Rochester High School senior Grant Winning spent nine months looking for a part-time job before being hired as a cashier at County Market, 2777 S. Sixth St., in August.
“At first, maybe I didn’t put my whole heart into it,” said Winning, who had earned pocket change the past two summers by umpiring for the Rochester Youth Athletic Association’s baseball program.
“But by the spring I was really trying and just didn’t have much luck. I applied at the golf courses, movie theaters, Scheels. I filled out lots of applications, went on several interviews. County Market was the first to offer me a job.”
Winning’s struggle to find work is mirrored by teens throughout Illinois.
Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies reported last week that only 27.5 percent of teens in Illinois had jobs last year. That is slightly better than the nationwide figure, 26.4 percent, but it was still Illinois’ lowest figure in the 42 years data was available. For comparison, nearly half of all Illinois teens were working in 1999-2000.
Minority numbers worse
A geographical breakout shows the employment figure climbed to 35 percent for 16- to 19-year-olds in Chicago suburbs and downstate communities, but only 16 percent of teens were employed
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