Unemployment Rate Remains Steady At 3.7% For December

The Labor Department released the unemployment report for December on Friday. It showed that 216,000 new jobs were created for the month, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7%.  Here are the relevant statistics for December:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

167,451,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

6,268,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

3.7%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............3.5%

Adult women...............3.3%

Teens (16-19)...............11.9%

Whites...............3.5%

Blacks...............5.2%

Asians...............3.1%

Hispanics...............5.0%

Less than HS diploma...............6.0%

HS graduate...............4.2%

Some college...............3.1%

Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.1%

NUMBER OF MARGINALLY-ATTACHED WORKERS (unemployed but no longer counted):

1,562,000

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

7,830,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.68%