US Unemployment rate lowest in 4 years at 7.7%- White rate lowered to 6.8%, African American remained 13.8%

US Unemployment rate lowest in 4 years at 7.7%- White rate lowered to 6.8%, African American remained 13.8%

 

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 236,000 in February, and the unemployment rate edged down to 7.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in professional and business services, construction, and health care.

The unemployment rate edged down to 7.7 percent in February but has shown little movement, on net, since September 2012. The number of unemployed persons, at 12.0 million, also edged lower in February.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for whites (6.8 percent) declined in February while the rates for adult men (7.1 percent), adult women (7.0 percent), teenagers (25.1 percent), blacks (13.8 percent), and Hispanics (9.6 percent) showed little or no change. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.1 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier.

In February, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was about unchanged at 4.8 million. These individuals accounted for 40.2 percent of the unemployed.

The employment-population ratio held at 58.6 percent in February. The civilian labor force participation rate, at 63.5 percent, changed little.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons, at 8.0 million, was essentially unchanged in February. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

In February, 2.6 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, the same as a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

Among the marginally attached, there were 885,000 discouraged workers in February, down slightly from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.7 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in February had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 236,000 in February, with job gains in professional and business services, construction, and health care. In the prior 3 months, employment had risen by an average of 195,000 per month.

Professional and business services added 73,000 jobs in February; employment in the industry had changed little (+16,000) in January. In February, employment in administrative and support services, which includes employment services and services to buildings, rose by 44,000. Accounting and bookkeeping services added 11,000 jobs, and growth continued in computer systems design and in management and technical consulting services.

In February, employment in construction increased by 48,000. Since September, construction employment has risen by 151,000. In February, job growth occurred in specialty trade contractors, with this gain about equally split between residential (+17,000) and nonresidential specialty trade contractors (+15,000). Nonresidential building construction also added jobs (+6,000).

The health care industry continued to add jobs in February (+32,000). Within health care, there was a job gain of 14,000 in ambulatory health care services, which includes doctors’ offices and outpatient care centers. Employment also increased over the month in nursing and residential care facilities (+9,000) and hospitals (+9,000).

Employment in the information industry increased over the month (+20,000), lifted by a large job gain in the motion picture and sound recording industry.

Employment continued to trend up in retail trade in February (+24,000). Retail trade has added 252,000 jobs over the past 12 months. Employment also continued to trend up over the month in food services and drinking places and in wholesale trade. Employment in other major industries showed little change over the month.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
Division of Labor Force Statistics

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Video: Huge Jobs Numbers, US Unemployment Lowest in 4 Years

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Video: Whats driving African American unemployment

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The Great Recession by the numbers

Dilemma X

The Great Recession and the Global Financial Crisis began in December 2007. By December 2008 the unemployment rate reached 7.2% and reached its peak in October 2009 with an unemployment rate of 10.2%. The financial crisis was triggered by a complex problems in the United States banking system, the U.S. housing bubble and other financial failures.

Past February unemployment rates:
February 2013 was 7.7% The number of unemployed persons was 12.0 million
February 2012 was 8.3% The number of unemployed persons was 12.8 million
February 2011 was 8.9% The number of unemployed persons was 13.7 million
February 2010 was 9.7% The number of unemployed persons was 14.9 million
February 2009 was 8.1% The number of unemployed persons was 12.5 million

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President Barack Obama assumed office January 20, 2009.
In January 2009 the number of unemployed persons was 11.6 million and the unemployment rate was 7.6%.

Unemployment peaked in October 2009 with an unemployment rate of 10.2% and 15.7 million unemployed persons.

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Between January 2009 and March, 2009 more than 2 million jobs were lost and 663,000 were lost in March 2009 alone. The number of unemployed persons increased to 13.2 million that month.
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George W. Bush served as the 43rd President of the United States from January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009
February 2001 the nation’s unemployment rate was 4.2% with a total of 5.9 million unemployed persons
February 2008 the nation’s unemployment rate was 4.8% with a total of 7.4 million unemployed persons. Unemployment rate was the following: whites 4.4% and for blacks 9.2%.
January 2009 the nation’s unemployment rate was 7.6% with a total of 11.6 million unemployed persons. For whites the unemployment rate was 6.9% and for African Americans it was 12.6%.

Bill Clinton served as the 42nd President of the United States from January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001
February 1994 the nation’s unemployment rate was 6.4% with a total of 8.5 million unemployed persons.
February 2000 the nation’s unemployment rate was 4.1% with a total of 5.8 million unemployed persons. Unemployment rate was the following: whites 3.4% and for blacks 8.2%.
In September 2000 the unemployment rate was 3.9%. This was the first time the nation’s unemployment rate had been below 4.0% since January 1970. January 2001 the nation’s unemployment rate was 4.2%. The number of unemployed persons rose to 5.95 million.

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February 2013
African American unemployment
African American unemployment for February 2013 remained to 13.8% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for January 2013 was 13.8% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for December 2012 was 14.0% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for November 2012 was 13.2% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for October 2012 was 14.3% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for September 2012 was13.4% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for August 2012 was 14.1% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for July 2012 was 14.1% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for June 2012 was 14.4% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for May 2012 was 13.6% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for April 2012 was 13.0% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for March 2012 was 14.0% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for February 2012 was 14.1% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for January 2012 was 13.6% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for December 2011 was to 15.8% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for November 2011 was 15.5% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for October 2011 was 15.0% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for September 2011 was 15.9% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for August 2011 was 16.7% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for July 2011 was 15.9% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for June 2011 was 16.2% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for May 2011 was 16.2% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for April 2011 was 16.1% (Seasonally adjusted)
African American unemployment for May 2010 was 15.3% (Seasonally adjusted)

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