Chart: Unemployment rates by various demographics
The unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent in February 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Over the past 12 months, the unemployment rate has risen by 3.3 percentage points.
The unemployment rate continued to trend upward in February for various demographic groups: adult men (8.1 percent), adult women (6.7 percent), whites (7.3 percent), blacks (13.4 percent), and Hispanics (10.9 percent). The jobless rate for teenagers was little changed from January at 21.6 percent.
This data is from the BLS Current Employment Statistics program, and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent two months is preliminary. More information can be found in "The Employment Situation: February 2009," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 09-0224.