Job seekers talk to recruiters at the Bronx Library Center of the New York Public Library of the Year Bronx Library Center held Friday, September 6, 2024 at the Bronx Library Center of the New York Public Library of the Year Bronx Library Center in the Bronx District, New York, USA .
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Black men’s unemployment surged in January as the number of people seeking jobs increased, according to data released on Friday. Ministry of Labor.
In January, the unemployment advantage of black workers rose to 6.2% from 6.1% the previous month. This trend makes Overall unemployment rate For the country, January fell to 4.0% from 4.1% in December. Asian Americans are the only population, i.e. the unemployment rate rose to 3.7% from 3.5% to 3.7%.
On the other hand, the unemployment rate for White and Hispanic workers follows the entire trend and dropped last month in January. For the former it dropped from 3.6% to 3.5%. For the latter, it dropped from 5.1% to 4.8%.
But blacks experienced the biggest monthly surge in unemployment, which surged from 5.6% to 6.9%. On the other hand, the unemployment rate for black women remained at 5.4%.
Although Hispanic men also saw the unemployment rate remained stable at 4.0%, the unemployment rate among female peers dropped from 5.3% to 4.5%. The unemployment rate for white men also fell from 3.3% to 3.1%, while the unemployment rate for white women also fell from 3.4% to 3.3%. Asian Americans do not easily obtain gender breakdowns.
While the surge in unemployment among black male workers is certainly shocking on the surface, the Bureau of Labor Statistics made some changes to its population control and survey tools in January, which made it difficult to compare the data to previous months. Gould, senior economist at the Institute of Economic Policy. Gould may also attribute the surge to standard data fluctuations.
“I think you need to see a few months of elevation, not just a buoy of data, to think something sinister has happened,” she told CNBC. However, “clearly, the simple fact that it’s much higher than other groups is the simple fact that it’s much higher than other groups.” It’s a systematic problem in itself.”
Gould added that part of the unemployment rate for black men may be due to the fact that they joined the job market in January.
Last month, the labor force participation rate (the percentage of the population that takes up or actively seeks jobs from 62.5% of people) rose to 62.6%.
Among black workers, interest rates rose from 62.4% to 62.5%. The rate of black men jumped from 68.2% to 69%, while black women were slightly higher than 62.4%.
“When unemployment increases, but participation increases, it usually means people are more optimistic or go back to the labor market to find jobs,” Gould added.
Among white workers, labor force participation rate rose from 62.2% to 62.3%. Among Asian workers, the participation rate increased from 64.3% to 64.7%, and among Hispanic workers, it fell to 66.8% of 67.5%.
– Gabriel Cortes of CNBC contributed to this report.
