Fewest New Summer Jobs for Teens Since 2010; 2023 Teen Summer Job Final

Published August 15, 2023

This summer, employers added 1,034,000 the lowest total for the summer months since 2010 when 960,000 teen jobs were added, according to an analysis of the latest non-seasonally adjusted figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Employers added more jobs this July than in 2022. Last July, teens gained 201,000 jobs, down 10% from the 222,000 added last month. This summer saw 17% fewer new jobs than the 1,239,000 jobs added for workers aged 16 to 19 last summer.

Fewer teens are employed than at this point in 2022, but only slightly. In July, the BLS reported 6,542,000 teens were employed, down only slightly, 0.2%, from the 6,557,000 who were employed in July of last year. With the exception of last year, it is the highest number of employed teens in June since 2008 when 6,698,000 teens were working by the end of the summer.

“There are some reasons fewer teens are working and employers added fewer teen jobs, even with high demand and strong consumer spending. Retail and Hospitality, industries that historically rely heavily on teen employment, may be employing new technologies that allow employers to ‘do more with less,’” said Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

“Wages are also higher, which may limit the number of hires. Generally though, teens are working,” he added.

The teen participation rate was 43% in July, about where it has hovered with the exception of 2020, when July’s participation rate was 40%, and 2009, when it was 46%. From 1999 to 2009, the average participation rate in July was 48.8%.