Teen Labor Market Faces RecordLow Summer Hiring

A group of teens runs into the ocean on a warm Spring afternoon at Coney Island in Brooklyn in New York City on April 1, 2026. Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesSummer was once a reliable season for teenagers to pick up work experience and earn a little spending money. That rite of passage may be fading for America’s youth.The teen hiring rate this summer is expected to reach a 78-year low, according to a May 20 report by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.