Unemployment Rate Drops By 0.4% In November To 4.2%

The Labor Department released its unemployment numbers for November on Friday. It showed the economy had added another 210,000 jobs. Some economists were disappointed with the number of new jobs, but it was enough to reduce the unemployment rate by 0.4% (from 4.6% in October to 4.2% in November). 

Here are the relevant statistics for November:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE:

162,052,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

6,877,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.2%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

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

Adult women...............4.0%

Teens (16-19)...............11.2%

Whites...............3.7%

Blacks...............6.7%

Asians...............3.8%

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

Less than HS diploma...............5.7%

HS graduate...............5.2%

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

Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.3%

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

1,625,000

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

8,502,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

5.25%