The Unemployment Rate Remained At 4.2% For May

The Labor Department released its unemployment report for May on Friday. It showed the economy produced about 139,000 jobs for the month. That was good enough to keep the unemployment rate at 4.2% for the third month in a row.

Here are the relevant statistics for May.

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

170,510,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

7,237,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.2%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............3.9%

Adult women...............3.9%

Teens (16-19)...............13.4%

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

Blacks...............6.0%

Hispanics...............5.1%

Asians...............3.6%

No HS diploma...............5.5%

HS graduate...............4.5%

Some college...............3.3%

Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.6%

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

1,556,000

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

8,793,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

5.16%