With teenage workforce hitting recent highs, experts expect a busy summer job season

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Summer 2024 is poised to be another busy one for the hiring of teenagers in search of summer jobs.

Andy Challenger, senior vice president of the job placement firm Challenger Gray and Christmas, said teenage summer employment has been so strong coming out of the depths of the COVID pandemic that it slowed down the steady decline in the teenage labor force participation rate.

He cited one possible reason for the reversal.

“Inflation remains high,” he said. “Prices remain high. Kids, teens that want to have a little bit of extra spending money during the summer are going to need to pick up jobs in a way they might not have a few years ago.”

Another key factor remains high, Challenger added: the need from local businesses for teenage workers.

“Demand remains high enough in the industries that traditionally hire teenagers that we expect it to remain through the summer [and] that there will be opportunities,” he said.

The teenage labor force participation rate is 36.7%. That's the highest since 2008, but it’s a far cry from the ’90s when it was closer to 50%.

Challenger attributed that decline to teenagers devoting their summers to academics, service projects, or sports instead of a summer job.

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