The average person born in the latter years of the baby boom held 11 jobs from age 18 to age 44, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. More than three-fifths of these jobs were held from ages 18 to 27.

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 43 to 52 when interviewed most recently during the 2008-09 period. 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 3 decades 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 11 jobs from age 18 to age 44. These baby boomers held an average of 4.4 jobs while ages 18 to 22. The average number of jobs held fell to 3.2 while ages 23 to 27 and to 2.6 while ages 28 to 32. These individuals held an average of 2.4 jobs while ages 33 to 38 and 2.0 jobs while ages 39 to 44. Jobs that span more than one age group were counted once in each age group, so the over-all average number of jobs held from age 18 to age 44 is less than the sum of the number of jobs across the individual age groups.

- Although job duration tends to be longer the older a worker is when starting the job, these baby boomers continued to have large numbers of short-duration jobs even at middle age. Among jobs started by 39- to 44-year-olds, 33 percent ended in less than a year, and 68 percent ended in fewer than 5 years.

- The average person was employed during 77 percent of the weeks from age 18 to age 44. Generally, men spent a larger percent of weeks employed than did women (84 versus 70 percent). Women spent much more time out of the labor force (25 percent of weeks) than did men (11 percent of weeks).

- The annual percent growth in inflation-adjusted hourly earnings was fastest when workers were in their late teens and early twenties. Growth rates in earnings generally were higher for college graduates than for workers with less education.

Number of Jobs Held

Individuals held an average of 11 jobs from age 18 to age 44, with the majority of the jobs being held before age 27. In this report, a job is defined as an uninterrupted period of work with a particular employer. On average, men held 11.4 jobs and women held 10.7 jobs from age 18 to age 44. Men held 4.5 jobs from age 18 to age 22, compared with 2.0 jobs from age 39 to age 44. The reduction in the average number of jobs held in successive age groups was similar for women.

On average, the least-educated men held more jobs than the most-educated men, while the opposite is true among women. Men without a high school diploma held 13.3 jobs from ages 18 to 44, while men with a bachelor's degree or more education held 11.0 jobs. Women with at least a bachelor's degree held 11.7 jobs from ages 18 to 44, compared to an average of 9.7 jobs for women without a high school diploma.

From age 18 to age 44, whites held more jobs than blacks or Hispanics or Latinos, although the difference is concentrated among 18- to 22-year-olds. On average, whites held 4.6 jobs between the ages of 18 and 22, while blacks held 3.5 jobs and Hispanics or Latinos held 4.0 jobs. From age 23 to age 44, there was no significant difference in the average number of jobs held by whites and the average number of jobs held by blacks or Hispanics or Latinos.

Duration of Employment Relationships

The length of time a worker remains with the same employer increases with the age at which the worker began the job. Of the jobs that workers began when they were 18 to 22 years of age, 72 percent of those jobs ended in less than a year and 94 percent ended in fewer than 5 years. Among jobs started by 39- to 44-year-olds, 33 percent ended in less than a year and 68 percent ended in fewer than 5 years.

Percent of Weeks Employed, Unemployed, and Not in the Labor Force

On average, the baby boomers represented by the survey sample were employed during 77 percent of all the weeks occurring from age 18 to age 44. They were unemployed - that is, without jobs but seeking work - 4 percent of the weeks. They were not in the labor force - that is, neither working nor seeking work - 18 percent of the weeks.

The amount of time spent employed differs substantially between educational-attainment groups. Blacks with less than a high school diploma (as of the 2008-09 survey) spent 47 percent of weeks employed from age 18 to age 44. By comparison, black high school graduates spent 68 percent of weeks employed. Hispanic or Latino high school dropouts spent 59 percent of weeks employed, compared with 74 percent of weeks for Hispanic or Latino high school graduates. White high school dropouts spent 64 percent of weeks employed, and white high school graduates spent 80 percent of weeks employed. Among those with a bachelor's degree, there was little difference between racial and ethnic groups in labor market attachment; each group spent 80 to 82 percent of weeks employed.

The amount of time spent in the labor force also differs by sex, with women at every educational level and at every age spending fewer weeks either employed or unemployed than men. Men with less than a high school diploma spent 69 percent of weeks employed from age 18 to age 44. These men also spent 9 percent of weeks unemployed. By comparison, women with less than a high school diploma spent 46 percent of weeks employed and 7 percent of weeks unemployed from age 18 to age 44. Women without a high school diploma spent more time out of the labor force, 47 percent of weeks, than employed. The differences between men and women in labor force attachment were much smaller among those with a bachelor's degree or more education, but men still spent a larger proportion of weeks employed than did women (86 versus 78 percent).

Labor force attachment varies by age for both men and women. The amount of time men participated in the labor force increased as they aged until peaking at 89 percent of weeks while ages 33 to 38. From ages 39 to 44, men spent slightly less time in the labor force, 87 percent of weeks. The amount of time women participated in the labor force increased in each successive age group. Women ages 18 to 22 were employed or unemployed 68 percent of weeks, compared with 78 percent of weeks while ages 39 to 44.

Percent Growth in Real Earnings

The inflation-adjusted earnings of workers increased most rapidly while they were young. Hourly earnings grew by an average of 6.8 percent per year from ages 18 to 22 and by 5.2 percent per year from ages 23 to 27. The earnings growth rate slowed to 3.1 percent annually from age 28 to age 32, then increased to 3.5 percent annually from age 33 to age 38. From ages 39 to 44, hourly earnings grew an average of 1.4 percent per year. 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. For men and women in nearly every age category, growth rates in inflation-adjusted hourly earnings generally were higher for workers with more education. Inflation-adjusted earnings actually declined at a rate of 0.5 percent per year for 39- to 44-year-old men with less than a high school diploma.