Teens hit a new low in July 2011, with 1,667,000 fewer teens counted as having jobs than were counted as being employed in November 2007, the previous peak in total employment in the United States.
As a frame of reference, just 4,244,000 teens were counted as being employed in July 2011, as compared to 5,911,000 in November 2007 - the month before the peak in the previous cycle of economic expansion, which marks the beginning of the most recent recession.
Overall, 38,000 fewer people were counted as having jobs in July 2011 than in the previous month, with 55,000 fewer teens (Age 16-19) and 51,000 fewer young adults (Age 20-24). Those job losses were offset by a gain of 68,000 jobs held by individuals Age 25 or older, holding the net loss in jobs from June 2011 to July 2011 to just 38,000.
Finally, since bottoming in December 2009 with 8,624,000 fewer jobs recorded than in November 2007, the number of jobs regained in the 20 months since then total 1,336,000, representing an average monthly increase of 66,800. As a result, the total number of recorded jobs lost since November 2007 now stands at 7,288,000.
Which means that for all practical purposes, there hasn't been any sustained improvement in the U.S. employment situation since April 2010.