CREDIT: MARKETINGMEL.COM
Over half of the Canadian student population aged 15 to 24 couldn't find a job this past summer.

If you had a job this past summer, consider yourself lucky.

The summer of 2012 had some of the lowest rates of student employment on record, according to Statistics Canada.

From May to August each year, Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey looks at labour market information about Canadian students aged 15 to 24 who were in school full-time in March and plan to return to full-time studies in the fall.

The survey found that employment rates declined for students of all age groups this summer. The average employment rate for summer 2012 for students aged 15 to 24 was 47.9 per cent (down from last summer's rate of 49.1 per cent), meaning over half of the students in that age group spent summer 2012 without a job.

Students aged 15 to 24 who did manage to find a job this past summer worked an average of 24.2 hours each week.

The job market is tough for everybody province-wide; Ontario's unemployment rate in August was eight per cent.

For the survey's full findings, check out tinyurl.com/statscanjobssummer2012.