Sarah Cunningham, Workforce Analyst Oregon Employment Dept. – Inspired by regional economist Guy Tauer’s article “Summer Youth Hiring Trends in the South Coast”, I examined how summer youth employment has changed over time in the broader southwestern area of Coos, Curry, and Douglas counties. Summer employment of Southwestern youth peaked in 2000, with nearly 6,400 workers between the ages of 14 and 21 or 10 percent of the region’s workforce. During the Great Recession, the number of youth workers declined by 42 percent from its peak to a low of roughly 3,700 workers in 2012. Fueled by the current economic expansion, summer youth employment has rebounded by 20 percent since its 2012 low to roughly 4,400 workers or 7 percent of the region’s workforce in 2018.
