The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth: 1979 cohort at 25

Abstract

Charles Plerret Is Director of National Longitudinal Surveys, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics. E-mail: plerret.charles@bls.gov lis issue of the Monthly Labor Review celebrates the 25th anniversary of the .A. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 Cohort (NLSY79). The National Longitudinal Surveys (nls) program, of which the NLSY79 is the flagship survey, is a bit of an anomaly among the Bureau of Labor Statistics many data collec tion efforts. None of the Bureau's key economic indicators relies on nls data. Only a couple of the more than one hundred press releases the Bureau publishes each year involve data col lected by the NLS program. It is doubtful that financial markets ever will react strongly to the release of NLS data. And unlike the current employment statistics, the inflation statistics, or the unemployment rate, measures from the NLSY79 are not likely to be discussed in everyday conversation or even in the business news.