HBCU Money

Overall Unemployment: 5.0% (5.1%)

African America Unemployment: 9.2% (9.2%)

Latino America Unemployment: 6.3% (6.4%)

European America Unemployment: 4.4% (4.4%)

Asian America Unemployment: 3.5% (3.6%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: Overall unemployment dropped 10 basis points in the month of October from the previous month. African and European American both saw unchanged unemployment rates. Asian and Latino America both saw decreases of 10 basis points.

African American Male Unemployment: 9.2% (8.9%)

African American Female Unemployment: 8.1% (8.0%)

African American Teenage Unemployment: 25.6% (31.5%)

African American Male Participation: 67.0% (66.9%)

African American Female Participation: 62.5% (62.1%)

African American Teenage Participation: 27.0% (28.7%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis:African American males had a 30 basis point increase in their unemployment rate and a 10 basis point increase in their participation rate. African American females had a 10 basis point increase in their unemployment rate and a 40 basis point increase in their participation rate. African American teenagers  unemployment rate declined 590 basis points and participation rate also experienced a decline of 170 basis points.

CONCLUSION: The overall economy added 271 000 jobs in October. African America added 47 000 jobs in October. African America’s economy is stagnant. Very little movement in key factors like the participation rate have basically gone unchanged the past five months. Despite this, the labor force continues to see a steady increase the past five months. Going into the holiday season should be helpful to seasonal hiring and improve the employment numbers. African American needs an increase of 817 000 jobs to match the country’s unemployment rate. An increase of 15 000 from September’s number.