What is the unemployment rate of North America?

Nonfarm payroll employment edged up (+88,000) in April, and the unemployment

rate was essentially unchanged at 4.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of

the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job gains continued in several

service-providing industries, including health care and food services, while

employment declined in retail trade and manufacturing.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons (6.8 million) and the unemployment rate (4.5

percent) were essentially unchanged in April. The jobless rate has ranged from

4.4 to 4.6 percent since September 2006. (See table A-1.)

Over the month, the jobless rates for the major worker groups--adult men (4.0

percent), adult women (3.8 percent), teenagers (15.3 percent), whites (3.9 percent),

blacks (8.2 percent), and Hispanics (5.4 percent)--showed little or no change. The

unemployment rate for Asians was 3.3 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables

A-2 and A-3.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In April, total employment and the employment-population ratio fell to 145.8

million and 63.0 percent, respectively. The civilian labor force also fell over

the month, to 152.6 million, and the labor force participation rate declined to

66.0 percent. The labor force participation rate was little changed over the

year. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In April, 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally at-

tached to the labor force compared with 1.3 million a year earlier. These in-

dividuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime

during the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they

had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the mar-

ginally attached, there were 399,000 discouraged workers in April, about the

same as a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking for

work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The

remaining 992,000 persons marginally attached to the labor force in April had

not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as

school attendance and family responsibilities.