The overall labor force participation rate stood at about 60% in 1970 and about 67% in 1997. All of the growth was due to a secular increase in female labor force participation--the rate for men actually decreased over the period (presumably because of increased longevity and greater numbers of men in the retired population). Teenager labor force participation is interesting for three reasons: first, it shows much more seasonal variation than the adult male and female rates, due to the effect of school attendance; second, teenage labor force participation is clearly influenced by the unemployment rate, apparently because very young workers tend to be the last hired, first fired; third, the secular trend for teenage labor force participation is flat--suggesting that there is nothing new in the phenomenon of high school students working at part-time jobs.