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Employment Outcomes of Young Adults by Race/Ethnicity
Table 17-1b.  Percentage of adults ages 25–34, by employment status, educational attainment, and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1971–2004—Continued

Employment status, educational
attainment, and race/ethnicity1
1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004

Unemployed                        
    Total 4.1 3.3 5.4 5.1 9.3 6.0 4.6 6.8 4.8 4.3 3.1 5.2
Less than high school 6.4 5.3 9.7 8.8 15.6 12.0 8.8 12.1 8.9 9.6 5.8 8.8
High school diploma or equivalent 3.6 3.1 5.6 5.8 11.4 7.2 5.2 8.1 5.5 5.2 3.8 6.3
Some college 3.6 3.0 4.6 4.7 8.0 4.5 3.5 5.8 4.2 3.6 2.6 5.2
Bachelor’s degree or higher 2.4 2.2 2.9 2.1 3.7 2.0 2.1 2.7 2.4 1.5 1.7 2.6
Black 5.8 5.9 10.4 10.1 17.4 10.8 9.4 11.1 8.2 8.4 6.2 8.7
  Less than high school 8.0 7.3 13.5 13.5 19.6 15.1 15.1 14.1 12.6 19.4 14.2 15.3
  High school diploma or equivalent 4.9 5.2 10.5 10.7 20.0 12.3 10.2 13.0 9.6 8.0 7.3 9.6
  Some college 2.0 6.0 10.3 8.4 14.3 8.9 6.6 9.2 5.5 7.2 3.8 8.8
  Bachelor’s degree or higher 2.8 3.5 2.9 4.3 10.1 2.9 4.0 3.4 5.1 2.9 2.7 3.2
White 3.8 2.9 4.8 4.3 8.0 5.1 3.7 6.0 3.8 3.3 2.5 4.4
  Less than high school 6.1 4.6 9.2 7.8 15.4 11.7 7.8 13.4 8.7 8.5 5.1 9.6
  High school diploma or equivalent 3.4 2.8 5.0 5.2 9.9 6.4 4.3 7.0 4.3 4.7 3.3 5.8
  Some college 3.6 2.7 4.0 4.1 6.8 3.6 2.8 5.3 3.9 2.8 2.4 4.5
  Bachelor’s degree or higher 2.3 2.1 2.9 1.9 3.1 1.9 1.8 2.6 2.0 1.3 1.4 2.3
Hispanic 5.0 5.0 6.6 6.5 11.0 8.2 6.0 8.1 6.7 5.4 3.5 5.7
  Less than high school 5.4 6.4 7.5 7.8 13.7 10.6 7.9 9.1 7.9 7.3 4.4 7.3
  High school diploma or equivalent 4.3 4.0 5.8 4.4 10.8 7.2 4.6 10.4 6.9 4.6 3.0 4.8
  Some college 5.7 2.6 6.9 8.3 7.6 6.5 4.6 5.0 5.0 4.3 2.6 5.3
  Bachelor’s degree or higher 4.6 5.1 3.7 4.6 4.7 4.0 4.9 3.3 3.9 3.1 3.6 3.2
                         
Not in the labor force                        
    Total 29.5 26.3 23.0 19.7 18.7 17.4 16.9 16.7 16.4 14.9 15.9 17.9
Less than high school 35.6 33.8 33.4 32.1 33.4 31.0 31.5 32.5 31.4 27.1 28.4 29.0
High school diploma or equivalent 30.6 29.0 25.2 21.5 20.3 18.0 17.7 16.6 17.2 15.9 16.3 19.8
Some college 27.7 23.8 20.7 16.8 15.7 15.6 14.1 14.0 15.0 13.5 14.2 16.9
Bachelor’s degree or higher 19.0 15.2 13.9 12.0 10.5 10.6 9.8 10.6 9.4 9.7 11.7 12.2
Black 24.1 24.4 21.1 20.2 20.3 20.1 20.7 20.9 20.2 14.4 16.8 21.1
  Less than high school 30.9 32.9 32.6 34.0 36.9 40.4 42.2 44.5 47.2 27.5 35.4 38.9
  High school diploma or equivalent 19.3 23.8 19.4 18.7 19.7 18.9 20.8 19.0 20.0 15.7 19.2 22.9
  Some college 19.9 14.4 14.5 14.4 14.2 15.3 12.6 13.5 14.0 11.8 12.6 19.9
  Bachelor’s degree or higher 14.0 9.5 8.7 8.9 7.1 6.0 6.5 7.9 6.9 6.3 7.5 9.8
White 29.8 26.3 22.6 19.0 17.8 15.8 15.4 14.7 14.3 13.5 14.0 15.5
  Less than high school 36.1 33.8 32.7 30.6 32.2 27.3 30.3 29.4 28.9 27.0 28.3 27.6
  High school diploma or equivalent 31.8 29.8 25.9 21.5 20.3 17.1 16.5 15.6 15.8 15.5 15.0 18.8
  Some college 28.5 24.5 21.3 17.1 15.6 15.2 14.1 13.4 14.2 12.9 13.9 15.7
  Bachelor’s degree or higher 19.1 15.2 13.6 12.0 10.3 10.2 9.4 9.6 8.6 9.4 10.6 10.6
Hispanic 34.1 29.1 29.7 26.0 25.6 24.9 21.1 22.8 22.7 20.1 20.0 21.3
  Less than high school 39.1 33.8 37.6 32.8 32.6 32.5 25.6 30.9 28.5 27.0 26.9 27.7
  High school diploma or equivalent 31.6 27.0 26.8 24.3 21.6 22.8 22.2 18.2 20.4 17.7 16.5 19.9
  Some college 21.4 22.9 18.7 16.1 19.7 15.9 15.5 16.5 18.9 15.9 15.3 15.2
  Bachelor’s degree or higher 17.4 18.7 14.5 16.4 18.3 13.6 10.0 14.9 12.7 10.4 14.6 14.5

1 Black includes African American and Hispanic includes Latino. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified. Other race/ethnicities are included in the total but are not shown separately.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Employment, unemployment, and not in the labor force rates in this indicator are the percentages of the total population. The labor force status was not available for a small percentage of respondents, but these respondents were included in the overall total population. Data are based upon sample surveys of the civilian noninstitutional population. In 1994, the survey methodology for the Current Population Survey (CPS) was changed and weights were adjusted. See supplemental note 2 for more information.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey (CPS), Annual Social and Economic Supplement, selected years, 1971–2004, previously unpublished tabulation (December 2004).

 
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