At least someone is working. The jobs report for full-time workers might be dismal, but there’s at least one bright spot: more teens have summer jobs this year than they have since 2006.
Almost 160,000 teenagers scored summer gigs in May, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Last year, only 71,000 were working — less than half of this year’s stats.
Last July, only 48.8 percent of Americans between the ages 16 and 24 had jobs. The numbers were worse for minority teenagers: only 34.6 percent of black teenagers and 42.9 percent of Latino teenagers worked.
How much money can teens make at a summer job? It all depends. Babysitters can make anywhere from $4.91 to $10.36 an hour, depending on level of experience and geographic location. Fast food workers have a smaller range in pay: $7.13 – $8.88. And don’t forget to tip your barista, who is, at most, pulling down about $10 an hour.
In short, our teenagers aren’t getting rich working at these summer jobs. But it’s a lot easier to pay for books with these gigs, than without them. And when it comes to the jobs front, we’ll take any good news we can get.
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