The employment situation for U.S. teens was little changed in January 2026.
Overall, the seasonally-adjusted employment of Americans Age 16-19 came in at 5,448,000, which is 38,000 lower than the previous month's figure. The employed-to-population ratio for this demographic correspondingly dipped from 30.8% to 30.6% in January 2026.
Dividing the employment data up between younger teens (Age 16-17) and older teens (Age 18-19), reveals a mixed outcome. Younger teens saw their numbers among the employed increase by 35,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1,973,000, representing 20.9% of the Age 16-17 population. Older teens meanwhile saw their employment numbers drop by 69,000 to 3,478,000 in January 2026, falling from 42.9% to 41.6% of the nation's population of 18 and 19 year-olds.
The following pair of charts presents the latest data for teen employment in the U.S., covering the period from January 2021 through January 2026.
For the entire Age 16 and older population, the number of people counted as being employed rose from a seasonally adjusted 163,992,000 in December 2025 to 164,520,000 in January 2026. Working teens make up about 3.3% of the total number of employed people in the United States.
References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor Force Statistics (Current Population Survey - CPS). [Online Database]. Accessed: 11 February 2026.
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