Youth Indicators, 2005: Trends in the Well-Being of American Youth - Indicator 31: Labor Force Participation of Dropouts

Indicator 31: Labor Force Participation of Dropouts

Table 31. Labor force status of high school dropouts in the year that they dropped out: Various years, October 1970 to October 2003
		Dropouts in the civilian labor force²
Year	All dropouts¹ (in thousands)	Number (in thousands)	Number employed (in thousands)	Labor force participation rate³	Number unemployed (in thousands)	Unemployment rate⁴	Dropouts not in the labor force (in thousands)
1970	712	427	318	60	109	26	285
1975	737	462	305	63	157	34	275
1980	759	485	332	64	153	32	274
1985	612	413	266	67	147	36	199
1986	544	358	257	66	102	28	185
1987	502	333	207	66	126	38	168
1988	552	327	240	59	87	27	225
1989	446	292	210	65	82	28	154
1990	405	280	189	69	90	32	126
1991	380	235	140	62	95	40	145
1992	406	242	147	60	95	39	164
1993	399	254	187	64	67	26	145
1994⁵	510	311	219	61	93	30	198
1995	604	409	288	68	121	30	195
1996	496	289	210	58	80	28	206
1997	502	302	227	60	77	25	200
1998	505	308	221	61	87	28	197
1999	524	300	222	57	78	26	224
2000	515	350	252	68	99	28	165
2001	506	324	207	64	116	36	182
2002	401	271	190	68	81	30	129
2003	457	271	187	59	84	31	186
¹Includes persons 16 to 24 years old who dropped out from any grade without completing high school or a GED during the previous 12 months (October through October).
²The civilian labor force includes all employed persons plus those seeking employment; it excludes persons in the military.
³The labor force participation rate is the percentage of civilians either employed or seeking employment.
⁴The unemployment rate is the proportion of those in the labor force who are not working but are seeking employment.
⁵In 1994, new survey collection techniques and population weighting were used.
NOTE: Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment of School-Age Youth, Graduates, and Dropouts, various years; and annual news release College Enrollment and Work Activity of High School Graduates, various years.

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