The Unemployment Rate For March Climbed Slightly To 4.2%

The Labor Department released the unemployment report for March on Friday. It showed the economy produced about 228,000 jobs for the month. That was not bad, but not enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising to 4.2% (0.1% more than February).

Here are the relevant statistics for March:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE

170,591,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS

7,083,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

4.2%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT

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

Adult women...............3.7%

Teens (16-19)...............13.7%

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

Blacks...............6.2%

Asians...............3.5%

Hispanics...............5.1%

No HS diploma...............5.8%

HS graduate...............4.1%

Some college...............3.5%

Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.6%

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

1,687,000

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

8,770,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.1%