The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate increased slightly from 7.5% to 7.6% in May. Each month, comments on this number include a discussion on “labor force participation"—the number that is released is based on people who are “in the labor force.” To be included in the labor force, someone has to either be employed, or actively looking for work. 

The nation’s economy added 175,000 new jobs in May and the jobless rate slightly increased to 7.6% compared to April’s 7.5%, according to  figures released this morning  by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 175,000 new May jobs outpaced April’s job growth by 10,000 and marked 38 straight months of tepid job growth. But economists say the growth rate is too slow to fuel a healthy jobs recovery.

The nation’s economy added 165,000 new jobs in April while the jobless rate dropped to 7.5% from March's 7.6%, according to  figures released this morning  by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

While the nation’s economy added 157,000 new jobs in January, the job creation wasn’t enough to prevent the unemployment rate from slightly ticking up from December’s 7.8% to 7.9% last month, according to  figures released this morning  by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The nation’s economy added 155,000 new jobs in December and the jobless rate was unchanged from November’s adjusted 7.8%, according to  figures released this morning  by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The 155,000 jobs created reflect 34 straight months of positive job growth.

This is the first of a four-part series describing what went wrong with America’s economy and how to fix it. See Part 2 tomorrow—and please leave a comment to tell us what you think. (Click the chart to enlarge.)

The Great Recession  officially ended more than three years ago , but working families know there’s still something wrong with the U.S. economy.  If we want to fix our economy, we first have to understand what’s wrong with it. (Click chart on the left to enlarge). 

Starting today, in a series of four posts and infographics, we’ll spell out what we see as the short-term and long-term causes of our economic problems and we’ll point to specific solutions.

The unemployment rate  declined from 8.3 percent in July to 8.1 percent  in August, with 96,000 jobs added last month, according to data out this morning from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The improvement in the unemployment rate was due to workers dropping out of the labor force, not to an increase in employed workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute ( EPI ). 

Jessica Camacho is a policy intern at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C.

As a low-income and first-generation college student in my family, the subject of student loans has been a matter of acute concern to me. High school counselors constantly told me that student loans are “good debt.” This type of information made it justifiable for peers in similar socioeconomic situations to borrow federal and private loans. But lenders take advantage of first-time borrowers by failing to explain in full detail future payment plans, which may cause individuals to be fiscally unprepared for post-graduate life. Current student debt trends must be fixed in order to stop setting up graduates for a lifetime of financial struggles.

The nation’s unemployment rate jumped to 9 percent in April, up from March’s 8.8 percent, according to the latest government figures. But the monthly payroll survey shows the economy added 244,000 jobs, the largest monthly gain in five years.