The Unemployment Rate Dropped By 0.4% In September

The Labor Department released its statistics for September on Friday. It showed the economy produced 194,000 new jobs, and the unemployment rate dropped by 0.4% -- to 4.8%. That's the first time in the last 18 months that the rate has been below 5.0%.

Here are the relevant statistics for September:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

161,354,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

7,674,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.8%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............4.7%

Adult women...............4.2%

Teens (16-19)...............11.5%

Whites...............4.2%

Blacks...............7.9%

Asians...............4.2%

Hispanics...............6.3%

Less than HS diploma...............7.9%

HS graduate...............5.8%

Some college...............4.5%

Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.5%

NUMBER OF MARGINALLY-ATTACHED WORKERS (unemployed but not counted):

1,744,000

MORE REALISTIC NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS (official + marginally-attached):

9,418,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

5.8%