Meltdown 101: A by-the-numbers look at why the unemployment rate rose as job losses slowed

Meltdown 101: Unemployment by the numbers

If the recession really is ending, someone forgot to tell the nation’s employers.

A net total of 263,000 jobs vanished from the economy last month — much worse than economists’ expectation of 180,000 job losses.

The Labor Department figures set the stage for a scenario that labor analysts expect: that joblessness will continue to rise for several months or more after the economy starts to rebound.

The unemployment rate stands at 9.8 percent, a 26-year high. The rate would have been higher if 571,000 people hadn’t dropped out of the labor force, which many did in frustration over failing to find jobs.

That leaves 15.1 million Americans out of work, a huge pool of people. Many discouraged workers are likely to re-enter the labor market and compete for jobs that will eventually be created.

That’s why the overall unemployment rate — measuring people searching for work who can’t find it — can continue to rise even after employers start creating thousands of jobs each month.

Even though economists think the economy has begun to grow, it could be well into 2010 before job creation ramps up. Here are some details, by the numbers.

SLACK IN THE WORK FORCE

33: The average number of hours in a workweek. This figure fell back to the record low it hit earlier this year. It indicates many companies aren’t operating near full capacity — and they may boost the hours of their part-time workers before hiring more full-time staff.

103,000: The increase in people who hold a part-time job because they can’t find full-time work. That number has climbed steadily this year, reaching 9.1 million in September.

$616.11: The average weekly earnings of private-sector workers. This figure has fallen 1.3 percent since January, in part because employers are cutting hours.

$18.67: The average hourly wage. Up a penny from August.

DISMAL PROSPECTS:

26.2 weeks: The average duration that unemployed workers are out of a job, a record high since the Labor Department started tracking the figure in 1948. The figure is up from 19.8 weeks in January.

5.4 million: The number of people unemployed longer than 27 weeks, also at a post-World War II peak, though today’s larger labor market is a contributing factor.

17 percent: The unemployment rate when it includes frustrated workers who have dropped out of the labor market, people forced into part-time work and those who want a job but haven’t looked recently.

263,0000: The total number of jobs lost in September.

HARDER ON MEN

10.3 percent: The unemployment rate for men over age 20, up from 10.1 percent last month. Men were hit particularly hard by job cuts at factories and construction sites.

7.8 percent: The unemployment rate for women, 2 percentage points less than the overall average.

25.9 percent: The record-high unemployment rate among teenagers.

9 percent: The unemployment rate for white adults.

15.4 percent: The unemployment rate for black adults

12.7 percent: The unemployment rate for Hispanic adults

LEADING IN JOB LOSSES

64,000: The number of construction jobs lost in September, mostly in nonresidential and heavy construction. The sector has lost 1.5 million jobs since the recession began.

51,000: The number of manufacturing jobs lost in September. The sector has lost 2.1 million jobs since the recession began.

10,000: The number of financial sector jobs lost in September. The sector has lost 541,000 jobs since the recession began.

____

ONE HEALTHY SECTOR

19,000: Number of health care jobs added in September.

559,000: Number of health care jobs added since recession began

22,000: Average monthly job gain in the health care sector this year.

30,000: Average monthly job gain in the health care sector last year.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

(This version CORRECTS last line to reflect 30,000 monthly health care jobs created “last” year) )