OCTOBER 2014 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA*
(U.S.
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)
OFFICIAL
UNEMPLOYMENT: 5.8%*
A year earlier, the number of unemployed
persons was 11.1 million,
and the jobless rate was 7.2 percent.
[BLS]
| White |
4.8% |
| African
American |
10.9% |
| Hispanic |
6.8% |
| Asian** |
5.0% |
| Persons with a disability** |
11.3% |
| Men
20 years and over |
5.1% |
| Women
20 years and over |
5.4% |
| Teens
(16-19 years) |
18.6% |
| Black
teens |
32.6% |
| Officially
unemployed |
9.0 million |
*If the LFPR were at its pre-recession level, the unemployment
rate in October
2014 would have been 9.1% instead of
5.8%. [See "The Labor Force Participation
Rate and Its Trajectory"]
HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT
| Working
part-time because can't find a full-time job: |
7.0
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.) |
6.5
million |
|
Total:
22.5 million (13.8%
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 2013, the
latest year available, that number was 18.5 million, 17.5 percent
of full-time, full-year workers (estimated from
Current Population Survey, Bur. of the Census, 9/2014).
In
August 2014, the latest month available, the number of job openings
was 4.8 million, "up
from 4.6 million
in July...This was the highest level of job openings since January.
The number of job openings increased for total private and was
little changed for government in August."
Job Openings and Labor Turnover
Summary, October 7, 2014.+ Thus
there are more than 4.5 job-wanters for
each available job.
Unemployment Rate Vastly Understates Labor Market Weakness
Missing Jobs: How many jobs
we should have had
Private
Payroll Employment Has Grown For 56 Months
(cbpp 11/7)
GDP
Fell Far Below What the Economy
Was Capable of Producing CBPP 11/7
+"The
number of job openings (not seasonally adjusted) increased over
the 12 months ending in August 2014 for total nonfarm, total private,
and government. The job openings level increased in many of
the industries and in all four regions." http://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
|
