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A Baltimore Summer jobs program sees spike in interest

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Baltimore City Mayor Catherine Pugh

More than 16,000 young people have applied to work through the YouthWorks program this year so far in Baltimore City. The city says that's a 40 percent increase from two years ago. 

During her State of the City address earlier this week, Mayor Catherine Pugh said around 2,000 people registered with the program within 24 hours of the application portal opening. Nearly 5,000 applications were submitted by the end of the week. "This is up considerably from the 12,000 that applied last year, " said Pugh. Just to give you a feel for what that means---12,000 applied last year and 9,000 followed through. We believe that this is due to the business community and our own agencies providing our young people with meaningful job experiences."

Mayor Catherine E. Pugh says the program cost about $14 million last year. But the surge in applications is going to drive up the price. The mayor says the city needs about 5,000 more job opportunities to accommodate the application increase. Pugh is asking businesses or organizations to step up even more. She wants them to consider hiring at least 1 youth at $1600 to work in their offices this Summer. I look forward to your support again this year, " said Pugh. "Thank you for last year."

YouthWorks has employed 5,000 youths, aged 14 to 21, each summer since it started in the 1990s.