Black unemployment rises, August unemployment rate drops for all other groups

A man walks past a “Now Hiring” sign outside a store on August 16, 2021, in Arlington, Virginia. | Source: OLIVIER DOULIERY / Getty
In yet another indication that black America was being left behind by the country’s economic recovery, august employment report have shown that Black unemployment last month the rate rose while unemployment for all other groups fell.
August jobs report has been widely viewed as a disappointment, if not a complete failure, for Black workers, with recent gains in labor markets.
Rising black unemployment rates nearly wiped out notable hires in July, when the jobs report showed the same rate was falling by a percentage point. But on Friday, the black unemployment rate stood at 8.8%, proof that it was moving in the wrong direction after rates of 8.2% in July and 9.2% in June.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for whites fell from 0.3% to 4.5%; the Asian unemployment rate fell from 0.7% to 4.6%; and the unemployment rate for Hispanic and Latino workers fell from 0.2% to 6.4%.
And while some of the sub-demographics within each group can generally fluctuate with each employment report, in August the unemployment rates for black men, women, and youth rose dramatically, as did the unemployment rate. aggregate of all black workers.
Notably, the unemployment rate for black women, in particular, has increased because hiring in the retail and hospitality industries has halted after months of job creation. Women of color – and especially black women – have had a harder time than other workers looking for work because they historically do not fare well in weak economies.
âGetting in and out of poverty really means that people are on that unstable base, so they can’t invest in their education, they can’t invest in career choice,â Kate Bahn, director of market policy in the work at the Washington Center for equitable growth, said on the 19th, an independent, non-profit newsroom that deals with gender, politics and politics. âThey might be able to find a job and make ends meet, but they are not in a position to plan for long-term investments that would lead to upward mobility. “
Unemployment among black youth climbed 4.6%, the largest peak of any black working group.
The unemployment rate for black teens jumped 4.6 percentage points to 17.9%. Sadly, this is still a low level for black teens, but their unemployment rate has reached an all-time high in the previous three months.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research, an independent think tank that provides context regarding the U.S. economy, noted in an email to NewsOne that the 17.9 percent unemployment rate for black youth is still relatively low – believe it or not – “but their unemployment rate reached an all time high in the previous three months.”
CNBC became even more granular and noted the uneven economic recovery as evidenced by the fact that black workers with associate’s degrees had an unemployment rate more than a percentage point higher than white dropouts.
The point is that while there are a growing number of blacks who are working or looking for work, there are still many more who are not being hired.
“A lot of people find jobs, but a larger portion of those who went looking didn’t,” AFL-CIO chief economist William Spriggs and former department chair told CNBC. of Economics from Howard University. âSo the black unemployment rate has gone up because employers continue to let black workers through. “
Spriggs added: âWhen you look at these numbers, it’s clear that employers are saying, ‘We want workers, but not exactly. “”
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