An attendee explores a job in the State of California during a City Career Fair hiring event in Sacramento, California on June 5, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg |
According to data released Friday by the Labor Department, the unemployment rate for black workers fell in August.
In August, the unemployment rate for black workers fell to 6.1% from 6.3% in the previous month. This trend was in line with the country's overall unemployment rate, which fell from 4.2% to 6.1% in August.
On the other hand, unemployment among white workers remained stable at 3.8%. The unemployment rate also rose among Asian and Hispanic workers. For the former, it rose from 3.7% to 4.1%. For the latter, it rose from 5.3% to 5.5%.
Unemployment among black men has declined sharply month over month, with their unemployment rate falling from 6.6% to 5.9%. Among black women, however, the unemployment rate remained stable at 5.5%.
While the unemployment rate for Hispanic women fell from 5.4% to 5%, it rose for men from 4.4% to 4.8%. The unemployment rate for white men also rose from 3.5% to 3.6%, while it remained unchanged for white women at 3.4%.
A look at the employment rate for female workers in their prime, i.e. between 25 and 54, paints a very optimistic picture of the labor market, according to Elise Gould, economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
“The employment-to-population ratio for prime-age women remains at a quarter-century high,” she told CNBC. “It remains very strong, although there are still some moderations in other metrics.”
“It is understandable that we are experiencing some weakness now as we approach full employment,” Gould added.
Last month, the labor force participation rate – the percentage of the population that is either employed or actively seeking work – remained unchanged at 62.7%.
Among white workers, the rate remained stable, while among black workers it fell from 63.2% to 62.7%. Among Asian workers, the rate fell from 65.7% to 65.4%, while among Hispanic workers it rose from 67.3% to 67.8%.
— CNBC's Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report.
Correction: The unemployment rate for black women remained stable at 5.5%. An earlier version misstated the percentage.
Comments are closed.