COVID-19 and Youth Unemployment by Gender

The COVID-19 pandemic caused nonessential businesses to close, which primarily impacted female-dominated industries such as hospitality, education, health care, and retail. As a consequence, unemployment increased particularly dramatically for female youth over the spring of 2020. Since the April 2020 spike, unemployment rates have been steadily declining. Gender differences in youth unemployment rates disappeared and then reversed as the schools reopened in September.