February 10, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Jobless rate drops to 5.7 percent in January 2003

The unemployment rate fell to 5.7 percent in January; the number of unemployed persons was 8.3 million.

[Chart data—TXT]

The seasonally-adjusted jobless rates for major demographic groups were as follows: adult men (5.4 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (16.8 percent), whites (5.1 percent), blacks or African Americans (10.3 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (7.8 percent).

The unemployment rate for Asians, a newly available series, was 5.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted.

These data are the product of the recently enhanced Current Population Survey (CPS).  Several major changes affect the Current Population Survey (household survey) data: new population controls that reflect Census 2000 results and new information about net migration, the use of new questions about race and Hispanic ethnicity, the introduction of new industry and occupational classifications, improvements in seasonal adjustment procedures, and the annual update of seasonal adjustment factors.  For more information on current unemployment, see The Employment Situation: January 2003 (PDF) (TXT).