Black Male Worker "Not Seasonally Adjusted" Jobless Rate Still 17.5 Percent Under Obama & GOP House of Representatives

In February 2011, the official “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Black male workers over 20 years-of-age in the United States was still 17.5 percent under the Democratic Obama Administration and the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives; while the “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Black female workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 12.9 to 13 percent between January and February 2011, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Black youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age also was still 37.2 percent in February 2011. The number of unemployed Black female workers over 20 years-of-age in the United States also increased by 13,000--from 1,179,000 to 1,192,000--between January and February 2011, according to the “seasonally adjusted” data.

Between January and February 2011, the official number of employed Latino or Hispanic workers in the United States also dropped by 131,000—from 19,711,000 to 19,580,000—according to the “not seasonally adjusted” data; and the number of Latino or Hispanic women workers over 20 years-of-age with jobs decreased by 188,000—from 7,873,000 to 7,685,000 during this same period.

The number of unemployed white women workers over 20 years-of-age also increased by 52,000—from 3,808,000 to 3,860,000—between January and February 2011, according to the “seasonally adjusted” data; while the official jobless rate for white women workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 7 to 7.1 percent during the same period. The official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for white male workers over 20 years-of-age was still 9.1 percent in February 2011; while the “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for all U.S. male workers over 16 years-of-age was still 10.5 percent in February 2011. For all U.S. workers (male and female) over 16 years-of-age, the official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate was still 9.5 percent in February 2011; while the official “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for all young workers between the ages of 16 and 19 years-of-age was still 24.1 percent in February 2011.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ March 4 2011 press release:

“…The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was 6.0 million and accounted for 43.9 percent of the unemployed…

“The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged at 8.3 million in February. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job…

“In February, 2.7 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, up from 2.5 million a year earlier…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 1.0 million discouraged workers in February…Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them…

“Employment in both state and local government edged down over the month. Local government has lost 377,000 jobs since its peak in September 2008…”