Unemployment In USA: Trending Down. But But But .....

Share  Job Hiring Slightly Improves In  January:
The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 9.0 percent in
January, while nonfarm payroll employment changed little (+36,000),
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment rose in
manufacturing and in retail trade but was down in construction and in
transportation and warehousing. Employment in most other major
industries changed little over the month.

 
Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate (9.0 percent) declined by 0.4 percentage point
for the second month in a row.   The number of
unemployed persons decreased by about 600,000 in January to 13.9 million, while the labor force was unchanged.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men
(8.8 percent), whites (8.0 percent), and Hispanics (11.9 percent)
declined in January. The unemployment rates for adult women (7.9
percent), teenagers (25.7 percent), and blacks (15.7 percent) were
little changed. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.9 percent, not
seasonally adjusted.

The number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs fell
from 8.9 to 8.5 million in January. The number of long-term unemployed
(those jobless for 27 weeks or more) edged down to 6.2 million and
accounted for 43.8 percent of the unemployed.

After accounting for the annual adjustment to the population controls,
the employment-population ratio (58.4 percent) rose in January, and
the labor force participation rate (64.2 percent) was unchanged.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons
(sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) declined
from 8.9 to 8.4 million in January. 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 January, 2.8 million persons were marginally attached to the labor
force, up from 2.5 million a year earlier. (These 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 1.0 million discouraged
workers in January, about the same as 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 1.8 million persons marginally attached to the
labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the
survey for reasons such as school attendance or family
responsibilities.
Source: BLS ( Bureau of Labor Statistics)