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Dozens of Chicago teenagers on Monday told a small group of elected officials about their need for summer jobs to save for college, pay for food and, in some cases, avoid homelessness．
This summer, Illinois is facing the loss of 18,000 jobs for teenagers．The loss comes as teen unemployment in the state has reached a record-high rate of 27.5 percent．
Experts say that the slow recovery and the high unemployment rate have forced older workers to take positions for younger workers．
Jim Zeckhauser, the manager of a Chicago social service agency for troubled teens, said he used to be able to place dozens of teens in jobs before the financial crisis．This year, he has been able to place only about seven of the 34 teenagers he guides in summer jobs．“It's a struggle to find firms,” he said．
Brent Weiss, owner of Uncle Dan's, an outdoor-gear retailer with locations in Chicago, Evanston and Highland Park, said he is more selective about the workers that he hires, acknowledging that he is more likely to hire college students than teens, and like many other small business he is doing more with fewer workers．
Chicage-area small business say they are taking a wait-and-see approach to expanding their businesses and hiring more workers．They blame increasing gasoline prices and a lack of consumer confidence．
Nationwide, teens ago 16 to 19 have seenthe biggest drop in employment during the past decade．In 2010, the employment rate for that age group was 26 percent, the lowest since Workld war II, according to a report by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University In 2000, employment rate for the same group was 45 percent．
If the trend continues, only one in four teenagers will hold a job this summer, according to the report．Many of the unemployed will likely be black males living in low-income communities．
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