tailieunhanh - What Is Causing Record-High Teen Unemployment?

Unemployment among teenagers peaked at 27 percent in the fall of 2010, the highest since records began being kept after World War II. For African-American teens, unemployment hit 43 percent last year. As of September 2011, the unemployment rate for 16-to-19-year-olds was percent. With one in four teens in search of work not landing a job, some corporate interests are blaming the bleak employment picture on the 2007-2009 increases in the federal minimum wage from $ to $ over three years—the first increase after a decade of inaction. But this attempt. | NELP National Employment Law Project DATA BRIEF October 2011 What Is Causing Record-High Teen Unemployment Range of Economic Factors Drives High Teen Unemployment But Minimum Wage Not One of Them By Anne Thompson Unemployment among teenagers peaked at 27 percent in the fall of 2010 the highest since records began being kept after World War II. For African-American teens unemployment hit 43 percent last year. As of September 2011 the unemployment rate for 16-to-19-year-olds was percent. With one in four teens in search of work not landing a job some corporate interests are blaming the bleak employment picture on the 2007-2009 increases in the federal minimum wage from to over three years the first increase after a decade of inaction. But this attempt to blame the minimum wage for high teen unemployment is simply not supported by the facts. Careful analysis shows that like the high adult unemployment that plagues our economy teen unemployment has been driven by the aftermath of the Great Recession and macroeconomic trends shaping the labor market not by long-overdue increases in the minimum wage which still has not caught up with inflation over past decades. In short the crisis of teen unemployment isn t a wages problem. It s a jobs problem. This data brief will discuss how the painfully high unemployment teens are experiencing is the result of the overall jobs crisis teens are always the worst hit in recessions and consistently face unemployment rates that are 250 percent to 350 percent those of adults. Over the last decade teens have also faced increasing competition from workers over 55 looking for part-time jobs while government funding that supports teen summer jobs has been cut significantly. Contrary to opponents claims rigorous economic research has found that the minimum wage increases of the last 20 years including the minimum wage increase of 2007-2009 have not reduced employment among low-wage workers. While opponents of the minimum wage .