Yekaterina Drokin has already figured out the importance of education, especially when it comes to finding work while in high school: The Prairie High School senior recently landed her first part-time job — and it doesn’t involve the fast-food circuit, a typical venue for part-time teen workers.
She’s a certified nursing assistant at Glenwood Place Senior Living in Vancouver, where she makes $9.25 an hour. Washington’s minimum wage is $8.67.
“I have a savings account,” Drokin said of her extra income. “I’m just saving up for school, because I know it can get pricey.”
There’s no doubt that adults have felt the blows of unemployment during the recession. Clark County’s overall unemployment rate is roughly 12.9 percent, according to the state Department of Employment Security. But teens have been harder hit, said Scott Bailey, regional economist for Employment Security Department. According to a recent analysis by the Employment Policies Institute, 33.2 percent of Washington teens who want to work are currently unemployed — making their job search prospects worse than those of teens around the U.S., who face 24.5 percent unemployment. Washington’s teen unemployment rate is fourth worst in the country, after Georgia, California and South Carolina.