According to the Mar 14, 2014 Dallas Morning News article “Joblessness soars for teens, young adults”, nothing has improved involving employment rates for teen and young adults. For teenagers in the DFW area, only 29.5% were employed (leaving over 70% unemployed) in 2012, compared to 44% in 2000.
Young Adult Employment Rates
The employment rate in DFW for young adults (ages 20 – 24) dropped from 70.3% in 2000 to 67.8% in 2012. Martha Ross, a fellow at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and co-author of the report said, “since 2000 the labor market for teens and young adults just plummeted – across all age groups, all genders, all races and ethnicities, and all levels of education.” Even at less than 30% teen employment rates, the DFW area was in the top half of all metropolitan areas.
The areas that had declined the most were Lakeland and Palm Bay FL, and the highest employment rates for teens and young adults were in Des Moines, Minneapolis, Ogden (UT), Salt Lake City, and Wichita.
Not surprising, people with more education and some work experience fared better than others in finding jobs.