Summer months draw teens into the workforce beginning in May and June.
Common jobs for teens include recreation, food service, and leisure especially in areas with a lot of tourism.
“We expect anybody that is looking for a job to be entering a favorable labor market,” Department of Technology, Management, and Budget Labor Market Information Director Wayne Rourke said.
Wayne said there are many job openings in Michigan with minimal requirements.
“There are over 2,000 online job openings in June,” Rourke said. “A vast majority of them required only a high school diploma or less and needed no experience, so that bodes well for youth and younger people looking for jobs.”
Despite the favorable labor market, Rourke said that even if teens entered the workforce at the same rate as years past the number of teens in Michigan is going down.
Rourke said it is a problem happening in other states, not just Michigan.
“The last couple of years have been odd for sure,” Rourke said.
He said Northern Lower Michigan only makes up four percent of total statewide employment.
“As it is right now, unemployment is really low, there’s a demand for workers out there,” Rourke said. “That could pull more teens into the labor market. The last couple of years we’ve seen a little more each year just because the pandemic really hit the industries who hired teens pretty hard.”