For the past four and a half years, teen unemployment has exceeded 20%. As of April 2013, 24.1% of teens seeking jobs were unable to find work, according to a report released this week.

This is the worst environment for teens seeking a job on record, according to nonprofit public policy research organization Employment Policies Institute, which released the report on teen unemployment. In some states, the jobless rate among teens is even higher. In California, an average of 34.6% of teens looking for jobs in 2012 were unemployed. Based on the 2012 average unemployment rates for 16 to 19 year olds, these are the states where teenagers cannot find work.

Click here to see the states where teenagers cannot find work

According to Employment Policies Institute (EPI) Research Director Michael Saltsman, the lack of teens with jobs does not just mean they are going to have less summer spending money. The trend also means that this generation is more likely to lack crucial job experience and connections that could help them in future employment.

“Some people call it ‘soft skills’ and economists call it ‘the invisible curriculum,’” Saltsman said. “But whatever you want to call it, there are a certain set of skills that teens who miss out on them are at greater risk of being unemployed now and in the future.”

The EPI report suggests that a worsening teen job market may be a product of higher minimum wages in these states. However, the data is less clear. In fact, only half the states with the highest teen unemployment rates do not impose a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.

One factor that Saltsman suggests is behind the record teen unemployment is the overall poor economic conditions in the country, conditions that began in the Great Recession and continue today with a painfully slow recovery. Teens usually work in the leisure and hospitality and retail trade industries, industries that have taken a hit during the recession. Moreover, with the overall labor market also in trouble, more out of jobs adults are willing to take on lower-paying jobs traditionally held by teenagers.

“There’s no question that the teen unemployment rate is high right now,” said Jack Temple, policy analyst at The National Employment Law Project. But it is always high when there is a shortage of jobs. “We have an elevated unemployment rate for workers across the country. Whenever there is elevated unemployment, teen unemployment goes particularly high.”

As the teen unemployment rate has risen, the proportion of teens in the jobs they traditionally occupy — leisure and hospitality and service jobs — has fallen. “For the last ten years, teen share of employment in these industries has fallen anywhere from three to four percentage points,” Saltsman said. In 2003, 14.5% of Californians 16 to 19 year olds were employed in the retail and hospitality business. By 2011, that figure had dropped to just 9.6%, compared to a national rate of 14.4%. In South Carolina, the proportion of teen workers in retail fell from 11.3% in 2003 to just 5.2% in 2011.

The reason the share of teens in these industries has dropped, explained Saltsman, is because the economic downturn led to increased competition. “Older workers are going part-time maybe because they can’t find another position,” Saltsman said. The fact that most of these states have among the highest unemployment rates in the country reflects this.

An additional factor that may make matters worse for teens is educational attainment. The majority of the states with the highest teen unemployment rates had lower high school graduation rates than the national average in 2011. Of the 10 states with the lowest teen unemployment, only one had below-average high school attainment.

Based on information provided by MinimumWage.com, a project by the Employment Policies Institute, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 states where the unemployment rate among teens was highest. EPI also provided 24/7 Wall St. with data on minimum wage laws by state as well as figures on teen employment and general employment breakdowns created from the current population survey. Figures on the proportion of teenagers in certain job categories was for 2011, the most recent available year available. Education and poverty figures are from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011 American Community Survey. Annual average unemployment rates by state are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

10. Louisiana
> Teen unemployment rate: 27.2% (tied for 9th highest)
> Total unemployment rate: 6.4% (15th lowest)
> High school graduation rate: 82.5% (4th lowest)
> Minimum wage: $7.25 (federal minimum)

In Louisiana, a relatively large number of low-skilled workers and job seekers may squeeze teens out of the temporary and minimum wage job markets. In 2011, teens made up smaller percentages of both the retail and the leisure and hospitality sectors than they did eight years before. In general, the total share of jobs held by people aged 16 to 19 fell from 4.3% to 3.5% between 2003 and 2011. Competition for these low-paying jobs may be even more likely in Louisiana than in much of the rest of the nation. As of 2011, just 82.5% of residents had graduated high school, versus 85.9% across the United States, while more than 20% of the population lived below the poverty line, fourth highest in the country.

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9. Illinois
> Teen unemployment rate: 27.2% (tied for 9th highest)
> Total unemployment rate: 8.9% (10th highest)
> High school graduation rate: 87.20% (21st lowest)
> Minimum wage: $8.25 (4th highest)

Illinois has one of the highest minimum wages in the nation at $8.25 an hour, or just under $5 an hour for tipped employees. Last November, the high minimum wage was cited by the Illinois Policy Institute in explaining why just 27% of Illinois teens had a job at all last year, and more than 27% who wanted a job could not find one. One further explanation could be that the recession has led older workers to settle for lower-paying jobs that have, in the past, typically been held by teens. In 2003, 19.0% of workers in leisure and hospitality jobs and 10.4% of retail workers were teens. By 2011, those figures were down to 13.5% and 8.3%, respectively.

8. New York
> Teen unemployment rate: 27.9%
> Total unemployment rate: 8.5% (13th highest)
> High school graduation rate: 85.0% (16th lowest)
> Minimum wage: $7.25 (federal minimum)

In New York, labor market conditions for teens actually worsened in 2012. The teen unemployment rate rose by more than three percentage points from the year before. The state’s overall average unemployment rate also rose that year, climbing to 8.5% from 8.3% in 2011. New York was one of just two states where unemployment rose in that period. Much of that increase in unemployment was attributed to continued cuts in the financial services sector along with weak construction employment. In New York City, the situation was more grim for teens — the teen unemployment rate in June 2012 was 35.6%.

7. Colorado
> Teen unemployment rate: 28.0%
> Total unemployment rate: 8.0% (20th highest)
> High school graduation rate: 90.2% (15th highest)
> Minimum wage: $7.78 (13th highest)

Unlike most of the states with high teenage unemployment, Colorado’s overall labor market has fared better than the country as a whole. In 2012, the average unemployment rate in Colorado was 8%, compared to 8.1% across the United States. Colorado’s teen unemployment rate has risen by more than three percentage points between 2011 and 2012, while the overall unemployment rate fell from 8.6% in 2011. Like most states, Colorado’s teenagers are increasingly left out of the workforce. Just 3.5% of all jobs were held by teens in 2011, compared with 5% in 2003. In leisure and hospitality, which is disproportionately comprised of teens compared to other industries, just 13.1% of all jobs were held by teens, down four percentage points from 2003.

6. Arizona
> Teen unemployment rate: 29.4%
> Total unemployment rate: 8.3% (16th highest)
> High school graduation rate: 85.7% (17th lowest)
> Minimum wage: $7.80 (9th highest)

Arizona was hit disproportionately hard by the housing bust and its labor market has suffered. The state’s unemployment rate has been higher than the majority of states. But while the overall unemployment rate in Arizona declined from an average of 9.4% in 2011 to 8.3% in 2012, the teen unemployment rate increased from 25.3% in 2011 to 29.4% in 2012. In addition to having to compete with older workers for employment this summer, the federal sequester likely will lead to cuts in local job programs targeting teens. Teenagers’ share of the workforce has declined for quite a while in the state. In 2003, teenagers comprised 5.2% of the labor market. By 2011, that proportion fell to just 3.4%.

5. Georgia
> Teen unemployment rate: 29.6%
> Total unemployment rate: 9.0% (9th highest)
> High school graduation rate: 84.3% (13th lowest)
> Minimum wage: $7.25 (federal minimum)

Georgia’s average teen unemployment rate has inched up between 2011 and 2012 from 29.0% to 29.6%. By contrast, the overall unemployment rate in Georgia fell from an average of 9.9% in 2011 to 9.0% in 2012. Yet, in all likelihood, many of the older workers found jobs that often are filled by the nation’s youngest workers. Georgia adults were less likely to have a high school diploma, while residents were among the most likely Americans to live below the poverty line. Worse still, Georgia is a state that typically does not have many opportunities for teens to work. In 2010, just 2.3% of workers were teens, the lowest figure in the nation. In 2011, this figure had improved only to just 2.7%.

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4. Hawaii
> Teen unemployment rate: 29.7%
> Total unemployment rate: 5.8% (12th lowest)
> High school graduation rate: 90.6% (10th highest)
> Minimum wage: $7.25 (Federal minimum)

Labor market conditions for Hawaiian teenagers changed dramatically in a span of just one year. In 2011, the state’s unemployment rate for teens was 19.7%, which was among the lowest-third of all states in the country. Fast forward to 2012, and the unemployment rate for this age group rose a whopping 10 percentage points. This is despite the fact that Hawaii’s unemployment rate has declined from 6.5% in 2011 to 5.8% in 2012. Even before 2012, teen’s share of jobs has been on the decline. This was especially true in retail, where teens made up just 3.6% of the labor force, compared with 5.6% in 2003.

3. Washington
> Teen unemployment rate: 29.9%
> Total unemployment rate: 8.2% (18th highest)
> High school graduation rate: 90.1% (16th highest)
> Minimum wage: $9.19 (the highest)

Although the teen unemployment rate approached 30% in 2012 in Washington, it was an improvement from the 30.4% teen unemployment rate in 2011. However, the decline in teen unemployment was not as swift as the decline in overall unemployment, which fell from 9.2% in 2011 to 8.2% in 2012. The percentage of all jobs held by teens has been on the decline in recent years as well, falling from 5.2% of all jobs in 2003 to 3.1% in 2011. Washington currently has the highest minimum wage in the country at $9.19 an hour for both tipped and non-tipped employees, which conservatives argue has priced many teens out of the labor force.

2. South Carolina
> Teen unemployment rate: 32.8%
> Total unemployment rate: 9.1% (8th highest)
> High school graduation rate: 84.2% (12th lowest)
> Minimum wage: $7.25 (federal minimum)

South Carolina’s minimum wages for both regular employees and tip-based jobs are in line with the nation’s federal minimum wage. But despite keeping its minimum wages at the lowest allowable levels, teens in South Carolina still had the second-highest teen unemployment rate in the United States during 2012 at 32.8%. This was far worse than in 2011, when just over one-quarter of workers aged 16 through 19 were unemployed. This figure has continued to climb and, in the most recent trailing 12-month measurement, more than one-third of all teens looking for a job were unemployed.

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1. California
> Teen unemployment rate: 34.6%
> Total unemployment rate: 10.5% (2nd highest)
> High school graduation rate: 81.1% (3rd lowest)
> Minimum wage: $8.00 (7th highest)

California had the worst teenage unemployment rate of any state in 2012 — with more than a third of California teens looking for a job unable to find one. Overall, California’s unemployment rate has been higher than most other states in the past several years due at least in part to the effects of the housing downturn. The average unemployment rate in California was 10.5% in 2012, higher than any other state except for Nevada. The high unemployment rate has not deterred many from advocating for a higher minimum wage. Legislation has been introduced to raise the state’s minimum wage from its current $8 an hour to $8.25 an hour by 2014. It would then increase again to $8.75 an hour by 2015, $9.25 an hour in 2016 and would be adjusted for inflation in the following years.

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