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

Unemployment rates in October

The number of unemployed persons (8.2 million) and the unemployment rate (5.7 percent) were essentially unchanged in October.

[Chart data—TXT]

The jobless rate for adult women edged up to 5.2 percent in October, while the rates for the other major worker groups—adult men (5.2 percent), teenagers (14.6 percent), whites (5.1 percent), blacks (9.8 percent), and Hispanics (7.8 percent)—showed little or no change over the month.

About 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in October, little changed from a year earlier. These individuals reported that they wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed, however, because they had not actively searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. 

The data in this report are products of the Current Population Survey. For more information, see  "The Employment Situation, October 2002" (PDF) (TXT) news release USDL 02-612.  

Related TED article:

• Payroll employment in October