A study analyzed labor market characteristics of Canadian youth aged 14 to 24 as they relate to youth's high incidence of unemployment. Two sets of hypotheses were tested--one relating to participation rate and education and the other relating unemployment and education. A survey was conducted of the literature and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development programs dealing with transition between school and work, developing job opportunities, and unemployment. Analysis of data concerning youth participation in the Canadian labor force revealed that youth had the highest unemployment rates compared with all other age brackets. Four causes of unemployment were surveyed--functional, structural, cyclical, and seasonal--and spelled out in terms of inadequate educational attainment. The contention that as one's level of education increases, participation increases and unemployment decreases was empirically tested using available educational and labor force data. About three-fourths of unemployed youth were high school graduates. That indicated that the main unemployment issue centered around teenage high school youth with deficient education leading to high unemployment. Recommendations included job-oriented secondary education; education-industry, industry-government, and education-government cooperation for training youth; counseling, guidance, and followup services; and research information on youth labor market. (YLB)