Unemployment Rate Remained Steady At 3.5% For December

The Labor Department released its statistics for the month of December. About 145,000 new jobs were created in the month. That was not quite enough to cover the new entrants to the civilian work force, but it was close enough to keep the official unemployment rate from rising. It remained at 3.5% (just as it was in November).

Here are the relevant statistics for December:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

164,556,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

5,753,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

3.5%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............3.1%
Adult women...............3.2%
Teenagers (16-19)...............12.6%
White...............3.2%
Black...............5.9%
Asian...............2.5%
Hispanic...............4.2%
Less than HS diploma...............5.2%
HS graduate...............3.7%
Some college...............2.7%
Bachelor's degree or more...............1.9%

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

1,246,000

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

6,999,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.25%