Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NYSY) for 1979-92, an empirical analysis documented and characterized early labor market experiences of men and women in the U.S. economy. It explored the evolution of these labor market experiences over the first 5 years in the labor market and studied the relationships between them and adult labor market outcomes. The overriding goal was to shed light on the consequences of initial periods of "churning,""floundering about," or "mobility" in the labor market, to help assess whether faster transitions to stable employment relationships would be likely to lead to better adult labor market outcomes. Findings indicated that labor market outcomes toward the end of the 5-year postschooling period used were not driven very strongly by what happened in the first year or two in the labor market. Adult labor market outcomes (in the late 20s or early to mid-30s) were for the most part unrelated to early labor market experiences, especially for men. For women, in contrast, some evidence suggested that job stability and initial entry into a high-wage occupation had beneficial effects. The evidence did not present a compelling case for efforts to target the school-to-work transition, insofar as this implied changing the structure of youth labor markets so that workers became more firmly attached to an employer, or an industry or occupation, at younger ages. (Appendixes contain 56 references and 13 tables.) (YLB)