January 11, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Unemployment rate continued to drop
in early 1998, then stayed down
The unemployment rate dropped from 4.6 percent in the first
quarter of 1998 to 4.4 percent in the second quarter. The rate changed very little
after that; the fourth quarter unemployment rate was also 4.4 percent. Month-to-month, the
jobless rate remained within a narrow range of 4.3 to 4.5 percent from April 1998 onward.
[Chart data—TXT]
Other measures of labor market activity also improved in 1998: - The number of persons unemployed 15 weeks and over declined by about 300,000 over the
year.
- The number employed part time for economic reasons (those who would have preferred
full-time work) declined by about 330,000 over the year.
- The number of marginally attached workers—those who wanted and were available for
work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but were not counted as
unemployed because they had not actually searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the
survey—was down 257,000 over the year.
These data are a product of the Current Population
Survey. More information can be found in news release USDL 99-06, "The Employment Situation: December
1998."Â Quarter-to-quarter comparisons are based on seasonally-adjusted data
that have been revised to incorporate experience through December 1998.Â
Over-the-year comparisons reflect adjustments for new composite estimation procedures and
revised population controls that were introduced in January 1998.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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