January 14, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment rate unchanged in December

The unemployment rate remained at 6.0 percent in December, and the number of unemployed persons was essentially flat, at 8.6 million. Both measures had increased in November.

Unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, December 2001–December 2002
[Chart data—TXT]

The unemployment rate for adult women rose in December to 5.3 percent. The jobless rates for other major worker groups—adult men (5.6 percent), teenagers (16.1 percent), whites (5.1 percent), blacks (11.5 percent), and Hispanics (7.9 percent)—were little changed over the month.

These data are from the Current Population Survey.  Data in this article are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "The Employment Situation: December 2002" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-05.

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