The American Worker - Unemployment

In January 2005 the number of unemployed workers in the United States was 7.7 million, which equaled an unemployment rate of 5.2%. According to the BLS in "The Employment Situation: January 2005" (February 4, 2005), the unemployment rate for adult men was 4.7% and for women 4.6%; teenagers were unemployed at a rate of 16.3%. Among Asian-American workers, 4.2% were unemployed in January 2005, as were 4.4% of white workers, 6.1% of Hispanic or Latino workers, and 10.6% of African-American workers. Those considered long-term unemployed (for at least twenty-seven consecutive weeks) made up 20.9% of the total number of unemployed people. The unemployment rate for all U.S. workers over the age of sixteen rose sharply over the course of 2001, gradually increased in 2002, and then peaked in 2003 before dropping in 2004 to a level slightly below that of early 2002. (See Figure 6.4.) Table 6.10 shows unemployment by industry and gender in 2002 and 2003.