The teen unemployment set a new record in October: 27.6%.
Faced with the scary job market, many young people are heading for college or graduate school. Most of the increase in college enrollment is at community colleges.
It makes sense. If teenagers and young workers can't find a job, they can ride out the storm and use the time to improve their skills.
The only problem is that many other young people have the same idea. With employers cutting back and more people going to college, we could face a glut of new grads in a few years.
In some sense, the added education only postpones the job market pain. And that pain is likely to last for a while. Younger workers are often the first fired and the last hired. The Economic Policy Institute's Heidi Shierholz thinks the soft job market could last for another five to seven years!
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The market for teen babysitters is still strong, I find, as parents piece together child care for their part time jobs. That's $10 to $12 per hour. And, at least in my neighborhood, those 14-year-old girls are keeping the local Starbucks and Claire's and candy stores in business. The trick will be to get them to learn to save some of their cash now, so they don't have to struggle with budgeting the way Stephanie is in her Fiscally Fit blog.