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Sixteen-year-old Rocky Cagle is applying for a summer job at Baskin Robbins. He is willing to work any shift. However, the prospect of landing a job this summer is tough.
"I tried applying at Key Market -- too young -- they sell alcohol. Same thing with Rite-Aid, the gas station -- it's like family-run. There's a doughnut place down there -- family-run business. They didn't accept me," says Rocky.
No matter how many applications Rocky fills out, he's facing a tough job market. A major employment service estimates there will be less than one million jobs for teenagers this summer. That is the lowest number in 55 years.
Rocky was hoping to help after his father lost his job a week ago.
"When we actually brought the news to the boys that my husband was laid off, they immediately offered if they could help by finding a job for themselves," says Rocky's mother Alma Gonzalez.
Austin Stucky has also applied for summer jobs. However, he is aware that the odds are against him.
"It is definitely harder when there's a good percentage of the adults in our country who don't have a job, so for a 16-year-old to get a job is definitely difficult," says Austin.
A summer job provides not only spending money, but also a chance to show work experience on college applications. A jobless summer leads some people to worry that idle teenagers will be up to no good.
"I am very concerned because -- also their parents sometimes they don't have money or they are unemployed and there's going to be no money to give to the kids, and the kids are going to get in trouble," says Redwood City resident Maria Simon.
With the outlook looks so dismal, many teenagers looking for summer jobs may have to do what many adults are doing these days, become very resourceful and even entrepreneurial.
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