The apprenticeship system in the United States is a method of training for a vocation or skilled trade within the framework of a relatively free labor market. It is a system which furnishes training through employment and one which is affected by the employment level of a given period. This is particularly important as the apprenticeship typically lasts 4 years, and the apprentice need at the termination of the training period may not be the apprentice intake based on the employment level 4 years earlier. The declining trend in apprenticeship since World War II cannot be attributed to any single cause, but the increased number of persons who continue their formal education seems to be the major one. Major factors which affec of apprentices are (1) irregula"y of employment rate, (2) the completion rate, (3) unemployment, (4) college and apprentice enrollment, and (5)the ratio between craftsmen and professional-technical personnel. Statistical analysis indicates no significant relationship between the number of apprentices and the number of journeymen. Although apprentice numbers appear to have been small due to employer reluctance to train skilled workers rather than to union policy, relatively little consideration has been given to the system itself, the factors affecting the employer's decision to hire apprentices, nor the factors affecting the apprentice's decision to enter or complete such a training program. (EM)