February 05, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment rate rises in January

The number of unemployed rose by about 300,000 in January to nearly 6.0 million, pushing the unemployment rate from 4.0 to 4.2 percent. The jobless rate had ranged from 3.9 to 4.1 percent since October 1999. 

Unemployment rates, January 2001 (seasonally adjusted)
[Chart data—TXT]

The unemployment rates for each of the major worker groups—adult men (3.6 percent), adult women (3.6 percent), teenagers (13.8 percent), whites (3.6 percent), blacks (8.4 percent), and Hispanics (6.0 percent)—were marginally higher in January. 

These data are a product of the Current Population Survey. All of the above figures are seasonally adjusted. Find out more in "The Employment Situation: January 2001," news release USDL 01-35.

Happy 10th Birthday, TED!

The very first issue of The Editor's Desk (TED) was posted on September 28, 1998. TED was the first online-only publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For 10 years, BLS has been committed to posting a new TED article each business day, for a total of over 2,400 articles so far.

Find out more about the story of TED