Job Market for Students Tightens as U.S. Economy Cools

By Mark Stricherz

Silver Spring, MD

Graduating seniors looking to enter the workforce and other high school students searching for summer jobs are facing a tighter job market this year as the once red-hot U.S. economy continues to cool.

No one has to tell 18-year-old Tannia Baqueiro that. Ms. Baqueiro, a graduating senior at Montgomery Blair High School here in suburban Washington, currently makes $7.50 an hour as a part-time clerk for a produce company. But her quest for "less boring" work at higher pay has turned up slim pickings.

Nationally, the jobless rate for 16- to 19-year-olds continues to rise. The unemployment rate for teenagers hit 14.2 percent in April, compared with 12.8 percent last year, according to the...