Teen jobless rate reaches 25.5 percent

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- The number of jobless U.S. teens last month reached reached its highest level since recording began in 1948 with 25.5 percent unemployed, statistics indicate.

The figure points out that recessions disproportionately impact the young, analysts told Saturday's New York Times.

"There are an amazing number of kids out there looking for work," Andrew Sum, an economics professor at Northeastern University, told the newspaper. "And given that unemployment is a lagging indicator, and young people's unemployment even lags behind the rest of unemployment, we're going to see a lot of kids of out work for a long, long, long, long time."

The Times said the 25.5 percent figure is nearly three times the unemployment rate of the non-teenage population (9 percent) and nearly four times the unemployment rate of workers over age 55 (6.8 percent).

Analysts said the unemployment rate for teens was sent higher by employers who usually take on young people for seasonal employment and did not this year.