Nearly one-half of all unemployed persons in the U.S. today are between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four even though that age group accounts for only one-fourth of the total labor force. Unemployment among sixteen- to nineteen-year-olds is currently more than fifteen percent, and among twenty- to twenty-four-year-olds it exceeds ten percent. The projected decline in the size of the youth population will not significantly affect youth unemployment until approximately 1980, and even then the impact will not be sudden or dramatic. At present, the unemployment rate for nonwhite teenagers is almost three times the rate for white teenagers. Racial discrimination, inadequate skills and education, location in economically depressed areas, and intensified competition as a result of the rapid influx of white teenagers and adult women into the labor market are contributing factors. Results in this study suggest that (1) monetary and fiscal policies can be used to reduce youth unemployment, as well as unemployment in general; (2) government policies established for other purposes, such as increases in the minimum wage and in payroll taxes, reduce employment opportunities for teenagers; and (3) the data presented in this study on differences in unemployment rates among subgroups of youths may be useful in targeting youth employment programs. (Statistical tables are included.) (Author/CT)