Is your teenager jobless? An adult likely took the position

Alissha Marcum can't find a job -- "There's nothing," the 19-year-old said.

Marcum recently moved back to Belleville after she lost her job in Bloomington, Ind. "I was working at Steak 'n Shake," she said.

Marcum and others her age are finding fewer jobs than ever before. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research organization Employment Policies Institute has cited that the nation's unemployment rate among those 16 to 19 years old soared to a record 27 percent last month.

In Illinois, the teen jobless rate reached 32 percent in September -- a 100 percent increase over the 16 percent teen unemployment rate recorded in the state in September 2008.

Employment Policies Institute senior economic analyst Kristen Eastlick said that by comparison, the national rate has increased by 33 percent since last year. Aside from the nation's lofty 10 percent jobless rate, she also pointed to Illinois and other states that have recently coincided with minimum wage rate hikes.

"More aggressive increase in minimum wage has unfortunately driven up teen unemployment," Eastlick said. "A lot of jobs teens would have taken are being taken by people who are unemployed elsewhere."

The Illinois Department of Employment recorded a 14.3 percent average unemployment rate among those 16 to 19 last year -- up from 12.4 percent in 2007. Spokesman Greg Rivara said he is not sure how accurate the numbers are from the Employment Policies Institute, but agrees that these statistics correlate with his department's findings that indicate more Illinoisans are not finding jobs.

"We don't have any empirical information to support or refute that," Rivara said. "I understand some suggestion that one of the ways that unemployment is being felt in the workplace is that through jobs held by teenagers that are now being held by adults who are looking into augmenting any revenues they have coming into their household."

Corey Moss has seen an increase in the number of adults who are looking for jobs at his Dairy Queen restaurants in Belleville, O'Fallon and Highland. But they are not necessarily being hired over teens.

"More are applying," Moss said.

More adults and teens are inquiring about employment at Schnucks Supermarkets on both sides of the Mississippi River.

"We are seeing a greater number of teenagers who are looking for positions within stores across our company," Schnucks spokeswoman Lori Willis said. "We are also seeing a greater number of adults who are hoping to enter any number of jobs across the company. Some of those jobs are typically the ones that the teen workforce have done."

Moss believes that Illinois' recent minimum wage increase has driven the rise in adult applications. "It has a lot to do to with it," he said.

Illinois' minimum wage is among the highest in the nation. Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich pushed for and received a series of minimum wage hikes that since July 1 find Illinoisans making at least $8 an hour -- up from $7.75. The series of wage hikes began in 2007, when the minimum wage was raised from $6.50 an hour to $7.50.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which also is Missouri's minimum wage.

Employment Policies Institute also cites research from Ohio University that found a 10 percent increase in the effective minimum wage is associated with a 3.2 percent decrease in youth unemployment. The University of Georgia has also investigated this and found these increases were even larger for teens employed at small businesses, where declines ranged from a 4.6 percent to 9 percent.

Jeff Tolliver said all the minimum wage has done to his pizzeria is cut into his profits, but he has not witnessed any change in his employees. Tolliver owns Pantera's Pizza in Edwardsville, where he hires those 18 or older because his workers need to be at least 18 to deliver orders and serve alcohol.

"It's an odd time now," Tolliver said. "We're at the end of a recession. It may be possible that people are trading down to eat pizza instead of eating at Applebee's or those kinds of places. I don't think the minimum wage being raised has cut into my sales a lot. We try to keep prices low."

Gary Peck, who owns a number of metro-east area McDonald's restaurants, said his employee base remains the same within a mix of different age groups.

"I think that there is definitely a better market out there in terms of our resources which to draw from, but I don't see any fewer teens working for me today," Peck said.

John Conkright, who opened a Jimmy John's restaurant in downtown Belleville earlier this year, said he has hired mostly full-time employees at the sandwich shop with as many as two part-time employees.

"We usually have one or two, but we keep full time a lot of people on staff," Conkright said. "A lot of retail stores like to depend on part-time help, but we prefer to hire full time."

Ken Archer said his Fairview Heights restaurant, Lotawatta Creek, sees three to four applications a day and as many as 125 a month for applicants of all ages. But it is nothing new.

"We've always had a lot of applications ... whether we're asking or not," Archer said. "A lot of restaurants don't get a lot of apps, but we get a lot because we're so well known."

Willis said the recent number of applicants looking for jobs at Schnucks has been so great that the grocery store chain has turned to the Internet to help meet demand.

"We're doing more online applications," Willis said. "It's difficult to manage those numbers when it there are this many people applying for employment."

The concern over high teen unemployment also extends beyond one's lack of income. Eastlick said that those who lack entry-level job experience at this young age suffer long-term impact. She cited a 2003 study from Stanford University that found adults who experienced long periods of unemployment in their youth were more likely to struggle to find a job and earn enough later in life.

"A job for a young employee is a chance to gain important skills and learn the invisible curriculum that comes from being employed," she said. "The full effects of that lost opportunity will be felt for years to come."