Tara Holmes

Last summer Eola Park had no trouble finding a summer job — she even had her choice of positions.

The recent Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School graduate said she got a job with Bi-Lo, but then decided working at Lake Winnepesaukah would be more fun.

“I went there last year and got a job on the spot,” said Ms. Park, 18.

Staff Photo by Tim Barber Eola Park, 18, 2009 graduate from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School, fills out an application for a job at Applebrook Day School in Fort Oglethorpe. Jenny Beene, left, director of the center, works at the desk in the lobby.

So after turning down the grocery store position, she spent her summer as a cashier and “food runner” at the Northwest Georgia amusement park.

But only one year later, Ms. Park said she has applied for at least 10 jobs at fast-food restaurants and grocery stores and found that no one is hiring.

“(They said) they are packed to the brim with people (applying),” she said.

The unemployed teenager needs money for gas and college, so she is continuing her job search, but she has noticed that adults with more work experience are applying for the jobs typically manned by teens.

“Usually you see a lot more teens working, but now you see like a lot more 30-year-olds.”

Many teens like Ms. Park are finding the readily available summer jobs of years past are harder to come by these days, and experts predict teen unemployment to be the highest it’s been in more than 50 years.

“There is that competition with mature, more qualified adults. It’s an employers’ market right now,” said Gary Rudolph, regional youth coordinator for the Tennessee Career Center.

“Rather than (hiring) the teens, they’re looking for those seasoned employees who understand how the work force works and who they don’t have to train,” he said.

Rates climb

Staff Photo by John Rawlston Tara Holmes, left, and Caitlyn Whitehead, Soddy-Daisy High School students who are off for the summer, hand their completed job applications to McAllister's Deli manager Danny Strader as they make the rounds looking for summer jobs on Thursday.

As a result, the teenage unemployment rate in Georgia and Tennessee continues to climb, records show. Nearly 23 percent of Georgia teens were unemployed in 2008, up from 20.7 percent in 2007, Georgia Department of Labor records show.

And more than one in five Tennessee teens were unemployed in 2008, up from 15.7 percent the year before, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor.

The teens’ tough job market couldn’t come at a worse time, Mr. Rudolph said. Many need their paycheck for more than the newest iPod or latest fashions.

“A lot of parents have been laid off, so those children need to help out in that household,” he said. “It’s not just youth looking for work, it’s about families’ livelihood at this point.”

Summertime employees at Lake Winnie are older this summer than in previous years, said human resource manager Joe Holland. He said he has “most definitely” had to turn away more teenage job seekers this year than in the past.

Jenny Beene works at Applebrook Day Care in Fort Oglethorpe, one of the places Eola went looking for jobs on Friday.

Most of the people who come looking for work are high school and college students, so the number of applicants has spiked since the school year ended, Ms. Beene said.

“We don’t have many jobs right now,” she said. “We definitely haven’t been able to hire everybody.”

Holding on

Danny Strader, manager at McAlister’s Deli in Hixson, said he empathizes with teenagers and the influx of people he’s seen come into his store every day looking for work. Mr. Strader has a degree in financial planning from Chattanooga State Technical Community College and worked building homes until the housing market collapsed.

Times have changed, though, and Mr. Strader said he’s just thankful to be drawing a paycheck.

“Used to be in the food and beverage industry that if one guy didn’t want to hire you, you’d go next door. It’s not like that anymore,” he said.

So as jobs become scarcer, adults who snag them aren’t willing to let go — even if, like Mr. Strader, it means working in a different industry.

“Even at minimum wage, people are willing to hold onto those jobs a little tighter,” he said.