MARCH 2014 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA*
(U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)
OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT: 6.7%*
A year earlier, the number of unemployed persons was 11.7 million,
and the jobless rate was 7.5 percent. [BLS]
| White | 5.8% |
| African American | 12.4% |
| Hispanic | 7.9% |
| Asian** | 5.4% |
| Persons with a disability** | 14.5% |
| Men 20 years and over | 6.2% |
| Women 20 years and over | 6.2% |
| Teens (16-19 years) | 20.9% |
| Black teens | 36.1% |
| Officially unemployed | 10.5 million |
*If the LFPR were at its pre-recession level, the unemployment rate in March 2014 would have been 9.8% instead of 6.7%. [See “The Labor Force Participation Rate and Its Trajectory”]
HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT
| Working part-time because can’t find a full-time job: | 7.4 million |
| People who want jobs but are not looking so are not counted in official statistics (of which about 2.2 million** searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available for work during the reference week.) | 6.1 million |
| Total: 24.0 million (14.8% 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 January 2014, the latest month available, the number of job openings was 4.0 million. “The number of openings was little changed in total private and government. The number of job openings decreased in retail trade; the number increased n health care and social assistance and in arts, entertainment, and recreation. The West region experienced a rise in job openings in January.” Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary, March 11, 2014.+
Thus there are 6 job-wanters for each available job.
THE MISSING PART OF THE UNEMPLOYMENT STORY
Private Payroll Employment Has Grown For 49 Months
(cbpp 4/14)
Long-Term Unemployment Near Historic Highs
(CBPP 4/14)
The Share of Population with a Job
Remains Depressed (cbpp 4/14)
Missing Jobs: How many jobs
we should have had
“We lost 8,695,000 jobs in the downturn, but we have since gained back 7,844,000,
so we are now “only” 851,000 jobs below where we were when the recession began
in December 2007.” —Heidi Shierholz, EPI
Labor Force Participation Rate
GDP Fell Far Below What the Economy
Was Capable of Producing
+“The number of job openings (not seasonally adjusted) increased over the year for total nonfarm and private but decreased for government. Over the year, the number job openings increased in several industries while it decreased in real estate and rental and leasing and in federal government. The Midwest and West regions experienced an increase in the number of job opernings over the 12 months ending in January.” (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/jolts.pdf)