Black Worker Unemployment Rate Increases To 13.1 Percent In October 2013

The official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all Black workers (youth, male and female) increased from 12.9 to 13.1 percent between September and October 2013; while the total number of jobless Black workers in the United States increased by 25,000 (from 2,402,000 to 2,427,000) during the same period, according to recently released Bureau of Labor Statistics data. In addition, between September and October 2013, the official jobless rate for Black female workers over 20 years-of-age jumped from 10 to 11.5 percent; while the number of unemployed Black female workers over 20 years-of-age increased by 143,000 (from 946,000 to 1,089,000) during the same period.

The official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Black youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age increased from 35.1 to 36 percent between September and October 2013; while the number of Black youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age who still had jobs dropped by 43,000 (from 487,000 to 444,000) during the same period. In addition, between September and October 2013, the jobless rate for white youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age increased from 19.3 to 19.4 percent; while the number of white youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age who still had jobs decreased by 5,000 (from 3,695,000 to 3,690,000) during the same period. And the number of unemployed white youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age increased by 6,000 (from 882,000 to 888,000) between September and October 2013.

The official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Latino youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age jumped from 25.8 to 27.4 percent between September and October 2013: while the number of Latino youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age who still had jobs decreased by 10,000 (from 831,000 to 821,000) during the same period. In addition, the number of unemployed Latino youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age in the United States increased by 30,000 (from 289,000 to 309,000) between September and October 2013; while the number of Asian-American workers in the United States who still had jobs decreased by 163,000 (from 8,218,000 to 8,055,000), according to the “not seasonally adjusted” data.

According to the “seasonally adjusted” data, the total number of unemployed Latino workers in the United States (male, female and youth) increased by 25,000 (from 2,228,000 to 2,253,000) between September and October 2013; while the official jobless rate for all Latino workers (male, female and youth) increased from 9 to 9.1 percent during the same period. In addition, between September and October 2013, the official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Latino male workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 7.4 to 7.8 percent; while the number of unemployed Latino male workers over 20 years-of-age increased by 49,000 (from 1,026,000 to 1,075,000) during the same period.

The official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Latina female workers over 20 years-of-age was still 8.1 percent in October 2013; while the number of unemployed Latina female workers over 20 years-of-age was still 800,000 during that same month.

The official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Black male workers over 20 years-of-age was still 13 percent in October 2013; while the number of Black male workers over 20 years-of-age who still had jobs decreased by 18,000 (from 7,307,000 to 7,289,000) between September and October 2013. In addition, the number of Black male workers over 20 years-of-age still in the U.S. labor force decreased by 122,000 (from 8,499,000 to 8,377,000) between September and October 2013; while the number of white male workers over 20 years-of-age still in the U.S. labor force decreased by 251,000 (from 64,323,000 to 64,072,000) during the same period.

The number of white male workers over 20 years-of-age who still had jobs decreased by 280,000 (from 60,408,000 to 60,128,000) between September and October 2013; while the official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for white male workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 6.1 to 6.2 percent during the same period. In addition, the number of unemployed white male workers over 20 years-of-age in the United States increased by 29,000 (from 3,915,000 to 3,944,000) between September and October 2013.

Tthe number of white female workers over 20 years-of-age who still had jobs decreased by 183,000 (from 51,285,000 to 51,102,000) between September and October 2013; while the number of white female workers over 20 years-of-age still in the U.S. labor force decreased by 218,000 (from 54,279,000 to 54,061,000) during the same period. In addition, the official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for white female workers over 20 years-of-age was still 5.5 percent in October 2013.

The official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Asian-American workers in the United States was still 5.2 percent in October 2013; while the “not seasonally adjusted” number of unemployed Asian-American workers was still 443,000 during that same month.

Between September and October 2013, the official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age increased from 21.4 to 22.2 percent; while the official jobless rate for all female workers over 16 years-of-age in the United States increased from 6.7 to 6.9 percent during the same period. In addition, the official unemployment rate for all male workers over 16 years-of-age in the United States was still 7.6 percent in October 2013.

Between September and October 2013, the number of all female workers over 20 years-of-age who still had jobs decreased by 327,000 (from 65,582,000 to 65,255,000); while the number of all female workers over 20 years-of-age in the U.S. labor force decreased by 229,000 (from 69,936,000 to 69,707,000) during that same period. In addition, the official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all female workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 6.2 to 6.4 percent between September and October 2013; while the official number of unemployed female workers over 20 years-of-age in the United States increased by 97,000 (from 4,354,000 to 4,451,000) during the same period.

The official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all U.S. workers increased from 7.2 to 7.3 percent between September and October 2013; while the official total number of unemployed workers in the United States increased by17,000 (from 11,255,000 to 11,272,000) during the same period. In addition, the total number of people still in the U.S. labor force decreased by 720,000 (from 155,559,000 to 154,839,000) between September and October 2013; while the official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all male workers over 20 years-of-age was still 7 percent in October 2013.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ November 8, 2013 press release:

“…The unemployment rate, at 7.3 percent, changed little in October. Among the unemployed, however, the number who reported being on temporary layoffs increased by 448,000. This figure includes furloughed federal employees who were classified as unemployed on temporary layoff…(Estimates of the unemployed by reason, such as temporary layoff…do not sum to the officially seasonally adjusted measure of total unemployed…)…

“The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 4.1 million in October. These individuals accounted for 36.1 percent of the unemployed…The civilian labor force was down by 720,000 in October…The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed at 8.1 million in October. 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 October, 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force. These individuals…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 815,000 discouraged workers in October…Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them…

“…Federal government employment continued to trend down…Clothing and clothing accessories stores lost 13,000 jobs…In October, employment showed little or no change…in…mining and logging, construction, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and financial activities.

“Federal government employment declined by 12,000 in October. Over the past 12 months, federal government employment has decreased by 94,000. Federal employees on furlough during the partial government shutdown were still considered employed…”