Summer job offers decline, while internships have worse results

Summer job openings are down from a year ago, according to Indeed data.

Starting in May, which is typically the peak for summer job postings, postings were down 16.9% compared to 2023 and 28% compared to 2022.

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“Summer job openings are highly seasonal – they typically start to increase in April, peak later in the month or in early May, and then decline through the summer,” said Nick Bunker, director of North American economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab.

“The market peaked this year on April 29 at a relatively low level, 10% below the 2023 peak and 11.6% below the 2022 peak,” Bunker said. “But even if the summer labor market has cooled compared to recent history, employer demand for these jobs remains elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels.”

At their peak in late April, summer job openings were 36.9% above pre-pandemic levels and, as of May 31, were still 25.7% higher than in 2019, Bunker said. He added that the relative resilience of summer jobs is tied to the continued strength of U.S. consumption, particularly in the services sector.

“Americans continue to send their kids to camp and continue to take summer vacations, while still-solid wage growth continues to support leisure spending,” he said.

Summer jobs are traditionally a source of employment for younger workers. Bunker noted that May data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that while teen employment has held steady in recent months, jobs for workers ages 20 to 24 have declined.

He added that the disconnect could be explained by the divergence between traditional summer jobs, such as lifeguards and camp counselors, which are generally attractive to teenagers, and corporate internships and entry-level jobs, which are typically more attractive to workers in their 20s and 30s.

According to Indeed data, there are significantly fewer internship job offers posted this summer than in 2022 and 2023.

“The divergence between summer jobs and internships is another reflection of the different experiences across sectors of the U.S. labor market,” Bunker said. “Demand for workers in the personal services, health care and recreational services sectors remains strong, while demand for more corporate-based positions remains tepid.”