Unemployment Rate Remains Steady At 3.7% For January

On Friday, the Labor Department released its unemployment report for January. It showed the economy created a very healthy 353,000 jobs during the month. That was good enough to keep the unemployment rate at 3.7% for the third month in a row.

Here are the relevant statistics for January of 2024.

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

167,276,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

6,124,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

3.7%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............3.6%

Adult women...............3.2%

Teens (16-19)...............10.6%

Whites...............3.4%

Blacks...............5.3%

Asians...............2.9%

Hispanics...............5.0%

Less than HS diploma...............6.0%

HS graduate...............4.3%

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

Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.1%

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

1,654,000

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

7,778,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.6%