Summer youth employment hits historic low

WASHINGTON — From April to July 2010, the number of employed youth 16 to 24 years old rose by 1.8 million to 18.6 million, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

This year, the share of young people who were employed in July was 48.9 percent, the lowest July rate on record for the series, which began in 1948. (The month

of July typically is the summertime peak in youth employment.)

Unemployment among youth increased by 571,000 between April and July , about half as much as in each of the two previous summers. (Because this analysis focuses on the seasonal changes in youth employment and unemployment that occur each spring and summer, the data are not seasonally adjusted.)