April 11, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment in March 2006

Both the number of unemployed persons, 7.0 million, and the unemployment rate, 4.7 percent, were little changed in March.

[Chart data—TXT]

The jobless rates for the major worker groups—adult men (4.1 percent), adult women (4.1 percent), teenagers (15.7 percent), whites (4.0 percent), blacks (9.3 percent), and Hispanics (5.4 percent)—showed little or no change over the month.

The number of long-term unemployed—those unemployed 27 weeks and over—also was little changed over the month. This group accounted for 18.4 percent of the unemployed, down from 21.5 percent a year earlier.

These data are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. More information can be found in The Employment Situation: March 2006 (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-607.