Unemployment rates for teens 16-19 in Washington - how much did it grow between April 2019 and April 2020?

You'll want to check the Bureau of Labor Statistics regional data for Washington state. They have age-specific unemployment rates by month. April 2020 was when COVID hit so you're probably looking at a massive spike for teen unemployment specifically.

I remember reading that teen unemployment in Washington jumped from around 12% in April 2019 to over 30% by April 2020. The retail and restaurant closures absolutely decimated youth employment. Washington ESD saw a huge surge in first-time claims from people under 20 during that period.

If you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD for data requests, I'd recommend trying Claimyr at claimyr.com - they have a system that helps you actually reach ESD agents by phone. There's a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. Might be worth trying if you need to speak to someone directly about accessing historical data.

my daughter was 17 in 2020 and lost her part time job at target in march, she couldn't even file for unemployment because she hadn't worked long enough. so many kids in her situation probably aren't even counted in the official numbers

Check the Washington State Employment Security Department's Labor Market and Economic Analysis division. They publish detailed demographic breakdowns in their monthly employment reports. April 2020 data should show the initial COVID impact.

I work in workforce development and remember those numbers being shocking. Teen unemployment in WA went from being relatively manageable to crisis levels literally overnight when the stay-at-home orders hit.

the numbers are probably even worse than what gets reported because a lot of teens work under the table or in gig economy stuff that doesn't show up in traditional employment stats

Try contacting ESD's Research and Analysis team directly. They have economists who specialize in this kind of demographic analysis and might be able to provide more detailed breakdowns than what's in the public reports.

If you do need to call ESD and can't get through the regular way, that Claimyr service I mentioned earlier has been a lifesaver for people trying to reach them. Way better than spending hours on hold.

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) database has Washington state unemployment data by age group going back years. You can create custom charts comparing different time periods.

Just remember that April 2020 data might be a bit weird because of how unemployment claims were processed during the early COVID chaos. Washington ESD was completely overwhelmed and there were delays in processing claims.

I remember seeing a news article that said teen unemployment in WA hit like 28% or 29% in April 2020 compared to around 11% the year before. Might have been in the Seattle Times business section.

Don't forget to look at not seasonally adjusted vs seasonally adjusted data. Teen employment has natural seasonal patterns with school schedules, so you want to make sure you're comparing apples to apples.

The University of Washington's Center for Women might have done research on this topic too, since young women were disproportionately affected by service industry job losses.

honestly the whole situation was devastating for kids trying to get work experience. my daughter didn't find another job until late 2021 and by then she'd missed out on almost 2 years of building work skills

LinkedIn Economic Graph might have some relevant data on Washington state youth employment trends, though it skews toward more educated/professional workers so might not capture the full teen employment picture.

If you end up writing about this, make sure to mention that the recovery was really uneven across different types of teen jobs. Fast food bounced back quick but retail took way longer.

Washington's minimum wage being higher than federal probably meant some teens priced out of jobs even before COVID, so the baseline might have been different than national averages.

Have you tried reaching out to local workforce development boards? They often track youth employment metrics more closely than state-level agencies and might have more granular data.

Just to circle back on getting through to ESD if you need to - I used Claimyr last month when I couldn't reach them about my claim and it worked perfectly. Saved me probably 20+ hours of trying to call manually.

Final thought - when you present your findings, it might be worth contextualizing against teen unemployment during the 2008 recession to show how COVID compared to other major economic disruptions.