According to today’s job report, the overall unemployment rate (the percentage of people in the labor force not working but looking for work) in August rose to 9.7 percent, its highest level in 26 years. The teenage unemployment rate, however, is at 25.5 percent, its highest level since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began keeping track of such data in 1948.

Take a look at the chart below, which shows seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for teenagers (workers 16 to 19), nonteenagers (20 or older) and older workers (55 or older). You’ll see that teenage unemployment has always topped the other two, but it has been especially bad in this recession:

Of course, teenagers are likely to have fewer financial obligations than their older counterparts. But in a job market where older workers are expected to continue postponing retirement a little longer, the outlook still isn’t good for young Americans desperate for the work openings that typical turnover and attrition can offer.

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