Tag Archives: african american unemployment rate

Overall Unemployment: 5.1% (5.3%)

African America Unemployment: 9.5% (9.1%)

Latino America Unemployment: 6.6% (6.8%)

European America Unemployment: 4.4% (4.6%)

Asian America Unemployment: 3.5% (4.0%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: Overall unemployment neared the Federal Reserve’s full employment mandate after dropping another 20 basis points. Asian America led the way with a 50 basis point drop in unemployment rate. European and Latino America both saw 20 basis point declines. African America was the only group to see an increase in its unemployment rate with a 40 basis point increase.

African American Male Unemployment: 9.2% (8.8%)

African American Female Unemployment: 8.1% (8.0%)

African American Teenage Unemployment: 31.3% (28.7%)

African American Male Participation: 67.1% (67.0%)

African American Female Participation: 62.5% (62.1%)

African American Teenage Participation: 27.8% (28.1%)

Previous month in parentheses

Analysis: African American males unemployment rate increased by 40 basis points and 10 basis point increase in their participation rate. African American females had an increase in their unemployment rate of 10 basis points and 40 basis point increase in their participation rate. African American teenagers had a 260 basis point increase in their unemployment rate and 30 basis point decrease in their participation rate.

CONCLUSION: The overall economy added 173 000 jobs in August. African America added 22 000 jobs in August. While all other groups saw declines in their unemployment rate African America saw an uptick. This was largely due to an increase in the African American labor force by 100 000. Unfortunately, the increase was not matched by a parallel increase in jobs. The participation rate has gone virtually unchanged over the year although African American women have made significant strides in employment gains, currently at their highest number of employed. African American teenagers as a group continue to be in a state of crisis. The coming rate increase could see significant employment reductions across the board as public companies try to maintain their stock prices. Business creation remains the most viable option for dealing with the employment stagnation in African America, but limited resources make business creation and job expansion very limited. Currently, African America needs 844 000 jobs to match the nation’s unemployment rate.

Overall Unemployment: 5.3% (5.3%)

African America Unemployment: 9.1% (9.5%)

Latino America Unemployment: 6.8% (6.6%)

European America Unemployment: 4.6% (4.6%)

Asian America Unemployment: 4.0% (3.8%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: Overall unemployment went unchanged. Only African America experienced a decline, seeing a drop of 40 basis points. Asian and Latino America both experienced increases by 20 basis points.

African American Male Unemployment: 8.8% (9.5%)

African American Female Unemployment: 8.0% (7.9%)

African American Teenage Unemployment: 28.7% (31.8%)

African American Male Participation: 67.0% (67.6%)

African American Female Participation: 62.1% (62.0%)

African American Teenage Participation: 28.1% (28.6%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: African American males saw a double dip decline in both unemployment rate and participation rate by 70 and 60 basis points, respectively. African American females saw an increase in their unemployment rate by 10 basis points, but also saw an increase in their participation rate by the same. African American teenagers experienced also saw a double dip with their unemployment rate dropping by 310 basis points and their participation rate dropping by 50 basis points.

CONCLUSION: The overall economy added 215 000 jobs in June. African America added 33 000 jobs. Over the past five months, this month is the highest number of employed African Americans on record. That should be a good thing, but all other employment indicators are trending downward over the past five months. The civilian labor force is at its second lowest in the past five months showing that African America has eroding faith in finding employment. Meanwhile, the labor force that is present sees its second lowest number in participation rate over the past five months further reinforcing many to stay on the sideline. In fact, outside of the raw employed numbers all other indicators are at their second lowest over the past five month rolling. An unsettling notion as the Federal Reserve prepares to raise rates in September in what is a solid, but increasingly softer economy. African America needs 741 000 jobs to move in line with the country’s unemployment rate.

Overall Unemployment: 5.4% (5.5%)

African America Unemployment: 9.6% (10.1%)

Latino America Unemployment: 6.9% (6.8%)

European America Unemployment: 4.7% (4.7%)

Asian America Unemployment: 4.4% (3.2%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: Overall the unemployment rate dropped by 10 basis points. Asian America saw a significant rise of 120 basis points. Latino America saw a negligible rise of 10 basis points, while European America went unchanged. African American was the only group with a decline which constituted a 50 basis point drop.

African American Male Unemployment: 9.2% (10.0%)

African American Female Unemployment: 8.8% (9.2%)

African American Teenage Unemployment: 27.5% (25.0%)

African American Male Participation: 68.7% (67.2%)

African American Female Participation: 61.9% (61.4%)

African American Teenage Participation: 27.2% (25.7%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: African American males saw a 80 basis point drop in their unemployment rate and 150 basis point increase in their participation rate. African American females saw a 40 basis point drop in their unemployment rate and a 50 basis point increase in their participation rate. African American teenagers saw a 250 basis point increase in their unemployment rate and 150 basis point increase in their participation rate.

CONCLUSION: The overall economy added 223 000 jobs in April. African America added 400 000 jobs in April. The largest job increase since HBCU Money started tracking the data. Wages also saw an important uptick of 2.2 percent. The wage increase is expected to continue if the labor supply continues to shrink forcing companies and organizations into competition over limited labor supply. What remains uncertain is what drove such an outsized employment increase after an abysmal 7 000 jobs added the month before. If nothing it continues to show that African America’s employment condition will continue on a roller coaster of a ride.

Overall Unemployment: 5.5% (5.5%)

African America Unemployment: 10.1% (10.4%)

Latino America Unemployment: 6.8% (6.6%)

European America Unemployment: 4.7% (4.7%)

Asian America Unemployment: 3.2% (4.0%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: Overall the unemployment rate went unchanged. Latino America was the only group with a rising unemployment rate of 20 basis points. Asian America retains America’s lowest unemployment rate, tightening an even firmer grip with an 80 basis point drop. African America saw a decrease of 40 basis points and remains the only group with double digit unemployment.

African American Male Unemployment: 10.0% (10.4%)

African American Female Unemployment: 9.2% (8.9%)

African American Teenage Unemployment: 25.0% (30.0%)

African American Male Participation: 67.2% (67.3%)

African American Female Participation: 61.4% (61.3%)

African American Teenage Participation: 25.7% (29.1%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: African American males saw a 40 basis point decline in unemployment and a 10 basis point drop in participation rate. African American females experienced a rise in their unemployment rate 30 basis points, but maintain their single digit unemployment rate. They also got an uptick in their participation rate 10 basis points. African American teenagers had their unemployment rate decline by 500 basis points, but also their participation rate dropped a precipitously 340 basis points.

CONCLUSION: The overall economy added 126 000 jobs in March. Wages also saw a slight increase of 0.3 percent, overall. After a year of average job gains for the country at almost 270 000 jobs per month, this marks an over 50 percent decline and sparks concern among many economist. African America added only 7 000 jobs, bringing four straight months of five figure job gains to a screeching halt. The albatross are the teenagers who took a massive hit in employed numbers and their participation rate, dragging down the overall group. At current labor force levels, African America needs 40 000 jobs to obtain 9.9 percent unemployment. With weakening economy data that maybe harder to accomplish as growth both domestically and internationally appears to be grinding along.

Overall Unemployment: 5.5% (5.7%)

African America Unemployment: 10.4% (10.3%)

Latino America Unemployment: 6.6% (6.7%)

European America Unemployment: 4.7% (4.9%)

Asian America Unemployment: 4.0% (4.0%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: Overall the unemployment rate drops 20 basis points. European and Latino America see drops of 20 and 10 basis points, respectively. Asian America retains America’s lowest unemployment rate, although unchanged from last month. African America saw an increase of 10 basis points and remains the only group with double digit unemployment.

African American Male Unemployment: 10.4% (10.6%)

African American Female Unemployment: 8.9% (8.7%)

African American Teenage Unemployment: 30.0% (29.7%)

African American Male Participation: 67.3% (67.1%)

African American Female Participation: 61.3% (61.3%)

African American Teenage Participation: 29.1% (27.9%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: African American males saw a 20 basis point decline in their unemployment rate and 20 basis point rise in their participation rate. A rare combination of decreasing unemployment rate and rising participation rate. African American females saw a 20 percent rise in their unemployment rate with an unchanged participation rate. African American teenagers saw a 30 basis point rise in their unemployment rate and 120 basis point rise in their participation rate. African American females appear to have firmly entrenched their single digit unemployment rate.

CONCLUSION: The overall economy added 295 000 jobs in February. Higher than economists forecast of 235 000 for the month. African America added 51 000 jobs in the month of February. The second largest job growth jump month to month over the past five months. In a show of optimism, the African American labor force increased by 61 000, which is the largest increase over the past five months and the primary reason why there was an increase in the unemployment rate.  The question is it really optimism or just hopefulness. As a whole, African America still needs to add 88 000 jobs at current labor force levels just to reach single digit unemployment.