WREX.com – Rockford’s News LeaderReport: Teen unemployment on the rise in Illinois
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UNDATED (WREX) - A new report show it's getting harder for teens to find jobs in Illinois.
Numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the unemployment rate among teens in Illinois has jumped 67% in the past five years.
"The recession may be ending, but Illinois is still in the midst of a teen employment depression," said Michael Saltsman, research fellow at the Employment Policies Institute.
One of the things keeping teens out of work is the increase in the state's minimum wage over the past four years. That puts employers in a position where they are forced to cut low-wage jobs or hire more skilled applicants to fill their entry-level positions.
"The unintended consequence of state legislators' good intentions was an increase in the cost to hire and train entry-level employees, like teenagers," Saltsman continued. "Unless legislators in Illinois want to see even more teens out of work, they should stop passing ill-conceived public policies with real consequences for the most vulnerable in our work force."
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