1

Technical information: (202) 691-6378

 http://www.bls.gov/cps/

Media contact: 691-5902

USDL 04-1590

For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG YOUTH—SUMMER 2004

From April to July 2004, the number of employed youth 16 to 24 years old increased by 2.3 million to

21.4 million, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. July is the traditional summertime peak for youth employment. This summer’s increase in youth employment was slightly

larger than last year’s 2.1 million increase. Unemployment among youth rose by 631,000 between April

and July 2004, about the same amount as in the prior year. (Because this analysis focuses on the seasonal

changes in youth employment and unemployment that occur every spring and summer, the data are not seasonally adjusted.)

Labor Force

The youth labor force—16- to 24-year-olds working or actively looking for work—grows sharply between April and July each year. During these months, large numbers of high school and college students take

or search for summer jobs, and many graduates enter the labor market to look for or begin permanent employment. This summer, the youth labor force grew by 2.9 million to a total of 24.5 million in July. (See

table 1.)

The July labor force participation rate for youth (the proportion of their population working or looking

for work) in 2004 (67.2 percent) was essentially the same as in July 2003 (67.3 percent)—the lowest rates

for July since 1966. The proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds enrolled in school in July has grown over the

last decade—from 16.3 percent in 1994 to 28.9 percent in 2004—and participation rates for students are

typically lower than for non-students. Only about half of the youth enrolled in school were in the labor force

in July, compared with about three-fourths of those not in school.

The July 2004 labor force participation rate for young men (70.4 percent) was about the same as in July

2003. In contrast, the participation rate for young women continued to move downward, to 63.9 percent in

July 2004, the lowest level since 1975. This July’s labor force participation rates for whites (69.9 percent),

blacks (57.7 percent), Asians (52.3 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (62.6 percent) were little changed

over the year. (See table 2.)

Employment

There were 21.4 million 16- to 24-year-olds employed in July 2004. The employment-population ratio

for youth—the proportion of the 16- to 24-year-old civilian noninstitutional population that was employed—

at 58.9 percent, was about unchanged from July 2003. The ratio had fallen by 6.3 percentage points between July 1999 and July 2002. In July 2004, the ratio for young men edged up by 1.9 percentage points

to 62.0 percent. The employment-population ratios for young women (55.8 percent), young whites (62.8
2

percent), young blacks (42.4 percent), young Asians (47.8 percent), and young Hispanics or Latinos (54.6

percent) were little changed from a year earlier.

In July 2004, 22 percent of employed youth worked in the leisure and hospitality industry and 19 percent worked in retail trade. In addition, large percentages of employed youth worked in education and

health services, professional and business services, construction, manufacturing, and government. (See

table 3.)

Unemployment

In July 2004, 3.0 million youth were unemployed. The youth unemployment rate—12.3 percent—was

down from 13.3 percent in July 2003. The July 2004 unemployment rate for young men (12.0 percent) was

lower than a year earlier. The jobless rates for young women (12.7 percent), young whites (10.1 percent),

young blacks (26.6 percent), young Asians (8.6 percent), and young Hispanics or Latinos (12.7 percent)

showed little or no change from a year earlier. (See table 2.)
Technical Note

The estimates in this release were obtained from the Current

Population Survey (CPS), a national sample survey of 60,000

households conducted monthly for the Bureau of

Labor Statistics (BLS) by the U.S. Census Bureau. The data in

this release relate to the employment status of youth

(16- to 24-year-olds) during the months of April-July. This

period was selected as being the most representative time frame

in which to measure the full summertime transition from school

to work. July is the peak summer month of youth employment.

Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population

controls used in the CPS. For a discussion of the introduction

of the revised population controls and the impact that their

introduction had on the CPS data, see “Adjustments to

Household Survey Population Estimates in January 2004” in the

February 2004 issue of Employment and Earnings and available

at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps04adj.pdf on the BLS Web site.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone:

202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339.

Reliability

Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and

nonsampling error. When a sample, rather than the entire

population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample

estimates may differ from the “true” population values they

represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies

depending upon the particular sample selected, and this

variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate.

There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that

an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than

1.6 standard errors from the “true” population value because of

sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the

90-percent level of confidence.

The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error.

Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the

failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to

obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or

unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.

For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS

and information on estimating standard errors, see the

“Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error” section of

Employment and Earnings.

Definitions

The principal definitions used in this release are described

briefly below.

Employed persons are (a) all those who, during the survey

reference week, did any work at all as paid employees, worked

in their own business, profession, or on their own farm, or who

worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in a family-operated

enterprise; and (b) all those who did not work but had jobs or

businesses from which they were temporarily absent due to

illness, bad weather, vacation, child-care problems, labor

disputes or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid by

their employers for the time off and whether or not they were

seeking other jobs.

Unemployed persons are all persons who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work,

except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to

find employment sometime during the 4 weeks preceding the

survey. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from

which they had been laid off need not have been looking for

work to be classified as unemployed.

Civilian labor force comprises all persons classified as

employed or unemployed.

Unemployment rate represents the number of unemployed

persons as a percent of the civilian labor force.

Not in the labor force includes all persons who are not

classified as employed or unemployed.

Industry and class of worker for the employed relate to the

job held in the survey reference week. Persons with two or

more jobs are classified in the job at which they worked the

greatest number of hours. In terms of class-of-worker

categories, wage and salary workers are those who receive

wages, salaries, commissions, tips, or pay-in-kind from a private

employer or from a government unit; self-employed persons are

those who work for profit or fees in their own business,

profession, or trade, or operate a farm; and unpaid family

workers are persons working without pay for 15 hours a

week or more in an enterprise operated by a member of their

family.
Table 1. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 to 24 years of age by sex, race, and

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, April-July 2004

(Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.)

Employment status, sex, race, and 

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity April May June July

April-July changes1

Number Percent

TOTAL

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 36,370 36,383 36,399 36,415 45 0.1

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 21,571 21,921 23,778 24,465 2,894 13.4

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 59.3 60.2 65.3 67.2 7.9 13.3

 Employed .................................................................................................. 19,184 19,237 20,587 21,447 2,263 11.8

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 52.7 52.9 56.6 58.9 6.1 11.7

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 2,387 2,684 3,191 3,018 631 26.5

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 1,543 1,895 2,303 2,212 669 43.3

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 843 789 888 806 -37 -4.4

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 11.1 12.2 13.4 12.3 1.3 11.5

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 14,800 14,463 12,622 11,950 -2,849 -19.3

Men

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 18,330 18,338 18,347 18,356 27 .1

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 11,272 11,356 12,521 12,925 1,653 14.7

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 61.5 61.9 68.2 70.4 8.9 14.5

 Employed .................................................................................................. 9,885 9,893 10,807 11,373 1,488 15.1

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 53.9 54.0 58.9 62.0 8.0 14.9

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 1,387 1,463 1,714 1,552 165 11.9

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 938 1,058 1,258 1,176 238 25.4

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 450 405 456 377 -73 -16.3

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 12.3 12.9 13.7 12.0 -.3 -2.4

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 7,057 6,982 5,826 5,431 -1,626 -23.0

Women

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 18,041 18,046 18,052 18,059 18 .1

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 10,298 10,565 11,257 11,540 1,241 12.1

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 57.1 58.5 62.4 63.9 6.8 11.9

 Employed .................................................................................................. 9,299 9,343 9,780 10,074 775 8.3

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 51.5 51.8 54.2 55.8 4.2 8.2

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 999 1,221 1,477 1,465 466 46.7

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 606 837 1,045 1,036 430 71.0

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 393 384 432 429 36 9.1

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 9.7 11.6 13.1 12.7 3.0 30.9

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 7,742 7,481 6,795 6,519 -1,223 -15.8

White 

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 28,390 28,395 28,403 28,410 20 .1

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 17,676 17,882 19,421 19,859 2,184 12.4

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 62.3 63.0 68.4 69.9 7.6 12.3

 Employed .................................................................................................. 15,953 15,977 17,174 17,848 1,895 11.9

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 56.2 56.3 60.5 62.8 6.6 11.8

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 1,723 1,905 2,246 2,011 288 16.7

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 1,056 1,296 1,567 1,406 349 33.1

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 667 609 679 605 -61 -9.2

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 9.7 10.7 11.6 10.1 .4 3.9

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 10,714 10,513 8,982 8,551 -2,164 -20.2

Black or African American 

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 5,231 5,235 5,240 5,245 14 .3

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 2,462 2,619 2,799 3,029 566 23.0

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 47.1 50.0 53.4 57.7 10.7 22.7

 Employed .................................................................................................. 1,991 2,017 2,085 2,224 233 11.7

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 38.1 38.5 39.8 42.4 4.3 11.4

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 471 603 714 804 333 70.7

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 360 471 568 666 306 85.0

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 111 132 146 138 27 24.5

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 19.1 23.0 25.5 26.6 7.4 38.8

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 2,768 2,616 2,440 2,216 -552 -20.0

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 1. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 to 24 years of age by sex, race, and

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, April-July 2004 — Continued

(Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.)

Employment status, sex, race, and 

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity April May June July

April-July changes1

Number Percent

Asian 

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 1,477 1,472 1,506 1,503 26 1.7

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 704 683 779 786 83 11.7

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 47.6 46.4 51.7 52.3 4.7 9.8

 Employed .................................................................................................. 641 628 668 719 78 12.2

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 43.4 42.6 44.4 47.8 4.4 10.2

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 63 56 111 68 5 7.3

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 49 51 79 46 -3 -5.8

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 14 4 32 22 7 53.0

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 9.0 8.1 14.2 8.6 -.4 -3.9

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 773 789 727 716 -57 -7.3

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 6,255 6,262 6,268 6,275 19 .3

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 3,643 3,689 3,810 3,926 283 7.8

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 58.2 58.9 60.8 62.6 4.3 7.4

 Employed .................................................................................................. 3,235 3,263 3,377 3,428 194 6.0

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 51.7 52.1 53.9 54.6 2.9 5.7

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 408 425 433 498 90 22.0

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 307 338 340 373 66 21.5

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 101 87 93 125 24 23.7

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 11.2 11.5 11.4 12.7 1.5 13.2

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 2,613 2,573 2,458 2,349 -264 -10.1

1 Changes are calculated using unrounded data.

 NOTE: Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African

American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not

presented for all races. In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified

as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified

by ethnicity as well as by race. Data reflect revised population controls

introduced in January 2004.
Table 2. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 to 24 years of age by sex, race, and

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, July 2001-04

(Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.)

Employment status, sex, race, and 

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity 2001 2002 2003 2004

TOTAL

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 34,846 35,322 35,905 36,415

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 24,627 24,536 24,150 24,465

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 70.7 69.5 67.3 67.2

 Employed .................................................................................................. 22,042 21,501 20,950 21,447

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 63.3 60.9 58.3 58.9

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 2,585 3,034 3,200 3,018

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 1,898 2,250 2,448 2,212

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 687 785 753 806

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 10.5 12.4 13.3 12.3

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 10,219 10,786 11,755 11,950

Men

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 17,468 17,758 18,042 18,356

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 12,950 12,837 12,635 12,925

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 74.1 72.3 70.0 70.4

 Employed .................................................................................................. 11,576 11,231 10,838 11,373

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 66.3 63.2 60.1 62.0

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 1,374 1,606 1,796 1,552

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 1,051 1,172 1,416 1,176

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 322 434 381 377

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 10.6 12.5 14.2 12.0

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 4,518 4,921 5,407 5,431

Women

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 17,378 17,563 17,863 18,059

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 11,677 11,699 11,516 11,540

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 67.2 66.6 64.5 63.9

 Employed .................................................................................................. 10,466 10,271 10,112 10,074

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 60.2 58.5 56.6 55.8

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 1,211 1,428 1,404 1,465

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 846 1,077 1,032 1,036

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 364 351 372 429

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 10.4 12.2 12.2 12.7

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 5,701 5,865 6,348 6,519

White 1

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 27,570 27,959 28,066 28,410

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 20,324 20,262 19,749 19,859

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 73.7 72.5 70.4 69.9

 Employed .................................................................................................. 18,508 18,092 17,566 17,848

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 67.1 64.7 62.6 62.8

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 1,816 2,169 2,182 2,011

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 1,323 1,566 1,611 1,406

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 494 604 571 605

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 8.9 10.7 11.1 10.1

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 7,246 7,697 8,317 8,551

Black or African American 1

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 5,078 5,199 5,159 5,245

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 3,074 2,989 2,930 3,029

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 60.5 57.5 56.8 57.7

 Employed .................................................................................................. 2,464 2,319 2,150 2,224

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 48.5 44.6 41.7 42.4

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 610 670 780 804

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 460 549 655 666

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 150 121 125 138

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 19.8 22.4 26.6 26.6

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 2,004 2,211 2,229 2,216

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 2. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 to 24 years of age by sex, race, and

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, July 2001-04 — Continued

(Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.)

Employment status, sex, race, and 

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity 2001 2002 2003 2004

Asian 1

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 1,767 1,724 1,464 1,503

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 949 966 740 786

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 53.7 56.0 50.5 52.3

 Employed .................................................................................................. 842 815 642 719

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 47.7 47.3 43.8 47.8

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 107 151 98 68

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 75 97 63 46

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 32 54 34 22

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 11.2 15.6 13.2 8.6

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 818 758 724 716

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

Civilian noninstitutional population ............................................................... 5,957 6,004 6,079 6,275

 Civilian labor force ...................................................................................... 3,908 3,900 3,772 3,926

 Participation rate ................................................................................... 65.6 65.0 62.0 62.6

 Employed .................................................................................................. 3,434 3,390 3,244 3,428

 Employment-population ratio ............................................................... 57.7 56.5 53.4 54.6

 Unemployed ............................................................................................. 474 510 528 498

 Looking for full-time work ........................................................................ 381 419 406 373

 Looking for part-time work ...................................................................... 93 91 121 125

 Unemployment rate ................................................................................ 12.1 13.1 14.0 12.7

 Not in labor force ........................................................................................ 2,049 2,104 2,307 2,349

1 Beginning in 2003, persons who selected this race group only;

persons who selected more than one race group are not included. Prior

to 2003, persons who reported more than one race group were included

in the group they identified as the main race. Also, beginning in 2003,

Asians exclude Pacific Islanders.

 NOTE: Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African

American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not

presented for all races. In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified

as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified

by ethnicity as well as by race. Data for 2003 and 2004 reflect revised

population controls introduced in January 2003 and January 2004.
Table 3. Employed persons 16 to 24 years of age by industry, class of worker, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, July 2003-04

(Numbers in thousands. Data are not seasonally adjusted.)

Industry and class of worker

Total White 

Black

or

African

American

Asian 

Hispanic

or

Latino

ethnicity

2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004

 Total employed ............................................... 20,950 21,447 17,566 17,848 2,150 2,224 642 719 3,244 3,428

 Agriculture and related industries ....................... 352 338 341 318 4 6 1 – 87 86

 Nonagricultural industries ................................... 20,599 21,110 17,225 17,530 2,146 2,218 640 718 3,157 3,343

 Private wage and salary workers ....................... 18,773 19,188 15,771 15,997 1,893 1,959 585 634 2,958 3,115

 Mining ............................................................... 45 41 43 41 – – – – 3 7

 Construction ..................................................... 1,442 1,543 1,343 1,378 55 75 8 14 370 463

 Manufacturing ................................................... 1,318 1,515 1,119 1,257 132 107 26 103 288 331

 Durable goods ................................................ 762 954 674 829 57 39 12 49 111 167

 Nondurable goods .......................................... 557 562 444 428 75 68 14 54 177 164

 Wholesale trade ................................................ 476 452 402 381 46 45 15 13 74 66

 Retail trade ....................................................... 3,944 4,140 3,210 3,386 448 482 171 153 494 526

 Transportation and utilities ............................... 465 503 354 383 100 94 3 13 56 92

 Information ....................................................... 438 353 352 288 51 42 15 4 63 45

 Financial activities ............................................ 1,130 1,052 909 896 109 112 79 25 153 163

 Professional and business services ................. 1,653 1,701 1,389 1,424 178 179 44 44 310 302

 Education and health services .......................... 2,127 2,110 1,722 1,688 268 268 67 81 275 306

 Leisure and hospitality ...................................... 4,727 4,703 4,053 3,980 418 445 132 145 745 703

 Other services .................................................. 1,009 1,075 874 897 89 110 26 39 128 111

 Government ........................................................ 1,439 1,434 1,134 1,089 218 236 39 75 148 136

 Federal ............................................................. 159 189 93 138 53 40 10 3 16 11

 State ................................................................. 412 445 306 329 65 76 20 37 46 54

 Local ................................................................. 867 799 735 621 99 120 9 36 86 71

 Self-employed and unpaid

family workers ................................................. 386 488 321 444 35 23 16 9 51 91

– Dash represents or rounds to zero.

 NOTE: Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African American,

and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. In

addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any

race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race. Data for 2003 and

2004 reflect revised population controls introduced in January 2003 and January

2004.