We’re Hiring, Part-Time Heroes Wanted, sign at Target store entrance, Queens, New York.
Lindsey Nicholson | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
The unemployment rate for Black Americans jumped in March, according to data released Friday by the Department of Labor.
Black unemployment reached 6.4% last month, up from 5.6% in February. That’s higher than the overall unemployment rate, which fell slightly to 3.8% last month, as well as the 3.4% unemployment rate for white Americans, which has remained steady since February.
Controlling for gender, the unemployment rate for black women aged 20 or older reached 5.6%, a sharp increase from February’s rate of 4.4%. Unemployment rates for black men increased slightly, from 6.1% to 6.2%.
“It’s a worrying trend,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, noting that the unemployment rate for Black Americans has been rising steadily since December. “I would say it’s not alarming yet, but I think it’s something we really need to monitor in the coming months,” she added.
Although March’s increase was primarily due to the sharp rise among black women, Gould noted that over the past four months, unemployment rates for both sexes have increased. However, she also cautioned that monthly data on demographic groups can be inherently very volatile.
Last month, the labor force participation rate – the percentage of the population that is employed or actively seeking work – among Black Americans fell slightly to 63.6%, from 63.7% in February. For black women, the rate fell from 63.4% to 63%, while it fell to 69.6% compared to 69.8% for black men.
“People are looking for more opportunities, but not everyone is getting them, and that’s why the unemployment rate is increasing,” Gould added.
This compares to the overall U.S. labor force participation rate, which increased to 62.7% in March from 62.5% in February.
Black Americans are the demographic that has suffered the most from Covid-induced business closures. The unemployment rate for Black workers peaked at 16.8% in 2020, higher than the overall unemployment rate of 14.7% reached in April 2020.
Hispanic Americans saw their unemployment rate drop to 4.5%, from 5% last month. Likewise, unemployment in Asia fell to 2.5% from 3.4% in February.
— CNBC’s Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report.
cnbc
