Fewer teenagers found gainful employment this past summer, according to data published by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. Statistics show that since 1999, when more than half of 16- to 19-year-olds held a summer job, teen employment has sunk to a point where fewer than three in 10 young Americans held a paid position in the months of June and July 2013.

“We have never had anything this low in our lives,” Andrew Sum, director of the center, told McClatchyDC. “This is a Great Depression for teens, and no time in history have we encountered anything like that.”

The rise in unemployment among young people has been labeled a “global crisis”—with similar high numbers of out-of-work teenagers being recorded across Europe, Canada and Australia.

A report by Canadian Press blamed the nation’s unemployment numbers on a “decline in the availability of quality jobs…forcing many older Canadians to take work in the retail and food service sectors—jobs that traditionally would have been reserved for students.”

Young people in the United States face the same roadblock. “…most of this decline in youth in the workforce is thought to be the result of the severe economic crisis and its aftermath, with older workers taking the jobs of teens,” McClatchyDC reported.

What makes the situation worse is that unemployment now may translate to fewer job prospects later in life. Ishwar Khatiwada, an economist at the Center for Labor Market Studies, summarized the negative effects of teen joblessness in a U.S. News and World Report article: “It impacts future earnings. The more you work today, the more you’ll be working tomorrow…Our findings show that if you work during high school or when you are a teen, you have a higher earnings potential in the future.”

While only one-third of teens landed summer jobs this year, do not be discouraged. The following tips may help increase your chances of earning a paycheck next summer:

• Start your job search sooner rather than later. Summer job positions fill up quickly.
• Network, network, network! Finding a job is sometimes about who you know. Contact any former bosses and friends’ parents who own restaurants or businesses. Be sure to keep a resume handy and let potential employers know you are interested in summer work.