BRADENTON — Emily Nold has been working since she was 14. The Lakewood Ranch High senior says part-time jobs used to be easy to land. "I walked in. I got a job," Nold said. "I was hired on the spot."
Caty Kelley, a Braden River High junior, was hired the same way about a year ago at Sweetberries Frozen Custard.
"I just walked into this place and got hired on the spot," Kelley, 18, said.
Several teens are finding that's often no longer the case. Nold has been searching for employment since November. Her previous job was at Bruster's Real Ice Cream until it closed, leaving her and Lakewood Ranch junior Genevieve Jimenez jobless.
"(Bruster's) called on the phone and said ‘You need to come pick up your last paycheck right now’ " Jimenez said. "I was disappointed."
The recession has made it tougher on teens to land jobs based on trends in recent labor statistics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 4.7 million 16- to 19-year-olds were employed as of March 31, an 11.6 percent decrease from the same time in 2008.
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