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SALINAS, Calif. - The good news for teenagers, school is out. The bad news, they might have a hard time finding a summer job. The latest numbers show the unemployment rate for 16 to 19-year-olds last month was more than 24 percent. Compare that to May of 2000, when the rate was less than 13 percent. And in California, the teen unemployment rate is more than 34 percent! 17-year-old Celeste Rodrigues is spending her summer vacation looking for a full time job. Right now, she's a temp at the One Stop Career Center in Salinas, and part of that job shows how hard it is to land a full time gig.
"Kind of hard since a lot of people are looking for jobs and there's some that are already graduating from school and may get the job," said Celeste Rodriguez.
But Rodriguez won't let competition get in the way of supporting her baby boy and going to college.
"They kind of get upset because they're over income and they're trying to look for a job too and it just depends on the experience," said Rodriguez.
Loyanne Flinn with the Monterey County Workforce Investment Board knows how tough it's going to be to fund the employment program this year without federal funding.
"2 years ago we put 600 kids to work during the summer with our employer partners. Last summer we put almost 1300 kids to work with our employer partners. The American Reinvestment Act is over and we are working with a very limited pool of funding," said Loyanne Flinn.
Which means, they can only help about 300 teens this summer and won't come close to helping the 35 percent of unemployed teens in California. It's something Rodriguez said could hurt in the long run.
"They should help teens find jobs to keep them out of trouble and keep them off the streets. I think that helps," said Rodriguez.
