Black Male Worker Jobless Rate: 16.7 Percent Under Obama

Between October and November 2010, the official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Black male workers over 20 years-of-age in the United States increased from 16.3 to 16.7 percent under the Democratic Obama Administration; while the unemployment rate for Black female workers over 20-years-of-age increased from 12.7 to 13.1 percent, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The official unemployment rate for all Black workers over 16 years-of-age also increased from 15.7 to 16 percent during this same period; while the jobless rate for Black youths between 16 and 19-years-of-age was still over 46 percent in November 2010.

Between October and November 2010, the official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Latino or Hispanic workers in the United States also increased from 12.6 to 13.2 percent; while the official “not seasonally adjusted” rate for Asian-American workers increased from 7.1 to 7.6 percent between October and November 2010.

The total number of officially unemployed workers in the United States increased from 14,843,000 to 15,119,000 between October and November 2010; while the “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for all U.S. male workers over 16-years-of- age increased from 10.4 to 10.6 percent. The official jobless rate for white male workers over 20-years-of-age in the United States increased from 8.9 to 9.2 percent between October and November 2010, while the unemployment rate for white female workers over 20-years-of-age increased from 7.3 to 7.6 percent.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ December 3, 5, 2010 press release:

“The unemployment rate edged up to 9.8 percent in November...Employment fell in retail trade…

“The number of unemployed persons was 15.1 million in November…

“Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs rose by 390,000 to 9.5 million in November. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was little changed at 6.3 million and accounted for 41.9 percent of the unemployed.

“The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed over the month at 9.0 million. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

“About 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in November…These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey

“Among the marginally attached, there were 1.3 million discouraged workers in November, an increase of 421,000 from a year earlier. Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them…

“Retail trade employment fell by 28,000 in November. Job losses occurred in department stores (-9,000) and in furniture and home furnishings stores (-5,000)…”