Summer jobs used to be a rite of passage for American teenagers. This year, they are hard to come by. The job placement agency Challenger, Gray &Christmas projects that teenage workers will add fewer than 800,000 jobs from May to July 2026. If that happens, it would produce the lowest recorded level of teenage summer employment . As with anything involving the economy, there are multiple factors. High gasoline prices and inflation are hurting consumer budgets. Worried consumers have companies leery about boosting hiring. Entertainment and leisure companies have significantly cut back on their hiring plans compared to past years. That’s especially tough on teenage job seekers. But this isn’t a one-year blip. Hiring last year dropped by 25 percent compared to summer 2024. “Last summer was the weakest summer for teen hiring we have ever recorded.…