February 07, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment rate decreases in January 2005

Both the number of unemployed persons, 7.7 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.2 percent, declined in January 2005.

[Chart data—TXT]

From December 2004 to January 2005, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.7 percent), whites (4.4 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (6.1 percent) edged down, while the rates for adult women (4.6 percent), teenagers (16.3 percent), and blacks or African Americans (10.6 percent) showed little change.

The number of long-term unemployed—those unemployed 27 weeks and over—was about unchanged over the month. This group accounted for 20.9 percent of the unemployed.

These data are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "The Employment Situation: January 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-178.