The number of 16-19 year olds getting a summer job this year is expected to drop below last summer’s record low of 28.5 percent, according to Andrew Sum at the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. A decade ago, that number was 45 percent--not great, but certainly better than what it is now. For those of us in our 30s, 40s and 50s, a job was a summer staple, be it at the mall, theme parks, babysitting or as a camp counselor. But the Great Recession has put an end to that, with 17-year olds competing with unemployed adults willing to take anything that’s out there, even temporary jobs.

One area for teens to seek out summer employment:

the tourism industry.

^{Courtesy photo}

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last month that the teen unemployment rate was 26.1 percent. But the Employment Policies Institute analyzed those stats this month and found a 174 percent increase in the number of unemployed teens spending six months or more looking for work. As of March 2010, 30 percent of all unemployed teens had spent six months or more searching for a job. Compare that to three years ago, when only 11 percent of unemployed teens spent that long looking for work.

Teenagers face challenges from all sides---they don’t have much experience or confidence and can usually only work for a limited period of time. And labor market experts say many are so discouraged, they’ve simply stopped looking.

Locally, things are even tougher than they are nationally. Gary Moss, a labor market analyst with the San Diego Workforce Partnership, says the unemployment rate in San Diego is higher than the national percentage of 9.7 percent—ours is 10.5—and Moss says realistically it’s probably a lot higher.

“That percentage is the number of people collecting unemployment, but it doesn’t show you those that are no longer eligible and who have exhausted their benefits, or who for some reason, have chosen not to collect," he says. "We typically figure the unemployment rate is about twice the official number, so in San Diego we’re looking at anywhere from 15-20 percent. The youth population unemployment is likely well above 20 percent." That’s a lot of teenagers looking for fewer jobs than ever this summer.

Moss says very few new jobs are being created, for youth or anyone else. New job growth here is less than one percent, which translates to about 8,000 jobs during the entire year.

“We average 150,000 people receiving unemployment—and that’s just the adult population, not teenagers,” says Moss. That is essentially the dilemma facing teens--they are now competing for jobs with unemployed adults. In San Diego this summer, the jobs will be found in the tourism and hospitality industries and those jobs, which might have gone to teenagers in the past, are now going to adults who need a stream of income."

The San Diego Workforce Partnership will offer a summer youth jobs program, the same as it did last year. Moss says last year the organization received some stimulus money from the Feds to put San Diego youth to work. They aren’t getting any additional funding this summer, so won’t be able to employ the 3,200 teens they did last year. “This year we’re looking somewhere in the neighborhood of 400-600," says Moss.

He advises enterprising teens to look for jobs now in hospitality, retail and food service—anything linked to summer tourism. If that fails, volunteering is another good option, says Moss. It may not provide any pocket money, but it could give youth nearing high school graduation—or those in college—valuable workplace experience.

“I would also recommend entrepreneurial activities, like lawn cutting, dog walking, babysitting or housecleaning,” says Moss. “You have to make your own work in this economy.”