Tag Archives: jobs

African America’s September Jobs Report – 9.2%

jobs

Overall Unemployment: 5.1% (5.1%)

African America Unemployment: 9.2% (9.5%)

Latino America Unemployment: 6.4% (6.6%)

European America Unemployment: 4.4% (4.4%)

Asian America Unemployment: 3.6% (3.5%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: Overall unemployment went unchanged in the month of September from the previous month. African America experienced the largest decrease with a 30 basis point decline, followed by Latino America with a 20 basis point decline. European America went unchanged for the second month in a row. Asian America experienced a slight uptick of 10 basis points.

African American Male Unemployment: 8.9% (9.2%)

African American Female Unemployment: 8.0% (8.1%)

African American Teenage Unemployment: 31.5% (31.3%)

African American Male Participation: 66.9% (67.1%)

African American Female Participation: 62.1% (62.5%)

African American Teenage Participation: 28.7% (27.8%)

Previous month in parentheses.

Analysis: African American males had a 30 basis point drop in their unemployment rate and 20 basis point decline in the participation rate. African American females had 10 basis point drop in their unemployment rate and 40 basis point decline in their participation rate. African American teenagers unemployment rate increased by 20 basis points and participation rate increased by 90 basis points.

CONCLUSION: The overall economy added 142 000 jobs in September. African America added 4 000 jobs in September. African America continues to have a mixed bag of data. Number of employed are at a five month high, participation rate is at a five month low, and number of employed at a five month high. African American males have especially seen a hit of 160 basis point drop over the past five months in their participation rate. With a number of the country’s bellwether companies laying off workers ahead of a potential interest rate hike, this could see an acceleration in the unemployment increase in African America. African America currently needs 802 000 jobs to match the country’s unemployment rate.

 

African America’s August Jobs Report – 9.5%

jobs

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.

Unemployment Rate By HBCU State – June 2015

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STATES WITH RISING UNEMPLOYMENT: 3

STATES WITH DECLINING UNEMPLOYMENT: 12

STATES WITH UNCHANGED UNEMPLOYMENT: 9

MEDIAN UNEMPLOYMENT (HBCU TERRITORIES) – 5.7%

LOWEST: TEXAS – 4.2%

HIGHEST – DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA – 7.0%

STATE – UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (PREVIOUS)*

ALABAMA –  6.1% (6.1%)

ARKANSAS – 5.7% (5.7%)

CALIFORNIA – 6.3% (6.4%)

DELAWARE – 4.7% (4.6%)

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA – 7.0% (7.3%)

FLORIDA – 5.5% (5.7%)

GEORGIA – 6.1% (6.3%)

ILLINOIS – 5.9% (6.0%)

KENTUCKY – 5.1% (5.1%)

LOUISIANA – 6.4% (6.6%)

MARYLAND – 5.2% (5.3%)

MASSACHUSETTS – 4.6% (4.6%)

MICHIGAN – 5.5% (5.5%)

MISSISSIPPI – 6.6% (6.7%)

MISSOURI –  5.8% (5.8%)

NEW YORK – 5.5% (5.7%)

NORTH CAROLINA – 5.8% (5.7%)

OHIO – 5.2% (5.2%)

OKLAHOMA – 4.5% (4.3%)

PENNSYLVANIA – 5.4% (5.4%)

SOUTH CAROLINA – 6.6% (6.8%)

TENNESSEE – 5.7% (5.8%)

TEXAS – 4.2% (4.3%)

VIRGINIA – 4.9% (4.9%)

*Previous month in parentheses.

African America’s July Jobs Report – 9.1%

jobs

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.

African America’s June Jobs Report – 9.5%

jobs

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.