August 08, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment in July 2005

Both the number of unemployed persons, 7.5 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.0 percent, were unchanged in July. A year earlier, the number of unemployed was 8.2 million and the jobless rate was 5.5 percent.

[Chart data—TXT]

Over the month, the unemployment rates for most major worker groups—adult men (4.3 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (16.1 percent), whites (4.3 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (5.5 percent)--showed little or no change. The jobless rate for blacks declined from 10.3 to 9.5 percent over the month.

The data in this report are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "The Employment Situation: July 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-1459.