The Unemployment Rate Rose Slightly To 3.9% For February

The Labor Department released its unemployment report for February on Friday. It showed the economy produced a healthy 275,000 jobs for the month.  The unemployment rate rose slightly - from 3.7% in January to 3.9% in February. That marks the 22nd month in a row of unemployment below 4%.

Here are the relevant statistics for February:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

167,426,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

6,458,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

3.9%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............3.5%

Adult women...............3.5%

Teens (16-19)...............12.5%

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

Blacks...............5.6%

Asians...............3.4%

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

No HS diploma...............6.1%

HS graduate...............4.2%

Some college...............3.1%

Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.2%

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

1,558,000

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

8,016,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.79%