“June typically averages the most job gains of the summer months, with well over 700,000 jobs added on average since 2006, but these are some of the strongest numbers we’ve seen since the recovery,” said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
» RELATED: Despite retail job loss, teen employment making a comeback
The June surge is 48 percent higher than the same month last year, when nearly 700,000 jobs were added, and 126 percent higher than the gains in May. It is the highest June total since 2007, when 1,114,000 jobs were gained among the age group.
Some economic experts believed retail closures would impact teen employment, but the firm doesn’t believe it has. Challenger has tracked over 5,000 announced closures of retail locations since January 2017.
“While May gains were lower than average this year, June’s more than offset that pace. It seems the recent decline of brick-and-mortar retail locations has not subdued hiring among teens,” said Challenger.
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