Teen Unemployment

Devine Ford, 19
Ford always dreamed of helping build a skyscraper. But after dropping out of high school in 2006 as a ninth-grader, he found that most construction companies required experience or a GED. Instead, he got a job at Popeye's. But then he had a run-in with the law in 2007 — he was arrested for driving without a license — and has filled out 100 applications in the past 18 months and hasn't gotten a single callback. "Hopefully something will change," he says. "You want to work and do right, but not having a job is stressful. That's what a lot of people end up doing negative things."

• The Teen Job Chop