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Jobs Tough To Find For Local Teenagers

By Michelle Durham

CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) - Today's teens are facing many challenges and one of the biggest is unemployment. Those weekend or summer jobs that used to be so plentiful are no longer available because unemployed adults have been snapping them up.

Cherry Hill High School West student Caitlyn Stringer, 15, says her age keeps her from getting hired.

"I make money, I babysit, that's pretty much all I can do. Because no one really hires anyone if you are under 16."

Durham: "Do you have any friends who are having trouble getting a job?"

"My brother is 16 and he has trouble finding jobs."

So is Samantha.

"I tried. And it's not easy for a teenager to get a job."

Guidance Counselor Michelle Pryor says this economy is making a tough situation worse.

"They are asking for help. They are asking if we even know about jobs, because they are realizing their competition is very fierce now because there are so many adults being laid off. We try to provide them with as much information as we can."

Pryor says many of the corporate co-op programs as well as those working with Special Ed students have vanished too.

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