February Unemployment Rate Rose Slightly To 3.6%

The Labor Department released its unemployment report for February on Friday. It showed the economy produced another 311,000 jobs. The civilian work force rose by 419,000. That pushed the unemployment rate to 3.6% - a slight increase over the January rate.

Here are the relevant statistics for February:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

166,251,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

5,936,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

3.6%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............3.3%

Adult women...............3.2%

Teens (16-19)...............11.1%

Whites...............3.2%

Blacks...............5.7%

Asians...............3.4%

Hispanics...............5.3%

No HS diploma...............5.8%

HS graduate...............3.6%

Some college...............3.2%

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

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

1,396,000

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

7,332,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.4%