The Unemployment Rate Drops To 3.4% For April

 The U.S. economy produced about 253,000 new jobs in April. That was good enough for a drop in the unemployment rate to 3.4%.

Here are the relevant statistics for the month of April:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

166,688,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

5,657,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

3.4%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............3.3%

Adult women...............3.1%

Teens (16-19)...............9.2%

Whites...............3.1%

Blacks...............4.7%

Asians...............2.8%

Hispanics...............4.4%

No HS diploma...............5.4%

HS graduate...............3.9%

Some college...............2.9%

Bachelor's deg. or more...............1.9%

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

1,480,000

MORE REALISTIC NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED:

7,117,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.27%