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The third chapter uses the weekly work history data from the NLSY's 1979 cohort to analyze the effect of leaving high school during a recession. These data allow me to precisely measure labor market outcomes and the school-to-work transition. I document severe but short-lived effects of leaving school in a recession on wages, job quality, and the transition time from school to work for men with 9 to 12 years of education. In contrast to published evidence on more educated workers, I find large effects on work hours on both the extensive and intensive margins. When workers leave high school in a recession, they work fewer total weeks and more part-time weeks in their first year in the labor market. They also take substantially longer to find a job, have less access to on-the-job training, and report lower promotion possibilities. Effects of the entry unemployment rate on wages are also large. A 4-point rise in the initial unemployment rate leads to a 21% decline in year-one average wage, a 32% fall in hours worked in the first year, and a 54% decline in first-year earnings. However, the effects of economic conditions are not persistent; by year four, there is no effect on wages, hours, or earnings.