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Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6378 USDL 99-234 Media contact: 606-5902 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Thursday, August 26, 1999 EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG YOUTH--SUMMER 1999 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 2.5 million increase in the summer of 1998, but about the same as the summer increase in 1997. The number of unemployed young people, which also grows at this time of year, rose by 484,000 between April and July. (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 seasonally adjusted.) 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 take or search for summer jobs. In addition, many recent graduates begin or look for year-round jobs. This summer, the youth labor force rose by 3.3 million, to a total of 24.7 million in July. (See table 1.) The April-to-July increase has been about this size in every year since 1994. The labor force participation rate for youth--the proportion of the youth population working or looking for work--was 72.6 percent in July. This number has been trending downward over the last 10 years; it was 77.5 percent in 1989. This July, the participation rate was 76.0 percent for young men, 69.1 percent for young women, 75.3 percent for young whites, and 63.5 percent for young blacks. (See table 2.) Employment A total of 22.2 million youth were employed this July, 65.2 percent of the population age 16 to 24. The employment-population ratios for young men (68.2 percent), women (62.3 percent), whites (69.1 percent), and blacks (49.6 percent) were essentially the same as a year earlier. 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). Government employed a total of 1.5 million young people in July 1999, the same as a year earlier. Nearly 3 in 5 of the young people with government jobs were employed by local governments. (See table 3.) - 2 Unemployment About 2.5 million 16- to 24-year-olds were unemployed in July--that is, they were not working, were actively looking for work, and were available to take a job. The youth unemployment rate was 10.1 percent. The summer youth unemployment rate has been trending down since 1996. In July 1999, jobless rates were 10.3 percent for young men, 9.9 percent for young women, 8.1 percent for white youth, and 21.9 percent for black youth. The summer jobless rates for these demographic groups were little changed from a year earlier. Technical Note The estimates in this release were obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a national sample survey of 50,000 households conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by the Bureau of the Census. The data in this release relate to the employment status of youth (16- to 24-year-old) during the months of April-July. This period was selected as being the most representative time frame in which to measure the full summertime transition from school to work. July is traditionally the peak summer month of youth employment. Beginning in January 1999, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey. For additional information, see "Revisions in the Current Population Survey Effective January 1999" in the February 1999 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. Reliability Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true" population values they represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies depending upon the particular sample selected, and this variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the "true" population value because of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence. The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data. For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and information on estimating standard errors, see the "Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error" section of the February 1994 and subsequent issues of Employment and Earnings. Definitions The principal definitions used in this release are described briefly below. Employed persons are (a) all those who, during the survey reference week, did any work at all as paid employees, worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm, or who worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in a family-operated enterprise; and (b) all those who did not work but had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent due to illness, bad weather, vacation, child-care problems, labor disputes or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid by their employers for the time off and whether or not they were seeking other jobs. Unemployed persons are all persons who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed. Civilian labor force comprises all persons classified as employed or unemployed. Unemployment rate represents the number of unemployed persons as a percent of the civilian labor force. Not in the labor force includes all persons who are not classified as employed or unemployed. Industry and class of worker for the employed relate to the job held in the survey reference week. Persons with two or more jobs are classified in the job at which they worked the greatest number of hours. In terms of class-of-worker categories, wage and salary workers are those who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, or pay-in-kind from a private employer or from a government unit; self-employed persons are those who work for profit or fees in their own business, profession, or trade, or operate a farm; and unpaid family workers are persons working without pay for 15 hours a week or more in an enterprise operated by a member of their family. Table 1. Employment status of the civilian population 16 to 24 years of age by sex and race, April-July 1999 (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................................... 33,953 21,411 63.1 19,400 57.1 2,010 1,215 796 9.4 12,542 34,014 22,028 64.8 19,902 58.5 2,127 1,441 686 9.7 11,985 33,910 23,825 70.3 21,177 62.4 2,649 1,883 766 11.1 10,085 34,000 24,672 72.6 22,178 65.2 2,494 1,888 607 10.1 9,327 47 3,262 9.5 2,778 8.1 484 673 -189 .7 -3,215 0.1 15.2 15.1 14.3 14.2 24.1 55.4 -23.8 7.7 -25.6 17,012 10,958 64.4 9,860 58.0 1,098 697 401 10.0 17,064 11,522 67.5 10,369 60.8 1,154 795 359 10.0 17,021 12,524 73.6 11,105 65.2 1,419 1,024 396 11.3 17,076 12,975 76.0 11,638 68.2 1,337 1,053 284 10.3 64 2,017 11.6 1,778 10.2 239 356 -117 .3 .4 18.4 18.0 18.0 17.6 21.8 51.1 -29.2 2.8 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................................... 6,055 5,542 4,496 4,102 -1,953 -32.3 16,940 10,453 61.7 9,540 56.3 913 518 395 8.7 6,488 16,950 10,506 62.0 9,533 56.2 973 646 328 9.3 6,444 16,889 11,301 66.9 10,072 59.6 1,229 859 371 10.9 5,588 16,923 11,697 69.1 10,540 62.3 1,157 834 323 9.9 5,226 -17 1,244 7.4 1,000 6.0 245 317 -72 1.2 -1,262 -.1 11.9 12.0 10.5 10.6 26.8 61.3 -18.3 13.3 -19.4 27,004 17,778 65.8 16,329 60.5 1,449 847 602 8.2 9,227 27,052 18,258 67.5 16,704 61.7 1,554 1,029 526 8.5 8,793 27,094 19,791 73.0 17,873 66.0 1,918 1,330 588 9.7 7,303 27,138 20,425 75.3 18,763 69.1 1,662 1,244 417 8.1 6,713 134 2,647 9.4 2,434 8.7 213 397 -184 .0 -2,514 .5 14.9 14.3 14.9 14.3 14.7 46.9 -30.6 -.2 -27.2 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................... 5,075 5,084 5,093 5,102 27 .5 Civilian labor force................................. 2,634 2,789 3,080 3,242 608 23.1 Participation rate............................. 51.9 54.8 60.5 63.5 11.6 22.4 Employed........................................... 2,178 2,313 2,472 2,532 354 16.2 Employment-population ratio (1)................ 42.9 45.5 48.5 49.6 6.7 15.6 Unemployed......................................... 456 475 607 709 254 55.7 Looking for full-time work....................... 313 347 470 581 268 85.6 Looking for part-time work....................... 143 129 138 128 -14 -10.0 Unemployment rate................................ 17.3 17.0 19.7 21.9 4.6 26.5 Not in labor force................................... 2,441 2,296 2,014 1,860 -581 -23.8 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population. NOTE: Beginning in January 1999, 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 1996-99 (Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | Employment status, sex, and race | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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............................................. 32,310 23,677 73.3 20,702 64.1 2,975 2,136 839 12.6 8,633 32,803 23,931 73.0 21,197 64.6 2,734 2,005 729 11.4 8,872 33,266 24,225 72.8 21,599 64.9 2,626 1,910 716 10.8 9,041 34,000 24,672 72.6 22,178 65.2 2,494 1,888 607 10.1 9,327 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 16,779 12,807 76.3 11,370 67.8 1,436 1,083 353 11.2 3,973 17,076 12,975 76.0 11,638 68.2 1,337 1,053 284 10.3 4,102 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 16,487 11,418 69.3 10,228 62.0 1,190 827 363 10.4 5,068 16,923 11,697 69.1 10,540 62.3 1,157 834 323 9.9 5,226 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............................................. 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 26,606 20,028 75.3 18,343 68.9 1,685 1,178 507 8.4 6,578 27,138 20,425 75.3 18,763 69.1 1,662 1,244 417 8.1 6,713 Black Civilian noninstitutional population............................. 4,883 4,958 4,993 5,102 Civilian labor force........................................... 3,026 3,030 3,216 3,242 Participation rate....................................... 62.0 61.1 64.4 63.5 Employed..................................................... 2,258 2,347 2,419 2,532 Employment-population ratio (1).......................... 46.2 47.3 48.4 49.6 Unemployed................................................... 768 684 797 709 Looking for full-time work................................. 617 500 636 581 Looking for part-time work................................. 151 183 161 128 Unemployment rate.......................................... 25.4 22.6 24.8 21.9 Not in labor force............................................. 1,858 1,927 1,777 1,860 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population. NOTE: Beginning in January 1999, 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 1998-99 (Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | Total | White | Black ___________________________________________________________ Industry and class of worker | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1998 | 1999 | 1998 | 1999 | 1998 | 1999 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Total employed................................... 21,599 22,178 18,343 18,763 2,419 2,532 Agriculture ......................................... Nonagricultural industries........................... Private wage and salary workers.................... Mining........................................... 803 20,796 18,927 57 763 21,415 19,498 51 756 17,586 16,074 53 728 18,035 16,436 51 30 2,389 2,109 4 16 2,516 2,299 - Construction..................................... Manufacturing.................................... Transportation and public utilities.............. Wholesale trade.................................. Retail trade..................................... Finance, insurance, and real estate.............. Services......................................... 1,161 2,188 821 657 7,377 890 5,778 1,310 2,020 828 650 7,566 1,008 6,064 1,088 1,812 711 594 6,279 733 4,803 1,208 1,668 662 598 6,535 784 4,930 49 278 90 45 840 102 700 67 253 134 28 766 176 874 Government......................................... Federal.......................................... State............................................ Local............................................ 1,484 178 464 842 1,526 180 463 882 1,163 138 338 687 1,232 140 376 717 254 32 103 119 200 25 59 116 Self-employed and unpaid family workers............ 384 392 349 366 26 18 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NOTE: Beginning in January 1999, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey. represents zero. Dash