The Unemployment Rate For May Is 4.0% (Rising By 0.1%)

The Labor Department released the unemployment report for May on Friday. It showed the economy produced a healthy 272,000 new jobs for the month. The unemployment rate rose by 0.1% to 4.0%. That ended the record 27 month run of the rate being below 4.0% - but 4.0% is still a good rate.

Here are the relevant statistics for the month of May.

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

167,732,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

6,649,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.0%

DEMOGRAPHICS OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............3.8%

Adult women...............3.4%

Teens (16-19)...............12.3%

Whites...............3.5%

Blacks...............6.1%

Asians...............3.1%

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

Less than HS diploma...............5.9%

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

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

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

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

1,525,000

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

8,174,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.87%