The Labor Department has released its statistics for the month of October. It showed the unemployment rate had dropped by 0.1% to 4.1% for the month. Part of this is due to the creation of 261,000 jobs, but mainly it is due to a decrease in the size of the civilian work force by 765,000 workers.

Here are the relevant statistics for October:

SIZE OF CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:

160,381,000

NUMBER OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

6,520,000

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

4.1%

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

Adult men...............3.8%
Adult women...............3.6%
Teens (16-19)...............13.7%
White...............3.5%
Black...............7.5%
Asian...............3.1%
Hispanic...............4.8%
Less than HS diploma...............5.7%
HS graduate...............4.3%
Some college...............3.7%
Bachelor's Degree or more...............2.0%

MARGINALLY-ATTACHED UNEMPLOYED (not included in official count):

1,535,000

MORE REALISTIC NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS (official + marginally-attached):

8,055,000

MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:

5.02%