Tagged: teen unemployment

The summertime blues have arrived for thousands of Michigan teenagers, who face a tough job market this year. That’s despite some improvement from last year.

Teens face a 30% unemployment rate this summer. That’s a 4 percentage point drop from 2010. A spokesman with the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget says much of the improvement is because fewer teens are trying to find work this summer.

The Employment Policies Institute issued a report that shows Michigan’s teen unemployment rate is around 28 percent, compared to around 24 percent nationally.

Michael Saltsman is with the Employment Policies Institute. He says the rise in teen unemployment over the past two years is a result of employers moving toward automation and self service.

I think you see other businesses sort of moving in that direction where maybe they have waiters and waitresses bus their own tables instead of having a bus boy do it.