WASHINGTON — U.S. teenagers got back to work in February.
Teens typically have one of the country’s highest unemployment rates. Many of them are busy attending school and have limited hours available for work or must compete with adults for jobs.
But 86,000 more teenagers found work last month, and their unemployment rate slipped to 17.1 percent from 18.8 percent in January, the Labor Department said Friday.
The gains reversed a sharp jump in teenage unemployment in January. And they are consistent with a trend over the past 12 months.
The turnaround in teenage hiring points to an economic recovery that has steadily strengthened as it approaches its sixth year. Employers added 295,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate dipped to 5.5 percent, the lowest level since May 2008.