Ugenie Labranche, 16, who has been
searching for a summer job since January, thought her luck had finally turned
when she spotted a “hiring now” sign outside a Dunkin’ in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.
But when she called recently, she was told the store wasn’t hiring.
It has happened a few times. A sign in the
window, hopeful calls, only to be told the position is no longer available.
Labranche, who will be a junior in the fall, has applied to more than a dozen jobs
but still hasn’t landed one. Most of the time, she doesn’t hear back at all.
“It is frustrating because there are a lot
of kids my age that want to work and they just can’t,” she said.
Teenagers across the country are entering
one of the toughest summer job markets in recent years, as traditional jobs at
restaurants, amusement parks, pools and stores either pause new hiring or
choose adults for those roles.
In May, the unemployment rate for teenagers
rose to 13.4%, from 13% in April and 12.4% a year ago, according to the Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
A tighter labor market suggests that teen
unemployment could reach its highest level in over a decade, said Andy Challenger,
senior vice president of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
In May 2015, the unemployment rate for teenagers was 17.8%, but it began to
decline before the pandemic.
This year, the firm estimates there will be
about I million new summer jobs for 16-to 19-year-olds. It could be the lowest
number since 2010, Challenger said.
Uncertainty about the economy is a major reason,
said Alicia Sasser Modestino, an economist at Northeastern University in
Boston. Some businesses are freezing roles or cutting seasonal positions over
concerns about lower consumer confidence and fears that consumer spending will
weaken under President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
“Now when we’re starting to see the labor
market cool off a bit in general, we’re seeing it hit teenagers harder, and
teenagers first,” she said. “That’s because they’re really the canary in the
coal mine. They are the last to be hired, the first to be fired.”
Tourism, another teen job driver, is down. Spending from international visitors to the United States is expected to drop by $8.3 billion this year, according to a recent Oxford Economics report. (Kailyn Rhone)
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