Following gains last year, teenage employment this summer is expected to be flat, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The firm’s projections would mean a fifth consecutive year of teenage labor-force participation below 45 percent. Participation rates have been falling for years, reaching a low of approximately 42 percent in 2011. The rate peaked above 70 percent in 1978.
Less than 1.4 million teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 joined the workforce between May and July 2013. That was down from just under 1.35 million in 2013, and just under 1.4 million in 2012.
Though teen unemployment is nearly 21 percent, CG&C said data shows an increasing numbers of teenagers don’t want to work — preferring to partake in extracurricular activities or volunteering.
Only about 1 percent of the more than 11 million teens have recently reported dropping out of the labor force due to discouragement.
