A creative reader and former colleague of mine, who goes by the nickname Toad, today sent me an interesting chart, presented below, that he has prepared on teenage labour force data for Queensland (you may need to open it in another window to read some of the text). It shows just how tough Queensland teenagers have been finding it in the labour market since the global financial crisis (GFC). Teenagers not in full-time education have been hit particularly hard, with a steep decline in the percentage employed. Also notable is a large increase in the percentage of teenagers at school who are not in the labour force – i.e. neither employed nor looking for work. Obviously, many teenagers have been discouraged by lacklustre labour market conditions in recent years.