Black Jobless Rate Worsens Despite National Gains

by Frederick H. Lowe
The nation's overall, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined in December, compared with November. However, the jobless rate for African Americans actually grew worse because, as the economy improved, more black women and black teenagers entered the job market, but many were unable to find work.

In December, the nation's seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll created 212,000 private-sector jobs, which helped reduce the nation's overall unemployment rate to 8.5 percent, compared with 8.6 percent in November. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported job increases in transportation and warehousing, retail trade, manufacturing, health care and food services.

Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist for the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank, wrote that the improved unemployment numbers capped off 2011 on a positive note.

"Both the establishment survey and the household survey showed improvement - the labor market added 200,000 [212,000] jobs, hours and wages were up, unemployment tricked down, underemployment dropped and the duration of unemployment spells declined," Shierholz wrote. "This is a step in the right direction."

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for whites 20 years old and older in December dropped to 7.5 percent, compared with 7.6 percent in November, according to the bureau.

On the other hand, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate among African Americans 20 years old and older was 15.8 percent in December, compared with 15.5 percent in November, the bureau reported on January 6. The number of black men and women in this age category who were unemployed in December was 2.862 million, compared with 2.783 million in November.

Algernon Austin, a sociologist who is director of Race, Ethnicity and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute, said the higher unemployment rate for African Americans resulted when more black women 20 years old and older and teenagers 16 to 19 years old applied for jobs but often were unable to find work.

Reports of an improving economy have spurred individuals who had stopped looking for work to renew their searches.
 
The unemployment rate among black women was 13.9 percent in December, up from 13 percent in November, reported the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The employment-population ratio among black women 20 years old and older in December was 53.5 percent, down slightly from 53.7 percent in November. The employment-population ratio represents the percentage of the population that is employed, and it can be interpreted as the probability that a member of the population is employed.

The unemployment rate for black teenagers 16 to 19 years old was 42.1 percent in December, up from 39.6 percent in November.  The employment ratio for black teenagers was 15.3 percent in December, a slight increase from 15.1 percent in November, according to the bureau.

Austin also said large numbers of African Americans are employed by state and local government, where significant job cuts have been made because of fiscal-belt tightening. According to the BLS, seasonally adjusted employment in state government was 5.1 million in December, which was flat, compared with November. 

Seasonal employment in state government, excluding education, dropped 2.9 percent in December, compared with November, and seasonal employment in local government and education dropped 9.4 percent to 7.83 million in December from 7.84 million in November.  Federal, state and local government jobs have fallen by 280,000, excluding education and the U.S. Postal Service, in two years.

Black men still suffer from the highest unemployment rate among all ethnic and racial groups.  In December, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for black men 20 years old and older was 15.7 percent, down from 16.4 percent in November.

The employment-population ratio for black men 20 years old and older in December improved slightly to 58.2 percent, from 57.3 percent in November. The employment-population ratio for black men is still well below the 64.7 percent mark set in December 2007, the first month of the "Great Recession."