August 05, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment rates in July

The number of unemployed persons (8.3 million) and the unemployment rate (5.9 percent) were essentially unchanged for the third month in a row in July.

Unemployment rates, July 2002 (seasonally adjusted)
[Chart data—TXT]

The jobless rates for adult men (5.2 percent), adult women (5.2 percent), teenagers (17.7 percent), whites (5.3 percent), blacks (9.9 percent), and Hispanics (7.6 percent) showed little change from the previous month. 

The number of persons unemployed for 15 weeks or more fell by 220,000 to 2.9 million in July. This measure had been trending steadily upward since June 2001.

These data are a product of the Current Population Survey. Data in this article are seasonally adjusted. Find out more in "The Employment Situation: July 2002" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 02-414.

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