February 05, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment rate rises in January

The number of unemployed rose by about 300,000 in January to nearly 6.0 million, pushing the unemployment rate from 4.0 to 4.2 percent. The jobless rate had ranged from 3.9 to 4.1 percent since October 1999.

Unemployment rates, January 2001 (seasonally adjusted)
[Chart data—TXT]

The unemployment rates for each of the major worker groups—adult men (3.6 percent), adult women (3.6 percent), teenagers (13.8 percent), whites (3.6 percent), blacks (8.4 percent), and Hispanics (6.0 percent)—were marginally higher in January.

These data are a product of the Current Population Survey. All of the above figures are seasonally adjusted. Find out more in "The Employment Situation: January 2001," news release USDL 01-35.

Of interest

Spotlight on Statistics: The Recession of 2007–2009

The most recent recession in the United States began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, though many of the statistics that describe the U.S. economy have yet to return to their pre-recession values. In this Spotlight, we present BLS data that compare the recent recession to previous recessions. Read more »