Jada Selby, 19, checks tickets at the entrance to the River Journey exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium. Selby, who lives in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., and grew up in Dalton, Ga., has worked at the Tennessee Aquarium for nearly two years.Brookings analyzed the employment prospects for teens and young adults in the nation’s largest 100 metropolitan areas since 2000. The report found that the labor market fortunes of young adults plummeted nationwide between 2000 and 2011. The young adult employment rate in the Chattanooga metropolitan area was among those hit the hardest in that span.Highest employment rates among teens aged 16-19 for the year 2012:1. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah 43.2%2. Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb/Iowa 42.3%3. Des Moines, Iowa 42.2%4. Salt Lake City, Utah 39.9%5. Wichita, Kan. 38.3%19. Knoxville, Tenn. 33.8%22. Nashville, Tenn. 33.5%74. Chattanooga, Tenn/Ga. 23.7%83. Atlanta, Ga. 22%90. Memphis, Tenn. 20.7%100. Los Angeles, Calif. 16.9%•••Percentage change in 16-19-year-old employment since 2000:20. Knoxville, Tenn. -10.9%28. Nashville, Tenn. -12.1%60. Memphis, Tenn. -16.5%84. Atlanta, Ga. -20.1%90. Chattanooga, Tenn. -23.1%100. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. -27.4%
The good old days when teenagers worked and developed useful life skills are more than just a figment of grandpa’s nostalgic imagination – especially in Chattanooga.
A study released today by the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program examining the labor market fortunes of teens and young adults since 2000 shows a sharp nationwide decrease in the employment rate of young people.
And Chattanooga is one of the cities where the shift most noticeably occurred.
In 2000, almost half those ages 16-19 in the Chattanooga metropolitan area worked; by 2012, fewer than one in four worked, the study found.