. 2276 2208 2021 1927 -349 -15.3 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population. NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey. Table 2. Employment status of the civilian population 16 to 24 years of age by sex, and race, July 1994-97 (Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | Employment status, sex, and race | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | TOTAL Civilian noninstitutional population........................... Civilian labor force......................................... Participation rate..................................... Employed................................................... Employment-population ratio (1)........................ Unemployed................................................. Looking for full-time work............................... 32,579 24,132 74.1 21,068 64.7 3,064 2,339 32,436 24,102 74.3 21,041 64.9 3,062 2,273 32,310 23,677 73.3 20,702 64.1 2,975 2,136 32,803 23,931 73.0 21,197 64.6 2,734 2,005 Looking for part-time work............................... Unemployment rate........................................ Not in labor force........................................... 725 12.7 8,447 789 12.7 8,334 839 12.6 8,633 729 11.4 8,872 16,292 12,836 78.8 11,159 68.5 1,676 1,320 356 13.1 3,456 16,246 12,884 79.3 11,311 69.6 1,573 1,219 354 12.2 3,363 16,179 12,667 78.3 11,023 68.1 1,644 1,182 462 13.0 3,512 16,548 12,653 76.5 11,207 67.7 1,446 1,094 352 11.4 3,894 16,287 11,297 69.4 9,909 60.8 1,388 1,019 368 12.3 4,990 16,190 11,219 69.3 9,730 60.1 1,489 1,054 435 13.3 4,971 16,131 11,010 68.3 9,678 60.0 1,331 954 377 12.1 5,121 16,256 11,278 69.4 9,990 61.5 1,289 912 377 11.4 4,977 25,963 20,048 77.2 17,928 69.1 2,120 1,596 524 10.6 5,915 25,777 19,890 77.2 17,876 69.3 2,014 1,454 559 10.1 5,887 25,729 19,644 76.4 17,584 68.3 2,060 1,428 632 10.5 6,085 26,159 19,901 76.1 17,992 68.8 1,909 1,412 497 9.6 6,258 4,826 4,834 4,883 4,958 Men Civilian noninstitutional population........................... Civilian labor force......................................... Participation rate..................................... Employed................................................... Employment-population ratio (1)........................ Unemployed................................................. Looking for full-time work............................... Looking for part-time work............................... Unemployment rate........................................ Not in labor force........................................... Women Civilian noninstitutional population........................... Civilian labor force......................................... Participation rate..................................... Employed................................................... Employment-population ratio (1)........................ Unemployed................................................. Looking for full-time work............................... Looking for part-time work............................... Unemployment rate........................................ Not in labor force........................................... White Civilian noninstitutional population........................... Civilian labor force......................................... Participation rate..................................... Employed................................................... Employment-population ratio (1)........................ Unemployed................................................. Looking for full-time work............................... Looking for part-time work............................... Unemployment rate........................................ Not in labor force........................................... Black Civilian noninstitutional population........................... Civilian labor force......................................... 3,073 3,083 3,026 3,030 Participation rate..................................... 63.7 63.8 62.0 61.1 Employed................................................... 2,309 2,230 2,258 2,347 Employment-population ratio (1)........................ 47.8 46.1 46.2 47.3 Unemployed................................................. 764 852 768 684 Looking for full-time work............................... 634 667 617 500 Looking for part-time work............................... 130 186 151 183 Unemployment rate........................................ 24.9 27.7 25.4 22.6 Not in labor force........................................... 1,753 1,751 1,858 1,927 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population. NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey. Table 3. Employed persons 16 to 24 years of age by industry, class of worker, and race, July 1996-97 (Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | Total | White | Black ___________________________________________________________ Industry and class of worker | | | | | | | | | | 1996 | 1997 | 1996 | 1997 | 1996 | 1997 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | | | Total employed................................... 20702 21197 17584 17992 2258 2347 Agriculture ......................................... Nonagricultural industries........................... Private wage and salary workers.................... Mining........................................... Construction..................................... Manufacturing.................................... Transportation and public utilities.............. Wholesale trade.................................. Retail trade..................................... Finance, insurance, and real estate.............. Services......................................... 805 19897 18111 59 1105 2174 707 584 7428 786 5268 763 20434 18627 60 1153 2258 734 546 7458 924 5493 774 16810 15402 50 1041 1808 542 514 6309 654 4483 726 17266 15838 58 1080 1925 602 482 6353 771 4568 17 2241 1971 9 51 279 136 51 806 81 558 17 2330 2049 0 42 222 103 41 832 119 691 Government......................................... Federal.......................................... State............................................ Local............................................ 1396 158 475 763 1445 176 462 806 1074 106 368 600 1118 116 370 631 239 26 80 134 248 39 77 132 Self-employed and unpaid family workers............ 390 362 333 310 31 33 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NOTE: Beginning in January 1997, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.