Two prominent entities are teaming up to offer more Chicago summer jobs.

The City Colleges of Chicago and the Chicago Department of Family & Support Services are working together to provide hundreds of youths with summer jobs this year. The jobs are being funded by $15 million the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act gave to DFSS, which then provided CCC with $945,000 to fund the program.

About 450 people between the ages of 19 and 24 have been provided with summer jobs, which range from positions at Washburne Culinary Institute’s Sikia Restaurant to administrative positions at the district office and colleges. Overall, the program aims to place young people in areas where they already have an interest or prior experience and to allow summer workers to explore career programs available at CCC.

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A city program will help create thousands of Chicago summer jobs.

The Youth Ready Chicago program will provide summer employment for about 19,000 youths between the ages of 14 and 24. The deadline to apply for the jobs is May 29.

“This year, because of the nation’s economic crisis, for some, these summer jobs are more important than ever,” Mayor Richard M. Daley said in a press release. “This year, having a summer job could make the difference between a family being able to pay their bills, or not.

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Finding summer jobs in Chicago may be more difficult for high school and college students to find this year. With the city’s unemployment rate currently above the national average, many adults desperate for work are competing for these positions. Since employers prefer workers with experience, students are being pushed out in favor of those with more on their resumes.

According to a recently released report, two out of every three teenagers will find themselves unable to find Chicago summer jobs this year. The youth employment rate this summer is expected to be around 34.2 percent, which is extremely low. Only about 33.5 percent of teenagers 16 or older held jobs during the first three months of this year. This is the lowest the youth employment rate has been since 1948.

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