Recession Hits Male Teens Harder Than Females

Gender mattered during this recession.

The downturn, the worst since the Great Depression, hit men harder than women, a fact that has been widely discussed.

What is less well known is that the recession hit male teens harder than female teens. And economists are still trying to sort out the reasons.

Males ages 16 to 19 have an unemployment rate of 29.3 percent. That compares with a 21.4 percent rate for females of the same ages, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

During the national recession, which began in December 2007, the male teen jobless rate peaked at 30.9 percent in December 2009. By contrast, the peak for girls was 24 percent, reached in October.