Jobs bill could provide boost for youth employment

Summer job hunting isn't much easier for this year, but lawmakers are pushing legislation to provide $600 million for summer jobs programs included in the stimulus that they say would support 300,000 jobs, specifically for minorities and disadvantaged young people. 

With the summer job-hunting season in full swing and the youth unemployment rate holding steady at 25 percent, the bill, which is stalled in the Senate, could potentially provide job opportunities for young people, especially those hit by extreme levels of joblessness. The programs created 211,000 jobs nearly 100,000 more than the White House's aim of 125,000. 

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) threw her support behind the bill saying, "African-American youth unemployment rates are now estimated to be as high as 42 percent. So we need targeted assistance to help put our young people to work and to teach them an array of valuable jobs skills that they can use throughout life."

The CBC has been pressing for more jobs programs for minorities and has requested $1.3 billion. The House bill paid for the jobs program by shifting stimulus money from other programs. 

A recent survey by SnagAJob.com, a Web site that lists hourly jobs, showed that 54 percent of 1,033 hiring managers asked think it will be difficult for teens to find a summer job. In that survey, 29 percent of hiring managers plan to hire the same number of workers for the season, while 18 percent of employers said they will hire fewer workers, an improvement of f5 percentage points from 2009. 

In January, a job fair at Six Flags over Georgia attracted several thousand applicants for 1,300 total seasonal jobs, a clear indication the tight job market, according to ajc.com. 

"It’s a relief that we’re not again seeing the kind of negative trends that we saw when comparing expectations for last summer with ‘08," said Shawn Boyer, CEO of SnagAJob.com. "Summer jobs will be available this year, but teens and college students must apply as soon as possible to multiple positions in order to stand a chance of landing one. Competition will still be fierce, especially because unemployment remains high.” 

Employers expecting to make seasonal hires said 53 percent of a young person’s biggest competition comes from another teen or college student like themselves, very similar to last year's 54 percent, according to the survey. Young people also can expect to face competition from adults who have entered the workforce because of economic pressures, which 29 percent of hiring managers still report as a young person’s greatest competition.