Summer Job Postings Are Down, While Internships Fare Worse

Summer job postings are below where they were a year ago, according to data from Indeed.

As of May—typically the peak for summer job ads—postings were down 16.9% from 2023 and down 28% from 2022.

“Summer job postings are highly seasonal, typically starting to rise in April before peaking later in that month or early May, and then declining throughout the summer,” said Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab.

“The market peaked this year on April 29 at a relatively low level, some 10% below the 2023 peak and 11.6% lower than the peak in 2022,” Bunker said. “But even if the summer job market has cooled compared to recent history, employer demand for these jobs remains elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels.”

At their highest point in late April, summer job postings were 36.9% above pre-pandemic levels, and they were still up 25.7% from 2019 as of May 31, Bunker explained. He added that the relative resilience of summer jobs is tied to the continued strength of U.S. consumption, particularly in the service sector.

“Americans keep sending their children to camp and continue to take summer vacations as still-robust wage growth continues to support leisure spending,” he said.

Summer jobs are traditionally a source of employment for younger workers. Bunker noted that May data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that while teen employment has held steady in recent months, jobs for workers ages 20-24 have declined.

He added that the disconnect might be explained by the divergence between traditional summer jobs such as lifeguards and camp counselors—which are generally attractive to teens—and corporate internships and entry-level jobs, which are typically more attractive to workers in their early 20s.

Internship job postings are significantly lower this summer than in 2022 and 2023, according to Indeed data.

“The divergence between summer jobs and internships is yet another reflection of differing experiences in various sectors of the U.S. labor market,” Bunker said. “Demand for personal service, health care, and recreational services workers is still strong, while demand for more corporate positions remains tepid.”