The Labor Department released its unemployment statistics for March. The economy created 196,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate remained steady at 3.8% (the same as February), mainly because the civilian work force shrank by 224,000 workers.
Trump bragged that it was indicative of a great economy. I think it was tepid at best, and with the GDP falling, he may be singing a different tune in a few months.
Here are the relevant statistics for March:
SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:
162,960,000
OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:
6,211,000
OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:
3.8%
DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:
Adult men...............3.6%
Adult women...............3.3%
Teens (16-19)...............12.8%
Whites...............3.4%
Blacks...............6.7%
Hispanics...............4.7%
Asians...............3.1%
No HS diploma...............5.9%
HS graduate...............3.7%
Some college...............3.4%
Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.0%
NUMBER OF MARGINALLY-ATTACHED WORKERS (Unemployed but no longer counted):
1,357,000
MORE REALISTIC NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:
7,568,000
MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:
4.6%