Summer Bummer for Teens in Country’s Largest Metro Areas

Recently, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) released a new analysis of Census Bureau data showing that many of America’s top U.S. metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego, and San Francisco, have youth unemployment rates that average far higher than the national average of 21.6 percent.  Four of the top five worst metro areas for youth unemployment are in California.

EPI analyzed unemployment for 16-19 year-olds with less than a high school diploma in the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the country. The table below provides the fifteen worst large metropolitan areas for teens searching for a job. Topping the list are the metro areas of Riverside, CA, Portland, OR, and Los Angeles, CA, with youth unemployment rates of 54.2 percent, 53.8 percent, and 39 percent respectively.

Unfortunately, President Obama, local legislators, and activists in cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco are pushing for minimum wage hikes that would create more barriers to that first rung on the employment ladder. This summer, the message for legislators everywhere is that our young people need a job–not an ill-conceived “raise” for a job that becomes harder to find.

Rank

Metropolitan Area

Teen Unemployment Rate

1

Riverside-San Bernardino, CA

54.2%

2

Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA

53.8%

3

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA

39.0%

4

San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA

37.5%

5

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

35.2%

6

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE

33.2%

7

Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IN-IN-WI

33.00%

8

Pittsburgh, PA

32.9%

9

Sacramento–Arden-Arcade Roseville, CA

32.1%

10

Baltimore-Towson, MD

31.4%

11

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

31.4%

12

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

31.2%

13

St. Louis, MO-IL

28.0%

14

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL

27.3%

15

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

26.5%

 

Source: Census Bureau Current Population Survey data, May 2013-April 2014, 16-19 year-olds w/o a high school diploma. Ranking based on unrounded numbers. Yearly averages are required due to smaller sample sizes at the metropolitan level.