June 05, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment rates by demographics, May 2007

The number of unemployed persons (6.8 million) and the unemployment rate (4.5 percent) were unchanged in May.

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

Over the month, the jobless rates for the major worker groups—adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (3.8 percent), teenagers (15.3 percent), whites (3.9 percent), blacks (8.2 percent), and Hispanics (5.4 percent)—showed little or no change.

The data in this report are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "The Employment Situation: May 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0793.

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 »