February 06, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment rates by demographics, January 2007

The number of unemployed persons (7.0 million) and the unemployment rate (4.6 percent) were about unchanged in January 2007 compared with December 2006.

Unemployment rate by demographic group, January 2007
[Chart data—TXT]

Over the month, the unemployment rate for Hispanics (5.7 percent) increased. The rates for the other major worker groups—adult men (4.1 percent), adult women (4.0 percent), teenagers (15.0 percent), whites (4.1 percent), and blacks (8.0 percent)—were little changed.

The data in this report are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "The Employment Situation: January 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0159.

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 »