The Unemployment Rate Remained Steady At 4.2% For April

The Labor Department released its unemployment statistics for April on Friday. It showed that the economy produced about 177,000 jobs for the month. That was just enough to keep the unemployment rate at 4.2% (the same as March).

Here are the relevant statistics for April:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

171,109,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

7,165,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.2%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............4.0%

Adult women...............3.7%

Teens (16-19)...............12.9%

Whites...............3.8%

Blacks...............6.3%

Asians...............3.0%

Hispanics...............5.2%

No HS diploma...............6.2%

HS graduate...............4.0%

Some college...............3.7%

Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.5%

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

1,616,000

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

8,781,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

5.13%