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For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, August 22, 2019 USDL-19-1520 Technical information: (202) 691-7410 * nls_info@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/nls Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov (NOTE: BLS reissued this news release on October 7, 2020, to correct microdata errors associated with creating hourly wage variables. The corrections affected data points presented in table 5 and the text of this news release.) NUMBER OF JOBS, LABOR MARKET EXPERIENCE, AND EARNINGS GROWTH: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL LONGITUDINAL SURVEY Individuals born in the latter years of the baby boom (1957-64) held an average of 12.3 jobs from ages 18 to 52, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nearly half of these jobs were held from ages 18 to 24. These findings are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, a survey of 9,964 men and women who were ages 14 to 22 when first interviewed in 1979 and ages 51 to 60 when interviewed most recently in 2016-17. These respondents were born in the years 1957 to 1964, the latter years of the baby boom that occurred in the United States from 1946 to 1964. The survey spans 37 years and provides information on work and nonwork experiences, education, training, income and assets, health, and other characteristics. The information provided by respondents, who were interviewed annually from 1979 to 1994 and biennially since 1994, can be considered representative of all men and women born in the late 1950s and early 1960s and living in the United States when the survey began in 1979. This release of the latest data from the longitudinal survey focuses on the number of jobs held, job duration, labor force participation, and earnings growth. Highlights from the survey include: --Individuals born from 1957 to 1964 held an average of 12.3 jobs from ages 18 to 52. These baby boomers held an average of 5.7 jobs while ages 18 to 24. The average fell to 4.5 jobs from ages 25 to 34, to 2.9 jobs from ages 35 to 44, and to 1.9 jobs from ages 45 to 52. Jobs that span more than one age group were counted once in each age group, so the overall average number of jobs held from ages 18 to 52 is less than the sum of the number of jobs across the individual age groups. (See table 1.) --Although job duration tended to be longer the older a worker was when starting the job, these baby boomers continued to have large numbers of short-duration jobs. Among jobs started by 35 to 44 year olds, 36 percent ended in less than a year, and 75 percent ended in fewer than 5 years. (See table 2.) --On average, individuals were employed during 78 percent of the weeks from ages 18 to 52. Generally, men spent a larger percent of weeks employed than did women (84 percent versus 72 percent). Women spent much more time out of the labor force (24 percent of weeks) than did men (11 percent of weeks). (See table 3.) --The average annual percent growth in inflation-adjusted hourly earnings was highest during a worker's late teens and early twenties. Growth rates in earnings generally were higher for workers with a bachelor's degree or higher than for workers with less education. (See table 5.) Number of Jobs Held Individuals held an average of 12.3 jobs from ages 18 to 52, with nearly half of these jobs held before age 25. In this news release, a job is defined as an uninterrupted period of work with a particular employer. (See the Technical Note for additional information on the definition of a job.) On average, men held 12.5 jobs and women held 12.1 jobs from ages 18 to 52. Men held 5.9 jobs from ages 18 to 24, compared with 1.9 jobs from ages 45 to 52. The reduction in the average number of jobs held in successive age groups was similar for women. (See table 1.) On average, men without a high school diploma held 13.3 jobs from ages 18 to 52, while men with a bachelor's degree and higher held 11.6 jobs between these ages. In contrast, women without a high school diploma held 9.9 jobs from ages 18 to 52, while women with a bachelor's degree and higher held 13.1 jobs between these ages. From ages 18 to age 24, Whites held more jobs than Blacks, or Hispanics or Latinos. On average, Whites held 5.9 jobs between the ages of 18 and 24, while Blacks held 4.8 jobs and Hispanics or Latinos held 5.1 jobs. Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics or Latinos held between 4.3 and 4.6 jobs from age 25 to age 34 and between 2.9 and 3.1 jobs from age 35 to age 44. From age 45 to age 52, Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics or Latinos all held an average of 1.9 jobs. Duration of Employment Relationships The length of time a worker remains with an employer increased with the age at which the worker began the job. Of the jobs that workers began when they were 18 to 24 years of age, 70 percent of those jobs ended in less than a year and 93 percent ended in fewer than 5 years. Among jobs started by 35 to 44 year olds, 36 percent ended in less than a year, and 75 percent ended in fewer than 5 years. (See table 2.) Percent of Weeks Employed, Unemployed, and Not in the Labor Force On average, the youngest baby boomers (born 1957-64) were employed during 78 percent of all the weeks from ages 18 to 52. They were unemployed--that is, without jobs but seeking work--5 percent of the weeks. They were not in the labor force--that is, neither working nor seeking work--18 percent of the weeks. (See table 3.) The amount of time spent employed differed substantially between those without a high school diploma and those who had graduated from high school or attained higher levels of education. Individuals with less than a high school diploma (as of the 2016-17 survey) spent 59 percent of weeks employed and 33 percent of weeks out of the labor force from ages 18 to 52. By comparison, high school graduates spent 76 percent of weeks employed and 18 percent of weeks out of the labor force, while those with a bachelor's degree and higher spent 84 percent of weeks employed and 13 percent of weeks out of the labor force. White high school graduates with no college were employed a higher percentage of weeks and out of the labor force a smaller percentage of weeks than Black and Hispanic or Latino high school graduates with no college. Between the ages of 18 and 52, White high school graduates with no college spent 79 percent of weeks employed and 16 percent of weeks out of the labor force, while Black high school graduates with no college spent 65 percent of weeks employed and 25 percent of weeks out of the labor force and Hispanic or Latino high school graduates with no college spent 73 percent of weeks employed and 21 percent of weeks out of the labor force. Among those with a bachelor's degree and higher, however, there was little difference among racial and ethnic groups in labor market attachment; each group spent between 83 percent and 85 percent of weeks employed. The amount of time spent in the labor force differs by sex, with women at every educational level spending fewer weeks in the labor force than men. Overall, men were out of the labor force 11 percent of weeks from ages 18 to 52; at these same ages, women were out of the labor force 24 percent of weeks. Women's labor force participation increased with their education level. Women without a high school diploma spent nearly half (49 percent) of all weeks between ages 18 and 52 out of the labor force, while those with a high school diploma were out of the labor force 26 percent of weeks, those with some college were out of the labor force 23 percent of weeks, and women with a bachelor's degree and higher were out of the labor force only 18 percent of weeks. Among men, those without a high school diploma were out of the labor force about 22 percent of weeks, while men in the remaining three education categories were out of the labor force only 9 percent to 12 percent of weeks. (See table 3.) While on average women spent fewer weeks in the labor force than men, the labor force participation patterns of men and women were fairly similar. For both men and women, time spent out of the labor force was greatest between the ages of 18 and 24, reflecting the transition from education and training to the work force. For women, time spent out of the labor force decreased from 30 percent of weeks between the ages of 18 and 24 to 25 percent of weeks between the ages of 25 and 34 to 21 percent of weeks between the ages of 35 and 44, and then remained nearly unchanged at 22 percent of weeks between the ages of 45 and 52. Men were out of the labor force 18 percent of weeks between the ages of 18 to 24, and then fewer than 9 percent of weeks from ages 25 to 44; from ages 45 to 52, they increased their time out of the labor force to almost 13 percent of weeks. So while the percent of weeks out of the labor force followed a similar trend, within each age range, women spent more weeks out of the labor force than men. (See table 4.) The percentage of weeks in which women were employed increased from 63 percent in the 18 to 24 age group to a peak of 76 percent in the 35 to 44 age group and then decreased slightly to 74 percent in the 45 to 52 age group. Following a similar pattern, the percentage of weeks in which men were employed increased from 73 percent in the 18 to 24 age group to a peak of 88 percent in both the 25 to 34 and the 35 to 44 age categories. The percent of weeks employed then dipped to 83 percent in the 45 to 52 age group. (See table 4.) Percent Growth in Real Earnings The inflation-adjusted earnings of workers born in the latter years of the baby boom (1957-64) increased most rapidly while they were young. Hourly earnings grew by an average of 6.4 percent per year from ages 18 to 24. The earnings growth rate slowed to 3.3 percent annually from ages 25 to 34 and then to 1.7 percent annually from ages 35 to 44. From ages 45 to 52, earnings were stagnant (-0.1 percent). In every age category, growth rates of inflation-adjusted hourly earnings generally were higher for workers with more education. Earnings growth for 18 to 24 year olds with less than a high school diploma was 3.1 percent, while those with a bachelor's degree and higher saw their earnings grow by 9.5 percent at the same ages. On average, 45- to 52- year-olds with less than a high school diploma experienced negative earnings growth (-1.0 percent), while at the same ages earnings among those with a bachelor's degree and higher increased by 0.6 percent. This pattern in earnings growth reflects, in part, the state of the U.S. economy during the years in which survey participants were in each age group. (See table 5.) Additional data are available at www.bls.gov/nls/y79supp.htm.