Below is an excerpt from an article published by The New York Times, featuring NULab Faculty Alicia Sasser Modestino, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Economics and Research Director of the Dukakis Center at Northeastern.
“Ugenie Labranche, 16, who has been searching for a summer job since January, thought her luck had finally turned when she spotted a “hiring now” sign outside a Dunkin’ in Jenkintown, Pa. But when she called this month, she was told the store wasn’t hiring.
It has happened a few times. A sign in the window, hopeful calls, only to be told the position is no longer available. Ms. Labranche, who will be a high school junior in the fall, has applied to more than a dozen jobs but still hasn’t landed one. Most of the time, she doesn’t hear back at all.
‘It is frustrating because there are a lot of kids my age that want to work and they just can’t,’ she said.
Teenagers across the country are entering one of the toughest summer job markets in recent years, as traditional jobs at restaurants, amusement parks, pools and stores either pause new hiring or choose adults for those roles.”
The article goes on to write: “Uncertainty about the economy is a major reason, said Alicia Sasser Modestino, an economist at Northeastern University in Boston. Some businesses are freezing roles or cutting seasonal positions over concerns about lower consumer confidence and fears that consumer spending will weaken under President Trump’s tariff policies. That hesitation hits teenagers hardest, Ms. Modestino said.
‘Now when we’re starting to see the labor market cool off a bit in general, we’re seeing it hit teenagers harder, and teenagers first,’ she said. ‘That’s because they’re really the canary in the coal mine. They are the last to be hired, the first to be fired.'”
You can read the full article in The New York Times here: The Summer Job, a Rite of Passage for Teens, May Be Fading Away.
