Gov’t Hopes to Create 250,000 Summer Jobs for Teens

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — President Obama announced a new initiative today called Summer Jobs+ that will help place as many as 250,000 lower-income teens in jobs and internships this summer.

The initiative was created in response to the increased difficulty students have had in finding employment opportunities during the summer months (and in general) since the recession forced many private and public companies to tighten their budgets and cut back on hiring.

So far, the federal government has partnered with big businesses like Bank of America (Stock Quote: BAC), AT&T (Stock Quote: T) and the Gap (Stock Quote: GPS) to create nearly 180,000 new summer jobs. Students will be able to browse and apply for these new job openings by using the Summer Jobs+ Bank, an online search tool that is scheduled to launch in two months.

If only the government could be this efficient in tackling the problems facing the entire labor market.