Key Points:
- The unemployment rate for Black workers dropped to 6.1% in August, down from 6.3% in July.
- Joblessness fell for both Black men and Hispanic women.
- The labor force participation rate held steady for white workers but decreased for Black and Asian workers.
The unemployment rate for Black workers saw a notable decline in August, according to data released Friday by the Department of Labor.
In August, the jobless rate for Black workers fell to 6.1%, down from 6.3% the previous month, aligning with a slight dip in the overall U.S. unemployment rate, which declined to 4.2% in August from July.
By contrast, unemployment for white workers remained steady at 3.8%. Meanwhile, the jobless rates for Asian and Hispanic workers rose. For Asian workers, unemployment increased to 4.1% from 3.7%, and for Hispanic workers, it edged up to 5.5% from 5.3%.
Black men saw a significant month-to-month decrease in unemployment, with their rate falling to 5.9% from 6.6%. However, the unemployment rate for Black women remained unchanged at 5.5%.
Hispanic women also experienced a drop in unemployment, with their rate decreasing to 5% from 5.4%. However, Hispanic men faced rising unemployment, with the rate climbing to 4.8% from 4.4%. For white men, unemployment ticked up slightly to 3.6% from 3.5%, while it held steady at 3.4% for white women.
Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, provided an optimistic outlook regarding the employment-to-population ratio for prime-age female workers (ages 25 to 54).
“The employment-to-population ratio for women’s prime-age workers remains at a quarter-century high,” Gould told CNBC. “This remains very strong, even if there is still a little bit of softening in other measures.”
Gould also noted that the overall labor market is showing signs of approaching full employment, stating, “It makes sense we’ll see some weakness now that we’re approaching full employment.”
The labor force participation rate — the percentage of the population either employed or actively seeking work — remained steady at 62.7% overall in August. Among white workers, the rate held firm, while it dropped to 62.7% from 63.2% for Black workers. Participation also slipped among Asian workers, falling to 65.4% from 65.7%, while it rose for Hispanic workers, climbing to 67.8% from 67.3%.
