By Andrew M. Sum

As the summer of 2009 wound down, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a series of reports on the state of the nation’s labor markets. Largely hidden in this mountainous volume of data were deeply disturbing findings on the state of teen labor markets. In June-July of 2009, the teen (16-19 year olds) employment rate (seasonally adjusted) averaged only 29 percent, four percentage points below that of the summer of 2008 and representing a new post-World War II low.

While the overall summer 2009 employment rate of the nation’s teens reached a new post-World War II low despite the presence of a modest summer teen jobs stimulus program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the employment rates of the nation’s teens varied considerably across race-ethnic groups, family income groups, and regions/states/cities. During June-July 2009, only 20 percent of Black teens were employed versus 28 percent of Hispanic youth and 41 percent of White, non-Hispanic youth. Overall, women were more likely to work than male teens with the largest gender disparities taking place among Black and White teens. The summer 2009 employment rates of the nation’s teens varied from lows of 17% among Black males and 22% among Black women to a high of 43 percent among White, non-Hispanic women.

Chart 1: The June-July 2009 Employment Rates of U.S. Teens (16-19) by Gender and Race-Ethnic Group (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

The summer 2009 employment rate for the nation’s Black teens was the lowest ever recorded in the 38 year period for which such employment data are available. In the summer of 2000, 34 percent of Black teens were at work and in 1989 near the peak of the 1980s business cycle 37 percent of Black teens worked. Similar to findings for all youth, the employment rates of Black teens were lowest by far for those in low to low middle income families and highest for those in upper middle income families.

The deeply depressed state of Black teen labor markets was not restricted to the summer months. Record low employment rates also prevailed in the first six months of the year. The very steep decline in Black teen employment should be viewed as deeply troublesome for a variety of reasons. There is a strong path dependency in teen employment experiences. The more teens work this year, the more likely they are to work next year and in future years. Cumulative teen work experiences, especially full-time work, also favorably affects their future weekly earnings and annual earnings and the likelihood that they will receive formal training or apprenticeship training from their employers. Higher wages also increase the likelihood of future work and greater annual hours of labor supply. National longitudinal research also has shown that economically disadvantaged Black youth who work during high school, especially men, are less likely to drop out of high school and more likely to attend college than their peers who do not work at all.

Given the projected weak national economic recovery in 2010 and the likelihood of rising aggregate unemployment rates through at least calendar year 2010, the immediate prospects for an improvement in Black teen employment are extremely bleak. In the recovery from the previous recession of 2001, teen employment showed no improvement until nearly five years after the official end of the recession in November of that year.

The U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration should immediately implement a new comprehensive and coordinated set of policies to put the nation’s teens and young adults back to work. These policies would include a substantial expansion of monies to state and local Workforce Investment Boards to create both year-round and summer job opportunities for 16-24 year olds, with an emphasis on out-of-school and low to middle income youth, experimentation with wage subsidies to encourage the hiring of youth in the private-for-profit sector, the restoration of the New Jobs Tax Credit from the Carter Administration to encourage the hiring of additional workers including young workers, and the hiring of an experienced set of career specialists to work in high schools to development paid internships and cooperative education positions for the nation’s high school students. The time for action is now.

Andrew M. Sum is the Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.