The Labor Department released the unemployment numbers for January on Friday. It showed the economy produced a respectable 467,000 jobs in January. With a significant rise in the civilian work force of about 1,400,000, the unemployment rate showed a small rise -- from 3.9% in December to 4.0% in January.
Here are the relevant statistics for January:
SIZE OF CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:
163,687,000
OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:
6,513,000
OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:
4.0%
DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:
Adult men...............3.8%
Adult women...............3.6%
Teens (16-19)...............10.9%
White...............3.4%
Black...............6.9%
Asian...............3.6%
Hispanic...............4.9%
Less than HS diploma...............6.3%
HS graduate...............4.6%
Some college...............3.6%
Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.3%
NUMBER OF MARGINALLY-ATTACHED WORKERS (unemployed but not counted):
1,526,000
MORE REALISTIC NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED (Official + marginally-attached):
8,039,000
MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:
4.91%