More than seven in 10 U.S. teens jobless in summer – USATODAY.com

More than seven in 10 U.S. teens jobless in summer – USATODAY.com:

By Hope Yen, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Once a rite of passage to adulthood, summer jobs for teens are disappearing.

Fewer than three in 10 American teenagers now hold jobs such as running cash registers, mowing lawns or busing restaurant tables from June to August. The decline has been particularly sharp since 2000, with employment for 16-to-19-year olds falling to the lowest level since World War II.

And teen employment may never return to pre-recession levels, suggests a projection by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

MORE: Graphic: State-by-state data

...Older workers, immigrants and debt-laden college graduates are taking away lower-skill work as they struggle to find their own jobs in the weak economy. Upper-income white teens are three times as likely to have summer jobs as poor black teens, sometimes capitalizing on their parents' social networks for help.    

Overall, more than 44% of teens who want summer jobs don't get them or work fewer hours than they prefer.

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Posted by Chuck Bell at 4:42 AM