Unemployment Rate Rises Slightly To 7.9%

Yesterday, I said I expected the Labor Department's unemployment rate to be close to the rate reported by Gallup in it's poll, since the two have been within a ten of a point or two for months. But that didn't happen this time. While the Gallup rate fell to 7.0%, the official government unemployment rate announced yesterday by the Labor Department actually rose a ten of a point to 7.9% (the rate for September had been 7.8%).

The media are trying to determine who they think the new rate will help -- President Obama or Willard Mitt Romney. Personally, I think it's kind of a draw, and neither candidate will be helped or hurt by the newly announced rate. The Republicans had hoped the rate would climb back to more than 8%, while the Obama administration had hoped it would fall further. Neither happened, and both parties can claim a minor victory. The Republicans will point out that the rate did rise, while the Democrats will point out that 171,000 new non-farm jobs were created in October (and an average of 157,000 jobs per month have been created in 2012 -- more than the number required to account for new workers entering the labor force).

While there has been positive job growth for the entire year, it is not enough. If a real dent is to be made in the unemployment rate, there is going to have to be a bipartisan effort to stimulate new job creation -- something the Republicans have refused to do during President Obama's first term. And it needs to be something that will put more money in the hands of the bottom 80% of Americans, because they will spend that money and spur demand (which is the only thing that creates new jobs). Tax cuts for the rich will not help.

Here are the numbers for October:

Civilian labor force...............155.6 million

Number of unemployed workers...............12.3 million

Official unemployment rate...............7.9%

Number of "marginally-attached" workers...............2.4 million
(people unemployed by not looking for work in last 4 weeks)

Total number of unemployed persons...............14.7 million
(officially unemployed + marginally-attached)

Real unemployment rate...............9.45%

Number of underemployed persons...............8.3 million
(working part-time because no full-time work is available)

Total number of jobs needed...............23.0 million
(Total unemployed + underemployed)

Unemployed/underemployed rate..............14.78%

Here is the official unemployment demographically:
African-Americans...............14.3%
Hispanics...............10.0%
Whites...............7.0%
Asians...............4.9%
Adult men...............7.3%
Adult women...............7.2%
Teenagers...............23.7%