March 28, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Employment of 18- and 19-year-olds not enrolled in school

High school graduates not enrolled in college during the Octobers when they were ages 18 or 19 were employed 75 percent of the weeks between the October when they were age 18 and the following October.

[Chart data—TXT]

By comparison, high school dropouts were employed 55 percent of the weeks between the October when they were age 18 and the following October.

Regardless of the level of educational attainment, men were employed a larger percent of weeks than women, and whites were employed a larger percent of weeks than blacks or Hispanics.

These data are from the National Longitudinal Surveys. Learn more in "America’s Youth at 19: School Enrollment, Training, and Employment Transitions between Ages 18 and 19" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0452. These estimates are based on data collected from respondents who were age 18 in October during the years 1998 to 2003 and age 19 in October from 1999 to 2004.