Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 148,000 in September,and the unemployment rate
was little changed at 7.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.1 percent)
adult women (6.2 percent), teenagers (21.4 percent), whites (6.3 percent), blacks(12.9 percent),
and Hispanics (9.0 percent) showed little or no change in September. The jobless rate for
Asians was 5.3 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlearlier.
In September, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more)
was little changed at 4.1 million. These individuals accounted for 36.9 percent oof the
unemployed. The number of long-term unemployed has declined by 725,000 over the past
year.
Both the civilian labor force participation rate, at 63.2 percent, and the employment-
population ratio at 58.6 percent, were unchanged in September. Over the year, the labor
force participation rate has declined by 0.4 percentage point, while the employment-
population ratio has changed little.
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to
as involuntary part-time workers) was unchanged at 7.9 million in September. These
individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they
were unable to find a full-time job.
In September, 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down from
2.5 million a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals
were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a
job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they
had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)
Among the marginally attached, there were 852,000 discouraged workers in September,
essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.)
Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe
no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.5 million persons marginally attached
to the labor force in September had not searched for work for reasons such as school
attendance or family responsibilities.
