Recession Sparks Rise in Teen Unemployment

Recession Sparks Rise in Teen Unemployment

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Adults aren’t the only ones feeling the crunch of the rising unemployment rate. A new analysis from the Employment Policies Institute found that teen unemployment in Illinois registers at a whopping 27.5 percent—the 13th worst in the country. So while the overall unemployment rate in Illinois has been slowly decreasing, more than one in four Illinois teens is looking for work without success. We talk to Joseph McLaughlin, a Senior Research Associate at Northeastern University who has co-authored multiple reports on teen unemployment. And, we hear from Chicago teens about their job prospects.