Working vacation: Teens find job market heating up locally and nationally - Killeen Daily Herald
“I work to pay for my car and my car insurance,” Schaefer said. “I try to help out as much as I can with my family, and I also try to help family friends that have less than I do. ”. With a state and national economy that seems to improve every month, area teens like Schaefer are finding it easier to join. The unemployment rate for the region was 7 percent at this time last year and is now at 5. 8 percent, said Debbie Gommert, an administrator at the Texas Workforce Commission in Killeen who presides over the youth program. “We are seeing more jobs are available for youth to work this year,” Gommert said. “Last year, many of the part-time/summer positions that youth traditionally filled were being filled by more experienced adults that were out of work. Killeen spokeswoman Hilary Shine said the city employs about 100 summer hires each year. Harker Heights teen Jordan Marlow, 18, and Killeen teen Kevin Padilla, 17, are two of those employees working at the Aquatics Center in Lions Park. Padilla worked at the center, which was his first job, as a lifeguard last year. Marlow is a seasonal lifeguard in her second year and said she is also working an average of 40 hours a week and. Source: kdhnews.com
