Jobless Rates Decline for Blacks in April and from a Year Ago

115,000 Jobs Created In April, but Mid-Winter Hiring Dampened Spring Job Increases

By Frederick H. Lowe
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for African-American men and women dropped in April, compared with March. The jobless rate among blacks also declined significantly from a year ago, the U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics reported on Friday.

The April unemployment rate for black men and black women 20 years old and older was 13 percent, compared with 14 percent in March, bureau officials said. April's decline was significant, compared with the black unemployment rate of 16.2 percent in April 2011.

The government reported that April's jobless rate for black men was 13.6 percent, compared with 13.8 percent in March. April's unemployment rate for men dropped dramatically from 17 percent in April 2011.

As for women 20 years old and older, April's jobless rate was 10.8 percent, compared with 12.3 percent in March. For the same 30-day period a year earlier, the unemployment among black women 21 years old and older was 13.5 percent.

Although unemployment dropped for black men and black women, it still was higher than those for other major worker groups. The jobless rate for whites was 7.4 percent in April, and it was 10.3 percent for Hispanics. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.2 percent, but it was not seasonally adjusted.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics disclosed the jobless rate for the African Americans and other ethnic and racial groups at the same time it reported that nonfarm payroll employment rose 115,000 in April and that the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent from 8.2 percent in March.

“The job-creation rate was lower than what we have been seeing, but we shouldn't freak out because we are not slipping back into recession,” said Dr. Heidi Shierholz, a labor-market economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

Shierholz explained that the nation's mild winter affected hiring in the spring.  “Warm weather increases economic activity,” she said. “People shop. The warm weather forced employers to hire workers in the winter they planned to hire in the spring. Hiring normally increases in the spring, not in the winter.”

The White House Council of Economic Advisors noted monthly jobless figures are volatile, and employment estimates are often revised. 

The U.S. Bureau of Employment Statistics said there were 968,000 discouraged workers in April. They are individuals who have given up looking for work because they don't believe jobs are available.

There also were 2.4 million marginally attached workers who are available for work and have looked for a job in the past 12 months, but have not found one.

Nevertheless, the council said the April's jobs report reflected the 26th consecutive week the private sector has added jobs. 

To challenge expected Republican Party criticism that job growth is weak, the White House posted a chart on its website showing that in April 2008, the private sector shed 200,000 jobs and in April 2009, the economy lost nearly 800,000 jobs.

“Today's employment report provides further evidence that the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, but much more remains to be done to repair the damage caused by the financial crisis and the deep recession,” the White House Council of Economic Advisors said.

Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, the presumed Republican Party nominee for president, jumped on the jobs report, telling Fox & Friends that the economy should be creating 500,000 jobs per month. The website Think Progress said there only have been four months since 1939 that the economy has added 500,000 or more jobs.

Shierholz said 500,000 jobs per month would lead to 5 percent full employment in two years. She explained there is a lack of demand for work, and Romney is not talking about making investments in the nation's infrastructure that would create demand. “There's a real disconnect there,” she added.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that in April professional and business services added 62,000 jobs, retail trade added 29,000 jobs, health care added 19,000 jobs, restaurants and bars added 20,000 jobs and manufacturing added 16,000 jobs.
 
Transportation and warehousing, however, lost 17,000 jobs because of declines in passenger transportation and courier/messenger services. Employment in mining, logging, construction, wholesale trade, information, financial activities and government remained flat.