The Unemployment Rate For March Was Down Slightly To 4.3%

 

The Labor Department released its unemployment report for March on Friday. It showed some improvement. The economy produced 178,000 new jobs - not great, but much better than the previous few months. That was enough to lower the unemployment rate to 4.3%.

Here are the relevant statistics for March:

SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

170,087,000

OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

7,239,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.3%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

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

Adult women...............4.0%

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

White...............3.6%

Black...............7.1%

Asian...............3.7%

Hispanic...............4.8%

No HS diploma...............5.9%

HS graduate...............4.7%

Some college...............3.6%

Bachelor's deg or more...............2.8%

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

1,944,000

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

9,183,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

5.4%