U.S. teens seeking jobs are facing an uphill struggle.
Jobs for Americans between the ages of 16 and 19 continued their long downward trend in February 2026.
For younger teens, Age 16 and 17, that downward trend began in April 2022 when the percentage of that age demographic counted as being employed peaked at a seasonally-adjusted 25.6%. Through February 2026, that percentage has dropped to 21.0%.
Older teens, Age 18 and 19, have fared better, with their employment-to-population percentage peaking at 45.8% of their demographic in December 2025. Through February 2026, that statistic has fallen to 41.3%.
The following pair of charts presents the seasonally-adjusted data for both the number of teens employed in each of these age categories and also the U.S. teen employment-to-population ratio for the period from January 2021 through February 2026, .
The trend for younger teens is the most concerning. Over the period captured by these charts, many of the teens who were working at Age 16 and 17 in 2022 went on to become the working Age 18 and 19 teens, which helps explain why that demographic had its peak a little over two years later. Meanwhile, the teens who replaced them in the younger demographic are proving to be much less successful in finding jobs.
The recent downtrend for older teens may be developing in part because of the same demographic rollover, with the portion of the teen workforce who first entered the job market in 2022 now aging out into the next higher age category.
References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor Force Statistics (Current Population Survey - CPS). [Online Database]. Accessed: 6 March 2026.
Image Credit: Microsoft Copilot Designer. Prompt: "An editorial cartoon to illustrate the concept of a slowing job market for teenage Americans", which we think is remarkable because Copilot loaded the depicted teen's cart with stereotypes for teen employment options.