Unemployment by the numbers

Bob CollinsBob Collins Nov 7, 2008
4

The latest unemployment figures came out this morning. They’re bad. Read bad. Worse than professional pessimists thought.

The U.S. economy has lost more than 1 million jobs so far this year, the statistics show. The rate edged up to 6.5 percent, the highest in 14 years.

But here’s the startling figure in today’s report: In the past year, 2.8 million jobs have vanished.

How many is 2.8 million? Fifty-nine thousand less than the total number of people who voted for the three main candidates in Tuesday’s election in Minnesota. Imagine every person voting being out of work.

Other data:

  • The unemployment rate for whites is 5.9%. For African Americans it’s 11.1%. It’s 8.8% for Hispanics.
  • The unemployment rate for women is a full 1% lower than for men.
  • The average weekly paycheck is $611.86.
  • 6.7 million took on part-time jobs in October to help make ends meet. (Note: I believe MPR’s Elizabeth Stawicki will have a local story about this on tonight’s All Things Considered)
  • Tell your kids to go into the health care business: The industry has added 348,000 jobs in the last year. The mining industry has also added jobs.
  • The sector with the largest increase in employment last month: Government.