April 09, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment rate in March 2007

In March, the number of unemployed persons (6.7 million) and the unemployment rate (4.4 percent) were essentially unchanged.

Unemployment rate, March 2006-March 2007
[Chart data—TXT]

The jobless rate has remained within a narrow range—from 4.4 to 4.6 percent—since September 2006.

Over the month, the unemployment rate for most major worker groups—adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (3.8 percent), teenagers (14.5 percent), blacks (8.3 percent), and Hispanics (5.1 percent)—showed little or no change. The jobless rate for whites decreased to 3.8 percent.

These data are from the Current Population Survey program and are seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation: March 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0486.

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 »