Overall Unemployment: 5.3% (5.5%)
African America Unemployment: 9.5% (10.2%)
Latino America Unemployment: 6.6% (6.7%)
European America Unemployment: 4.6% (4.7%)
Asian America Unemployment: 3.8% (4.4%)
Previous month in parentheses.
Analysis: Overall unemployment dropped 20 basis points. All groups saw declines in their unemployment rate with African and Asian America seeing the most significant declines at 70 and 60 basis points, respectively. Latino and European America both saw declines of 10 basis points.
African American Male Unemployment: 9.5% (10.2%)
African American Female Unemployment: 7.9% (8.8%)
African American Teenage Unemployment: 31.8% (30.1%)
African American Male Participation: 67.6% (68.5%)
African American Female Participation: 62.0% (61.9%)
African American Teenage Participation: 28.6% (28.7%)
Previous month in parentheses.
Analysis: African American male unemployment dropped 70 basis points, while the participation rate dropped 90 basis points. African American female unemployment dropped 90 basis points, while the participation rate rose 10 basis points. African American teenage unemployment rate spiked 170 basis points, while the participation rate dropped 10 basis points.
CONCLUSION: The overall economy added 223 000 jobs in June. African America added 60 000 jobs. Everything that glitters is not gold. Despite job gains, African America saw 82 000 people leave the work force in June, which is in combination with the job gains pushed the unemployment rate back into the single digits. Not the combination you want to see given labor force is an indictor of employment optimism or pessimism. Wages overall in the country also remain stubbornly unmoved. African American females remain the cornerstone of economic health in the community adding 100 000 jobs, but males and teenagers lost 25 000 and 14 000, respectively. Things are not bad (by normal African American standards), but they are not getting better. The economy seems to be in a holding pattern of uncertainty. African America’s trends are largely stagnant over the past five months with continued gains and losses from month to month, while currently needing to pick up 820 000 jobs to move African America’s unemployment rate in line with the country’s average.
HBCU Money 