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

Unemployment and labor force participation at the end of 2006

In December 2006, the number of unemployed persons was 6.8 million and the unemployment rate was 4.5 percent. Over the year, these measures declined from 7.3 million and 4.9 percent, respectively.

[Chart data—TXT]

From December 2005 to December 2006, the labor force grew by 2.7 million to 152.8 million and the labor force participation rate rose by 0.4 percentage point to 66.4 percent. 

The employment-population ratio in December 2006, at 63.4 percent, was 0.6 percentage point higher than a year earlier.

The data in this report are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "The Employment Situation: December 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0003. 

 

Related TED article:

• Payroll employment up by 1.8 million in 2006