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SACRAMENTO-

Teen jobs aren’t what they used to be. Now, it is way more likely to find a teen without a job than with one.

Ciara March, 18, is an exception to these statistics. She started working for the city of Roseville when she was only 15 years old.

“I like working because I feel independent; I have something to look forward to everyday,” says March.

Data from The Bureau of Labor Statistics show that 51% of teens had jobs from 1948-2006, but since then it has dropped to 36.7%.

A lot of the teen struggle is tied to competition from other age groups.

“If you’re an employer, do you give the job to a teenager who has no experience or do yo ugive the job to an adult who has a family to feed?” says John Nelson, an employment specialist for jobjournal.com.

Beth Morin is one teenager who has tried over and over to get a job. “On my 16th birthday, I printed out a bunch of applications, because I was pretty eager to get out into the workforce, but I had a hard time getting a job,” said Morin.

She had more than a hard time. In fact, she applied to 20 different jobs, and had no success.

The real shocker is that she is ranked number one in her high school class and still cannot find a job. Beth is okay with not having a job, though, because in a world where college is so important, having a job is not her priority.

“College admittance is so much more difficult these days, you’re expected to do so much more in order to get into college,” says Morin. “Job experience does help a lot with that, but I feel like what weighs a lot more is your grades and extracurricular activities.”