High school and college students are looking for summer jobs, but they are facing a tough market.
Unemployment numbers released for May show 26% of teens are unemployed. That up about 3% from April.
In Central New York, businesses are seeing stronger and more determined applicant pools than ever before.
At Pompey Club in Jamesville, students are applying for jobs more than ever. The problem is there aren't new jobs to accommodate the increase in applicants.
Pompey Club owner Thomas Gorman says,
"We've had way more people apply than we need, and, on the other hand, we're being on the conservative side, making sure we're not hiring any extra people this year with the recession and money being very tight."
Those who do have jobs feel fortunate. Sam Mir is a Le Moyne college student who is bartending at the club for the summer.
"All my friends keep telling me how they're looking for jobs, how they're supposed to start, and then they keep hearing from their bosses, 'maybe we'll have you start a little bit later.' Right now this is pretty fortunate for me."
At the Artic Island ice cream stand on the West Seneca Turnpike, they've seen a normal number of applicants. They say the difference is the job seekers are more persistent.
Manager Kristen Sorber says,
"People are calling all the time to check on their applications, whereas before they'd drop it off, they'd call maybe once, but now they're checking up and being persistent and trying to get their foot in the door."
Both businesses have not cut any jobs, they're just not able to create enough new ones to meet the demand.
