An interesting analysis by Josh Elliott-Traficante, published on the The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy web site
The June unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.6%. While the ranks of the unemployed grew by 17,000, the increase was not large enough to change the rate. The number of those not in the workforce grew by 12,000, but those classified as wanting a job fell by 132,000.
The critical labor force participation rate increased by one tenth of a point to 63.5%, marking three straight months of improvement. While this rate, a reflection of the large numbers of people who have left the workforce due to the recession, is still at 30 year lows, incremental increases are an encouraging sign.