Internet address:  http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm
Technical information:  (202) 606-6378  USDL 99-234

                                        For release:  10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact:                606-5902  Thursday, August 26, 1999


            EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG YOUTH--SUMMER 1999


  The number of employed youth increased by 2.8 million from April to
July, the traditional summertime peak for youth employment, the Bureau of
Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  This
year's seasonal expansion in employment of 16- to 24-year-olds was slightly
larger than the 2.5 million increase in the summer of 1998, but about the
same as the summer increase in 1997.  The number of unemployed young
people, which also grows at this time of year, rose by 484,000 between
April and July.  (Because the focus of this analysis is the seasonal
changes in youth employment and unemployment that occur every spring and
summer, the data are not seasonally adjusted.)
  
Labor Force
  
  The 16- to 24-year-old labor force--those working or actively looking
for work--grows sharply between April and July of each year, as large
numbers of high school and college students take or search for summer jobs.
In addition, many recent graduates begin or look for year-round jobs.  This
summer, the youth labor force rose by 3.3 million, to a total of 24.7
million in July.  (See table 1.)  The April-to-July increase has been about
this size in every year since 1994.
  
  The labor force participation rate for youth--the proportion of the youth
population working or looking for work--was 72.6 percent in July.  This
number has been trending downward over the last 10 years; it was 77.5
percent in 1989.  This July, the participation rate was 76.0 percent for
young men, 69.1 percent for young women, 75.3 percent for young whites, and
63.5 percent for young blacks.  (See table 2.)
  
Employment
  
  A total of 22.2 million youth were employed this July, 65.2 percent of
the population age 16 to 24.  The employment-population ratios for young
men (68.2 percent), women (62.3 percent), whites (69.1 percent), and blacks
(49.6 percent) were essentially the same as a year earlier.
  
  About 7 in 8 employed youth were wage and salary workers in the private
sector this July, the same as last year.  About 70 percent of these workers
were employed in either retail trade (7.6 million) or services (6.1
million).  Government employed a total of 1.5 million young people in July
1999, the same as a year earlier.  Nearly 3 in 5 of the young people with
government jobs were employed by local governments.  (See table 3.)

                                  - 2 -

Unemployment
  
  About 2.5 million 16- to 24-year-olds were unemployed in July--that is,
they were not working, were actively looking for work, and were available
to take a job.  The youth unemployment rate was 10.1 percent.  The summer
youth unemployment rate has been trending down since 1996.  In July 1999,
jobless rates were 10.3 percent for young men, 9.9 percent for young women,
8.1 percent for white youth, and 21.9 percent for black youth.  The summer
jobless rates for these demographic groups were little changed from a year
earlier.
Technical Note
     
     
     The estimates in this release were obtained from the Current
Population Survey (CPS), a national sample survey of 50,000 households
conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by the Bureau of
the Census.  The data in this release relate to the employment status of
youth (16- to 24-year-old) 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
traditionally the peak summer month of youth employment.
     
     Beginning in January 1999, data reflect revised population controls
used in the household survey.  For additional information, see "Revisions
in the Current Population Survey Effective January 1999" in the February
1999 issue of Employment and Earnings.
     
     Information in this release will be made available to sensory
impaired individuals upon request.  Voice phone: 202-606-STAT; TDD
phone: 202-606-5897; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-326-2577.
     
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 the February 1994 and subsequent issues 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 population 16 to 24 years of age by sex and race, April-July 1999
     (Numbers in thousands.  Data are not seasonally adjusted.)
     ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                                            |         |         |         |         |                   
                                                            |         |         |         |         | April-July changes
                                                                                                     ___________________
                Employment status, sex, and race            |  April  |   May   |   June  |   July  |                   
                                                            |         |         |         |         |  Number | Percent
                                                            |         |         |         |         |         |         
     ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                        
                              TOTAL                                                                                     
                                                                                                                        
     Civilian noninstitutional population...................   33,953    34,014    33,910    34,000        47       0.1 
       Civilian labor force.................................   21,411    22,028    23,825    24,672     3,262      15.2 
             Participation rate.............................     63.1      64.8      70.3      72.6       9.5      15.1 
         Employed...........................................   19,400    19,902    21,177    22,178     2,778      14.3 
             Employment-population ratio (1)................     57.1      58.5      62.4      65.2       8.1      14.2 
         Unemployed.........................................    2,010     2,127     2,649     2,494       484      24.1 
           Looking for full-time work.......................    1,215     1,441     1,883     1,888       673      55.4 
           Looking for part-time work.......................      796       686       766       607      -189     -23.8 
           Unemployment rate................................      9.4       9.7      11.1      10.1        .7       7.7 
       Not in labor force...................................   12,542    11,985    10,085     9,327    -3,215     -25.6 
                                                                                                                        
                               Men                                                                                      
                                                                                                                        
     Civilian noninstitutional population...................   17,012    17,064    17,021    17,076        64        .4 
       Civilian labor force.................................   10,958    11,522    12,524    12,975     2,017      18.4 
             Participation rate.............................     64.4      67.5      73.6      76.0      11.6      18.0 
         Employed...........................................    9,860    10,369    11,105    11,638     1,778      18.0 
             Employment-population ratio (1)................     58.0      60.8      65.2      68.2      10.2      17.6 
         Unemployed.........................................    1,098     1,154     1,419     1,337       239      21.8 
           Looking for full-time work.......................      697       795     1,024     1,053       356      51.1 
           Looking for part-time work.......................      401       359       396       284      -117     -29.2 
           Unemployment rate................................     10.0      10.0      11.3      10.3        .3       2.8 
       Not in labor force...................................    6,055     5,542     4,496     4,102    -1,953     -32.3 
                                                                                                                        
                              Women                                                                                     
                                                                                                                        
     Civilian noninstitutional population...................   16,940    16,950    16,889    16,923       -17       -.1 
       Civilian labor force.................................   10,453    10,506    11,301    11,697     1,244      11.9 
             Participation rate.............................     61.7      62.0      66.9      69.1       7.4      12.0 
         Employed...........................................    9,540     9,533    10,072    10,540     1,000      10.5 
             Employment-population ratio (1)................     56.3      56.2      59.6      62.3       6.0      10.6 
         Unemployed.........................................      913       973     1,229     1,157       245      26.8 
           Looking for full-time work.......................      518       646       859       834       317      61.3 
           Looking for part-time work.......................      395       328       371       323       -72     -18.3 
           Unemployment rate................................      8.7       9.3      10.9       9.9       1.2      13.3 
       Not in labor force...................................    6,488     6,444     5,588     5,226    -1,262     -19.4 
                                                                                                                        
                              White                                                                                     
                                                                                                                        
     Civilian noninstitutional population...................   27,004    27,052    27,094    27,138       134        .5 
       Civilian labor force.................................   17,778    18,258    19,791    20,425     2,647      14.9 
             Participation rate.............................     65.8      67.5      73.0      75.3       9.4      14.3 
         Employed...........................................   16,329    16,704    17,873    18,763     2,434      14.9 
             Employment-population ratio (1)................     60.5      61.7      66.0      69.1       8.7      14.3 
         Unemployed.........................................    1,449     1,554     1,918     1,662       213      14.7 
           Looking for full-time work.......................      847     1,029     1,330     1,244       397      46.9 
           Looking for part-time work.......................      602       526       588       417      -184     -30.6 
           Unemployment rate................................      8.2       8.5       9.7       8.1        .0       -.2 
       Not in labor force...................................    9,227     8,793     7,303     6,713    -2,514     -27.2 
                                                                                                                        
                              Black                                                                                     
                                                                                                                        
     Civilian noninstitutional population...................    5,075     5,084     5,093     5,102        27        .5 
       Civilian labor force.................................    2,634     2,789     3,080     3,242       608      23.1 
             Participation rate.............................     51.9      54.8      60.5      63.5      11.6      22.4 
         Employed...........................................    2,178     2,313     2,472     2,532       354      16.2 
             Employment-population ratio (1)................     42.9      45.5      48.5      49.6       6.7      15.6 
         Unemployed.........................................      456       475       607       709       254      55.7 
           Looking for full-time work.......................      313       347       470       581       268      85.6 
           Looking for part-time work.......................      143       129       138       128       -14     -10.0 
           Unemployment rate................................     17.3      17.0      19.7      21.9       4.6      26.5 
       Not in labor force...................................    2,441     2,296     2,014     1,860      -581     -23.8 
     ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                                                                                                        

       1 Employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population.
       NOTE:  Beginning in January 1999, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
     Table 2.  Employment status of the civilian population 16 to 24 years of age by sex and race, July 1996-99
     (Numbers in thousands.  Data are not seasonally adjusted.)
     _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                                                      |              |              |              |              
                     Employment status, sex, and race                 |     1996     |     1997     |     1998     |     1999     
     _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                  
                                   TOTAL                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                  
     Civilian noninstitutional population.............................      32,310         32,803         33,266         34,000   
       Civilian labor force...........................................      23,677         23,931         24,225         24,672   
             Participation rate.......................................        73.3           73.0           72.8           72.6   
         Employed.....................................................      20,702         21,197         21,599         22,178   
             Employment-population ratio (1)..........................        64.1           64.6           64.9           65.2   
         Unemployed...................................................       2,975          2,734          2,626          2,494   
           Looking for full-time work.................................       2,136          2,005          1,910          1,888   
           Looking for part-time work.................................         839            729            716            607   
           Unemployment rate..........................................        12.6           11.4           10.8           10.1   
       Not in labor force.............................................       8,633          8,872          9,041          9,327   
                                                                                                                                  
                                    Men                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                  
     Civilian noninstitutional population.............................      16,179         16,548         16,779         17,076   
       Civilian labor force...........................................      12,667         12,653         12,807         12,975   
             Participation rate.......................................        78.3           76.5           76.3           76.0   
         Employed.....................................................      11,023         11,207         11,370         11,638   
             Employment-population ratio (1)..........................        68.1           67.7           67.8           68.2   
         Unemployed...................................................       1,644          1,446          1,436          1,337   
           Looking for full-time work.................................       1,182          1,094          1,083          1,053   
           Looking for part-time work.................................         462            352            353            284   
           Unemployment rate..........................................        13.0           11.4           11.2           10.3   
       Not in labor force.............................................       3,512          3,894          3,973          4,102   
                                                                                                                                  
                                   Women                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                  
     Civilian noninstitutional population.............................      16,131         16,256         16,487         16,923   
       Civilian labor force...........................................      11,010         11,278         11,418         11,697   
             Participation rate.......................................        68.3           69.4           69.3           69.1   
         Employed.....................................................       9,678          9,990         10,228         10,540   
             Employment-population ratio (1)..........................        60.0           61.5           62.0           62.3   
         Unemployed...................................................       1,331          1,289          1,190          1,157   
           Looking for full-time work.................................         954            912            827            834   
           Looking for part-time work.................................         377            377            363            323   
           Unemployment rate..........................................        12.1           11.4           10.4            9.9   
       Not in labor force.............................................       5,121          4,977          5,068          5,226   
                                                                                                                                  
                                   White                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                  
     Civilian noninstitutional population.............................      25,729         26,159         26,606         27,138   
       Civilian labor force...........................................      19,644         19,901         20,028         20,425   
             Participation rate.......................................        76.4           76.1           75.3           75.3   
         Employed.....................................................      17,584         17,992         18,343         18,763   
             Employment-population ratio (1)..........................        68.3           68.8           68.9           69.1   
         Unemployed...................................................       2,060          1,909          1,685          1,662   
           Looking for full-time work.................................       1,428          1,412          1,178          1,244   
           Looking for part-time work.................................         632            497            507            417   
           Unemployment rate..........................................        10.5            9.6            8.4            8.1   
       Not in labor force.............................................       6,085          6,258          6,578          6,713   
                                                                                                                                  
                                   Black                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                  
     Civilian noninstitutional population.............................       4,883          4,958          4,993          5,102   
       Civilian labor force...........................................       3,026          3,030          3,216          3,242   
             Participation rate.......................................        62.0           61.1           64.4           63.5   
         Employed.....................................................       2,258          2,347          2,419          2,532   
             Employment-population ratio (1)..........................        46.2           47.3           48.4           49.6   
         Unemployed...................................................         768            684            797            709   
           Looking for full-time work.................................         617            500            636            581   
           Looking for part-time work.................................         151            183            161            128   
           Unemployment rate..........................................        25.4           22.6           24.8           21.9   
       Not in labor force.............................................       1,858          1,927          1,777          1,860   
     _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

       1 Employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population.
       NOTE:  Beginning in January 1999, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
     Table 3.  Employed persons 16 to 24 years of age by industry, class of worker, and race, July 1998-99
     (Numbers in thousands.  Data are not seasonally adjusted.)
     ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                                            |                   |                   |                   
                                                            |       Total       |       White       |       Black       
                                                             ___________________________________________________________
                  Industry and class of worker              |         |         |         |         |         |         
                                                            |         |         |         |         |         |         
                                                            |   1998  |   1999  |   1998  |   1999  |   1998  |   1999  
     ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                                                                                                        
           Total employed...................................   21,599    22,178    18,343    18,763     2,419     2,532 
                                                                                                                        
       Agriculture .........................................      803       763       756       728        30        16 
       Nonagricultural industries...........................   20,796    21,415    17,586    18,035     2,389     2,516 
         Private wage and salary workers....................   18,927    19,498    16,074    16,436     2,109     2,299 
           Mining...........................................       57        51        53        51         4       -  
           Construction.....................................    1,161     1,310     1,088     1,208        49        67 
           Manufacturing....................................    2,188     2,020     1,812     1,668       278       253 
           Transportation and public utilities..............      821       828       711       662        90       134 
           Wholesale trade..................................      657       650       594       598        45        28 
           Retail trade.....................................    7,377     7,566     6,279     6,535       840       766 
           Finance, insurance, and real estate..............      890     1,008       733       784       102       176 
           Services.........................................    5,778     6,064     4,803     4,930       700       874 
                                                                                                                        
         Government.........................................    1,484     1,526     1,163     1,232       254       200 
           Federal..........................................      178       180       138       140        32        25 
           State............................................      464       463       338       376       103        59 
           Local............................................      842       882       687       717       119       116 
                                                                                                                        
         Self-employed and unpaid family workers............      384       392       349       366        26        18 
     ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

        NOTE:  Beginning in January 1999, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.  Dash
     represents zero.