January Unemployment Rate Fell To 3.4%

 

The Labor Department released its unemployment numbers for January on Friday. The numbers were much better than expected -- with the economy creating a whopping 517,000 jobs. That was good enough to lower the unemployment rate to 3.4% (the lowest rate since 1969), even though the civilian labor force rose significantly.

Here are the relevant numbers for January.

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

165,832,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

5,694,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

3.4%

DEMOGRAPHICS OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............3.2%

Adult women...............3.1%

Teens (16-19)...............10.3%

Whites...............3.1%

Blacks...............5.4%

Asians...............2.8%

Hispanics...............4.5%

No HS diploma...............4.5%

HS graduate...............3.7%

Some college...............2.9%

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

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

1,354,000

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

7,048,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.2%