OCTOBER 2013 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA*
(U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)
OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT: 7.3%*
A year earlier, the number of unemployed persons was12.2 million,
and the jobless rate was 7.9 percent. [BLS]
| White |
6.3% |
| African American |
13.1% |
| Hispanic |
9.1% |
| Asian** |
5.2% |
| Persons with a disability** |
12.8% |
| Men 20 years and over |
7.0% |
| Women 20 years and over |
6.4% |
| Teens (16-19 years) |
22.2% |
| Black teens |
36.0% |
| Officially unemployed |
11.3 million |
*If the LFPR were at its pre-recession level, the unemployment rate in September 2013 would have been 10.2% instead of 7.2%. [See “The Labor Force Participation Rate and Its Trajectory”]
HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT
| Working part-time because can’t find a full-time job: | 8.1 million |
| People who want jobs but are not looking so are not counted in official statistics (of which about 2.3 million** searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available for work during the reference week.) | 6.2 million |
|
Total: 25.6 million (15.9% of the labor force) |
|
Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf See also Current Employment Statistics–Highlights
**Not seasonally adjusted.
*See Uncommon Sense #4 for an explanation of the unemployment measures, and Is the Decline in the Labor Force Participation Rate During This Recession Permanent?.
In addition, millions more were working full-time, year-round, yet earned less than the official poverty level for a family of four. In 2012, the latest year available, that number was 18.0 million, 17.5 percent of full-time, full-year workers (estimated from Current Population Survey, Bur. of the Census, 9/2013).
In August 2013, the latest month available, the number of job openings was 3.9 million, “little changed from July. The number of job openings rose in August in three industries and declined in state and local government. Job openings were up int he Northeast region.” Job Openings and Labor Turnover Estimates, October 24, 2013.+
Thus there are about 7.5 job-wanters for each available job.
Private Payroll Employment Has Grown For 42 Months cbpp 10/13
Long-Term Unemployment Remains High
The Share of the Population with a Job
Fell to Levels Not Seen Since the Mid-1980s
GDP Fell Far Below What the Economy Was Capable of Producing
+“The number of job openings in August (not seasonally adjusted) rose over the year for total nonfarm and total private, but fell for government. Job openings levels increased in several industries and decreased in information. In the Midwest region, the number of job openings rose over the year.”