Houston Chronical: "Experts: Job market dismal for teens this summer"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

As we anxiously await a new "robust, sizzling, magnificent" monthly job report, this article sheds light on the reality of the current job market. A key point is the number of jobs being filled by experienced workers "while they're looking for something else"...as opposed to people actually landing a job that they WANT.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2600284

DALLAS -- Older workers, including recent college graduates and unemployed professionals, are making the job market tough for teens this summer, studies show.

Only 37 percent of teens are likely to find a summer job, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.

Online job board Monster.com also released an outlook of summer jobs for teens and reached a similar conclusion.

"We've found it's a fairly dismal summer for students, and part of that is because jobs have declined as out-of-work professionals and college grads look for summer jobs while they're looking for something else," said Michelle Forker, senior vice president of Monster Campus.

According to the results, 16 to 24-year-olds made up 22.3 percent of the U.S. working population in 1982. That percentage dropped to 15.7 percent two years ago and could fall to 15 percent by 2012, Monster reported.