Some 274,000 jobs were created in April 2005, substantially more than experts had predicted. Still, younger workers are struggling amidst less-than-encouraging employment rates. A March 2005 report from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University found that the teenage employment rate in the first 11 months of 2004—just 36.3 percent—was the lowest it has ever been since the federal government began tracking teenage employment in 1948. Young people ages 20-24 didn't fare a whole lot better, either.

The summer job - it's the original, tried-and-true school-to-work program. Teen D'Nashia Jenkins recounts her job-hunting experience so far this summer, and tells what she's discovered about finding, getting and keeping a job. This story is reprinted from the June 2004 issue of New Youth Connections, a publication of Youth Communications.