COVID-19 and Youth Unemployment by Gender and Age

Over the last 12 months, unemployment rates have steadily declined from historic highs reached after the start of the pandemic. However, recovery toward pre-pandemic levels of unemployment has been less steady for youth than adults. In the winter, youth—especially female youth ages 16 to 19—experienced an uptick in unemployment rates after which unemployment rates continued to trend downward into the spring. Consistent with the unsteady path to recovery, male youth ages 20 to 24 and female youth ages 16 to 19 experienced a slight increase in unemployment rates in the spring.