Unemployment Rate Is 3.6% For Third Month In A Row

The Labor Department released its unemployment statistics for May on Friday. It showed that the economy produced a healthy 390,000 jobs in May. That was good enough to take care of the 330,000 increase in the civilian labor force, and kept the unemployment rate at 3.6% for the third month in a row. 

Here are the relevant statistics for the month of May:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE:

164,376,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

5,950,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

3.6%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............3.4%

Adult women...............3.4%

Teens (16-19)...............10.4%

White...............3.2%

Black...............6.2%

Asian...............2.4%

Hispanic...............4.3%

Less than HS diploma...............5.2%

HS graduate...............3.8%

Some college...............3.4%

Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.0%

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

1,472,000

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

7,422,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.5%