Asian American Unemployment Rate Lowest
The report released Friday by the Labor Department for the month of February shows that Asian Americans have the lowest unemployment rate at 8.4% while Blacks have the highest at 15.8%. In between are Whites (8.8%), Female Heads of Households (11.6%) and Hispanics (12.4%).
But the data contains hope for everyone. An index that measures the breadth of hiring among private industries is nearing a turning point that could signal consistent job gains.
The index is part of the government’s monthly employment report. Its rise is evidence that the job market is headed in the right direction — though at a painfully slow pace.
The Labor Department’s report Friday said the jobless rate was unchanged last month at 9.7 percent, as employers cut 36,000 jobs.
By calculating an index, the department also estimated how widespread hiring is across 269 separate private industries. A reading of 50 in the index would mean an equal number of industries are hiring and firing. A reading above 50 means more are adding jobs; below 50 means more are cutting.
The index reached 48 in February, up from 44.2 the previous month. A year ago, as corporations slashed jobs in the depths of the recession, it was 17.1. It fell to 16.5 in March 2009, the lowest point since the index began in 1991.
That “suggests we are right on the cusp of jobs growth,” Stuart Green, a global economist at HSBC Securities, wrote in a research note.
Here, by the numbers, are some more details in the employment report.
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UNEMPLOYMENT BOTTOMING OUT?
9.7 percent: Unemployment rate in February and January
10 percent: Unemployment rate in December and November
10.1 percent: Unemployment rate in October
9.8 percent: Unemployment rate in September
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THE JOBLESS OLYMPICS: LATEST UNEMPLOYMENT RATES
4.8 percent: South Korea
4.9 percent: Japan
7.8 percent: United Kingdom
8.7 percent: Germany
9.7 percent: United States
18.8 percent: Spain
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STILL LOOKING
40.9 percent: Proportion of unemployed out of work six months or longer, down from last month’s record of 41.2 percent
29.7 weeks: Average length of unemployment in February, also down from last month’s record of 30.2
6.1 million: Number of people jobless for six months or longer, also below last month’s record of 6.3 million. It’s the first drop in this figure since Nov. 2008
1.3 million: Number unemployed for that long in December 2007, when the recession began
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WHERE THE JOBS ARE
47,500: The number of temporary jobs added in February
12,000: Jobs added in hospitals, nursing and other health care sectors
7,000: Jobs added by building materials and garden supply stores
1,000: Jobs added in manufacturing
8,000: Jobs added in computer services
9,400: Jobs in arts, entertainment and recreation
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WHERE THEY’RE NOT
-64,000: Job losses in construction
-18,000: Job losses in government at all levels
-10,000: Job losses in financial services
-4,300: Job losses in trucking
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UNDEREMPLOYED
8.8 million: Number of part-time workers who would have preferred full-time work last month
2.5 million: People without jobs who want to work but have stopped looking
16.8 percent: “Underemployment” rate in February if you include the above two categories
17.4 percent: Underemployment rate in October, the highest on records dating to 1994
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FEBRUARY UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY GROUP
11.6 percent: Female heads of households
8.4 percent: Asians
8.8 percent: Whites
12.4 percent: Hispanics
15.8 percent: Blacks
3/5/2010 2:05 PM CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON