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Table 7. Percent of weeks individuals were employed, unemployed, or not in the labor force from ages 18 through 54 in 1979-2018 by marital status, educational attainment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity Characteristic Percent of total weeks while ages 18 to 34 in 1979-1998 Percent of total weeks while ages 35 to 54 in 1992-2018 Not Married at age 34 Married at age 34 Not Married at age 54 Married at age 54 Not in Not in Not in Not in Employed Unemployed labor force Employed Unemployed labor force Employed Unemployed labor force Employed Unemployed labor force Total ................................. 71.8 7.4 20.7 77.8 4.4 17.8 75.4 5.1 19.5 83.4 2.5 14.1 Less than a high school diploma ...... 54.3 10.8 34.9 62.0 7.6 30.4 56.2 6.3 37.5 62.2 4.7 33.1 High school graduates, no college (1). 70.3 8.7 20.9 77.4 5.5 17.1 70.4 6.1 23.5 82.5 2.9 14.6 Some college or associate degree ..... 74.7 7.0 18.4 79.0 4.1 16.9 78.9 4.9 16.2 82.8 2.7 14.5 Bachelor's degree and higher (2)...... 78.8 4.0 17.2 80.4 2.6 17.0 89.4 2.9 7.8 88.3 1.6 10.0 Men ................................... 75.6 8.5 15.9 85.7 4.7 9.6 76.2 5.8 18.0 90.6 2.6 6.8 Less than a high school diploma ...... 65.1 13.4 21.5 77.0 9.2 13.9 62.2 7.4 30.4 71.3 5.3 23.4 High school graduates, no college (1). 75.3 9.7 15.0 87.4 6.0 6.6 70.4 7.1 22.5 89.8 2.8 7.4 Some college or associate degree...... 78.9 7.4 13.8 88.4 3.9 7.7 80.9 5.1 14.0 90.5 2.4 7.2 Bachelor's degree and higher (2)...... 78.2 4.5 17.3 83.4 2.6 14.0 92.7 2.8 4.5 95.4 1.9 2.7 Women ................................. 67.1 6.2 26.7 70.4 4.1 25.5 74.6 4.5 20.9 75.6 2.5 21.9 Less than a high school diploma ...... 39.1 7.3 53.6 44.8 5.8 49.4 48.4 4.8 46.8 49.5 3.7 46.7 High school graduates, no college (1). 62.9 7.3 29.8 66.8 5.0 28.2 70.3 5.1 24.6 74.4 3.1 22.6 Some college or associate degree ..... 71.1 6.6 22.3 71.8 4.2 24.0 77.3 4.8 17.9 75.9 3.0 21.1 Bachelor's degree and higher (2)...... 79.3 3.5 17.1 77.7 2.6 19.7 87.0 3.0 10.0 80.5 1.4 18.1 White non-Hispanic .................... 76.8 6.0 17.3 78.8 4.0 17.2 78.1 4.4 17.6 83.9 2.3 13.8 Less than a high school diploma ...... 62.2 9.8 28.0 64.3 7.5 28.2 59.9 4.4 35.7 63.2 4.5 32.3 High school graduates, no college (1). 76.9 6.9 16.2 78.6 5.0 16.5 72.8 5.3 21.8 83.5 2.5 14.0 Some college or associate degree ..... 78.3 5.8 15.9 80.1 3.7 16.2 80.4 4.6 15.0 82.5 2.5 15.0 Bachelor's degree and higher (2)...... 79.5 3.6 16.9 80.4 2.4 17.1 89.9 2.4 7.6 88.1 1.5 10.4 Black non-Hispanic .................... 58.4 11.8 29.8 72.8 7.9 19.3 68.4 7.2 24.3 80.0 4.7 15.3 Less than a high school diploma ...... 38.6 12.9 48.5 59.3 10.0 30.7 47.4 8.9 43.7 57.4 7.5 35.1 High school graduates, no college (1). 54.6 13.7 31.6 70.4 10.0 19.7 64.4 8.2 27.4 75.5 5.6 18.9 Some college or associate degree ..... 65.7 10.1 24.2 73.6 6.9 19.5 75.1 5.8 19.1 83.9 4.1 12.1 Bachelor's degree and higher (2)...... 74.4 7.1 18.5 79.5 4.6 16.0 86.0 5.7 8.3 90.1 2.9 7.0 Hispanic or Latino .................... 64.2 8.1 27.7 72.4 4.7 22.9 70.1 6.1 23.8 80.2 3.3 16.5 Less than a high school diploma ...... 47.7 11.7 40.6 52.9 6.7 40.4 57.4 8.7 33.9 61.3 3.4 35.3 High school graduates, no college (1). 62.1 9.1 28.8 74.2 5.2 20.7 66.9 6.3 26.9 79.5 4.5 16.0 Some college or associate degree ..... 77.2 5.1 17.7 75.8 4.0 20.2 77.2 5.2 17.5 84.3 2.5 13.1 Bachelor's degree and higher (2)...... 72.9 3.8 23.3 82.1 2.6 15.3 88.1 2.7 9.2 91.3 1.8 6.9 (1) Includes individuals with a high school diploma or equivalent. (2) Includes individuals with bachelor's, master's, professional, or doctoral degrees. Note: The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 consists of men and women who were born in the years 1957-64 and were ages 14 to 22 when first interviewed in 1979. These individuals were ages 53 to 62 in 2018-19. Educational attainment is determined as of the 2018-19 survey. Marital status is determined for the interview date in which the respondent first turned age 34 or age 54. If not interviewed at that age, then the marital status is determined using the data from the prior age. Other race groups, which are included in the overall totals, are not shown separately because their representation in the survey sample is not sufficiently large to provide statistically reliable estimates.