Red-hot summer job market awaits US teens as employers sweat

By PAUL WISEMAN and MAE ANDERSON
AP Business Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — This is expected to be the best summer job market for teens in 15 years. Researchers at Drexel University’s Center for Labor Markets and Policy predicted in a report last month that an average of 33% of youths ages 16 to 19 will be employed each month from June through August this year, the highest such rate since 34% in the summer of 2007. And the pay available to them  — $15 or $16 an hour for entry-level work — is drawing some back into the job market. Teenage employment has already topped pre-pandemic levels even though the overall job market still hasn’t.