Last Friday the Department of Labor, Bureau or Labor Statistics (BLS) released the December Employment Situation report. As 2012 closes the national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.8% meaning there were 12.2 million jobless persons. In December the economy added 155,000 non farm payroll jobs. Job creation leaders were Healthcare adding 45,000 jobs, Food Services adding 38,000 jobs with Construction adding 30,000 jobs.
At 7.8% unemployment has remained unchanged since September. There were 4.8 million who have been been jobless for 27 weeks or more and are deemed long term unemployed. This group of long term unemployed represent 39.1 percent of the unemployed. There are 7.9 million involuntary part time workers in December because they cannot find full time work or because their hours worked have been cut.
Another category counted among the unemployment rate are the 2.6 million persons who are considered marginally attached to the labor force. This group increased from the previous month by 100,000. They are not counted as unemployed because they have not searched for work in the last four weeks. Among the marginally attached workers there are 1.1 million discouraged workers who has simply given up because they do not believe there is a job out there for them. This is an increase from the previous month.
When you add the 12.2 million unemployed, 7.9 million involuntary part time workers and 2.6 discouraged workers the sum is 22.7 million unemployed or underemployed people. This is unchanged from the previous month.
To view the full report can go to http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf. The next national Employment Situation report will be released by the Department of Labor on February 1, 2013 that will cover December 2012.
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