With Poor Job Growth The November Unemployment Rate Rises To 4.6%

The Trump administration did not issue a Labor Department report for October (using the shutdown as an excuse to avoid it). But the November report was released a week late on Tuesday, and it was not a good one. The economy produced only about 64,000 new jobs (far below what a good economy produces), and the unemployment rate rose by 0.2% over September to a high of 4.6% (the highest rate in nearly four years). 

Here are the relevant statistics for November:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

171,571,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

7,831,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.6%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

Adult men...............4.1%

Adult women...............4.1%

Teens (16-19)...............16.3%

Whites...............3.9%

Blacks...............8.3%

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

Asians...............3.6%

No HS diploma...............6.8%

HS graduate...............4.4%

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

Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.9%

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

1,825,000

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

9,656,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

5.6%