The Labor Department has released its statistics for the month of October. It showed the unemployment rate had dropped by 0.1% to 4.1% for the month. Part of this is due to the creation of 261,000 jobs, but mainly it is due to a decrease in the size of the civilian work force by 765,000 workers.
Here are the relevant statistics for October:
SIZE OF CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:
160,381,000
NUMBER OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:
6,520,000
OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:
4.1%
DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:
Adult men...............3.8%
Adult women...............3.6%
Teens (16-19)...............13.7%
White...............3.5%
Black...............7.5%
Asian...............3.1%
Hispanic...............4.8%
Less than HS diploma...............5.7%
HS graduate...............4.3%
Some college...............3.7%
Bachelor's Degree or more...............2.0%
MARGINALLY-ATTACHED UNEMPLOYED (not included in official count):
1,535,000
MORE REALISTIC NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS (official + marginally-attached):
8,055,000
MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:
5.02%