College & Workforce Readiness

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

By Mark Stricherz — May 30, 2001 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

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 U.S. Department of Labor.

“It’s very obvious that it’s going to be a little harder this summer, because businesses are much more reserved and cautious,” said Mark J. Gambill, the vice president of marketing at Manpower Inc., the nation’s largest temporary-employment agency.

The New York City-based company recently surveyed 16,000 public and private employers. It found manufacturing, light industry, and high-tech firms were least likely to be seeking employees.

Temporary jobs typically are the first to suffer in a slowing economy, but other sectors that employ teenagers heavily have fallen on leaner times as well.

For instance, the amusement, recreation, and hotel industries shed a combined 43,000 jobs in March and April, said John F. Stinson Jr., an economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Low Pay

Ironically, the pinch comes as the nation’s overall jobless rate remains low—4.5 percent in April, a rate about as low as at any time since the 1950s. And statistics show that fewer teenagers have been jobless over the past few summers than at any time during the previous decade.

“The jobless rates are still low by historical standards,” Mr. Stinson said.

Ten years ago, for example, the unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-old workers was 21.1 percent in June and 15.7 percent in July. Last year, the rate was 14.4 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively, federal figures show.

Experts say teenagers looking for summer work still can find lots of jobs—but not lots of pay.

The continuing slump in the nation’s high-tech sector and lingering uncertainty over the general health of the economy have combined to limit teenagers’ job options to the type of work that American youths typically have thrived on—the retail and fast-food industries.

For the past several years, experts say, large numbers of teenagers found work with high-paying technology companies. But those heady days of $50,000 starting salaries for those with computer skills and only a high school diploma have ended.

Nationally, some 2.8 million students are expected to graduate from public and private high schools this year, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Lacking some sort of postsecondary education or training virtually ensures those graduates will garner low wages.

Ron Bird, the chief economist at the Employment Policy Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit think tank, said economic projections show that wage growth for those with only a high school diploma will be the slowest among all groups.

“There is a fundamental shift evident in the U.S. economy, tied primarily to technology, that will reward more professional, management, and technical-type jobs as opposed to line operators,” he said.

Partly for that reason, Mr. Gambill of Manpower said that only a small wage gap exists between high school graduates entering the workforce and students merely looking for summer employment. “The differences between a junior’s skill level and a senior’s aren’t much,” he said.

Sharon W. Williams, the career counselor at Montgomery Blair High, said such an outlook makes sense to her. In the past several weeks, she has received 10 calls from employers looking for graduating seniors to hire. Leafing through a binder, she ticked off the names of some of the positions sought, ranging from an administrative assistant for Congress to a clerical job at a plumbing company.

“If you look at what they’re paying, it’s $15,000 to $20,000 a year,” Ms. Williams said. “That’s not enough. You can’t live on that.”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the May 30, 2001 edition of Education Week as Job Market for Students Tightens as U.S. Economy Cools

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Well-Being Webinar
The Ripple Effect: Mental Health & Student Outcomes
Learn how student mental health impacts outcomes—and how to use that data to support your school’s IEP funding strategy.
Content provided by Huddle Up
Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

College & Workforce Readiness Colleges Will Give a Leg Up to Students Who Demonstrate Civility
A new program allows students to build a "civility transcript" for college through peer debates.
5 min read
Word bubbles of different sizes and abstract content arranged in a grid like pattern.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion How One Organization Is Helping Grads Find Jobs
For students to succeed in school and careers, we need a new playbook.
6 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Q&A How This Schooling Model Puts Career Preparation First
The president of the National Career Academy Coalition talks about matching potential careers with local economic needs.
4 min read
Fourth graders Kysen Dull, left, and Kyree Davie try out some masonry work as they put a brick in place with help from Owensboro High School masonry students during Career Day at Cravens Elementary School in Owensboro, Ky., on Nov. 4, 2024.
Fourth graders Kysen Dull, left, and Kyree Davie try out some masonry work as they put a brick in place with help from Owensboro High School masonry students during Career Day at Cravens Elementary School in Owensboro, Ky., on Nov. 4, 2024. Putting on Career Day events is one way students can be exposed to career options at an early age.
Alan Warren/The Messenger-Inquirer via AP
College & Workforce Readiness Tennessee Pauses Bill Challenging Immigrant Students’ Rights
Republican lawmakers in Tennessee have asked U.S. officials for guidance on whether the bill would jeopardize federal funding.
2 min read
A woman embraces her child outside a House hearing room during protests against a bill that would allow public and charter schools to deny immigrant students from enrolling for classes in Nashville, Tenn., March 11, 2025.
A woman embraces her child outside a House hearing room during protests against a bill that would allow public and charter schools to deny immigrant students from enrolling for classes in Nashville, Tenn., March 11, 2025.
George Walker IV/AP